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Small Business Financing 101: Small Business Grants
Too many people tell small business owners that they can't attain grants. But the truth is that there are quite …
How to Design Your Website to Amplify Your Brand
Your business’s website is one of the most important tools in your arsenal. Once a tool to list the products …
Expand Your Business into a New Region
Want to expand your business (or overcome stalls in growth)? You might look to new markets to extend your reach …
How to Build Passive Sources of Income for Your Business
Most often, your revenue will come from delivering high-quality products or services to your customers. But, sometimes, you can boost …
Considering Discount Codes for Your Business?
A 2020 survey found that 88 percent of consumers in the United States used coupons or discount codes when shopping …
The Pitch: Keys to Winning Over Investors and Others
Most small businesses rely on outside sources of funding, especially when they’re starting up or ramping up to expand their …
Social Media Campaigns: How to Track Your Success
Using social media for your business is vital, but it’s not enough to simply post content. You need to track …
How Buying a Business Can Give You a Competitive Edge
As a business owner, you know the importance of growth. You may already be growing organically through increased awareness, by …
How to Hold Your First Board Meeting
One of the first things you’ll need to do after incorporating your business is arrange your first board meeting. This …
Learn to Delegate Business-Critical Tasks
Many small business owners find it hard to delegate tasks, not only because their business is a product of their …
Small Business Benefits: Your Guide to Getting Started
One of the best ways for your small business to attract and retain an employee is by offering them benefits. …
Conduct Your Own Competitive Analysis in Ten Simple Steps
Competitive analysis can help you identify your competitors, find out what and how they’re selling to their customer base, and …
Why You Need a Letter of Intent (LOI) to Purchase a Business
When you find a business you'd like to purchase, your attorney will draft a letter of intent (LOI) to indicate …
The Pros and Cons of Buying an Established Business
Before you decide whether buying a business is the right path for you, take some time to learn about the …
The Fundamentals of Buying a Business
Wondering how to buy a business? Many people do, especially when they see the benefits others have achieved by taking …
Help Your Customers Find Your Restaurant
Your site is selected. Your team is in place. You've got a killer concept and a menu to match. All …
How to Elect Your Business’s Board of Directors
Is your business a public company? If so, it will need a board of directors that represents its shareholders’ interests. …
How to Find Businesses That Are for Sale
Maybe you've heard about the benefits of buying a small business, and you've even decided which kinds of operations you …
Small Business Basics: How to Register Your Business with State and Local Governments
After selecting your business’s name and choosing its structure, you may need to register your business with your state and …
Best Practices for Employee Performance Evaluations
Does your business conduct performance evaluations for its employees? If so, your team is likely benefiting. Employee performance evaluations can …
Directories That Can Help Others Find Your Business
Yellow pages and Who’s Who lists may not be relevant for your business today. Instead, there are many other directories …
Small Business Basics: Attaining a Business Credit Card
Obtaining a business bank account is important, but you should also consider signing up for a business credit card to …
Why Choose Asset-Backed Financing?
There are many ways to finance a business. One that few business owners consider is asset-backed financing. Many banks and …
Studying Your Target Franchise’s Requirements
Every franchise has a set of requirements prospective owners must meet to begin the ownership process. In this article, you'll …
How to Find Franchise Opportunities That Suit Your Skills, Interests, Goals, and Budget
Many sites list franchise opportunities, making it easy for prospective owners like you to find and compare options. But, sometimes, …
Your Guide to Reading a Franchise Disclosure Document
When you're evaluating a franchise for purchase, one of the documents the franchisor will share with you is the franchise …
Build Your Customer Base through Collaborations
Of all the ways to grow your business, one of the simplest is setting up collaborations with people who work …
Why You Need to Develop Customer Personas
Businesses that excel in meeting their customers’ needs have one thing in common. They know their customers deeply. They understand …
Should I Buy a Distressed Business?
You can find distressed businesses in every industry. Some can be great opportunities, especially if they can be bought for …
Site Security: How to Protect Your Business Location
Theft and vandalism are two security problems that could drive up costs for your business. There are costs to replacing …
What You Need to Know to File Your Business’s Patent and Trademark Documents
If you’ve developed a unique product or a design, you should take steps to protect it. Filing for a patent …
Grow Your Business with a Franchise Model
Have you developed a business with a winning concept, solid strategy, and scalable model? You might consider franchising it. In …
Solution Finder: Tax Software
Business taxes can be challenging to navigate, but tax software solutions can make tasks like state and federal filings and …
Solution Finder: Payment Processing Systems
Almost every brick-and-mortar business—and those with on-the-go sales teams—needs a physical system for processing payments. When your team needs to …
Solution Finder: Customer Relationship Management Systems
With customer relationship management (CRM) systems, you can manage your customer data across every part of your business. Many of …
Small Business Financing 101: How to Use Your Retirement Account to Fund Your Small Business Startup
Many small business startups rely on loans for their early capital needs. But if the idea of hefty loans and …
Find a Great Location for Your Restaurant
Need a great location for your restaurant? Lots of factors come into play. To start, you'll want to be close …
Asset-Backed Financing for Franchise Owners
There are many ways to finance the purchase of a franchise unit. One that few aspiring business owners consider for …
Considering Franchisor Financing? Here’s What You Should Know.
Does the franchise you're considering offer franchisor financing? These programs are a popular way to cover the startup costs of …
How to Create a Logo for Your Brand
Your business’s logo screams a message about your brand. It tells your audience if you’re legitimate, demonstrates that you’re in …
Partnering to Raise the Capital You Need to Buy a Business
It can be expensive to buy a business. In many cases, the costs are far higher than a person can …
Small Business Financing 101: Estimating Startup Costs
What does it cost to start a business? It varies for every company, but having a guide you can depend …
Consider Using an SBA Loan to Buy a Business
SBA loans are one of the most commonly used ways to finance the purchase of a business. Named after the …
How to Formally Dissolve Your Business
If your business is organized as a partnership, LLC, or corporation, then you may need to file dissolution paperwork to …
Small Business Basics: How to Set Up Email Addresses for Your Small Business
Every small business needs an email address to communicate with customers, vendors, distributors, and employees. Many need multiple addresses, not …
The Reasons You Need a Letter of Intent (LOI) to Purchase a Business
When you find a business you'd like to purchase, your attorney will draft a letter of intent (LOI) to indicate …
Find an Accountant for Your Acquisition
You'll need to find a knowledgeable business accountant for any small business acquisition—and for all the work that follows. Here's …
Find an Attorney for Your Acquisition
If you're thinking of buying another business, you'll need to find an attorney who can draft agreements, review contracts, and …
Smart Play: Buy a Low-Risk, High-Margin Business in a Growing Industry
If want to buy a business, then you’ve probably thought about operating one that’s novel, trendy, or exciting—one that’ll impress …
Pro Tip: Set Up an Entity Before Buying a Business
When most people set out to “buy a business,” what they’re really doing is buying a company’s assets. Many are …
How to Close Your Business Email and Social Media Accounts
When you close your business, you'll need to close the email and social media accounts that are associated with it, …
Checklist: What You Need to Cancel When Closing Your Small Business
Depending on your business, you may have licenses, permits, subscriptions, and services to cancel when closing. This checklist will help …
Recasting: Demonstrate to the Financial Earning Power of Your Business
Today, we're taking on an important topic: recasting, and how it might help you sell your business. Let's dive in. …
Help Your Employees Transfer Their Retirement Accounts to a New Entity
Two of the moves you’ll need to take when closing your business are terminating the retirement plans you offer and …
How to Write Meaningful Recommendation Letters for Your Employees
Want a way to help your employees while you're closing your business? One of the best gestures you can make …
Small Business Basics: Choose a Business Structure
As you work through the steps of starting your business, you’ll need to choose a business structure. The choice you …
Get Started with Advertising on Social Media Platforms
If you want to boost your business, advertising on social media is a must. Unlike the old-school approaches of newspaper …
Social Media 101: Getting Started
Whether you’re a local shop or an e-commerce store, establishing your business’s social media presence is vital. Now, it’s more …
Devote Time to Read and Respond to Reviews of Your Business
Businesses live and die by the reviews they receive. More than ever before, people are talking about their experiences online, …
Assessing the Listing: What Buyers Should Look for in Every Business Posting
Almost every business listing on business brokerage sites follows a specific format. It can be great to have this consistency—and …
How to Create Financial Projections for a New Restaurant
This article on creating financial projections for a new restaurant is a guest post, brought to you by the team …
Grand Opening: How to Create the Hype You Need to Make Your First Day a Success
Lots of work goes into starting a small business, and your first day is a major achievement for you as …
Solution Finder: Payroll Systems
As an employer, you'll need to comply with federal and state laws regarding payroll. These laws include keeping up with …
Solution Finder: Shift Scheduling Systems
If you manage an hourly workforce, you know the headaches of configuring schedules—and reconfiguring them as changes occur. Fortunately, app …
The Right Ways to Wind Down Work
Before telling your customers about your decision to close, think about how you’ll fulfill your outstanding orders, whether you’ll accept …
Navigating Business Contracts As You Close Your Business
It's easy to overlook one part of the closure process. That's navigating the business contracts and obligations you've agreed to …
Tell Your Vendors, Contractors, and Others Your Business Is Closing
Midway through the closing process, you’ll need to notify your vendors, suppliers, contractors, and freelancers that your business is closing. …
Do You Need to Vote on Dissolution?
Most owners need to follow a specific set of procedures to formally close their businesses. And, sometimes, these procedures include …
Dividing What’s Left: How to Handle Asset Distribution When Closing Your Business
After selling your remaining assets, collecting your outstanding receivables, repaying creditors, and paying your final federal, state, and local taxes, …
It May Be Time to Increase Your Pay
As your business grows, you may be thinking of cashing in a portion of its income. But before you increase …
Understanding Small Business Sales Tax
The United States doesn’t levy a federal sales tax, but many of its states do. And within those states, various …
Finding Buyers: Who’s Looking for a Business Like Yours?
Every day, groups of people search for businesses to buy. Many do this to achieve their goals of entrepreneurship, expand …
How to Interview Vendors and Suppliers for Your Business
If the success of your business depends on inventory, parts, inputs, or other entities’ products, you'll vendors and suppliers who …
Solution Finder: Restaurant Loyalty Programs
You can wow your guests with a great meal, great setting, and a great experience, but getting them to come …
Solution Finder: Restaurant Shift Scheduling Systems
One of the biggest headaches of running a restaurant is employee scheduling—and reconfiguring shifts as changes occur. Fortunately, app and …
Set Up Mail Forwarding to Receive Business Documents
Even after closing your doors, your business will continue to receive mail that’s necessary for future tax filings and the …
Strategies That Can Help You Take Better Product Photos
It’s nearly impossible to sell products online without crisp, clear, compelling images. Fortunately, taking product photos is relatively simple. In …
Solution Finder: Restaurant Reservation Systems
Sometimes called “table management systems,” restaurant reservation systems offer a lot of benefits. For guests, they make scheduling a meal …
When Do I Need a Tax Attorney?
Is your business facing tax challenges? Are you working through an audit? Are you up against some complexities in determining …
Understanding Small Business Income Tax
Is your business required to pay small business income tax? The answer is that it depends on your business structure. …
Small Business Financing 101: Term Loans
Loans are one of the most common sources of capital for small business startups. For your venture, you might consider …
How to Hire the People Who Will Make Your Small Business a Success
Will your idea succeed? The answer can depend on the people you bring on board. That's why it's vitally important …
Tips for Forming a Partnership to Start a Business
It can be expensive to start a new business. Partnering with another person can be a great way to cover …
Small Business Financing 101: SBA Loans
SBA loans are one of the most commonly used ways to cover early-phase costs. Named after the Small Business Administration …
Small Business Financing 101: Asset-Backed Loan
There are many ways to finance a business. One that few business owners consider is an asset-backed loan, an option …
Your Go-to Guide to Raising Capital for a Startup
Real estate, equipment, inventory, technologies, wages, and insurance are some of the many costs you’ll need to cover when starting …
Small Business Financing 101: How Commercial Real Estate Loans Can Help You with Your #LocationGoals
Disclaimer: This article was written to help you evaluate your commercial real estate loan options. It should not be construed …
Small Business Basics: How to Attain a Tax ID Number for Your Small Business
If you're starting a small business, you may need to set up a tax ID number, also known as an …
Small Business Financing 101: Angel Investors
Angel investors are individuals or networks of people who want to find and invest in new, small, or growing businesses …
Small Business Basics: Permits and Licenses
Do you need a permit or license to run your small business? You might, depending on your line of work, …
Small Business Basics: Sign Up For a Business Credit Card
Obtaining a small business bank account is important, but you should also get a business credit card to track your …
Strategies for Naming Your Business
Your business name is important: It may be the first impression your customers have of your business. The right name …
Why You Might Need a Registered Agent
Most businesses are required to register in the states or territories where they'll conduct “business activities.” These activities might include …
The Ratios You Need to Measure Your Business’s Success
How do you know when your business is succeeding? You might look at the number of sales you make. Or, …
How to Create a Social Media Content Calendar
The world of social media is constantly in flux with new platforms, new algorithms, and new trends. Staying on top …
Solution Finder: Online Ordering for Restaurants
A great way to grow your restaurant's sales is to offer online ordering. You can certainly set up your own …
How to Design a Website for Your Restaurant
Your customers will want to know who you are—and what you serve—before they'll be willing to give your restaurant a …
Improve Your Customer Service Processes
Great customer service is one of the best, most important ways to differentiate your business, and fortunately, there are lots …
Write a Business Plan for Your New Restaurant
When you apply for financing for your new restaurant, your lender may ask you to submit a business plan along …
How to Build an Email List for Your Business
One of the best ways to grow your business is to get in front of your target audience regularly with …
