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You may call me “Captain Obvious.” But I will point out one of the most important factors in growing a small business. Make sure you are saving as much as possible when purchasing goods and services for your company. Now you may think everyone should know this. But many entrepreneurs aren’t sure how to maximize…

A FICO score remains important for small businesses. Because it helps these businesses get loans. But a recent webinar revealed more. “Financial Innovation and FICO Score: What Does it Mean for Small Business” examined what goes into the FICO score. And it looks at how your FICO score can be improved. How to Improve Your…

Sales remain the number one thing small business owners struggle with in their companies. Many don’t like to do it. Because they feel afraid. Or they think they don’t have the skills. Or they believe they must become the pushy used car salesman. Popular culture has depicted this figure so negatively. On this week’s Small…

What challenges do you face running a small business? So you’ve owned your business for some time. And you may sometimes feel as if you are falling behind. But other companies make it look so easy, don’t they? Well, prepare for some good news. Don’t worry about keeping up with the competition. Because you can…

The best employee perks are those that serve a strong purpose within the company, such as building camaraderie, providing better ways to take care of family or improving people’s lives. To find out some specifics, we asked entrepreneurs from Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) the following: “Which employee perk has proved to be particularly effective at…

Is it really possible to truly meet the expectations customers have of your small business? This of course greatly depends on the customers and the type of service you provide. But new research has revealed small businesses are held to a higher standard of friendliness. Small Business Customer Expectations The U of T Scarborough report…

Life expectancy has skyrocketed. So, it shouldn’t come as a surprise when mature individuals stay in business longer. Or when they start a new venture later in life. The Maturepreneur Today Virtual Summit aims to provide resources on how to start and run a business in the next stage of life. The event targets an…

SEO and content marketing are always changing. So you need to make constant adjustments in order to be successful long term. In SEO and in other areas of business, some of these small changes can help you make a big impact. Here’s more from members of the online small business community. Bookmark These Free Stock…

With each new feature, Instagram wants users to increase the level of engagement between them, their friends and brands. Instagram Quiz Stickers have been designed with that purpose in mind. Instagram Quiz Stickers As part of Instagram Stories, Quiz Stickers can be a whimsical way to engage with friends. But brands can also use this…

Sometimes a cartoon ends up being what we call a two-fer. It functions in more than one subject area (more, if you’re lucky) and is that much more salable. That being said, law and sports don’t often end up being the combination. But the juxtaposition felt really funny to me on this cartoon. Hopefully no…

On Sunday, May 5, the U.S. Small Business Administration National Small Business Week 2019 kicks off with a week long celebration. And once again, Small Business Trends is proud to be named a co-sponsor of National Small Business Week. National Small Business Week 2019 celebrates and recognizes the contribution of small businesses in the U.S.…

  You’ll find hundreds — probably thousands — of social networks on the internet now. And those sites have something for everyone’s niche. But we always hear about the big players in the game. As a small business owner, you probably need to know more. You’ve become aware of the heavy weights, of course. These…

Brian Solis has written a new book. And he calls it Lifescale – How to Live a More Creative, Productive and Happy Life. The book serves as a departure from his previous work. And this includes books like X: The Experience When Business Meets Design and What’s The Future of Business.  These books focused on…

Modern technology has made it easier and less expensive to reach a greater number of potential customers than ever before. That said, it may be harder than ever to get and keep their attention long enough to turn prospects into long lasting customers. That’s why more companies turn to CRM (customer relationship management) software. It’s…

Sponsored Post We’ve all seen those advertisements or images on Facebook that seem to reach thousands, if not millions, of people and result in hundreds of comments, likes, and shares. Your friend shares the post, then you do, and then your friends do. Those posts that spread like wildfire across social media networks are part…

Trello offers a popular tool for personal productivity and team collaboration. The platform gives users more than 25 million users worldwide. You can easily customize the platform based on your tasks and working preferences. And it delivers a powerful way for businesses to organize projects. Trello expert Brittany Joiner said in an email to Small…

Regardless of the size of a business, in order to stay ahead of your competitors, it’s important to focus on SEO. Knowledge of SEO growth hacking is necessary to survive the cut-throat competition in the digital world. Search engines are the go-to place for people to ask questions and clear their doubts. So, SEO growth…

We hear the constant chatter about AI (artificial intelligence) and machine learning and sometimes wonder, is this “hype” or for real? Of course larger companies are investing quite a bit in using these technologies for their businesses, but what about smaller companies? Meet, Ideas. At SXSW, I spent some time with Microsoft to see how they’re infusing AI…

Sponsored Post Marie Kondo’s name is on everyone’s lips these days. Thanks to her book The Lifechanging Art of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing and popular show on Netflix, Goodwill centers all over the country are overflowing with donations as housecleaning becomes a national phenomenon. But although my pantry now looks…

When you think of gluten-free food, you probably don’t picture delicious baked goods. So Melissa Blue and Melissa Mehall founded Meli’s Monster Cookies to show that gluten-free baked goods could also be delicious. The company uses an old family recipe that is gluten free “by accident.” So it tastes delicious and is perfect for those…

A recent article about Facebook having biased algorithms is in the news. It has prompted small businesses to take another look at hiring bias in the workplace. Small Business Trends spoke with Charlotte Blank, chief behavioral officer of Maritz. She offered a new approach involving behavioral research and company data. How to Reduce Hiring Bias…

Walmart is adding hundreds of robots to its stores to help wash floors and perform low-level jobs that will free up workers to do other important work. Walmart will add robots to at least 300 of its stores this year, The Wall Street Journal reported. In another 900 of its stores, Walmart will put 16-foot-high towers permitting…