Owning a small business often means wearing every possible hat available, from marketer to sales clerk and inventory manager to HR professional. Learn from the experiences of the small business owners who are NFIB members as well as the best experts for each industry. Below you will find small business tips for everything from taxes and regulation to promotion and networking.
You’ve worked hard to make a customer happy. Now how do you get them to send more customers your way? Every small business owner knows that the best clients and customers often come as a result of a solid referral. And with so many businesses vying for your potential customers’ attention, it’s difficult to stay top-of-mind. So how do you stay...
Answer the mail. Find a friend. Learn the lingo. The federal government spends about $500 billion a year on private-sector contractors. Yes: That’s half a trillion. You deserve a piece of that pie, but to win a government contract, you’ve got to play by the rules. When an agency puts out a request for proposals, or RFP, it’s important to respond...
Using AdWords, Groupon, and other hyperlocal venues to lure customers The standard metaphor is shotgun v. rifle: You can fire off your message across a broad field and hope to hit something, or you can narrow your focus, taking aim at just the target you seek. It’s a bit militaristic, but it makes its point. With limited resources, most entrepreneurs would choose...
Pennsylvania is open for business. That’s the message state leaders are trying to send across the nation, as the state strives to become “the easiest place in the world to start a business,” according to PABizOnline.com. The site is a one-stop shop that economic development officials launched as a resource to help aspiring business owners navigate the early stages of opening...
We talked to business owners about common bad practices that hurt your business. You’ve crossed off nearly every box as you’ve sought to improve your business—you have a great product, a solid business plan and incredible employees. But your business isn’t thriving as it should be. Why? The answer may be you. Sure, external factors such as regulatory red tape, high taxes...
To succeed long term, sometimes you need a fresh start Sometimes a business owner simply needs to try something entirely different. In a Citibank survey last June, more than half of small business owners said they had reinvented their company to “stay afloat or be competitive.” Of those surveyed, 47% said they focused on overhauling the products or services, 24% had...
How to Leverage big sporting or other events to lure extra business Watching the Final Four roll into Atlanta or the Super Bowl into East Rutherford, it’s hard for any small business owner not to salivate. Millions of eyes are on the city, local citizens are energized. There’s just got to be a business opportunity in there. Fran Tarkenton thinks so. As...
From calling to writing notes to asking for input, strategic follow-up tactics can lead to more business down the road No business transaction should end once the receipt has been printed. A gracious follow-up contact goes a long way toward making a small business memorable, sowing seeds for a lasting relationship. The most successful follow-up contacts are those with the human touch....
Pooling marketing efforts in a major campaign can pay off big Big-box retailers, the Internet – both are factors that small businesses must fight against not only to survive, but also to thrive. That’s why some cities have launched “shop local” campaigns to help market their small businesses, which don’t always have the largest marketing budgets. Keep It Indie The four-square-mile city of...
Guest Post by Becky McCray Becky McCray shares more lessons useful for urban and rural business in the new book, Small Town Rules written with Chicago entrepreneur Barry Moltz. She also owns a liquor store and a cattle ranch in Oklahoma, in the U.S., and is a recognized expert in small business and social media. She publishes the popular website Small Biz...
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