Welcome
Loading...
Welcome to the Business Advantage
Small Business Community
Learn. Share. Thrive.
Running a small business is no easy feat. That’s why we’ve created a forum for small business ideas, insider tips, and the industry knowledge you need to help your small business grow.
Hero (Carousel)
Loading...
12 Tips to Conquer Black Friday
Is your small business ready for the chaos of Black Friday? Rieva wants to make sure your small business conquers Black Friday with these tips and tricks.
Veteran’s Small Business Week
We’re putting veterans front and center – from advice for veteran business owners to podcast content that puts the spotlight on the men and women who serve our country. Start with this compelling article from Ebong Eka.
How to Recover from a Catastrophic Mistake
Every business eventually encounters big problems, sometimes catastrophic ones. What can you do when disaster happens? Find out with Steve Strauss.
Activity Tabs
Loading...
Loading...
What's new
Matters Most
Matters Most
Raising capital for businesses is hard and often misunderstood. As a “recovering” investment banker, I have helped my clients raise 10-figures in capital over the past 15 years, and have witnessed… (Show moreShow less)
Raising capital for businesses is hard and often misunderstood. As a “recovering” investment banker, I have helped my clients raise 10-figures in capital over the past 15 years, and have witnessed… (Show moreShow less)in Credit & LendingLike (1)
This is the second article of a three-part series on capital-raising mistakes you can easily avoid. If you missed the first post, can check it out here. Mistake #5: Underestimating How Much Time… (Show moreShow less)in Credit & LendingLike (0)
Matters Most
This is the final post of a three-part series on capital raising mistakes you can easily avoid. For the first post, click here and for the second part, click here. Mistake #9: Not Being Scrappy… (Show moreShow less)
This is the final post of a three-part series on capital raising mistakes you can easily avoid. For the first post, click here and for the second part, click here. Mistake #9: Not Being Scrappy… (Show moreShow less)in Credit & LendingLike (0)
Matters Most
Starting a business can be difficult. The reality facing all business owners is that a market of individuals must like and, ultimately, support your product or service through their patronage. … (Show moreShow less)
Starting a business can be difficult. The reality facing all business owners is that a market of individuals must like and, ultimately, support your product or service through their patronage. … (Show moreShow less)in Credit & LendingLike (0)
Matters Most
This year we are celebrating Thanksgiving on Thursday in the U S. You may not be celebrating because you're in another country...or you may be celebrating but need a break from the family and the… (Show moreShow less)
in General BusinessLike (0)
Thank you, Luckiest. I hope you and your family have a lovely Thanksgiving holiday as well. --Lisa
Matters Most
Being an entrepreneur can require a substantial financial and emotional commitment. For many individuals, testing business ownership out on a small scale before making a bigger commitment makes sound… (Show moreShow less)
Being an entrepreneur can require a substantial financial and emotional commitment. For many individuals, testing business ownership out on a small scale before making a bigger commitment makes sound… (Show moreShow less)in General BusinessLike (0)
People Updates
- markwilliamson, qo2018xsx2, linebottom and 6 others updated profile information
Profile Updates
Social News
- qo2018xsx2 achieved a new status level:
Adventurer - qo2018xsx2 achieved a new status level:
Wayfarer - diky haryanto achieved a new status level: Wayfarer
- huntergosling achieved a new status level: Wayfarer
- vanessamay achieved a new status level: Wayfarer
Loading...
This time of year, you'll find lots of posts about gratitude and saying "thank you." But we rarely recognize the power of the ultimate business expression of thanks -- the testimonial. As a business owner, your credibility often depends on finding...
This time of year, you'll find lots of posts about gratitude and saying "thank you."
But we rarely recognize the power of the ultimate business expression of thanks -- the testimonial.
As a business owner, your credibility often depends on finding clients who will publicly thank you and acknowledge your help,
usually through testimonials.
From your understanding of gratitude, you probably realize that writing a testimonial has benefits for the grateful clients, too.
But your client's testimonial will also help a third way -- encouraging your future clients to make a decision that could be life-changing.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Travel Safe
This year we are celebrating Thanksgiving on Thursday in the U S. You may not be celebrating because you're in another country...or you may be celebrating but need a break from the family and the cooking. Again Happy Thanksgiving and be SAFE....
This year we are celebrating Thanksgiving on Thursday in the U S.
You may not be celebrating because you're in another country...or you may be celebrating but need a break from the family and the cooking.
Again Happy Thanksgiving and be SAFE.
LUCKIEST
Hi guys, My name is Michael from Oceanside CA and I am interested in starting a side hustle selling gardening products & tools online on eBay and Amazon. I was wondering if any of guys you have done it and how has it turned out...
Hi guys,
My name is Michael from Oceanside CA and I am interested in starting a side hustle selling gardening products & tools online on eBay and Amazon.
I was wondering if any of guys you have done it and how has it turned out for you? Profitable?
I've spent the last few months watching videos on YouTube on how to do it. It seems like dropshipping is the way to go.
I've also looked at Amazon FBA but it seems like I would need a bigger budget as opposed to the dropshipping route.
I also have a question for those who have successfully created a business selling on Amazon on eBay.
Where do you guys find your suppliers? What's the best supplier directory?
I have found two so far and they are SaleHoo and Worldwide Brands. Out of the two, it seems like
SaleHoo is more legit based on these reviews that I have read online: this one and this one
Other questions that I have is:
- How big of a budget did you guys start out with?
- What are the other hidden costs that I have to keep in mind?
- Should I go with selling on eBay or Amazon? Or perhaps both?
What are their pros and cons?
Thanks.
From my professional experiences ( Founder & CEO of Inventory Software Services ), I have worked with many small businesses. Here I share my professional experiences of small business marketing. I think it's greatly helping post for every...
From my professional experiences ( Founder & CEO of Inventory Software Services ), I have worked with many small businesses. Here I share my professional experiences of small business marketing. I think it's greatly helping post for every digital marketer.
Maximum small businesses are not global, they sales their products in specific regions. So, local business marketing is very important for a small business. Mainly there are two types of small business marketing: 1. Offline or manual marketing and 2. Online or internet marketing. Here I discuss both of these. Continue reading for your better local business marketing.
Offline or manual marketing:
Manual business marketing is the traditional business marketing. In this marketing, marketers manually work like talks with customers, Signboards, banners, and lift lets. Attend the local fairs, arrange campaigns, advertisements in local media and so on local activities.
- Talks with customers: Directly communicate with customers is a very effective way of local business marketing. Here marketer tries to attract customers by describing products quality, service, price, and especially. Though it's a very effective way, it needs huge manpower to attract huge customers.
- Signboards, banners, and lift lets: Signboards, banners and lift lets is another good way of local business marketing. You may take the advantages of this marketing way. Though it's a little bit expensive, It's very effective.
- Attend the local fairs: Local fairs the fairs of local humans. A huge number of peoples go fairs to buy their products. May give some discounts to attract customers and get instant sales in fair. Finally, fair is a great opportunity for your business publicity.
- Arrange campaigns: Arranging campaigns in another great way to your business marketing. Choosing correct locations is very important in this marketer way. In front of markets, schools or colleges and the places where gather in huge people.
- Sponsorship in the local concerts, tournaments or locations: Local concerts, tournaments (Football, Cricket, Golf, Tennis, hockey, volleyball etc. ) or local occasions are very important for local business marketing. A huge number of people attend on these occasions. If you get sponsorship of these occasions, it's a great way of local publicity.
- Advertisements in local media: Advertisements in local media like local newspapers, local tv channels, radios or others local media is a good way of local business marketing. But it's important to properly plan your local advertisement program according to your budget and targeted audience.
Online or internet marketing:
A huge number of peoples are using online today. It's increasing day by day. The market of E-commerce business increases 23% day by day. So, it's important to take the advantages of online marketing. There are many effective ways of online marketing like social media (Facebook, Twitter, Google plus, Instagram, Pinterest and so on ), SMS marketing, Email marketing, SEO, Advertisements networks and so on.
- Social media marketing: Millions of users using social media at every moment. It's an important media for local business marketing. Many businesses are using social media for your products marketing and generate huge sales. Why are you not? Open your social media account for your business; take marketing plan (you may hire social media experts) for more activity in more social accounts.
- SMS marketing: Almost every people use a mobile phone today. So, SMS marketing is a great marketing strategy. You can send your discount offers or new products news or greetings or offers on any social occasions to your existing customers. It's keeping a good relationship with customers as well as your effective products marketing.
- Email marketing: Email marketing is another popular business marketing strategy. E-commerce sites generate a huge number of sales using email marketing. You can collect local email addresses using email collecting software and can also market your products to your existing customer's email address.
- SEO: You can take the advantages of SEO if you have a website. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) can generate a huge number of targeted users. You can get huge sales from your well-ranked websites. Though SEO is a slow process, it may open a great opportunity of your bright business future.
- Submit your websites in business startups: Business startup sites are another opportunities to increase your business popularity. There are so many high authoritative sites in this category like g2crowd, CrunchBase and so on. To get high authoritative business start-up submission sites you can take the help of search engines.
- Submit your products in products review sites: Product review sites are another great one for your online marketing. Maximum customers see the product reviews before buying your products. Good customer’s reviews by your customer's influence new customers. Same as business start-ups, you take help of search engines to find great products review sites in your niche.
- Use press releasing site to release your business news: Press on news releases sites publish your business or product news in their huge number visitors. It not only increases your publicity but also increases your trustworthiness. Some great press releases sites are PRNewswire, mashable and so on.
- Submit coupon codes in high authoritative coupon codes sites: You may offer some discounts to get customers. A huge number of od businesses offer discounts by coupon codes to attract customers and for this, they get so many sales. Why you are not? Offer some discounts using coupon codes and submit your coupon codes on high authoritative coupon submission sites. So many peoples search coupon codes on these sites before buying their products or services.
- Create your own apps: Create your own apps for Android, iOS, Mac, Windows, Ubuntu and for all popular operating systems. Submit your apps in Google play store, apple app store, and other app submission sites according to operating systems. It opens great opportunities in online marketing.
- Create browser add-ons of plugins: Creating your browser add-ons or plugins opens connections between your business and online users. Every time they open their browser, they see your add-ons or plugins and it increases the probability to connect with your business.
- Advertisements: It's a very effective way of marketing to get instant results. There are many online adds networks such as Google add words, media.net, Facebook adds, Instagram adds and so many. It's important to properly plan your adds program to get maximum sales with your minimum budget.
The bottom line:
Above these techniques are very effective for local business marketing. By following all of these your business sales growing first and I wish you able to take the top position in your market.
Recent surveys reveal that 1 out of every 10 businesses are owned by a vet. And I imagine that thousands of employees in businesses are vets too. We are grateful for their service to us and our country. Please share your plans...
Recent surveys reveal that 1 out of every 10 businesses are owned by a vet. And I imagine that thousands of employees in businesses are vets too. We are grateful for their service to us and our country. Please share your plans for how you and your business will thank your vets for their service and for all they do to add to your business. Encourage others to offer words of thanks, too.
Cath
Dear moderators, I'm not sure which subforum to post in/how to contact a moderator so please forgive my duplicate posts. I'd like a thread that I previously made removed as it reveals personal information (or edited to remove my...
Dear moderators,
I'm not sure which subforum to post in/how to contact a moderator so please forgive my duplicate posts.
I'd like a thread that I previously made removed as it reveals personal information (or edited to remove my name/location): Starting Decal Business
Much appreciated.
Management is the key to success for all types of business. A good management can give you good sales and good profit. In big businesses, there are so many experts to manage business using advanced features of modern business management, but in...
Management is the key to success for all types of business. A good management can give you good sales and good profit. In big businesses, there are so many experts to manage business using advanced features of modern business management, but in small businesses, sometimes the only owner is the main decision maker or a business manager decides all the things of a business. In these cases, sometimes they are not familiar with advanced business management features. Here I discuss some advanced features of modern small business management and if you(Business owners or managers) not using yet, By using it, your business management is so well organized as well as increasing your profit and finally, your business growth is increasing more than any time before.
1. Analysis your inventory turnover: Inventory Turnover is the ratio of how many times an item is replaced or sold versus time period. A good turnover rate indicates good sales status of that item. It helps you to increase profitability and reduce holding costs.
2. Properly manage your demand forecasting: Demand forecasting is the process in which you can measure your future demand using historical data.
By using demand forecasting, you can properly manage your stocks according to your demands and finally, you can properly utilize your capital of business for getting your maximum benefit.
3. Calculating your safety stock: Safety stock is a measurement to reduce the risk of the empty stock. According to the products demands and time need to a supplier to deliver those products to ensure the stock quantity to reduce the risk of the empty stock.
Without ensuring safety stock sometimes you can't provide products according to customer demands. So you lost your sales as well as your benefits. It's also growing a negative effect of your trustworthy in the customer's mind.
4. Proper use of minimum order quantity: Minimum order quantity is the minimum quantity a supplier willing to sell. It's may vary products to products or suppliers to suppliers.
By proper using of the minimum quantity, you can properly utilize your business capitals. Proper using of it reduces unwanted stocks and holding cost and reduce the probability of empty stock.
5. Using of reorder point formula: Recorder point is a label which indicates it's the time to restock your particular products items. It is depending on your products sales quantity on average and suppliers take times to delivered products after ordering. It's the minimum amount of particular items stock keeping in hand reducing the risk of the empty stock.
6. Consignment inventory strategy: Consignment inventory is a supply chain management strategy in which a business owner store products from suppliers without paying money until the products are consumed.
It's a very important and effective business strategy for a business to go forward with the minimum cost.
7. Analysis of seasonal business: If you have seasonal products, it's important to analyze your particular items sales at a particular time. It helps to understand your business trending at different times in the year. You can realize your right demands at the right time and can take the right preparation for the right business.
8. Reconcile your business: Reconciliation is a process to check physical inventory with business records, and finally, adjust records according to physical inventory.
It's an important process of inventory management to ensure the accuracy of business records. It helps to find out any corruption of your business like employee theft or administrative cheating.
The Bottom Line: Above these advanced features of business management are very effective and help to increase your business growth. All these features you can get by using a good inventory management software. If you are not using yet I recommend using these feature and see what a business future is waiting for you.
In November here in the USA, we take a pause to remember those individuals who have sacrificed a part of their lives and liberty to protect ours. I'd like to express my thanks to those who served. Just in time for Veterans Day, Steve Strauss...
In November here in the USA, we take a pause to remember those individuals who have sacrificed a part of their lives and liberty to protect ours. I'd like to express my thanks to those who served. Just in time for Veterans Day, Steve Strauss brings us a fantastic article illustrating why veterans make excellent employees and entrepreneurs.
Why Veterans Make Great Entrepreneurs
Please take a look at the article, consider some of the ideas within, and if you have the opportunity as you go through your day, please take a moment to thank and encourage a veteran.
--Lisa
I'm considering in hiring remote sale people. I have read a lot of articles. Tried posting classified ads on indeed.com but the response rate was low. If anyone has experiences in working with remote sales people, I would like to...
I'm considering in hiring remote sale people. I have read a lot of articles. Tried posting classified ads on indeed.com but the response rate was low. If anyone has experiences in working with remote sales people, I would like to hear your experiences. Thanks.
You've probably heard that a headline is the most important part of your copy. In fact, many copywriters write the headline first and many write 50 or more before coming up with a good one. When you look around online, you'll find many tips to...
You've probably heard that a headline is the most important part of your copy. In fact, many copywriters write the headline first and many write 50 or more before coming up with a good one.
When you look around online, you'll find many tips to improve your copy and you'll find many fill-in-the-blank headline templates.
Copywriters usually start with templates because you get a proven format and it's easier to come up with ideas.
Sometimes your headline seems to be resisting. Nothing helps. When this happens try this tip: Write out your main headline idea in simple English.
What's the point you want to make in your headline? What's the most important point you want to get across? What is most appealing to your targeted audience?
Good Luck
Loading...
This is the final post of a three-part series on capital raising mistakes you can easily avoid. For the first post, click here and for the second part, click here. Mistake #9: Not Being Scrappy Scrappiness is one of the...
This is the final post of a three-part series on capital raising mistakes you can easily avoid. For the first post, click here and for the second part, click here.
Mistake #9: Not Being Scrappy
Scrappiness is one of the hallmarks of being an entrepreneur. It is the ability to take lemons and make lemonade, get the max for the minimum and generally beg and barter to make things happen. It’s about trying to find a way to make things happen in alternate ways. Think of it as being the MacGyver of entrepreneurship. How can you extend payment terms with vendors or get paid upfront for your goods and services? Both of those efforts will decrease the amount of capital you require.
Perhaps you can trade your products or services for legal, accounting or other help? Can you get your website done for less money by using a company located in a less expensive area of the country? Can you outsource any of your tasks to a virtual assistant, maybe even one overseas?
While you certainly can’t cut out all of the expenses of your business, if you can be scrappy in the early stages of your company, you may be able to achieve critical milestones with less capital, making it easier to do a formal capital raise down the line.
How to avoid this mistake:
- Review your plans to see if there are ways to extend payment terms (without incurring penalties)
- Review expenses to see if there is anything you can beg, borrow or barter for
- Creatively think about ways you can get paid upfront (in part or whole) for your products and services
Continue to think outside of the box
Mistake #10: Not Understanding Debt
Someone along the way must have sent out a memo that was grossly misunderstood because there are lots of misconceptions about debt (loans) for businesses. From the government giving away money for free (it doesn’t), to the government making loans through the SBA (it doesn’t - it provides “insurance” to lending institutions in the SBA program to lessen the institutions’ risk when making small business loans), there are lots of myths and misunderstandings on the subject. 
Lenders take the business of making small business loans pretty seriously. Getting a loan requires one or more of: (I) a good personal credit history, (ii) personal assets/collateral, (iii) business history and/or (iv) business assets/collateral. If your new business doesn’t have major assets, most lenders will want you to personally guarantee the loan with your personal assets, like your house, which adds to your personal financial risk.
If you don’t have appropriate collateral, you may find it nearly impossible to get a loan for the business. Basically, you have to be somewhat successful and have proven your financial abilities to save towards your business in order to get a loan to start a business.
Plus, if you fall behind on payments for your debt or if your business is struggling in certain areas and if you aren’t complying with the specifics of your lending agreement (called covenants), the lender may step in and take all kinds of actions that will irritate you but are fully within its right as a lender.
Also, many businesses are financed by another type of debt: personal credit card debt. Credit card debt is very costly and can contain double-digit lending rates. This makes credit card debt a very expensive option, one that may not be able to be made up by the rate of return you produce from your business.
How to avoid this mistake:
- Connect with a business banker early to help guide you through the process
Related: Schedule an appointment with a Small Business Specialist
- Make sure you ask a lot of questions about what is required of you if you take on debt
- Don’t sign anything that you do not 100% understand
- Make sure to keep bank covenants in the front of your mind – even if your business is not in trouble, breaking a covenant can wreak havoc on the business
- Don’t take out any debt (including credit card debt) at a rate of interest higher (or even anywhere near) the potential rate of return you expect from your business
- Don’t use debt to bet (or fully mortgage) the farm
- Remember that your name (and perhaps your assets) is on the dotted line – you are accountable!
- Look to peer-to-peer lending as a lending alternative
Mistake #11: Not Getting Help
So, capital raising can be complicated. You have to figure out how much money you need (which we have already established is usually more than you think) by putting together financial projections. Then, you have to think through the pros and cons of each source of capital. You may also have to put together and review various documents, whether they be loan documents from the bank or a term sheet from angel investors or even just an agreement amongst friends and family. Plus, you may have to set a valuation and potentially file paperwork with various governmental authorities.
If you have never done any of this before, it is complicated! Yet, it is incredibly important and you need to make sure that it is done right and that you understand fully what you are signing up for.
The mistake here is not being willing to get help (which often costs money). You need to hire advisors who have experience with capital raising (not just Uncle Ira, who happens to be a lawyer) to make sure that you are getting the best advice and so that they can educate you as well – ignorance is not bliss in business. You may pay a little more up front, but you get what you pay for. Also, sometimes a bargain on very important items ends up being more costly in the end if the work takes more of your time or needs to be redone.
How to avoid this mistake:
- Be willing to ask for help
- Again, use resources like your business banker to assist
- Review credentials to make sure that the firm or people helping you have experience working with your size company and have capital raising experience too
- Make sure that you clearly outline expectations and understand exactly what you receiving in terms of advice and help
- Ask for explanations so you can become educated too – your name is on the dotted line, you will want to “sanity check” all work done for you by any advisors
Mistake #12: Raising Money to Replace Your Old Salary
Before you started your business, you may have had a good salary that helped you pay for nice things, like your home, car and annual trips to Disney World. Once you leave that job to start a business, you may figure (as so many aspiring entrepreneurs do) that you need to replace that salary to maintain your lifestyle. You decide that since you could find another job that pays that much, you are obviously worth that much and that investors should be willing to pay you that kind of salary for working in your new business. Plus, if you are raising equity, you also figure that you deserve the lion’s share of the equity stake.
Yeah, that’s not how things work in the real world.
Nobody wants to invest in your salary. They want to invest in a business that will grow and make them a hefty return. If you think the idea is so great and you want to keep all of the equity, you better be able to either support that with your own capital or be willing to put in “sweat," the hard work you get in exchange for the equity. That is your payment.
If you want a large salary, that makes you a hired gun, not an owner.
You can expect some small amount of money to live on, but start-ups usually pay below-market salaries to keep costs down. Asking for a premium salary throws up all kinds of red flags for investors (and they may, in turn, throw-up on your business plan). It says you care more about sustaining your lifestyle than doing everything possible to make the business work.
How to avoid this mistake:
- If you want to make the business a success and have a meaningful stake in it, forget the big salary for a while
- If you want a big salary, keep your day job
Mistake #13: Assuming Raising Capital is a One-time Event
So, you have written the plan, given your pitch, waited for months (longer than you expected) and finally, the checks have been written and you raised capital. Thank goodness, you never want to go through that again. Yet the capital raising process is rarely a one-time event. As your business evolves and growth prospects present themselves, you have to have funding to grow the business. The more growth you have, the more money is needed to cover working capital items like inventory and accounts receivable. If you have visions of growing, you are going to need to consider capital-raising, whether through equity or debt, on an ongoing basis. Having no capital needs often means you are not growing, which is not a great prospect either.
How to avoid this mistake:
- Get comfortable with the notion that you will have to raise capital over the long-haul
Related Content
What is working capital – and why is it important?
Lending options for small business owners
Get answers and information about business financing
Find the right financing for your business
About Carol Roth
Carol Roth is the creator of the Future File ® legacy planning system, “recovering” investment banker, billion-dollar dealmaker, investor, entrepreneur, national media personality and author of the New York Times bestselling book, The Entrepreneur Equation. She is a judge on the Mark Burnett-produced technology competition show, America’s Greatest Makers and TV host and contributor, including host of Microsoft’s Office Small Business Academy. She is also an advisor to companies ranging from startups to major multi-national corporations and has an action figure made in her own likeness.
Web: www.CarolRoth.com or Twitter: @CarolJSRoth.
You can read more articles from Carol Roth by clicking here
Bank of America, N.A. engages with Carol Roth to provide informational materials for your discussion or review purposes only. Carol Roth is a registered trademark, used pursuant to license. The third parties within articles are used under license from Carol Roth. Consult your financial, legal and accounting advisors, as neither Bank of America, its affiliates, nor their employees provide legal, accounting and tax advice.
This is the second article of a three-part series on capital-raising mistakes you can easily avoid. If you missed the first post, can check it out here. Mistake #5: Underestimating How Much Time it Takes to Raise Capital ...
This is the second article of a three-part series on capital-raising mistakes you can easily avoid. If you missed the first post, can check it out here.
Mistake #5: Underestimating How Much Time it Takes to Raise Capital
Almost everything in business, particularly those things outside of your control, takes more time than you expect. Raising capital is one of those things. This is especially the case when raising money from individual investors. Even when people tell you they are going to invest in your business, it is difficult to get them to write the check. Getting people to part with their money is like trying to get food away from me when I am hungry; a tough task!
People will wait as long as possible to part with their “Benjamins.” Just ask the federal government what percentage of tax returns get sent in at the last possible moment (on or around April 15th) and how many taxpayers file for an extension. You may have to pry that investment check out of your investors’ hands.
Even with loans, documents need to be put together, processed, reviewed, put through bureaucratic processes and ultimately signed. This takes time and lots of it.
How to avoid this mistake:
- Take whatever timeframe you think is needed to raise capital and increase it by 50 to 100 percent. If you have budgeted six months, it will probably take nine to twelve months (and if you are thinking one month, wake up, because you are dreaming).
Mistake #6: Assuming Your Business is Fundable by Sophisticated Investors
Most business models aren’t big enough to attract the attention of sophisticated investors like angels or venture capitalists. These investors want to invest in businesses that have the ability to give them a 30% – 50% return (or sometimes higher) on their capital, on average, for every year they hold the investment. They use this benchmark because they know a large percentage of their investments are going to fail (as most new businesses do) or be limited in the scope of their success, so they need the one that really succeeds to make up for the nine others that flop. These investors also need a way to get their investment out of the business, so they expect that in some realistic timeframe (usually five to seven years) the business will be big enough to sell or to take public in an IPO. 
Based on the above, there are many more venture capital firms focused on industries like technology, rather than consumer or service businesses.
This set of criteria means your business may not be a fit for an angel or venture capital investment. Venture capital firms only fund a fraction of one percent of all businesses in the U.S. each year. Sophisticated angels also fund a tiny portion of all businesses.
If you are one of the few that do have a business that meets the potential criteria of venture capitalists, it will still be tough to get funded. Every venture capital firm gets hundreds to thousands of business plans submitted for review each year. They dismiss most plans that aren’t introduced by someone they know and can vouch for them. So, if you are not in the inner circle of the venture capital community (and if you need the money, you often aren’t), your plan may not even get a glance, even if your business has merit.
How to avoid this mistake:
- Be realistic on whether you have a business model likely to scale quickly and be of interest to venture capitalists or sophisticated angel groups – if not, don’t waste your time going to them for funding and look elsewhere.
- If you do have a plan that meets the above criteria, try to get an introduction through someone who has a relationship – spend time with your network seeing “who knows who,” as a direct introduction will keep you from the bottom of the business plan (or pitch deck) pile.
Learn more about investors and your business: Why Investors Avoid “Ground Floor” Opportunities
You can read more articles from Carol Roth by clicking here
Mistake #7: Taking Investments from “FFFs,” “DDLs” or “the Crowd” Lightly
If you don’t qualify for an investment from a sophisticated investor group, you may turn to folks who you know—friends, family and acquaintances—who may consider investing in your business. Two acronyms are usually used to describe these investors: “FFFs- friends, family and fools” or “DDLs- doctors, dentists and lawyers”. These are generally people in your network who may have some extra cash lying around.
With technology, and the passing of the JOBS Act, you can raise money in various forms from strangers via crowdfunding. For the purposes of this mistake, I am going to focus on investments vis-à-vis crowdfunding (not the kind that gets you a perk).
Typically, FFFs, DDLs and the Crowd don’t truly understand your business, but they invest either because they believe in you, they have some infatuation with your business idea or because of peer pressure (someone else is investing and they invest alongside them). As investors, these people can become co-owners or lenders to your business.
Going to FFFs or DDLs is challenging. It is hard to ask people you care about or who are in your social circle to give you money. Once you accept it, you make a deal with the devil of sorts, because now your relationship with this person has gone from its existing form to also being business partners. Sometimes you will have to make decisions for the sake of the business that will not make your friends and family happy. This makes for some seriously uncomfortable future interactions.
Because they don’t work with you on a daily basis and yet, you are using their money, your FFFs/DDLs may now:
- Want to get updates on a regular basis
- Want to put in their two cents worth of ideas (e.g. telling you, “don’t you think the store would look so much better with a singing plastic fish on the wall”?)
- Want to come and hang out at your office or place of business
- Demand free or discounted products and services
- Ask you to employ their lazy cousin Nick, or
- Ask you for a million favors in return
You will have to answer to these people, who are now your co-owners or lenders and therefore, people you can’t ignore. These people, based on their lack of business sophistication, can take up a lot of your time at best, and at worst, will make demands from you and the business.
How to avoid this mistake:
- Think about both the pros and cons of taking an investment from a friend, family member or acquaintance.
- Make sure you don’t take any money from someone you have a relationship with that cannot afford to lose 100% of the investment.
- Make sure that you discuss the implications on your relationship with the other party if the investment is lost in whole or in part and decide if the relationship can endure if a problem occurs.
- Think once again if you can handle an awkward birthday party or family dinner if things don’t pan out as planned.
Mistake #8: Not Achieving Milestones First
Everyone thinks they have a great idea for a business and many try to raise money for their business idea. However, a serious letdown about businesses is that the ideas behind them aren’t worth anything (see my previous article on this subject here).
Ideas may have had some value back in the day when there were very few businesses in any given sector. Now that almost everything has already been thought of, not only is it hard to be innovative, but extracting value comes from executing your thoughts into reality.
You have to invest time, money and effort to achieve key milestones, such as developing a technology or securing purchase orders, before you raise capital.
The more you do, the more value and credibility you create. Investors really don’t like to take risks. The more milestones you have achieved, the less risk for the investor. Plus, you will have more confidence in the success of your business.
How to avoid this mistake:
- Focus on achieving milestones – get past the idea stage by building a working prototype, landing paying customers or filing defensible patents, to create value.
Be sure to check back soon for my final post on capital raising mistakes to avoid.
Related Content:
About Carol Roth
Carol Roth is the creator of the Future File ® legacy planning system, “recovering” investment banker, billion-dollar dealmaker, investor, entrepreneur, national media personality and author of the New York Times bestselling book, The Entrepreneur Equation. She is a judge on the Mark Burnett-produced technology competition show, America’s Greatest Makers and TV host and contributor, including host of Microsoft’s Office Small Business Academy. She is also an advisor to companies ranging from startups to major multi-national corporations and has an action figure made in her own likeness.
Web: www.CarolRoth.com or Twitter: @CarolJSRoth.
You can read more articles from Carol Roth by clicking here
Bank of America, N.A. engages with Carol Roth to provide informational materials for your discussion or review purposes only. Carol Roth is a registered trademark, used pursuant to license. The third parties within articles are used under license from Carol Roth. Consult your financial, legal and accounting advisors, as neither Bank of America, its affiliates, nor their employees provide legal, accounting and tax advice.
Raising capital for businesses is hard and often misunderstood. As a “recovering” investment banker, I have helped my clients raise 10-figures in capital over the past 15 years, and have witnessed many individuals who failed to...
Raising capital for businesses is hard and often misunderstood. As a “recovering” investment banker, I have helped my clients raise 10-figures in capital over the past 15 years, and have witnessed many individuals who failed to present a compelling, fundable story about their businesses (and themselves).
In my unscientific but thorough poll of entrepreneurs, 99% rank raising capital amongst their five least favorite business activities. Hopefully, I can help make sense of the capital-raising process to make it more tolerable – and valuable – for you.
To start this three-part series on raising capital, I’ll focus on the key mistakes you must avoid to save time, money and energy while increasing your chances of success when raising money for your business.
Mistake #1: Putting all Your Eggs in One Basket
The very first capital raising mistake relates to not raising outside capital at all. Statistics show that the typical start-up business in the U.S. is self-funded from the entrepreneur’s own savings and supplemented with some personal credit card debt. However, part of balancing risks and rewards is using diversification.
It is important for you as an entrepreneur to show your commitment to your business by investing some of your own capital. This is a safeguard to ensure that you are incentivized to do everything you can to make the business successful. However, if you are putting every last dime into your business, all of your eggs will be in that one darn basket.
How to avoid this mistake:
- Don’t bet the farm on your business.
- If you don’t have enough money to live on and invest in your business, then: (I) wait until you have more money saved, (II) see if you can revise your budget or (III) consider taking outside capital.
Mistake #2: Undercapitalizing Your Business
A large percentage of businesses close because they don’t have enough money to survive the rocky first couple of years of business.
I have found that early-stage and new business owners underestimate the cost of starting and running the business virtually every time (usually by a factor of 3).
In each early stage business I have seen, entrepreneurs say their financial projections are conservative in terms of revenue and expenses (and then I roll my eyes). They also tend to claim they are raising more money than they need so they have a cushion. When I tell them that their projections, as with all entrepreneurs’ financial projections, are too aggressive, they lecture me about why they are the “exception to the rule.” Then, a year later, after revenue estimates fall short and expenses were greater than expected, they give me the reasons why they missed their projections.
There has yet to be an exception to this in my personal experience. Note: seasoned investors know this and it is why they always take a “haircut” to the projections; they assume that they are overstated on the revenue line and/or understated on the expense line when they evaluate investments.
Another issue arises when you don’t raise enough capital upfront and you start to run out of money. It is much more difficult—often impossible—to secure capital to stay afloat when things aren’t going so well.
How to avoid this mistake:
- Do yourself a favor when you do your projections: Revise them so the amount of money you actually need is three times the amount you originally planned. If you think you need $10,000, you really need $30,000. If you think you need $1 million, you probably need around $3 million.
Mistake #3: Not Understanding Valuation
When you raise money for your business, you are usually dealing with one of two types of capital: equity, where you give up an ownership stake in your business, or debt, where you can take on an obligation for your business that you agree to pay back instead of giving up ownership.
There are hybrid scenarios that incorporate both equity and debt (as well as options and warrants), but at a basic level, you need to at least understand equity and debt. If you raise equity, you end up setting a value for your business, which is based on the stage of your business, the milestones you have reached and the ultimate potential of your business.
However, many entrepreneurs don’t understand valuation. Imagine that your business is symbolized initially by a small pie. You have 100% of the pie and then you give up a slice (or percentage) of that pie in exchange for equity capital. The hope is that in the future, your business becomes a huge pie, so that even though other people have pieces of the pie, your piece is bigger than when you owned 100% of the small pie (i.e. your stake is worth more in terms of absolute dollars).
Often, entrepreneurs don’t understand how the pie works. They will say that they have a business idea and that they need to raise $200,000. Then arbitrarily, they will decide that they only want to give up 10% of the equity. However, that establishes a value for the business (and a big one!). If 10% of the pie is worth $200,000, then 100% of the pie (the whole pie) is worth $2 million! That $2 million number includes the $200,000 in cash the investor is giving you, so that means before you raise any money, you value your company at $1.8 million ($2 million minus $200,000).
Most established small businesses aren’t worth $1.8 million dollars, let alone a brand-new business.
Setting unrealistic valuations can increase the amount of time it takes for you to raise capital, prevent you from raising money altogether and create credibility issues for you as an entrepreneur. Even if you can find a fool to invest at your crazy valuation, beware: You may have to raise capital again in the future and having a silly upfront valuation can impede your ability to raise capital in the future (again, credibility issues). It can also damage the relationship with your investor who is now, in effect, your business partner.
How to avoid this mistake:
- Make sure you understand what you are implying in terms of valuation – if you need help, ask a professional.
- Think carefully about the pros and cons of a high valuation, even if you can get one.
- Consider an investment structure using debt that either doesn’t require you to set a business valuation or sets one in the future based on achieved metrics and benchmarks.
Mistake #4: Being Greedy
Let’s say there is a treasure chest of gold located several hundred miles away from your house. If you are the first to get to the treasure chest, you can claim it as yours. The problem is that you don’t have a car. You could walk or ride your bike, but by the time you got there, someone else may have claimed the gold. So, you ask a good friend if they can drive you to the gold and you will share some of it with them if you get there first.
In this analogy, the gold stands for the potential upside rewards of your business, and your friend with the car is the investor and investment capital, respectively, that you need to build your business and reach the treasure chest.
So, how much do you give your “friend” for driving you there? Now, many entrepreneurs take the stance, “well I came up with the idea,” and offer to give their friends a token amount, say 10%. However, the reality is that you can’t get to the gold in enough time to claim it without your friend and his car. So, what if you gave him 30%, 40% or even split it? There will still be enough value for it to be worth both of your whiles. True, the friend wouldn’t have known about the gold without you, but you can’t get there without the car.
Valuing a business is an art, not an exact science, and splitting hairs over percentage points is often missing the entire point!
How to avoid this mistake:
- Other than understanding valuation implications (from Mistake #3), don’t get too caught up in the percentages that you give up for raising equity capital. Capital is a necessary component of growing a business which is also a great deal of risk for the investor.
- Be fair and realize that if the opportunity is large enough, there will be enough to go around for everyone – if not, then you should probably rethink the opportunity
Be sure to check back for my next post on capital-raising mistakes to avoid.
You can read more articles from Carol Roth by clicking here
Related Articles & Pages:
What is working capital – and why is it important?
Infographic: Building Credit for Your Small Business
Bank of America Small Business Financing, Loans & Funding
Tips on How to Finance Your New Business Venture
About Carol Roth
Carol Roth is the creator of the Future File ® legacy planning system, “recovering” investment banker, billion-dollar dealmaker, investor, entrepreneur, national media personality and author of the New York Times bestselling book, The Entrepreneur Equation. She is a judge on the Mark Burnett-produced technology competition show, America’s Greatest Makers and TV host and contributor, including
host
of Microsoft’s Office Small Business Academy. She is also an advisor to companies ranging from startups to major multi-national corporations and has an action figure made in her own likeness.
Web: www.CarolRoth.com or Twitter: @CarolJSRoth.
You can read more articles from Carol Roth by clicking here
Bank of America, N.A. engages with Carol Roth to provide informational materials for your discussion or review purposes only. Carol Roth is a registered trademark, used pursuant to license. The third parties within articles are used under license from Carol Roth. Consult your financial, legal and accounting advisors, as neither Bank of America, its affiliates, nor their employees provide legal, accounting and tax advice.
Bank of America, N.A. Member FDIC. ©2017 Bank of America Corporation
Starting a business can be difficult. The reality facing all business owners is that a market of individuals must like and, ultimately, support your product or service through their patronage. Let’s face it – to start, you need...
Starting a business can be difficult. The reality facing all business owners is that a market of individuals must like and, ultimately, support your product or service through their patronage.
Let’s face it – to start, you need logos, websites, office space and office supplies. Eventually, you will need to buy inventory, hire employees and advertise to win customers. This all requires money!
An overwhelming majority of small businesses fail and one of the biggest reasons is a lack of capital. There are three major ways to bring capital or money into your business:
- Investment capital
- Bank or business loans
- Sales and company revenue
Investment Capital
ABC’s Shark Tank features entrepreneurs from across the country pitching five very successful entrepreneurs (The Sharks) for the hope of winning an investment. The Sharks are essentially venture or angel capital investors because they invest their own money and provide expertise in exchange for equity in the entrepreneur’s business.
One of the disadvantages of relying on outside funding is you need to convince someone to invest their personal assets into your business. The process often requires you to know someone or have an existing relationship with a private investor. Secondly, investor capital is most expensive, often requiring to give up some portion of your ownership rights in the business.
Bank or Business Loans
Bank and business loans can be a great way to capitalize and grow your business. For example, you may need to hire an employee but your current cash flow may be tight because you are waiting to be paid by a customer. In that case, a bank loan or line of credit could be very useful for meeting your company’s payroll.
For example, one of the advantages of a business term loan is that you can pay for a new piece of equipment over a longer time period generally at a fixed rate of interest for the duration of the term of the loan. On the other hand, a line of credit can be useful if you are looking to meet increased temporary working capital needs that are seasonal in nature and your business will be able to pay it back in a short period of time. The line of credit allows you to borrow the amount you need and pay it back when your business cash flow improves, however, the outstanding borrowed amount incurs interest cost that is generally a variable rate of interest.
Additionally, it’s in the best interest of your bank or lender to work with you to solve your cash-flow challenges. Your business and banking relationship can be strengthened by working closely with a banking professional.
Sales and Revenue
Sales and revenue are the most important areas of focus for your business. Self-sufficiency in your business should be the goal and sales/revenue can help you grow to self-sufficiency quickly. The first two ways to bring money into your business (investment capital and bank or business loans) support the goal of growing your revenues.
These three important ways to bring money into your business should be used in conjunction with your business needs. Learn more about how to raise capital for your business.
Related Content:
- Credit and Lending Resource Center
- Get answers and information about business financing
- Find the right financing for your business
About Ebong Eka
Ebong Eka is no stranger to the world of personal finance. As a certified public accountant and former professional basketball player he offers a fresh perspective to small business planning and executing. With over fifteen years of accounting, tax & small business experience with firms like PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte & Touche and CohnReznick, Ebong provides practical money solutions tailored to the everyday person, the aspiring entrepreneur or the small business owner.
Ebong is the founder of EKAnomics, a sales, pricing and leadership firm. He is also the founder of Ericorp Consulting, Inc., a tax and management consulting firm. Ebong is the author of “Start Me Up! The-No-Business-Plan, Business Plan.”
Ebong is also the founder of The $250 Tax Pro, which provides tax preparation and consulting services in the Washington, DC area.
Web: www.ebongeka.com or Twitter: @EbongEka.
You can read more articles from Ebong Eka by clicking here
Bank of America, N.A. engages with Ebong Eka to provide informational materials for your discussion or review purposes only. Ebong Eka is a registered trademark, used pursuant to license. The third parties within articles are used under license from Ebong Eka. Consult your financial, legal and accounting advisors, as neither Bank of America, its affiliates, nor their employees provide legal, accounting and tax advice.
Bank of America, N.A. Member FDIC. ©2017 Bank of America Corporation
Being an entrepreneur can require a substantial financial and emotional commitment. For many individuals, testing business ownership out on a small scale before making a bigger commitment makes sound business sense. For others,...
Being an entrepreneur can require a substantial financial and emotional commitment. For many individuals, testing business ownership out on a small scale before making a bigger commitment makes sound business sense.
For others, having the ability to supplement their other professional endeavors at their own convenience is also appealing. For these reasons, the “gig” economy has really taken hold. While estimates vary widely, we can all agree the number of people with a “side hustle” is in the millions and growing.
However, just because your side business is part time, it doesn’t mean you can abdicate your responsibilities, have sloppy accounting or not take it seriously. To that end, below are four things you should know to make sure that your side hustle or gig business is successful.
1. Treat it Like Any Other Business. Testing a business out on a small scale does not mean you should forget that it is still a business. You should consider creating a separate legal entity, which can help to protect you personally from liability and also make accounting and operational endeavors easier.
This also means you should have a separate bank account and not co-mingle your personal and business revenues and expenses. “Often having a separate business bank account can be a deciding factor in whether the IRS treats this income as a business or a hobby,” said Dee Dee Stone, CPA, a tax strategist for small- to medium-sized businesses and owner of Dee Dee Stone, LLC, who works extensively with hobby-business owners and gig economy entrepreneurs. “Business income is taxed after the expenses have been deducted and businesses can show a loss that offsets other income on the taxpayer’s return. Hobby income is taxed purely on money received with no deduction for expenses incurred to earn it.”
2. Make Accounting a Priority. Those who are new to businesses, and particularly those running small and/or part-time businesses, are often sloppy with accounting, which makes end-of-year tax filing a nightmare (and can also get you into trouble with the IRS). “If you utilize a separate bank account and file your receipts by category at the end of each week, you will find you generally have more deductions than you realize without trying to sneak in personal expenses,” Stone said. “In the event you are audited, you will generally be required to produce business bank statements, another reason to have a separate account, along with receipts for purchases and a mileage log to substantiate any auto deduction.
“Today, because we can buy nearly anything we need from a one-stop shop and items can be business or personal, receipts are required to prove the business nature,” she added. “The burden of proof is on the business owner that items are ordinary and necessary for their business and are only allowed to be deducted at the discretion of the auditor so trying to sneak in all your personal expenses for the extra deductions can result in increased penalties in the end not to mention, if you ever try to sell your business it will not look as profitable.”
RELATED CONTENT: Learn about account management from Bank of America
3. Don’t Forget to get Paid. While some gig jobs make it easy to collect money, many do not. It is your responsibility to make sure you are invoicing your clients regularly and accurately for completed work and/or services or goods provided. Sloppy invoicing that isn’t systematized can delay your payment. In some cases, I have seen entrepreneurs who have lost payment because they haven’t tracked their work well. And, of course, delays in invoicing can create cash flow issues for your business if you are planning to use the money you have earned immediately.
Several technologies and tools can help you manage invoicing, like those incorporated into Quickbooks and more. Do your research to see which is best for your business. There are also a host of tech products that help track expenses, including those you need to bill back to your client.
4. Know the Limitations of a Hobby vs. a Business. While it is important to take any business endeavor seriously, side hustles have limitations you should be aware of. Make sure set your expectations and investments accordingly.
“As the gig economy grows, we have seen more attention from the IRS on taxpayers claiming losses from their ‘businesses’ for multiple years in a row to offset their other income,” Stone said. “If you show a loss for more than two years and are not exercising every opportunity to make your side hustle profitable, you have a hobby for tax purposes. To avoid being limited by the ‘hobby loss’ rules, running your gig business will require proper accounting and recordkeeping.”
The gig economy is here to stay. If you want to participate in it effectively, make sure you are prepared and professional in your approach to ensure you get the most benefits possible.
Read next:
- Is the Gig Economy right for you? Some things you should consider.
- How to Adjust Your Business to the Gig Economy.
About Carol Roth
Carol Roth is the creator of the Future File ® legacy planning system, “recovering” investment banker, billion-dollar dealmaker, investor, entrepreneur, national media personality and author of the New York Times bestselling book, The Entrepreneur Equation. She is a judge on the Mark Burnett-produced technology competition show, America’s Greatest Makers and TV host and contributor, including host of Microsoft’s Office Small Business Academy. She is also an advisor to companies ranging from startups to major multi-national corporations and has an action figure made in her own likeness.
Web: www.CarolRoth.com or Twitter: @CarolJSRoth.
You can read more articles from Carol Roth by clicking here
Bank of America, N.A. engages with Carol Roth to provide informational materials for your discussion or review purposes only. Carol Roth is a registered trademark, used pursuant to license. The third parties within articles are used under license from Carol Roth. Consult your financial, legal and accounting advisors, as neither Bank of America, its affiliates, nor their employees provide legal, accounting and tax advice.
Since 2012, “Giving Tuesday” has taken place on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving. After all of the focus on shopping around that time – what with Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday – Giving Tuesday is...
Since 2012, “Giving Tuesday” has taken place on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving. After all of the focus on shopping around that time – what with Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday – Giving Tuesday is a welcome respite; a day for individuals and businesses to give back to their community.
It’s not surprising that small businesses are typically enthusiastic about participating in Giving Tuesday: After all, small business people are generally highly idealistic. (You have to be if you are going to quit your job and start a business from scratch.) But, beyond that, small business people also know if it were not for their tribe and community, they would not be in business for long. So, when it comes to giving to the community, small businesses know it is important to give back.
How, you ask? Here are some ideas as to how your small business can give back to your community – on Giving Tuesday, and indeed throughout the holiday season.
1. Team up: Last year on Giving Tuesday, Tadlock Roofing partnered with Boys Town, a national nonprofit that supports children, families and communities. Tadlock Roofing offered to match donations to Boys Town up to $10,000, and additionally, the President of the company agreed to jump out of a plane if they met their goal. Sure enough, the President of Tadlock Roofing was captured jumping out of a plane to show that the sky’s the limit to give back.
2. Encourage a community service day or days: Many local non-profits are now, in anticipation of Giving Tuesday, creating giving events for that day. See what is happening in your area and help out. Here are some examples.
More broadly, Giving Tuesday does not have to be confined to that one day. Employees love being able to volunteer, especially around the holidays, so a great way to give back is to offer your team paid time off to do volunteer work within the community. Contact local food banks, senior centers, and elderly services to see where there might be volunteer opportunities.
3. Give a percentage of your sales to charity: Pick a cause that you like, that inspires your team, and which will resonate with your customers, and then pledge to set aside profits for that Tuesday to that group or charity. Yes, it is nice that that will be tax deductible, but what is even nicer is the good you will do and the goodwill you will foster.
4. Offer special discounts for the elderly, the disabled, and those in need: Offering special discounts to these groups is another way to do well by doing good. It would be a win-win for all concerned.
5. Organize a food drive to provide donations for a local food bank: The amount of hungry people in this country is truly astounding. By teaming-up with an appropriate Giving Tuesday organization, you can really make a difference. Indeed, helping the hungry is as giving as it gets.
6. Organize a toy drive for the holidays: Similarly, there are not a few parents who are unable to give their kids the sort of holiday they would prefer. You can either work with a local charity, or even simply locate a needy family and “adopt” them for the holidays.
7. Get your social on: One of the cool things about Giving Tuesday is that it is a national, nay international, movement. Sharing your participation is not gauche as it helps spread the word. And the Giving Tuesday organization wants to help you do just that. You can download and use their social media toolkit here. Or just remember, #GivingTuesday.
(You can download the entire Giving Tuesday Communications and Participation plan here.)
About Steve Strauss
Steven D. Strauss is one of the world's leading experts on small business and is a lawyer, writer, and speaker. The senior small business columnist for USA Today, his Ask an Expert column is one of the most highly-syndicated business columns in the country. He is the best-selling author of 17 books, including his latest, The Small Business Bible, now out in a completely updated third edition. You can also listen to his weekly podcast, Small Business Success.© Steven D. Strauss.
Web: www.theselfemployed.com or Twitter: @SteveStrauss
You can read more articles from Steve Strauss by clicking here
Bank of America, N.A. engages with Steve Strauss to provide informational materials for your discussion or review purposes only. Steve Strauss is a registered trademark, used pursuant to license. The third parties within articles are used under license from Steve Strauss. Consult your financial, legal and accounting advisors, as neither Bank of America, its affiliates, nor their employees provide legal, accounting and tax advice.
Bank of America, N.A. Member FDIC. ©2018 Bank of America Corporation
Are you ready for retirement? Small business owners need retirement plans not only for themselves, but often for their employees. On the latest episode of, “The Heartbeat of Main Street,” Merrill Edge executive and retirement pro, Matt...
Are you ready for retirement? Small business owners need retirement plans not only for themselves, but often for their employees. On the latest episode of, “The Heartbeat of Main Street,” Merrill Edge executive and retirement pro, Matt Gellene, discusses what you should look for in a retirement plan for yourself and for your team.
“The Heartbeat of Main Street” delivers timely insights tailored to the needs of small business owners and entrepreneurs. Featuring a rotating line-up of small business experts and industry leaders – and covering a range of topics – each episode explores the trends that have an impact on revenue creation for small business owners.
The series is hosted by ForbesBooks, and more information can be accessed through a dedicated home page. New episodes will appear regularly on the Small Business Community podcast page. Be sure to check back often – so you don’t miss a beat.
Matt Gellene: Any company, even a sole proprietorship, can implement a retirement plan, just like a large company. In fact, they can implement a 401K plan, and that can really benefit their business, not only personally and what they can save for themselves, but also their employees and really help their business overall not only attract great talent, but really help them through a variety of different ways. Deductions for their potential taxes, you can deduct contributions, etc. It's something that I think a lot of small business owners don't realize.
Narrator: Welcome to “The Heartbeat of Main Street,” with ForbesBooks at forbesbooks.com and Bank of America at bankofamerica.com.
Gregg Stebben: I'm here on “The Heartbeat of Main Street” with ForbesBooks and Bank of America. Matt Gellene joins me. He is the head of Financial Center Merrill Edge and National Performance Executive. We are going to talk about retirement planning, particularly for small business owners. But Matt, before we go there, I want to welcome you, and I also want to have you tell us a little bit about your job and your title.
Matt Gellene: Yeah, well first, Gregg, thanks for having me. I appreciate that, joining you today. Yeah, as far as what I do, I'm in charge of all of the Financial Solutions Advisors. These would be the financial advisors that are out in our financial centers, our banking centers throughout the entire country. We have 2500 of these individuals, and they're out there helping our clients solve their financial problems.
Gregg Stebben: Well, that's a huge job that you have. You must know on a day-to-day basis how you're doing, because you must get a lot of customer feedback.
Matt Gellene: Yeah, we do. It's great. We've had lots of our clients speak to us through, certainly the way that they interact through our client experience partners, but even directly with me, they talk about all the great things that our advisors are doing, the way that they are helping with their financial lives. It's really gratifying to see the work literally every day.
Gregg Stebben: Well, one of the things I want to talk about today is the difference between retirement planning for someone who's an employee, say an executive, and for the person who actually owns the company, because it's very different when someone else has created the plan for you than when you are, in a sense, in charge of both running the company and creating the plan for yourself.
Matt Gellene: Yeah, without a doubt. I mean, most people participate through the retirement plan through their company. In that case, it's already set up for you. It's a way for you to participate in your retirement savings through a really prescriptive way. But if you are your own business owner, if you are running your own company, now you really have to think differently about the way you engage with it, because in most cases, it's not already set up.
The good news, Gregg, is any company, virtually any business, even a sole proprietorship, can implement a retirement plan like a large company. In fact, they can implement a 401K plan, and that can really benefit their business, not only personally and what they can save for themselves, but also their employees and really help their business overall not only attract great talent, but really them through a variety of different ways. Deductions for their potential taxes, you can deduct contributions, etc. It's something that I think a lot of small business owners don't realize. We would be happy to explain that to anyone who is interested.
Gregg Stebben: So let's say I'm a small business owner, I'm listening, and I just heard you say, "Gee, Gregg, this is something you should be doing, because you own a small business, and there's some real advantages to it." Who do I call and what do I ask for? Can you help me with that first step so that I start talking to the right person to get the kind of assistance I need?
Matt Gellene: Absolutely, absolutely, Gregg. Thanks for bringing that up. As I mentioned on the outset, we have more than 2500 individuals throughout the country that actually have the ability to help any small business owner go over their options and talk through these types of solutions. The first step is trying to understand, really, what the plan is, what the small business owner is trying to accomplish. Then we can direct them to ways that they can use some of these things I said to help them do that plan. It's certainly something we do here at Bank of America Merrill Edge. We'd be more than happy to help.
Gregg Stebben: Do you find that this is a common thing, that small business owners are so wrapped up in running the business and keeping it growing and successful that they actually neglect to think about themselves and their own future?
Matt Gellene: Yeah, completely. I think any small business owner would tell you that so much of their time and their energy, really all of their mind share, is spent trying to grow and build their business. Even more so, I think many small business owners think that this business, in and of itself, is their retirement plan. They think that everything they do to grow that business ultimately will have some sort of retirement payoff, if you will. But it's important for everyone to sort of separate out their great work they might be doing to build their business and the plan they have to put in place for themselves for retirement, really separate and apart from what they're driving with their business. This is really a challenge for many small business owners.
Gregg Stebben: Well, let's dig into those challenges a little bit. So, let's say I own a small business, I've been thinking that, you know, at some point this is the retirement nest egg that I need to grow for myself. You're saying, "Well, that's probably not the right way to be thinking about it." What kind of things can go wrong if that is the extent of by retirement planning?
Matt Gellene: Yeah, if you really don't think separately about the way you save and the way you plan for your retirement, you could be overemphasizing your current projects for your business, and you might not have the right discipline to create that separation over time. So what I would always suggest, and frankly this goes not only for small business owner, but frankly anyone who is looking to save for a very specific goal to get, as I said, specific. Think about how much needs to be put away, how you're going to account for that, and really separate and apart from your other endeavors. Make the time and the energy to build a plan around that goal. You're going to be able to have a much better discipline over time to insure you reach that goal.
Gregg Stebben: Well, as I'm listening to you, I'm also realizing that if I own a small business and I'm counting on it to support me in retirement, I'm also banking on the fact that my business is going to continue to be successful without me there, because now I'm retired, or I'm counting on the fact that there will be a successful exit.
Matt Gellene: Right. I mean, I think ultimately every small business owner certainly has to have that optimism about the future, but in order to make sure that you can, as you say, continue on either after you've left the business, post retirement, you have to make sure that you have a great plan in place in case that doesn't come to pass. To your point, there are some businesses where you have succession challenges, and what's going to happen after I leave or directing the business—that's why we really, really want to sit down with the business owner. Create that plan, make sure that they have that benefit laid out, and really start to work through the contingencies that might happen if it weren't to come to pass as they envisioned.
Gregg Stebben: We're talking with Matt Gellene. He's the head of Financial Center Merrill Edge and National Performance Executive. This is “The Heartbeat of Main Street” with ForbesBooks and Bank of America. I want to ask you a more general question, Matt. That is we've been focusing so far on small business owners, but let's broaden the scope. What is it that most people get wrong when it comes to retirement planning? Then I went you to drill in and say, "This is what most people do wrong. Now this is what most small business people do wrong." Because I think we're either going to learn that they make the same mistakes or very different mistakes, but it will very, very useful, either way.
Matt Gellene: Yeah, thanks Gregg. I think that there's sort of two big areas that most people, as you say, quote on quote, "get wrong," when they're thinking about retirement planning. The first is they begin to save, but they save just to save. What I mean by that is they're not laying out a full plan. They're not laying out an end goal and starting to plan for how much they'll need, how much they need to put away, what the rate of return will be necessary to get to that number. Unfortunately, they think, well, just putting a little bit away or making it a regular activity is going to get them to their goal. Frankly, it's because they haven't thought through the plan or the end result. That's the first thing.
The second thing is a little bit of a derivative of that. It's the whole notion of, "Well, set it and forget it." I will tell you, this happens to a lot of people who have a 401K and are contributing regularly. They are doing the right thing by setting that savings plan in place, but they're not looking at where that money is going or looking at where those investments have led them and what the returns are. I will tell you, as you go through your sort of economic life as you're proceeding through your career, you have to make sure that you're constantly looking at your portfolio and getting advice as to how it might need to be rebalanced. As you know, the investments and the markets change. The allocations of where you want to put your money will certainly change over time based on your risk tolerance and when you're going to need it. Too many people do the, "Set it and forget it," notion, and then when they go back to look at it when they're now ready to access it, it might not be where they need it to be. So saving to save and setting it and forgetting it are the two big items that I think many good savers who are planning don't do enough analysis to insure that they're going to be okay.
Gregg Stebben: It also seems to me that for a small business owner, their success in business could be very helpful here if they were focused, but I would imagine for some successful business owners, it could also be a trap. In other words, I know how to build a successful business. If I apply those lessons to my retirement, I'm probably going to have a very successful retirement plan. But on the other hand, you may think you know how to plan a retirement plan because you've been successful in business, but what made you successful in business may require a whole other set of skills.
Matt Gellene: You said it really well. I mean, ultimately, what you should be looking to do is seek out expertise in the areas that you really need help. In fact, the small business owner who's great at running his or her business may not necessarily have the right level of expertise to do the things that I just said. Set the right plan, make sure you're doing the rebalancing, re-evaluate the investments to make sure that they come out the right way, so to speak, when retirement comes around. That core is the expertise that we offer here at Bank of American and Merrill Edge. So we can deliver that for our clients while they spend all of their time building their business.
Gregg Stebben: I would also imagine that not all investing is about retirement, either. I mean, in many cases, when you're a successful business owner, you have money you should be investing for things other than retirement. Can you talk about things you've learned by dealing with small business people?
Matt Gellene: Completely. You know, I think one of the things that we will find is when you talk to a client, whether it's a small business client or an individual client, the most important thing is to find out what their priorities are. What's their, what we like to call, "their life priorities," where they're putting their energy and what's most important to them, because as we will talk to, especially business owners, we know that clearly their work and their business is probably an overarching, if not the first, priority, but there are going to be others as well. It could be how they educate their children, it could be, as you say, retirement planning. It could be simply to create some extra wealth to pass on to future generations.
We have to get to those pieces as well, because once you create that life priority framework, then you begin to be able to plan appropriately for each need. As I said earlier, you can sort of separate out the way you're approaching that, because they may have different plans, they may have different sort of investment profiles, so to say, they may have different risk tolerances. They could be customized depending on what the goal is. It's so important to have that perspective so someone can really own their financial life.
Gregg Stebben: Well and what's interesting here ... again, I'm talking with Matt Gellene. This is “The Heartbeat of Main Street” with ForbesBooks and Bank of America. What's interesting here is that thing that makes successful business owners successful, in many cases, starts with this vision and drive to accomplish the goal. Really, what you're saying is broaden your ability to make goals, and make a goal for yourself personally financially as well, not just a goal for your business.
Matt Gellene: Yeah, that's really well said. You know, ultimately, you have to make sure that you set the right goal, create the right plan, and make sure you've got the right level of priorities. Along with your advisor, create the right level of interaction and constantly evaluate so you can get to those goals, whatever they may be.
Gregg Stebben: I'm going to ask you one more question, Matt. I want to boil this down into one thing to do today. So for anyone listening who realizes now, "I have not been planning adequately for myself, and my family, and even my business," the one piece of retirement advice you'd like to leave them with. I want you to close with, "Here's how you can reach out to us at Bank of America and Merrill Edge."
Matt Gellene: Yeah, well, thank you for that. I think the most important thing I would say is ... and you've heard it throughout thematically here ... is make sure that you have the right level of plan in place to meet that life priority. For us, I think the best way to do that is to be informed and to access the right level of expertise. At Bank of America Merrill Edge, we have that for you. Certainly, as I mentioned, we have 2500 Financial Solutions Advisors that are out in our banking centers, our financial centers, as we call them, but you could do it simply by going to merrilledge.com to begin the journey, see what we have to offer to help you in that regard. If you so desire to speak to someone, we can connect you right through that website to someone locally to help you.
Gregg Stebben: He's Matt Gellene. This is “The Heartbeat of Main Street” with ForbesBooks and Bank of America. Matt is the head of Financial Center Merrill Edge and National Performance Executive. Thanks so much for joining us. Great tips.
Matt Gellene: My pleasure. Thanks, Gregg.
Narrator: Thanks for listening to “The Heartbeat of Main Street” with ForbesBooks at forbesbooks.com and Bank of America at bankofamerica.com.
Learn more about Merrill Edge® at www.merrilledge.com/small-business.
Read next:
- Why Small Business Owners need a Retirement Plan – Now by Steve Strauss
With the holiday season right around the corner, small business owners know it’s time to kick things up a notch. Especially with Black Friday and Cyber Monday only weeks away, this time of year is simply much too lucrative to do things...
With the holiday season right around the corner, small business owners know it’s time to kick things up a notch. Especially with Black Friday and Cyber Monday only weeks away, this time of year is simply much too lucrative to do things halfway.
Consider this: according to the National Retail Federation, the average American consumer plans on spends 4.1 percent more this year during holidays – and that is on top of the extra they spent last year.
People are getting ready to shop, and so we need to make it easy for them to do so at our businesses.
One way to do that is to get in on the Cyber Monday frenzy, which is the Monday after the Thanksgiving holiday. That is the day Amazon and all other big online retailers pull out the stops.
For the small business owner, the “holiday” presents a golden opportunity.
It is kind of like this: Back in the day, my sweet dad owned a chain of carpet stores. His favorite place for a new location was across the street from a mall (like I said, this was in a different era!) Dad figured he could get the benefits of the mall traffic and buzz without having to pay the mall prices.
Cyber Monday is like that. There will be a lot of buzz, and with a little preparation, some of it should lead people to your online hive.
Here’s what to do:
Step 1. Prepare your loss leader:
The Internet generally, and Cyber Monday specifically, is about discounts. That’s the game. If you want to compete on Cyber Monday, you have to play by those rules, and that means offering something or some things at a greatly discounted price. In the world of business, this has traditionally been called a “loss leader.”
Essentially, a loss leader attracts customers to your business by offering them steep discounts on particularly popular items. As such, it is a strategy that involves selling goods or services at, or close to, a loss. Often, the sales price won’t even cover the costs of the product, what with advertising, overhead, cost of the goods, etc. You take a loss on the sale, hence the name, “loss leader.”
But the thing is, by offering a fantastic bargain on a specific item (or items), you lead customers to your website, with the intent of having them buy, not only the bargain, but other things from you that are not as deeply discounted. It is when they buy those other things from you that you make up for the loss you are taking on the sale item.
Step 2. Give your site a makeover:
Updating your website is part of why sufficient preparation time is necessary. You need to create specific web pages for the loss leaders (as that is critical to both good SEO and sales), and you must highlight the sale on your homepage.
Step 3. Make the most of your e-newsletter:
Take advantage of the fact that you have an opt-in list of people who have already given you permission to market to them. Begin to tease the sale now and get people ready for the big day. Be a player. (That said, what you cannot do is bombard inboxes with promotions as that will only lead to an influx of unsubscribe requests.)
Step 4. Advertise and market the heck out of the upcoming sale:
There is going to be a lot of noise in the next few weeks, what with everyone competing for eyeballs. Simply put, and frankly, getting noticed above the din will not be easy. But the good news is that you have a list and a name and a brand and a clientele that is all yours. Market to that.
Step 5. Sell and deliver:
Be ready on Cyber Monday, have enough inventory, have any customer service tools you use at the ready, and sell, sell, sell. Aside from the loss leader and related items consider selling gift cards. Why? Because gift cards are the most popular gift in America. Because about 6 out of 10 people prefer to receive gift cards as gifts, it would behoove you to also advertise and offer them.
Finally, the next day, on Tuesday, begin to fulfill your orders. Remember – that is also the beginning of the busy shipping season, so be prepared for that as well.
Read next:
About Steve Strauss
Steven D. Strauss is one of the world's leading experts on small business and is a lawyer, writer, and speaker. The senior small business columnist for USA Today, his Ask an Expert column is one of the most highly-syndicated business columns in the country. He is the best-selling author of 17 books, including his latest, The Small Business Bible, now out in a completely updated third edition. You can also listen to his weekly podcast, Small Business Success.© Steven D. Strauss.
Web: www.theselfemployed.com or Twitter: @SteveStrauss
You can read more articles from Steve Strauss by clicking here
Bank of America, N.A. engages with Steve Strauss to provide informational materials for your discussion or review purposes only. Steve Strauss is a registered trademark, used pursuant to license. The third parties within articles are used under license from Steve Strauss. Consult your financial, legal and accounting advisors, as neither Bank of America, its affiliates, nor their employees provide legal, accounting and tax advice.
Bank of America, N.A. Member FDIC. ©2018 Bank of America Corporation
Black Friday is always crazy—both for consumers and retailers—and this year promises to be even wilder than usual. According to a survey by Natural Insight, 20% of consumers plan to do most of their holiday shopping on Black Friday, up...
Black Friday is always crazy—both for consumers and retailers—and this year promises to be even wilder than usual. According to a survey by Natural Insight, 20% of consumers plan to do most of their holiday shopping on Black Friday, up from 15% last year. Whether you own a brick-and-mortar store, an e-commerce site or both, advance preparation is vital. Follow these “12 steps to Black Friday success” to ensure you’re ready.
1. Review last year’s data. What kinds of products were hot sellers? What times of day were busiest? What marketing and advertising campaigns worked best? How well did you manage inventory?
2. Research. What’s trending in your industry? What “must-have” products are your customers clamoring for? Combining your research and sales projections with last year’s figures will enable you to make educated estimates this year.
3. Determine what products to promote. Focusing on those that are hard to find or unique to your store will help you attract more customers.
4. Staff up. Make sure you’re adequately staffed during the times of day you expect the most customers. If you’re hiring seasonal workers, get moving: The National Retail Federation projects retailers will hire between 585,000 and 650,000 temporary workers this year, and competition is stiff.
RELATED CONTENT: Tips for Hiring Seasonal Employees Ahead of the Holiday Rush
5. Prepare your people. You’ll need time to train those temps—and your regular salespeople—to provide stellar service. Your staff’s product knowledge, helpfulness and demeanor can make or break the sale at holiday time.
6. Test your tech.
- If you sell online, run a speed test to make sure your site loads quickly and a stress test to ensure it can handle at least double your normal traffic.
- Secure your website against cyberattacks and build customer trust by using trust seals from your SSL certificate provider to indicate site security.
- Test your website navigation and checkout processes for ease of use on both desktop and mobile devices: Holiday shopping will be more mobile-driven this year, eMarketer Retail predicts.
- Make sure your in-store point-of-sale system is running smoothly and accepts multiple forms of payment. Younger consumers are embracing mobile payment solutions.
7. Embrace holiday décor. Enjoying holiday decorations is one of the top reasons consumers shop in-store instead of online, according to Natural Insight. Create a festive atmosphere with holiday décor, music and scents. Get creative with color: Bold, icy shades of pink, purple and green will be cool alternatives to plain old red, white and green this year, says Frontier Label.
8. Check your local directory listings. If you own a brick-and-mortar store, make sure the information in your local search listings (such as Google My Business and Yelp) is current and complete; if you have special holiday hours, add them.
RELATED CONTENT: Why Local SEO Matters More Than Ever (and 4 Steps to Success)
9. Review your reviews. Do you have enough recent online reviews to convince new customers to shop at your store? If not, start a campaign to encourage reviews from satisfied customers.
RELATED CONTENT: How to Boost Positive Online Reviews for Your Business - And Deal with Those Pesky Bad Ones
10. Plan your inventory. Inventory management software can help you find the perfect balance between too much inventory (that goes unsold) and too little inventory (that disappoints customers).
11. Create your marketing calendar. Build excitement around Black Friday by starting your holiday marketing campaign early. (More than one-fourth of consumers start shopping before Thanksgiving, so it’s not too early to start promoting.) Plan your email marketing messages and cadence, creating different promotions for loyal customers and for new ones. Push to get more email signups before Black Friday.
12. Think social. Social media will have a huge influence on holiday sales this year, according to eMarketer, and it’s where SMBs will concentrate most of their ad spending this year, says Reveal Mobile. Plan now for special holiday-themed social media content, contests and promotions. Look for photogenic, fun and unique ideas to encourage social media sharing. You can even start selling products straight from Facebook with the Storefront Social app.
By following these steps, you’ll be well-prepared to succeed not just on Black Friday, but during the rest of the holiday shopping season, too.
About Rieva Lesonsky
Rieva Lesonsky is CEO and Co-founder of GrowBiz Media, a custom content and media company focusing on small business and entrepreneurship, and the blog SmallBizDaily.com. A nationally known speaker and authority on entrepreneurship, Rieva has been covering America’s entrepreneurs for more than 30 years. Before co-founding GrowBiz Media, Lesonsky was the long-time Editorial Director of Entrepreneur Magazine. Lesonsky has appeared on hundreds of radio shows and numerous local and national television programs, including the Today Show, Good Morning America, CNN, The Martha Stewart Show and Oprah.
Lesonsky regularly writes about small business for numerous websites and for corporations targeting entrepreneurs. Many organizations have recognized Lesonsky for her tireless devotion to helping entrepreneurs. She served on the Small Business Administration’s National Advisory Council for six years, was honored by the SBA as a Small Business Media Advocate and a Woman in Business Advocate, and received the prestigious Lou Campanelli award from SCORE. She is a long-time member of the Business Journalists Hall of Fame.
Web: www.growbizmedia.com or Twitter: @Rieva
You can read more articles from Rieva Lesonsky by clicking here
Bank of America, N.A. engages with Rieva Lesonsky to provide informational materials for your discussion or review purposes only. Rieva Lesonsky is a registered trademark, used pursuant to license. The third parties within articles are used under license from Rieva Lesonsky. Consult your financial, legal and accounting advisors, as neither Bank of America, its affiliates, nor their employees provide legal, accounting and tax advice.
Bank of America, N.A. Member FDIC. ©2018 Bank of America Corporation
As a company that serves local business owners and customers, Bank of America Merchant Services is proud to join with American Express as a corporate supporter of Small Business Saturday® this Nov. 24. Small Business Saturday was...
As a company that serves local business owners and customers, Bank of America Merchant Services is proud to join with American Express as a corporate supporter of Small
Business Saturday® this Nov. 24.
Small Business Saturday was founded by American Express in 2010 to help strengthen local economies. Today,
it’s a holiday shopping tradition and part of a nationwide Shop Small® movement dedicated to uniting communities and supporting all kinds of small businesses. From the corner store to your favorite diner to a trendy online boutique, it’s unique small businesses like yours that help local communities stay vibrant.
Participating in Small Business Saturday is a great way to reach new customers and help promote your business. Here are some ideas for getting involved on Nov. 24:
- Let your customers know that you plan to participate in Small Business Saturday. Visit ShopSmall.com/Participate for customized marketing materials for your storefront, website, and social networks for free.
- Transform your store to help your business make an impression. While supplies last, order free merchandise courtesy of American Express.
- Connect with your community. Contact your local chamber of commerce to see how your business can participate in Small Business Saturday events and promotions.
- You can also help attract more customers by displaying signage on your storefront or website. You’ll show Card Members you accept American Express and that you’re ready for their business. Get your free signage at americanexpress.com/signage.
- And if you accept American Express® Cards, your business could get recommended to potential customers. In 2017, over 15 million people received recommendations on where to shop.* Learn more here.
Not sure if you’re set up to accept American Express® Cards? Call 800.430.7161 and we can help.
It’s a privilege to support you on Small Business Saturday and serve you every day of the year. We hope you will join us and participate on Nov. 24.
The external links provided above will take you to a third party's website that is not sponsored or endorsed by Bank of America Merchant Services.
*Based on an analysis of American Express merchant recommendations in 2017.
©2018 Banc of America Merchant Services, LLC. All rights reserved. All trademarks, service marks and trade names referenced in this material are the property of and licensed by their respective owners. Merchant Services are provided by Bank of America, N.A. and its representative Banc of America Merchant Services, LLC. Banc of America Merchant Services, LLC is not a bank, does not offer bank deposits, and its services are not guaranteed or insured by the FDIC or any other governmental agency.
Template Widget
Loading...
Become A Member
Join our small community for expert insights, insider tips, and the industry knowledge you need to see your small business grow.
Get Started Become A MemberTemplate Widget
Loading...
Podcast Player
Loading...
Search Ask Share
Loading...
Search for answers
Ask the community
Take part in the conversation and post your own question to the community.
Not a member yet? Register now
Ways to Make Your Search More Accurate
Most of the time, you just want to find content that has a particular phrase. Here are the easiest ways to find the content you want.
-
Enclose your search phrase in quotes. Search will try to find content with those words in the order you enclosed them. A search for "marketing advice" is going to return content with the phrase "marketing advice".
-
Search for content that has certain words, but not necessarily all of the words in order. This is the most basic search. Simply enter your search terms. For example: accept credit cards This will search for documents containing the words accept, credit, and cards
-
Using OR. The OR operator links two terms and finds a matching document if either of the terms exist in a document. To search for documents that contain either "web design" or just "online marketing" use the query: "web design" OR "online marketing"
- Using AND. The AND operator says that the search should return content in which all of the search terms are present. To search for documents that contain both "web design" and just "online marketing" use a search like this: "web design" AND "online marketing"
We would appreciate having your voice in the Small Business Community. You can participate in a number of ways.
-
Start a discussion in our member-to-member forums. By participating in the Small Business Community, our members gain knowledge and connections that give them a competitive advantage in building a successful business. Take advantage of the collective experience and expertise of the community to get help with a specific question or business challenge.
-
To post your question in our community, in the “Ask the community” section, from the drop-down select the category that you’d like to post to, then click the “Start a Discussion” button. If you simply want to introduce yourself to the community, please select the “Introduce Yourself” category.
Note: you must be a logged-in member of the community to post a discussion. Please login or become a member to participate.
-
Share your small business story. Do you have an interesting story to tell related to your small business? Have some advice for other entrepreneurs to help them avoid some of the pitfalls of small business ownership? We invite you to share your story with the Small Business Community. Click the “Share Your Story” link and simply answer the questions in our Share Your Story template.
- Answer a question. Are you an expert in a particular area of running and growing a successful small business? Would you like to help other small business entrepreneurs by answering their questions? We would appreciate your expertise in the Small Business Community. Please click the “Answer a Question” link to see a list of the open questions asked by members of the community.
Featured Expert
Loading...
Often referred to as “the Queen of Facebook,” Mari Smith is considered one of the world’s foremost experts on Facebook marketing and social media. She is a Forbes’ Top Social Media Power Influencer, author of The New Relationship Marketing and coauthor of Facebook Marketing: An Hour A Day. Forbes recently described Mari as, “… the preeminent Facebook expert. Even Facebook asks for her help.” She is a recognized Facebook Partner; Facebook headhunted and hired Mari to lead the Boost Your Business series of live events across the US.
Formatted Text
Loading...
