I wish more women knew about franchising. {Or at least knew of the possibilities} Most of the folks that contact me to inquire about my franchise consulting services are men. {75%) Why is that? Are men more interested in owning their own businesses? Are more men than women losing their jobs this year? Are men bigger risk-takers? Now, I said that more men contact me for information on franchising. Maybe women are just as interested in becoming franchise owners as men are, but they just don't reach out for more information as much. Here is...

States that impose sales tax generally require vendors to collect the levy on the sales that they make. In some cases, the vendor's obligation is clear cut. When a customer walks into a store and purchases a taxable item, the vendor must collect a sales tax in addition to the purchase price. But what about the vendor's obligation to collect sales tax on a remote sale? A 'remote sale' is a transaction in which a vendor sells an item via the internet or a catalog to a customer in another state. Remote sales are generally not taxable if the...

As a small business, you can't compete with the big companies of the world on price. But there is one area where you can compete-and win: customer service. Service is more important than ever these days. During the recent economic boom, customers got used to high standards of service as all types of businesses 'luxury-ized' and 'premium-ized' themselves. At the same time, customers became increasingly cynical about service as outsourced call centers, frustrating voice-mail mazes and sales staff cutbacks led to declining customer service at...

It is always amusing, if frustrating, to note how often people underestimate microbusinesses. They assume that, simply because microbusinesses are small and without buckets of money at their disposal, they must be completely useless. But, as any microbusiness owner worth their salt can tell you, there are almost always ways to do something you really need to do without having to spend a mountain of money. In the spirit of that sort of thing, and in a nod to the fact that health care reform is the topic to obsess upon right now, here are some...