There has been much dissent about the federal government’s involvement in small business. Small business engagement has been a concern since the federal government failed to meet its contracting goals. There is a need to develop programs to help small businesses remain afloat. Small businesses should be aware of how this change will affect their business and what they need to do going forward. Here’s what small business owners may need to know.
Dollars Allocated to Engage Small Businesses in Fiscal 2012
In the fiscal year of 2012, the Small Business Administration (SBA) states that only 22.25 percent of federal contracting dollars or $89.9 billion was allocated to help engage small businesses meet their contracting goals.…
Budding entrepreneurs beware: advice is everywhere and it’s easy to fall down a rabbit hole of research rather than getting anything accomplished. If you want to be successful you need to stay organized, prioritize and keep on moving forward. Keep these tips in mind as you perform the juggling act that is entrepreneurship.
1. Collect & Organize
You don’t have to have to be a day away from signing your business lease before you begin to think like a business owner.…
Networking is important for all business people, including those who are blind. One way to make your business card get noticed and make a profound statement supporting diversity is to simply add braille.
What Is Braille, and Why Should It Be on a Business Card?
Braille is a form of written language for the blind that consists of raised dots that are “read” by being felt by the fingertips. Louis Braille, a Frenchman who became blind at the age of three, created the system when he was a teenager. …
The rising cost of keeping up with customer demand can be a challenge for startups or small businesses. Keeping up with supplier payments, payroll, and inventory requires a lot of attention to detail and time. Fortunately, a number of software solutions, leadership tactics, and business fundamentals will help your company manage costs.
Here are 4 cost management strategies you can adopt which can give you total control of your business costs:
1. Transparent communications
Customers and employees shouldn’t ever find themselves in the dark regarding products, services, and workflows.…
Running a business is something that was once out-of-the-question for the vast majority of us. In order to start a company and begin turning a profit, you would need to have a lot of specialist knowledge, not to mention a brilliant idea, a hefty amount of capital and a team of staff that were willing to put their faith in you.
Today though that’s all changed, and it’s largely thanks to the ubiquity of the computer. Thanks to computers and the internet, we can now create things much more easily without having to invest money.…
As we might have already known, Korean entertainment has gone global. It’s a phenomenon much talk about in the media, and I would like to take this opportunity to highlight what small business owners – wherever they are – can learn from at least two of many niches in Korean entertainment industry: Reality Shows and K-pop.
Okay, I wasn’t a fan of Korean entertainment, but my wife has got me to listen to K-pop and watch Korean drama. I never really like Korean drama, but I did watch some, anyway.…
In most developed countries, being a business owner or aspiring entrepreneur has become as hard as it has been for several years. The impact of the global downturn which started back in 2008 is still being felt today, as millions of people struggle to find long-term stable employment, while consumer demand in the US and Western Europe hasn’t reached pre-downturn levels yet.
When you factor in rising costs of energy, communications and, for the manufacturing sector in particular, several raw materials, being a business owner doesn’t seem quite so glamorous now, does it?…
Planning is a crucial part of setting up a business. Apart from knowing the kind of business that you want to start, you have to plan where you will set it up. Location will determine the success of your business, so you need to know which cities are best in which to start a business. Here is a short list of U.S. cities where you can successfully start your own business.
Dallas, Texas
This is a metropolitan area with a population of about 6.5 million people.…
Video is an integral part of any crowdfunding campaign. In fact, according to Kickstarter, campaigns with videos have a 50 percent success rate, and the success rate of campaigns without videos is only 30 percent. Regardless of what someone is seeking funding for, video can make or break the project. Here are some of the most detrimental mistakes anyone can make when producing a crowdfunding video and some tips on avoiding them.
Lack of Planning
Too many people make the mistake of simply turning on the camera and making a spur of the moment video without putting any thought into it.…
So, you have been working 9 to 5, 5 days a week. You fulfilled your responsibilities as an employee but now you know it’s your time to switch over to the startup mode of business. It is going to be tough for you, we know but that is also a challenge and you cannot afford to leave it out. Switching over to a different mindset and having fulfilled the requirements of your new business successfully is going to be your first step to success.…
