When asked if they have any advantages as a small business, many owners respond negatively. The fact is, small-business owners, especially those in rural areas and small towns, have many advantages they can use to enhance the success of their store. Knowing the audience is a huge advantage. Yet they often do not make full…
Do you own a small business and find you have no free time? Have you recently found yourself too busy to have lunch with a friend? Does your family start dinner without you? While these are not perfect predictors (life happens), being “too busy” may be a symptom that your business time management needs some…
No matter if your community is big or small, rural or urban, small businesses form a key component of the local economic engine. However, an issue that communities face is how they can support the growth and development of small business. The goal is helping small businesses remain in business and have the resources they…
It is easy for business owners to see and want those great new things that surround us. Yet those shiny new things may not be what the business owner needs at that moment or maybe ever. Shiny new things cost money and may take more time. Owners must decide if those are things that he…
I recently did a post for another blog, Power of Business. In it I discussed the fact that marketing is much more than making a sale. Marketing should happen early, be often and continuous. You must understand who your potential customer is, what motivates them, and be prepared to use all of the marketing tools available. …
I recently received the Ice Bucket Challenge (which I accepted). If you haven’t heard about this challenge, the idea is to either have a bucket of ice water over your head or donate money to the ALS Association. This challenge has went viral. You probably have even heard about it or participated in it. Today over…
Most small-business owners are not excited about handling the financial recordkeeping for the business, which should come as no surprise. Instead, business owners often put it off until later and, quite often, the “later” means tax time. Not keeping good financial records can result in a multitude of problems. At best, you may not maximize…
“Big data” and “mining big data” are terms that are appearing in business magazines and journals at lot these days. Yet small-business owners often are not sure if and how big data fits into their business. Nor do they know where to get it and how to analyze it, even if they would have it….
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