Small Business Resources Archive

11 Reasons You Need a Virtual Assistant

Running a startup is a tough job, and there’s never a shortage of tasks that need to be completed. It’d be great to get all of those sidelined projects underway, but who’s going to handle it all?

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What to Do if your First Efforts at Fundraising Fail

Your first attempt at raising money for your new company or business enterprise didn't go as planned and you fell short of your fundraising goal. Your self-imposed deadline for raising funds for your startup has come and gone. Now it’s time to dig deep and figure out what went wrong and correct your trajectory. Where do you go from here?

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How to Leverage Instagram For Your Business

New studies prove that Instagram has massive brand-building power, generating more engagement than traditional social media standbys like Facebook and Twitter. In fact, Instagram generates more engagement than any other major social network (there were two caveats: consumer products and telecommunications companies tend to get more engagement on Pinterest).

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13 Things Entrepreneurs Should Worry Less About This Year

It’s all too easy for entrepreneurs to get stressed, and in many ways that stress is completely understandable—you’re building and running a business! Don’t let stress ruin youryear, though. As we enter the new year with hope and enthusiasm, here are 13 things that entrepreneurs and business owners should worry less about.

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Recovering From Your Business Failure

Not every enterprise is meant to succeed. One of the unspoken truths about becoming an entrepreneur is that failure is a core part of the experience of striking out on one’s own. Each year, about 6 million new businesses launch new enterprises and in just a few years, half of them are history. When we talk about entrepreneurship, the authentic emotions of pain and shame that arise from failure are only discussed in passing as a learning experience in the wake of subsequent success. We cheer on the launch of a startup business but we leave the element of failure undiscussed until the entrepreneur has proven their mettle with another successful venture. Then, that failure becomes part of the entrepreneur’s creation myth and championed as just another part of the journey that made them the success they are today. In point of fact, failure is something that should be faced when it actually happens so that its lessons can make a more immediate impact on where we are today.

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Why Meeting Clients at Your Home Office is Killing Your Business

Working from a home office has a number of perks: it’s free, incredibly convenient, and you can complete your morning commute in sweatpants. However, when it comes to meeting face-to-face with clients, you may want to consider a more professional office environment.

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Five Companies that Didn’t Stay in their Lane

Many companies find what they are good at and stick to it. So what’s the problem? They aren't forward thinking and miss out on opportunities to expand their product line or services. Here are some examples of companies that encourage thinking outside of the box and reaping the rewards for it.

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Trusting Your Instincts as a Business Owner

Making decisions can be tough as an entrepreneur. As a business leader, you must constantly be coming up with new ideas but you also have to generate the confidence to bring those ideas to fruition, not to mention the fact that there is often a lot of noise involved in the creative process. As an entrepreneur, you’re creating a world that doesn’t yet exist and one of your greatest resources is the ability to trust your own instincts. Here are a few techniques to generate more faith in your own unique vision.

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Five New Year’s Resolutions for Your Small Business

The holiday season is coming to an end and New Year’s Eve is just a few days away. If you haven’t already, that means it’s high time to start thinking about how to improve our businesses for 2016. Have no clue where to start for this looming new year? Here are five great New Year’s resolution ideas for small business owners seeking to grow and improve their odds in 2016.

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Getting Your Employees to Think like Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs are, generally speaking, smart and innovative people. Getting your employees to think like entrepreneurs can help your company grow and innovate. In fact, most entrepreneurs would love to engage employees who are as passionate about the business as they are. But creating an environment where employees feel like owners is a particularly thorny problem. Entrepreneurs must carefully curate a culture where employees feel like they can implement their ideas without incurring risk or punishment, feel like they can take risk, and personally benefit from the outcome of their actions. Here are some steps you can take as a small business owner to fully engage your employees in an entrepreneurial atmosphere without incurring undue risk.

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Knowing When to Delegate as a Leader

When entrepreneurs and other innovative professionals speak of leadership, these are usually conversations around courage, resiliency, confidence and determination. These are people who are in charge of their enterprise who revel in leading others to success.