Every 10 years, the United States conducts a major census effort. However, the US Census’ goal is not simply determining how much the population has grown. The results of each census produce valuable demographic and consumer information that you can use to help make business decisions.

Customer Profiles and Demographics

Particularly, the census data provides a wealth of valuable information for marketing purposes. You can get current estimated demographic results even now at the US Census Bureau. When the most recent results are in, check the website for your local area. This will give you tremendous insight to who your customers are. <

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If you are looking to buy a business the term ‘due diligence’ should be familiar.

Due diligence is the process of thoroughly investigating the business to substantiate the claims made by the vendor (and broker) and ensuring that the business is sound.

Generally, you will need 5-9% of the sale price available for due diligence. For example, if the business has a sale price of $100,000 you will need between $5,000 – $9,000 for due diligence. (Re

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One of the best things that you can do for your business is keeping your credit card processing system up to date.  An old, outdated system can really cause some problems.  It will likely be slow and may also be really insecure, leading to possible leaks of information and vulnerability to skimmers.  Avoid these problems by talking with North American Bancard today!

We have the newest processing technology available for our customers.  One of the important features of new credit card equipment is PCI compliance.  Essentially, this means that the system is secure and that it follows that latest security standards set in place by the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council.  NAB has solutions that will help you stay on top of updates and keep you protected.

If you’re interested in learning more about what commerce solutions NAB has to offer your business, go to nabancard.com or give us a call at 1-800-BANCARD.  We’re here for you, so make sure that you take advantage of the great resources that we have to offer!

New hope has been given to language schools in their fight against visa changes they claim could cost the industry millions of pounds.

Government restrictions aimed at stopping illegal immigrants from abusing the visa system came into force in March.

They require anyone wanting to study in theUKfor more than six months to prove they already speak GCSE-standard English.

Heads of language schools in Brighton and Hove, where the industry is estimated to generate £115 million for the economy each year, predict the consequences will be catastrophic, costing them up to 30% of their business.

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The IRS is sending postcards to millions of small businesses to tell them about the healthcare tax credit.

Important news for entrepreneurs is on its way. The IRS has begun mailing postcards to make small businesses aware of the benefits of the recently enacted healthcare tax credit. More than four million small firms and tax-exempt organizations will receive the mailing.

The credit, which was included in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act approved by Congress and signed by the president, is among the first of the reform provisions to go into effect.

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Business Credit Repair

 

In today’s challenging economy, business owners should be diligent in protecting and, if necessary, repairing their business credit reports.

Unfortunately there’s not much helpful information regarding business credit repair and how you go about correcting errors, inaccuracies or obsolete information on your files with the three main business credit bureaus.

Just the other day one of my members was debating whether to purchase a shelf corporation or work on his existing entity which had two derogatory marks on its DNB file.

He felt it would be much easier to start over instead of working on repairing his existing file because he had no idea of how to go about correcting it.

I suggested he follow some simple steps to initiate an investigation and after one business day his file was updated and the negative marks were both deleted on his file.

This is why it’s so important to monitor your files because the only one who is policing them and ensuring that the data being reported is accurate is you!

There are currently no laws that protect business owners from unfair business credit reporting, like the Fair Credit Reporting Act does for consumers.  

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