Archive: Tools and Tips
Welcome Voices on Small Business
Almost everyone is familiar with the owner of the corner store, a friend or neighbor dabbling away in the garage to create the next big thing, the technology whiz kid, a seasoned executive ready to make a new start or the savvy "mompreneur" who seeks a more flexible schedule. They...
By Sharon McLoone | May 13, 2008; 09:30 AM ET | Comments (0)
May Is a Good Time to Reassess Your Shipping Needs
While most small businesses choose to use e-mail or cell phones for quick communication, those who still use snail mail will soon be feeling the pain in their wallets. The U.S. Postal Service is increasing shipping rates beginning May 12. The cost of sending a first-class letter will go up...
By Sharon McLoone | May 7, 2008; 09:55 AM ET | Comments (0)
SBA Seeking Input for New Web Portal
Got any ideas for how to better match small business lenders with prospective borrowers? The Small Business Administration wants to hear from you. The agency is asking the lending and business communities for input on how to make a Web site that would do a better job of showcasing available...
By Sharon McLoone | April 2, 2008; 03:48 PM ET | Email a Comment
Yahoo Offers Women Business Grants
Yahoo's small business branch has teamed up with television personality Carolyn Kepcher to offer a new grant program designed to promote women's entrepreneurship enabled by the Internet. "Seeds for Success:: Empowering Women Entrepreneurs" will award three woman entrepreneurs with business grants including cash, mentorship and technical services, which Yahoo says...
By Sharon McLoone | March 26, 2008; 02:34 PM ET | Comments (1)
Retailers Accept Foreign Currency as Dollar Withers
Some small retailers that include transatlantic tourists and other jet-setters among customers are accepting euros as the dollar's value dwindles worldwide. Washington Post Staff Writer Alejandro Lazo reports today that a small falafel shop in D.C.'s Adams Morgan district has joined the trend. The Amsterdam Falafelshop in Adams Morgan, owned...
By Sharon McLoone | March 17, 2008; 04:50 PM ET | Comments (2)
Bus Service Offers $1 Trip from D.C. to N.Y.
I recently met some small business owners who were having trouble affording their frequent business trips between New York and Washington so I thought I'd pass along a tip: Have you heard of Bolt Bus? It's a new budget division of well-known transit company Greyhound that soon will service the...
By Sharon McLoone | March 14, 2008; 11:05 AM ET | Comments (1)
Community College Unveils Entrepreneur Program
The Northern Virginia Community College has launched a Career Studies Certificate Program in Entrepreneurship. It's a 26-credit program designed to prepare students to start and grow small businesses by providing instruction in entrepreneurial culture, strategy, operations, financial management, marketing and leadership. A student should be able to complete the program...
By Sharon McLoone | February 5, 2008; 09:00 AM ET | Email a Comment
Mentoring Tips
Finding a mentor can be a challenge for small business managers and entrepreneurs. Often the owner of a small firm is running a business, but doesn't have the experience to understand everything from accounting, hiring and payroll taxes to human resources issues and more. Some basic common sense may help...
By Sharon McLoone | January 25, 2008; 02:56 AM ET | Email a Comment
Knowing When to Call 'The Suit'
Most entrepreneurs and other small business owners don't have business degrees, but they have a lot of grit and passion for what they do. And those that do have backgrounds in finance or management often get so caught up in daily operations that it's easy to lose sight of the...
By Sharon McLoone | January 4, 2008; 08:15 AM ET | Email a Comment
What a Bright Idea
The light bulb has become a staple of our daily lives and a classic design permeating media and art from cartoons to canvas, but with the new energy bill the president signed today, the familiar incandescent bulb will be phased out beginning in 2012. For firms that keep the lights...
By Sharon McLoone | December 20, 2007; 08:00 AM ET | Comments (2)
Seizing the Export Opportunity
The greenback is ailing these days, trading at record lows against a wide range of foreign currencies. But believe it or not, there's one area of the economy that's benefiting in a big way from the declining U.S. dollar -- exports. For most U.S. businesses, however, selling to overseas customers...
By Sharon McLoone | November 16, 2007; 03:27 PM ET | Comments (1)
Mastering Your Own Domain
Small business owner David Solomon was hijacked online. Or rather, his company's online address was claimed by someone else after he'd already moved in, leaving his business locked out of the Web home it had built for itself. Solomon said his more than year-long experience was "horrific," causing him to...
By Sharon McLoone | October 25, 2007; 08:00 AM ET | Comments (3)
Small Business Owners Lack Exit Strategy
Most small business owners don't have an exit strategy when considering selling their businesses, according to a new study from the Center for Women's Business Research. Sixty-seven percent of men and women surveyed had no written sales plan and 43 percent had not conducted a formal valuation of their businesses....
By Sharon McLoone | October 17, 2007; 11:40 AM ET | Email a Comment
Better Business Bureau Releases Line of 'How-To' Books
The Better Business Bureau, an organization that sets standards for fair business practices, has published its first line of "how-to" books. The first three titles in the series include books on how to launch a business on eBay (pdf excerpt of book), open a franchise, and buy a home. "Each...
By Sharon McLoone | October 8, 2007; 12:19 PM ET | Email a Comment
Resources for Entrepreneurs
The National Business Incubation Association wants to pass along two new resources for entrepreneurs: For businesses looking to gain a foothold into foreign markets, peruse market research on ExportNavigator. The Web site is offered by the Federation of International Trade Associations, which says that the 10,000 market surveys on the...
By Sharon McLoone | September 24, 2007; 06:00 AM ET | Email a Comment
Nurturing New Businesses
While the drills are drilling, the hammers are hammering and the dust is flying, new ideas are being created at the Rockville Innovation Center. The business incubator, which opened in July, smells like new paint, sawdust and fresh ideas. A tour of the facility last month shows some firms already...
By Sharon McLoone | September 19, 2007; 07:00 AM ET | Email a Comment
PR Firm Growing Pains
Micro public relations firms are able to land new clients the same way many small businesses do -- by offering personalized service or specializing in niche products. But securing growth over the long-term takes different strategies. Jamie Horwitz spent 23 years offering his public relations services as an employee of...
By Sharon McLoone | August 21, 2007; 07:30 AM ET | Email a Comment
The Sweet Smell Of ... Rising Gas Prices
Getting asters to Arlington and phlox to Fairfax is all part of a day's work for the Metropolitan Florists' Delivery Cooperative, one of the oldest delivery pool services in the country. It's also a way small companies can save money on gas. The 1970s gas crises and resulting price spikes...
By Sharon McLoone | August 3, 2007; 06:00 AM ET | Comments (6)
Software Group, Government Aim to Educate About Piracy
The Business Software Alliance has teamed up with the Small Business Administration to educate small firms on software compliance. They are distributing "Software Strategies for Small Businesses: Best Practices for Software Compliance (pdf)" to more than 100,000 small businesses through SBA's network of field offices and resource partners across the...
By Sharon McLoone | July 31, 2007; 02:00 PM ET | Comments (1)
IBM, World Bank Partner on Online Toolkit
A revamped small business toolkit put together by IBM and the World Bank was unveiled Thursday afternoon, part of an effort to aid women and minority entrepreneurs in the United States and small businesses generally in developing countries. The free resource -- www.smetoolkit.org -- offers advice on finance, accounting, marketing,...
By Sharon McLoone | July 27, 2007; 06:00 AM ET | Email a Comment
