It happened to presidential hopeful Herman Cain. He admitted he was accused of sexual harassment in the 1990s while working as the head of the National Restaurant Association. However, according to him, the sexual harassment claims against him were baseless so they were settled and the two women involved left the organization with five-figure payoffs. Will his campaign for the White House be derailed?
As a small business owner or entrepreneur, you can ill afford to have anyone in your organization (you included) accused of harassment, sexual or otherwise. Creating and enforcing common-sense policies and properly educating your staff will go [...]

According to Wall Street Journal’s Market Watch, Lockheed Martin, the large aerospace corporation, saw a rise in their third quarter earnings of 25%. As a result, they’ve recalculated their year end projections and are now projecting their earnings total for the entire year of 2011 to be 25% higher than their previous earnings forecast. Of course, forecasts and end results are two different things, but that’s why they re-evaluate those year end projections after the close of each quarter, to try and keep those expectations as inline with reality as possible.
Earnings projections aren’t just for large, publicly held corporations. Whether [...]

Netflix began as the people’s champion and seems to be quietly streaming its way to oblivion, ending up as one of the corporate monsters it was created to defend against.

As the story goes, Reed Hastings tried to return a Blockbuster rental. Reportedly, the customer service rep told Reed that he had to pay the late fees and if he didn’t like it, he could go start his own video store. So he did just that.  Reed got together with Marc Randolph to launch Netflix in 1997.
Netflix became a work of logistical art, with 58 shipping locations sending over 1 million [...]

Learning to utilize demographic information is a smart way for small business owners to target specific markets and thereby increase their success. Demographic trends are changing, according to information from the U.S. Census Bureau. Small business owners that take demographic changes into account when developing products, services, and marketing strategies open themselves up to both short-term and long-term success.
The U.S. Census Bureau can serve as a valuable tool for small business strategists. There is a wealth of detailed demographic information available, free of charge. And, it’s not just information about who lives in a particular area. There’s also data about [...]

Understanding the importance of an online presence to business success, many small business owners have ventured in to the world of Facebook, Twitter, and blogging. Most have an at least rudimentary understanding of how to make the Internet work for them. However, not everybody has the knowledge and experience necessary to deal correctly with bad publicity, such as negative comments, bad reviews, or outright falsehoods.
Bloomberg Business Week recently published an article on this topic, noting that many businesses get professional help in such situations. The article also offered practical how-to tips for managing such situations on your own. One of [...]

With all of the recent hype over AMC’s The Walking Dead, it seems only appropriate to present an article for business start-ups to help avoid zombie-like actions by those in charge of the business.
Unfortunately, after a zombie apocalypse, only a few humans are able to survive the epidemic, which is why it is imperative to learn survival tips. Without the following survival guidelines, your business will be taken over by the walking dead.
By now, you probably think that I’m crazy, but I’m not. As a business, the zombies are your competition, and the following survival tips will help guide your business [...]

The new iPhone release received over 1 million orders in its opening weekend. In fact, 4 million total iPhones may be sold within a few days. Despite the fact that the update is not a completely new version of the phone, it’s proof that luxury items are still in demand.
It may seem surprising, but producing luxury items is a good way to rise above a bleak economic environment. Most of the news about consumer spending habits has been negative, but that’s because it focuses on the middle class or working class. When it comes to making and marketing luxury items, [...]

Across the country, Occupy Wall Street protests are moving into their second month.  These protests are aimed at a specific type of business model: one that rewards managers and CEOs at rates that are dramatically disproportionate to their employees’ earnings. But protesters have managed to find common cause with a different brand of entrepreneur, fundamentally decent business owners who care about the well-being of their workers and are willing to use their business resources in support of their values.
In Seattle, David Meinart, owner of Big Mario’s Pizza, sent the protesters 100 slices of pizza early in the occupation of Westlake [...]

Though it might be hard to believe, especially given the current high unemployment rate, there are still times when newly hired employees go missing on their first day of work. Why they don’t show is anyone’s guess.
As a small business owner or company leader, having a new hire not show for work on the first day can be devastating. More importantly, you need to ask yourself how you can prevent a similar situation in the future.
Re-evaluate Your Hiring Process
One of the most difficult parts of hiring new employees is finding those who fit well within your organization as well as with [...]

Los Angeles’ municipal government just launched a new incubator to support businesses involved in clean technology. The goal of the incubator is to increase the number of jobs in the area. This is an especially good idea since green jobs/clean tech jobs will increase rapidly in the future, according to Renewable Power News.
The LA incubator just hatched this month, but incubators and clusters are growing in popularity all over the country. Not many people understand how much business clusters and incubators can help them launch their business. In fact, many people don’t realize they exist!
Clusters are groups of businesses that [...]