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Getting a Small-business Loan

By Glenn Muske

bank

One of the most common requests I get is to help people access “free money” to help them start their business. Regretfully, my response is there is little, if any, free money available. Instead business owners need to depend on their own personal funds, family and friends, or good bootstrapping. At some point though, most […]

December 10, 2015 Filed Under: finance, Small Biz 100 Tagged With: bankers, banks, building a business, business finance, business loan, loan, starting, startup

Finding Your Startup Funding

By Glenn Muske

Starting a business means a need for money to help pay for a variety of things from registration fees to getting the store ready for customers to buying initial inventory. Potential business owners often struggle to find those first dollars. Asking for help to find grants, or ‘free money,’ is a common request. While there […]

February 19, 2015 Filed Under: finance, Small Biz 100 Tagged With: capital, funding, small business, success

Profitability Just One Factor in Business Continuity

By Glenn Muske

Profit

For a business to exist for the long term, it must make money. Yet other values also can influence whether a business stays in business. It is surprising by the number of business owners who never have taken the time to determine if they are profitable at a basic level. There is money in the […]

November 21, 2013 Filed Under: entrepreneurship, finance, rural, Small Biz 100, success Tagged With: profit, small business

Square changes the way Small does Business

By Becky McCray

Mobile hot dog vendor accepts a credit card payment with a Square reader.

Small businesses used to have a hard time getting approved to accept credit cards. Getting set up for a merchant account involved passing a credit check, agreeing to a long-term contract, paying monthly fees even if you didn’t accept any payments, and acquiring specialized equipment often with another monthly payment.   Square and its competitors […]

April 8, 2013 Filed Under: entrepreneurship, finance, rural

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