November conjures up images of pumpkins, changing foliage, turkey, and of course, Thanksgiving. Whatever business relation exists with this particular month orbits around Black Friday and Cyber Monday, two of the biggest shopping events of the year. However, November brings more opportunities to small business in America thanks to Small Business Saturday. Held on the 26th, this event aims to raise awareness for independent business, prompting people to “shop small.” The event has its own [...]

As a business owner, which measures would you take to keep your customers (and employees)  happy? A restaurant owner in Monroeville, PA, has banned children under 6 years of age from his establishment. Increasingly misbehaving kids, crying babies, and parents who refuse to control their children have driven the restaurant’s owner to implement this new regulation, which is perfectly legal. The restaurant itself is more geared towards an adult demographic, boasting a large bar and [...]

We recently talked about Google Wallet, and how it could revolutionize the way that we deal with money. I recently came across a similar, although clearly distinct company that facilitates digital/wireless payments by using your cards. Information Cards uses a digital version of a wallet, called a selector, to electronically store all your cards in one place. Unlike Google Wallet, the Information Card system is used exclusively for web-based transactions. Some computers already come with [...]

On our blog, we like to highlight different aspects of small business finance and management, such as advertising. On one of our earlier posts, Chrystal mentioned Exciting Ways to Get Customer Attention. From nightime silhouettes to the more traditional sign spinning, there are some innovative and fun advertising tactics out there. However, some business owners like to take a page from politics and have started to use smearing tactics. One of the more outlandish ones? Releasing mice in [...]

For the Month of January Businesses that have fewer than 50 employees lost 12,000 workers. Companies in the 50 to 499 employee range added a net of 9,000 jobs. These statistics paint a picture of an economy that still suffers from some affects of the recession but is also en route to recovery.  Small business owners can take various avenues towards raising money to build up their businesses, hire new workers and be part of [...]