Word on the street has it that Newt Gingrich wants to have a permanent base on the moon by the year 2020. And then when it holds enough people, he suggests it should apply for statehood.
Wildly creative, some say. Just wild say others. Regardless of whether or not Gingrich will be the Republican nominee or even have a chance to implement his idea, at least he isn’t afraid to throw his ideas out there.
Can you say the same about your team? Are they willing to dream up new ideas? As a small business owner, there are steps you can take to encourage [...]

The recent holiday season may be just a pleasant memory for some small business owners, but for many others the Ghost of Christmas Just-Past can be a frightening and palpable financial reality. Utility bills are pouring in, payrolls need to be met, suppliers have to be paid, the cash registers aren’t jingling the way they did in November and December and the purse strings have tightened up on the few customers you do see.
It may have been the 10,000 twinkling lights you put on the store front, the “best office party ever” that you threw, the year-end bonuses and overtime [...]

Do you have a company blog yet? If you answered no then what you are waiting for? It is 2012, and your business can now benefit tremendously from a personal blog. Here are a few benefits that you will receive by creating a company blog:
Hopefully by now you have a business website set up and have social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, or even YouTube. If so, then you must start creating content immediately! Businesses using social media should always be sharing informative content that is relative to their niche. By doing so, you will start to be seen as [...]

According to recent financial news reports, two major lending banks, Chase and Citi Bank, increased the amounts that they lent to American small businesses by a large margin in 2011. Chase has reported its small-business loan portfolio increased 52% to $17 billion this past year, while Citi lent nearly $8 billion, for a rise in small-business lending of about 30%. This reverses several years of tightened small-business credit related to the financial crisis of 2008 and subsequent economic downturn. After financial markets struggled with the aftermath of a haywire subprime lending market, many believed the banks overcorrected and placed too [...]

Small businesses often start at home, as a family run company. They build on their strengths, overcome their weaknesses and try to maintain steady growth and make their business succeed. However, with technology moving the world forward at an ever increasing pace, small businesses today must gather their resources and encourage investment in order to expand their business as their customer base widens.
For small businesses with new ideas or troubled financial histories, it can be difficult to get banks and other traditional lenders to invest in your company’s future. Having investors provides the advantage of obtaining large sums of capital [...]

Small business leaders looking for capital to shore up their operations may find, in the course of their journeys, that these processes are not always straightforward, and sometimes, as in many other areas of the business world, things may not quite be as they seem. Too many business leaders find themselves trying to parse the words and signals that they get from potential investors to try to figure out what’s behind the actual statement, and how it will ultimately affect a deal. Knowing some of the common ways that investors may not be saying what they mean can help a [...]

Asian stock markets are reporting recent gains; this obviously means that it’s time for you to start flipping homes in the United States.
What? Is there some question?
All right, the strange sounding connection might actually have merit, though there are a number of financial grains of salt to consider. It is true that the Asian markets have been doing better recently, and part of this improvement has been based on reports that the U.S. housing market may have passed the bottom and be showing signs of new life. These reports, according to Bloomberg BusinessWeek point out that sales of existing homes [...]

The Small Business Finance Institute announced a featured session to be held on February 29, 2012 in Atlanta.
The 2nd “Stepping Up To Business” conference will be called “Thinking Outside the Bank” and is expected to help small business owners learn strategies to manage finances and find capital resources.
During lunch, a panel discussion will be presented that focuses on financing sources that provide alternatives to the traditional obstacles business owners face, such as bank reviews, financial statements and credit reports.
Charles H. Creed, Executive Director of the Atlanta-based SBFI spoke about the conference: “Our conference is quickly gaining attention in the funding [...]

Recently, an article discussed how the Olive Garden is losing customers and as a result is planning an overhaul of its restaurant. Darden Restaurants Inc., which owns Olive Garden (and Red Lobster among smaller chains) has created a plan of attack for boosting popularity. The changes include a new menu with lower-costing dishes, remodeling restaurants, and revamping its advertising.
In the case of Olive Garden, Heidi Schauer, media relations manager for Darden explained, “Right now we’re working on several initiatives to enhance the overall guest experience, including the development of a new core menu with even greater affordability, the creation of [...]

A new temporary program from the Small Business Administration(SBA) can help small business owners refinance their loan before the balloon payment is due. Similar to the traditional SBA 504 loan, borrowers provide 10 percent equity and work with third-party lending institutions to obtain a standard 50 per cent/40 per cent split loan financing. The new feature announced this past year can help businesses avoid balloon payments they may be facing before December 31st, 2012. Businesses no longer need to be expanding to qualify for the program.
The SBA began taking applications in February 2011 and will continue running the program until [...]