Tag: small business information

Jenny Son’s Tried-and-True Tips for Women Business Owners

Amidst the economic uncertainty of 2023, planning for the future is more important—and more challenging—than ever. According to a recent Bank of America survey78 percent of small business owners expect that a potential recession will impact their business, potentially forcing them to raise prices, slow hiring plans and reduce spending.

Enter Jenny Son, a small business banker at Bank of America who has helped business owners plan ahead and invest in their success for the past five years. Son serves as a sounding board and advisor to business owners navigating day-to-day business challenges and choppy economic waters. For Son,

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Sick of Winter? Try Saunas

Winter can be long and dark. Sometimes you need something to help lift your mood during long dark days. Many of you know I am in love with my new sauna blanket and it helps get through winter in many ways!

1. It is great for your skin!

I always notice my skin gets so dry in the cold Wisconsin winters! My feet are dry, my face is dry, my lips are dry, my hair needs extra conditioner. Winter dries up our bodies and leaves our skin dry and vulnerable because of the unstable humidity in the air.

If you

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Why aren’t more small business owners taking advantage of government help? | Gene Marks

According to a new report, the US government “isn’t doing enough” for small businesses. I’m calling Baloney.

“Business owners don’t feel like the programs are all that effective and they also don’t even feel like they have a sense of what’s available, some of which maybe is effective,” said Joe Wall, national director of Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Voices, of the survey of more than 1,800 small businesses in 48 states.

Well, Wall is right. There are many programs, credits and financing opportunities available from the government for small businesses that often get overlooked – by small businesses.

For

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DoD small business chief presses to revive innovation fund

WASHINGTON ― The Biden administration’s next budget request needs to revive a special fund to help small businesses with innovative ideas work with the Pentagon, a top department official said Tuesday.

The push to bring back the Rapid Innovation Fund, which Congress hasn’t financed since 2019, was one of several recent moves aimed at lowering barriers for small businesses detailed by the director of the Pentagon’s Office of Small Business Programs, Farooq Mitha.

At a virtual event hosted by the National Defense Industrial Association, Mitha said he’s spearheading efforts to consolidate management of the Pentagon’s many small-business programs, which can

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Pump Coffee shows how doing the opposite can lead to small business success

One thing I always suggest to my small business brothers and sisters is to, whenever possible, “do the opposite.” For instance, when everyone else is flooding Facebook or Instagram with ads, it is probably a good time to look to advertise elsewhere.

As none other than Warren Buffet has said (paraphrasing here), “Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful.”

The reason for this is such smart small business advice – especially now, especially post-pandemic – is that by being even just a tad unconventional, you open all sorts of new avenues, markets, marketing options,

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Quebec small businesses raising prices to fight inflation

A large proportion of Quebec small businesses (SME) still say they have to raise their prices to fight inflation, according to a new study by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB).

The survey, published Monday, compares results from January with those from the same period in 2022.

It reports that nearly two-thirds of executives surveyed last month say they are experiencing significant impacts from inflation, up four points from a year earlier.

To cope with the inflationary environment, 73 per cent said they would have to raise prices, a similar proportion to 2022.

However, the survey shows that more

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Small-business owners say federal government is failing to meet their needs: survey

More than two-thirds of small-business owners said in a Goldman Sachs survey that the federal government is failing to meet their needs.

The survey, published on Sunday, found that 70 percent of small-business owners surveyed gave the federal government a C grade or below on the effectiveness of the programs, services and tax credits available to them.

Only 16 percent gave the federal government a B or higher.

Eighty-five percent of small-business owners surveyed also gave the federal government a grade C or below for the job it does when it comes to marketing and communicating about the programs, services

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Economic pressures proving too much for some small town businesses

Some small businesses in towns and cities around Calgary are struggling to survive in the current economic climate, with some deciding to close their doors for good.

Everything from inflation and the cost of living to energy and fuel costs, twinned with bigger insurance and wage bills are squeezing some stores out of business.

Lindsey Cybulskie opened her locally-focused gift and homewares store, Homegrown House and Pantry, in Airdrie, Alta. in 2018.

She says a large and sustained drop in sales is forcing her to close.

“Even with COVID, there was a huge wave of local shops, so we had

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