Being in the black isn’t as easy as it seems.
 

Securing financing for your business is a process of compiling solid, factual material such as a great business plan, a reasonable budget and a projected look at when profits can be expected. Add to that one less tangible factor to complete a winning equation. That is a positive attitude.
Becoming an entrepreneur takes a great deal of courage and confidence. We have to believe in ourselves and in our own idea. Convincing others to invest in our dream is comprised of two main factors: 90 percent is your ability to present the facts that support your claim that your new business [...]

Small business owners and operators take note: if your business could profit from a new phone system, you may be able to win new technology for your enterprise at no cost, but you’ll need to act quick. The Phone-a-saurus video contest from Toshiba ends in about a week.

 
What is the Phone-a-saurus Contest?
The Toshiba Phone-a-saurus contest is a competition sponsored by laptop and electronics maker Toshiba that’s advertised on the company’s Facebook page and other areas of the Web. The tech company is offering businesses with outdated telecom systems a chance to upgrade for free, asking competitors to send in a [...]

During the holiday season, TVs were bombarded with commercials that encouraged consumers to shop small. On Small Business Saturday, even the President and his children took part in the efforts to shop locally. The good news is this year’s massive marketing campaign by American Express, had a better result than the previous year. According to Businesswire, over 100 million shoppers came out and shopped locally on November 26, which was 27 million more than was projected. That is approximately 1/3 of the American population, according to the US population Clock.
That kind of impact is what movements like the recently passed [...]

The good news is that the unemployment rate fell slightly this month, down to 8.1 percent from April’s 8.2 percent. The bad news is that this decline is likely because more people gave up looking for work. Additionally, the U.S. job growth slumped in April for a second straight month.
Since it is apparent that we are still in the midst of a bit of belt-tightening, I thought it might be a good time to discuss a financing option you may not have considered before: accounts receivable financing.
When other small business financing options like bank loans or angel investors is limited [...]

Small business owners looking toward the future are increasingly concerned about cutting their costs to ensure the survival of their business. In New York, thousands of small businesses have partnered with local energy providers to cut costs and save energy. This incentive provides eligible small business owners with free energy assessments and incentives of up to 70 per cent of the energy upgrade costs.
With governments and residents alike concerned for the environment, this program provides a major incentive to become more energy efficient. In the last 18 months, the program has saved 89.5 million kilowatt-hours of electricity in New York. [...]

Chase and LivingSocial announced the launch of a new small business grant program. The program aims to demonstrate the company’s commitment to small business growth. Offering up to $3 million to small businesses across the nation, the program also has the support of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Up to 12 individual grants of $250,000 will help small businesses with capital and marketing resources needed to grow their business.
“Small businesses are invaluable to the growth of our economy, and the ‘Mission: Small Business’ grant program is designed to provide small businesses with the solutions they need to grow and thrive,” [...]

Did you know that the city where you open your business can have an impact on its success? Apparently, when it comes to business, all cities are not created equal. A recent report ranks which cities are the friendliest for small businesses by taking into account population, employment growth, and the concentration of businesses with fewer than 100 employees. Referring to this as a city’s “vitality score,” the report ranked the following metro areas in the top 10.
1. Austin, Texas
For the second year in a row, this Texas metro area has been ranked as the best place for small businesses. [...]

Starting your own small business can be an huge undertaking, both financially and time-wise. Most small business owners are experts in their field or industry but when it comes to the many details of actually starting their own business, they may be novices. Learning what permits, licenses, taxes and other necessary equipment or supplies are needed for their industry takes the majority of their time and resources. But once they wade through all those necessary tasks and finally open their doors, it is time to make sure they have customers, and that’s when the real challenge begins!
Marketing and advertising your [...]

When businesses make mistakes, there are a lot of different ways to fix things.  Judging by some recent corporate mistakes, some companies are willing to go above and beyond to make customers happy. Even if the cost seems high or the effort seems excessive, here is what you can learn from 3 cool business solutions.
Give Free Products Out
Nokia recently launched the Lumia 900 phone, one of the first phones that will run a Windows new operating system. Unfortunately for consumers, the phones have malfunctioned enough that many people asked for refunds. The company decided to let people have the phones [...]