Most people know they shouldn’t attempt to take on a mortgage without having some way to pay for it. Yet small business owners do something quite similar every day. How do they do this? Some small business owners focus on running the business before focusing on generating the leads that fund the business. Sure, every […]
5 Things Wrong With Your Business Plan
If you’ve taken the time to develop a business plan for your start-up business, you are on the right track. You have a roadmap that will help you with decision-making in your new enterprise. Take the time to be sure your business plan doesn’t contain any of the following shortcomings that will prevent your business […]
How to Stop Burning Money in Your Small Business!
Your unrecorded expenses are a profit fire hazard. Do any of these statements sound familiar? “It’s only $5. It’s not worth my time.” “I’ll do my expenses when I’m not busy.” “There’s no easy way to track my expenses.” “I have money in the bank, so I don’t need to worry about expenses.” If so, […]
Budgeting Tips for Small Business Owners
If your fiscal year parallels your wall calendar, then you made it through Q-1 or as you may formally call it, the first quarter. Perhaps you’re feeling optimistic about the goals you’ll accomplish this year, or are concerned about your revenue goals for the second quarter. It’s best to look at where you’ve been to […]
Should You Have Good Pricing or Great Pricing?
Should you have good pricing or great pricing? Our first instinct is to have great prices that will permit us to crush the competition, gain market share and fuel fast growth. The usual problem is that great prices typically provide slim profit margins. Good pricing, however, over the long term, should create enough profitability to […]
How to Get Paid What You Are Worth
Every week as SmallBizLady, I conduct interviews with experts on my Twitter talk show #SmallBizChat. The show takes place every Wednesday on Twitter from 8-9pm ET. This is excerpted from my recent interview with Alfred Edmond @AlfredEdmondJr is SVP/Editor-at-large of Black Enterprise. He is a content leader, brand representative and expert resource for all media platforms under […]
Do Small Businesses Still Need Merchant Services?
There’s been a lot of buzz lately about mobile payment processing services like Square, and some suggest they could render traditional merchant accounts obsolete. While doing a credit card off a mobile device may work just fine for personal use and some niche markets within the retail space, a traditional merchant account might still be […]
How to Detect Early Signs of Financial Trouble in Your Small Business
Are you always struggling with cash flow? Is it often a surprise to you? These could be indications of a bigger challenge in your small business. So how do you detect the early warning signs of financial trouble in your small business? First, most business owners don’t keep current monthly financial accounting records. Then even […]
How to Prepare for Irregular Income in a Small Business
Owning a business is great. You have unlimited earning potential, get to be your own boss, and live outside a gray cubicle. It is the American Dream. Except when it isn’t. The dream can quickly become the American Nightmare when the bills appear faster than clients’ payments. It plays out as a vicious cycle, but […]
Do You Run Your Business as if it’s For Sale?
Even if you have absolutely no plans to sell in the near or far future, you should keep your business in sale-ready shape. For one thing, running a business so attractive and competitive that someone would want to buy it is more rewarding – personally and financially – than running a business that’s in constant […]