Small Business Toolbox

A library of business management info


Small Business Structure

  • Beginner's Business Mistakes
    03/12/2008
    Going into business for yourself may feel like a gamble, but unlike an honest card game, there are several things you can do to stack the deck in your favor. For example: learning from the mistakes of others can give you a leg up on the competition. Here are some of the most common errors new entrepreneurs make, and a few tips on how you can avoid them.
  • Right on Time With Your Body's Internal Clock
    01/14/2008
    The body clock we are all born with is responsible for whether you are a morning or night person. This invisible force may also dictate what type of small business might be right for you.
  • Growth Decisions: Determining Whether to Start a Second Business or Expand Your Existing One
    07/23/2007
    Many entrepreneurs have become successful by putting all their efforts into growing a single business. On the other hand, many have found success through diversification. As with most choices in the business world, both options have pros and cons. Here's a look at both sides.
  • Moonlighting as an Entrepreneur
    06/04/2007
    Do you have a full-time job, but dream of launching your own company? You do both; you can be an employee and an entrepreneur. The key is starting a business that you can run in the evenings and on weekends—a venture such as car detailing, pet sitting or selling products on eBay. A company that needs constant monitoring or that would demand your attention during your work hours will only leave you frustrated and possibly unemployed.
  • Crash Course for Campus CEOs
    05/22/2007
    Randal Pinkett is best known for surviving Donald Trump's scathing boardroom criticism on season four of NBC's "The Apprentice" and impressing the billionaire real-estate mogul enough to hire him. But before that, Pinkett was known around his college campus at Rutgers as a student entrepreneur who juggled business classes with running a thriving CD business out of his dorm.
  • New Horizons in 2007
    02/01/2007
    The New Year is a great time to step back and evaluate your small business. Are you happy with your business, or is it time to expand? If you are looking to grow, consider these business-building ideas that could take your company to the next level.
  • Turning Your Hobby Into a Business
    01/24/2007
    Do you have a product or service that you enjoy offering to grateful friends and family members? Perhaps you've been thinking lately that going professional would be a great way to earn some extra money or even start your career as a small-business owner. While many successful businesses have been built on the foundation of a hobby, so have many failed ones. Here are a few precautions--and tips for proceeding if you decide this is the right move for you.
  • Ten Businesses for the Artistic Soul
    10/26/2006
    Often, artistic individuals have not received business training and lack the fundamental business skills required to make a commercial success of their activities. Many writers, artists, musicians and photographers struggle to make a living, even though highly talented. The following list outlines 10 businesses that can allow artistic souls to achieve financial stability while still practicing their art.
  • MyAdvice: The Narrow Path
    09/20/2006
    Choose a niche to propel your business' growth
  • The Next Small Thing: Why Bigger Isn't Always Better
    07/25/2006
    "I don't have anything against big business," Jason Fried says. "It's just not for me."
  • MyAdvice: An Outside Job
    07/25/2006
    Instead of hiring lots of senior-level managers, one business owner relied on a board of directors during the start-up phase.
  • Back to the Basics
    07/25/2006
    NFIB's Young Entrepreneur Foundation, in partnership with Visa USA, announced a new online curriculum to teach budding entrepreneurs the basics of how to start a business.
  • Curtain Call: Winner of the 2006 Dell/NFIB Small-Business Excellence in Customer Experience Award
    07/25/2006

    Sewing is a lot more than a needle pulling thread at Megan Duckett's Sew What Inc. Technology plays a starring role at this Los Angeles-based small business that specializes in theatrical drapery and custom sewing jobs for the theater, cinema and special events industries.

  • Reengineering: What It Is, and Why It Is Done
    07/06/2006
    In recent years, the term "reengineering" has spread throughout business and industry so thoroughly that it's reached buzzword status. As a concept, however, reengineering has been misunderstood and misapplied about as often as it has been properly applied. Reengineering is not the same as "downsizing" or "rightsizing," which have also become buzzwords, although the word has—unfortunately—become entrenched in many minds as a synonym for the same kind of activity. And it is, indeed, a reality that many reengineering efforts, including those done correctly, produce a particular result common with downsizing or rightsizing.
  • Starting a Summer Business
    06/28/2006
    Instead of going to work for someone else next summer, learn how to strike out on your own. If any of the following criteria applies to you, you might want to consider putting the books away for the summer and becoming a business owner.
  • The Lure of Small
    05/25/2006
    Ever feel second best when you're looking to hire a new employee? Compared to small businesses, large corporations have more money, name recognition and benefits to attract the best and brightest employees. But bigger doesn't always mean better.
  • Choose Your Friends––and Partners––Wisely
    04/26/2006
    Before you let your best friend be your business partner, make sure your goals and level of commitment are equal. Here are some questions to ask your friend before the two of you take the plunge.
  • Problems During Business Start-Up Can Mean Success Later
    04/19/2006
    People always want their start-up company to be immediately profitable, but sometimes a little struggle at the beginning can be the best-case scenario.
  • Becoming a Part-Time Entrepreneur
    03/29/2006
    I want to start a business but I don’t have the money to do so. The thought of quitting my job to become an entrepreneur also scares me a bit. What should I do?
  • Business Structure 101
    03/27/2006
    What is the best way to structure your small business? You have four options: a sole proprietorship, a partnership, some type of corporation or a limited liability company (LLC).
  • Turning Your Art, Hobby Into a Small Business
    02/27/2006
    Many artists dream of finding galleries to display and sell their work. While this is a possibility, it's not an easy one to achieve, and it takes years to build the reputation necessary to command the kind of fees that pay the bills.
  • It's Been a Month: Keeping Resolutions for Your Small Business
    02/01/2006
    Like many small-business owners, my New Year's resolution is to make more money this year, but how do I actually keep that promise? The secret to keeping your business resolutions is to put a plan in place early on and then take consistent action to follow the plan.
  • Working for Your Parents: Pros and Cons of Joining the Family Business
    01/25/2006
    Perhaps you credit your entrepreneurial spirit to being raised in family business––but that doesn’t mean you should take the business over. Before you partner with your parents, here are few pros and cons to consider.
  • Does Your Business Need a Board of Directors?
    09/30/2005
    Creating a strong, experienced board of advisors can really make the difference in your small business.
  • Start From Scratch or Purchase a Franchise: Which is Best for You?
    06/01/2005
    If you are looking to start a business, you may have a difficult time deciding between starting your own business from scratch and buying a franchise. How do you know which would be best for you? The answer depends on what you are looking for and your personality.
  • Your Business: LLC vs. Partnership
    02/28/2005
    For many small-business startups, a limited liability company provides a blend of features found in partnerships and corporations. The corporate-like features make an LLC preferable to partnerships for many small companies.
  • Important Facts to Consider When Running a Business With Your Spouse
    02/01/2005
    Many people thinking of buying a business anticipate that their spouse will be involved in it. However, before you open your doors, it is important to think about how much – and what kind of help – your spouse will give you.

  • Defining an Exceptional Business
    01/24/2005
    Every large, Fortune 500 company once was a small business. So what did they do differently that allowed them to grow and profit so well? Maybe more appropriately, the question should be, what does it really take to create an exceptional business that prospers?
  • Your Venture: Novel Idea or Tried-and-True Business?
    01/17/2005
    You've always wanted to go into business for yourself. You've thought about it while marking time working for someone else, and you've even come up with what you believe is a novel new service you could offer. You’ve also considered some known lines of business -- mostly franchise operations -- that appeal to you.
  • The Essentials of Bootstrapping Your New Business
    12/20/2004
    Often, bootstrapping one's way to business success implies using one's own efforts in place of money during the start-up phase of a new company. It's true that the most common cause of new-business failure is lack of funding, but if a company can get over the hump and become profitable, it doesn't matter how much money the owner had in the beginning.
  • Can You Make the Transition from Entrepreneur to Operating Manager?
    12/14/2004
    There are vast differences between the entrepreneurial environment and the operating environment, and the individual who flourishes in one may not survive in the other.
  • Matching Your Hobbies and Skills to a New Small Business
    11/15/2004
    After months of research, you have identified a few needs in the marketplace that are not being met. Now, it is important to match your skills, hobbies, work experience and uniqueness with those unmet needs. The objective is to find out if that type of small business is best for you.
  • Seven Lessons for Business Innovators
    10/13/2004
    How do you create a break though product? Here are the seven lessons for business innovators:
  • Getting a Tax ID, Step-by-Step
    08/20/2004
    Most small businesses should have a federal tax ID number -- even online businesses and businesses that have no employees. Applying for and receiving a tax ID number -- interchangeably called Employer Identification Number (EIN) -- is easy and relatively quick, so even if your company is currently using the owner's Social Security number as identification on government forms and official correspondence, you should consider applying for a tax ID number.
  • Avoiding Partnership Pitfalls
    04/06/2004
    Often, companies forget that once you find a partner, you need to nurture the relationship and cultivate opportunities so that you both reap the rewards.
  • What Your Business Can Learn From the "Best"
    03/24/2004
    Small-business owners can learn how to improve their businesses by examining the criteria used to judge the "best" companies to work for.
  • Succession Strategy: Plan in the Beginning or Risk Losing in the End
    03/23/2004
    Many financial and strategic management experts believe that planning a succession strategy or dissolution strategy for a partnership is just as important as planning for the growth of a new company.
  • Should You Convert Your Business to an LLC?
    01/30/2003
    In many ways, an LLC combines the best features of a partnership or sole proprietorship and a corporation.
  • Evaluating Your Selected Legal Structure
    10/01/2002
    Once you've selected the best structure and your company is growing, periodically evaluate whether the structure still suits your company's needs.
  • Selecting the Best Legal Structure for Growth: Part VI--LLC Pros and Cons
    10/01/2002
    Members of an LLC enjoy the same protection from personal liability that officers and shareholders of a corporation do.
  • Selecting the Best Legal Structure for Growth: Part V - Limited Liability Company
    10/01/2002
    The limited liability company lends itself to a wide variety of capital-formation options.
  • Selecting the Best Legal Structure for Growth: Part IV--Meeting Duties of Corporations
    10/01/2002
    Today's Workshop continues last week's discussion of one possible legal structure of a business, the corporation.
  • Selecting the Best Legal Structure for Growth: Part II - Partnership
    10/01/2002
    This series of workshops will give you an overview and comparison of the basic business formats to consider: proprietorship, partnership, corporation or limited-liability company.
  • Selecting the Best Legal Structure for Growth: Part I - Proprietorship
    10/01/2002
    Choosing or changing the appropriate legal structure -- proprietorship, partnership, corporation or limited-liability company -- is a complex issue because of the inherent tax consequences and liabilities for the owner.
  • Selecting the Best Legal Structure for Growth: Part III - Corporation
    10/01/2002
    In a corporation, a legal entity (as opposed to individuals) owns the business assets and
    is liable for the business debts.
  • What You Should Know Before Forming a Partnership
    04/01/2002
    As John D. Rockefeller once said, "It's better to have a friendship based on a business partnership than a business partnership based on a friendship."
  • Partnerships Require Specific Contracts, Part I
    04/01/2002
    Friendships have dissolved and business relationships have shattered simply because all possible contingencies have not been agreed upon in advance.
  • Partnerships Require Specific Contracts, Part II
    04/01/2002
    Last week's Workshop listed 12 points that need to be addressed in a contract between partners. Part two discusses in detail items to include for each point.