Small-business owners don’t take vacation not because they don’t want to travel or relax or explore new adventures, [but] because they are scared to death their business will fall apart. Fortune recently reported half of small-business owners will take no vacation this year. Of the half that do go on vacation, 61% [...] go for only a … Continue reading Small Businesses Are Still Struggling
Tag: small business
Don’t Care About Alibaba? Here’s Why It May Matter
When the Alibaba Group Holding prices its initial public offering Thursday, small businesses, in particular, will be watching. Founder Jack Ma—the former English-teacher-turned-dot-com-billionaire—has touted his e-commerce platform as a way for smaller merchants to expand their international footprint, including access to consumers in China. In its September 5th filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Alibaba said … Continue reading Don’t Care About Alibaba? Here’s Why It May Matter
Helping Small Businesses—Lots of Talk, No Action
The Small Business Act of 1953 established the Small Business Administration (SBA), which came into existence on the grounds that small businesses are essential to a free enterprise system. It was the intent of establishing the SBA to “deter the formation of monopolies and the market failures monopolies cause by eliminating competition in the marketplace,” … Continue reading Helping Small Businesses—Lots of Talk, No Action
Can Small Businesses Survive This Christmas?
[Supported by] Black Friday, Cyber Monday and, [now], Small Business Saturday, [sales made in] November and December [...] represent as much as 40% of yearly retail stores sales, according to the National Retail Federation. [With] Thanksgiving [falling] so late on the calendar [in 2013], [though] there are six fewer shopping days between [then] and Christmas. [...] … Continue reading Can Small Businesses Survive This Christmas?
How to Finance Your Business
You Can Do It Opening your own store may be a dream come true. Paying for this dream may be an entirely different story. How you structure the finances for your business will have long-term effects on your entire life. If it were as easy to get started as digging through your couch to find … Continue reading How to Finance Your Business
Marketing Your Business
Baby [b]oomers have changed every market we entered, from disposable diaper market to the stock market to the job market. We like to be marketed to.Lynn Lancaster, Author, When Generations Collide What if you opened a store and nobody came? It’s a nightmare all retailers have in the days, weeks and even months before they open their … Continue reading Marketing Your Business
Basics of Retail Math
Retailing is all about change, because consumers change and so do their tastes. If you don’t change, you don’t grow.Marvin Traub, Former President & CEO of Bloomingdale's [N]o matter what your collateral reasons for opening a retail store—[setting your own schedule, being your own boss]—the numbers are obviously what drive your decision about whether or … Continue reading Basics of Retail Math
Dealing with Vendors
In our free enterprise system, companies and industries develop and improve through competition, and a key requirement for competition is knowledge about the operations of all major competitors in the market. Such knowledge inspires one competitor to gain or protect an edge over another and motivates lesser competitors in a market to emulate the operations … Continue reading Dealing with Vendors
Business Plan & Business Structure: The Twin Foundations of Any Successful Business
Walmart last year accounted for nearly 8% of overall U.S. retail sales. That leaves 92% for others—for now.Advertising Age, October 6, 2003 I begin this crucial chapter with one of my favorite stories. Two retailers are located directly across the street from each other in exactly the same business. One is doing quite well; the … Continue reading Business Plan & Business Structure: The Twin Foundations of Any Successful Business
Internet Marketing: What Are You Waiting for?
If you do it right, a website can enhance your company’s image, build customer loyalty, and get information to customers and potential customers quickly and cheaply. If you have a website, it makes your small business look big...Natalie Sequera, Spokeswoman for Claris Corp. To maximize its potential, every business must have an online presence. E-commerce … Continue reading Internet Marketing: What Are You Waiting for?