Business Feeds

So you think you can lead a small business? No, this is not a reality TV show – this is reality. Entrepreneurs can get caught up in starting a small business, and as it grows, most are behind the curve when it comes to customer relations and staff management.

Sure, small business leadership takes vision, drive, goal setting, and decisiveness. However, leading people are a different matter. While there is no absolute method of managing a small business, there are some rules you should follow.

Here is a brief course in small business leadership 101:

Dress Your Best

Dressing your best doesn’t necessarily mean wearing suit and tie every day. It means wearing clothes that are fashionable and a step up from what you expect your employees to wear.

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When you decide to venture out on your own and start your very own business, it seems there are dangers awaiting at your every footsteps and risks to be taken at every single stage. In this respect, it’s not all too difficult (or uncommon, for that matter) for a start-up entrepreneur to make a mistake with the strategy and/or expectations of their small business’s performance. Mistakes can cover a whole variegated gamut of missteps, from choosing an unsuited location to open a restaurant, employing the wrong currency conversion rates when dealing with foreign business partners or simply expecting too much too soon. The key to mistakes in business is to identify them as quickly as possible, owning up to them, and then finding the proper way of turning them around. Onc Read more…

AUSTIN (KXAN) – A local business is making a big television debut this week. Matt Chasen started U-Ship seven years ago while in college at the University of Texas.

The company lets haulers bid on shipping big items — everything from statues to camels. The CEO called the premise perfect for a reality TV show — which has been named ” Shipping Wars .”

“We’ve known for a long time we have a lot of colorful characters, independent haulers and transport companies that us our site to find business,” said Chasen.

The show premieres Tuesday night on A&E.

Franchising, although more expensive initially than starting a new business, is also a most-likely-to-succeed business worth looking into.  In a Palm Beach Post article, the IFA Educational Foundation  says more than 90 percent of franchises renew their agreements.  With contracts averaging five to seven years, that means the rate of success is much higher than small businesses as a whole, said Matt Haller, spokesman for the International Franchise Association.

Pizza, frozen yogurt, bagel shops. Child day care, indoor playgrounds, tutoring. Hair salons and home health care. If

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Buying a business requires that you, the buyer, make an informed decision before closing the deal.  Researching about the business starts the moment you are thinking about buying a business.  Start making inquiries from your friends and entrepreneurs in the same industry.  You should read trade and industry publications, and search the Internet.  If you like the preliminary information you heard or read from your initial meeting with the seller, make an offer.  If the seller accepts this, he or she will grant you a period of time, usually a month to several months, to access the companys records and books.  Take this time to know everything about the company you intend to buy. Get a Read more…

In 2009, Jay Goltz was decreasing his inventory. Now, the owner of five Chicago businesses, and writer of The New York Times small business blog Youre the Boss, said he is re-investing in his businesses.

This may come as surprising news for small businesses, many of which have been saving money and holding their own. But Goltz said businesses who remain stable should try to push forward.

“[If] you can afford to take some calculated risks, this might be the time to get out of the bunker and try to get ahead of the pack,” Goltz said, adding that he is revamping the business for one of his shops and purchasing a bigger warehouse so he can buy in larger quantities to save money.

Goltz said many businesses need to focus on moving forward, taking some chances and building their company up instead of standing still.

If more business owners take the initiative to invest in their company, there could be a slight improvement in the economy by virtue of more jobs for small businesses.

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The Small Business Authority, a publicly-traded Newtek Business Services, Inc. company, has launched a small business-related blog for Forbes.com.

In the first entry, posted on June 15, the SBA defined the blogs mission as informing overburdened small business owners about crucial topics such as lending, insurance and taxes. The post also encouraged reader comments to drive conversation regarding these issues.

An SBA press release specified that the blog will also include updates to monthly reports issued by the organization, including its Index and Market Sentiment Survey.

Last months SBA Market Sentiment Survey focused on cloud computing, and revealed that 71 percent of small business owner respondents had not heard of this technology.

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What kind of business do you want to open? I think food based business still has prospect. People always want to eat a new food. This is a potential market for business owner. If you need to open new restaurant, you should have great concept. Business planning is a must for a new restaurant to predict the long term profit projection and any factor that is related to the restaurant business. After all things are cleared, we need to know how to find furniture for our restaurant. This is a primary need for your restaurant. You can hire an interior designer to build nice perception of your restaurant from the design. The nice interior design will give benefit for your restaurant and increase the possibility of coming customer. That is why we need to know where to find a company can support the furniture for our restaurant. Read more…

Small business owners are aware of the benefits of using social media like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace, and even YouTube. But one consistently overlooked social media site that is ripe with potential for promoting your small business is on the photography social media site, Flickr.

What is Flickr?

Simply put, Flickr is a Yahoo! website that allows members to upload and share photographs. Accounts are free to sign up, but free accounts are only allotted 100 uploads. More about their paid “Pro” account is explained below.

But more than that, it is a community website where the social factor is enhanced by images, usually stunning visual photographs posted by millions of enthusiastic amateur and professional photographers.

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