Small Business Tips

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.

The Importance of Healthy Cash Flow for Small Businesses

Posted On: September 11, 2009

No company buys what it needs or pays its employees out of profits. Certainly profits are a source of capital for expansion and debt reduction, as well as for the eventual ability to pay bills and meet payroll, but wages and other expenses must be covered with cash. A business can survive indefinitely if it doesn’t run out of cash,...

Design Advice for a Do-It-Yourself Direct Mail Campaign

Posted On: September 07, 2009

You’ve decided to launch a direct mail campaign, so you call a few graphic design firms. Yikes! Sticker shock sets in when you’re quoted high hourly fees to create a postcard touting your new product or a flyer about your services. Before you hire a pricey agency, consider designing your direct mail project in house. A do-it-yourself (DIY) project doesn’t mean...

Choosing between an S-Corp. and Limited Liability Company

Posted On: March 04, 2009

It’s smart to protect personal assets from business debts and liabilities. Both owners of S Corporations and Limited Liability Companies enjoy limited personal liability. By contrast, sole proprietors and partners have unlimited personal risk. Traditionally, business owners who chose to form an entity to protect personal assets but allow income and losses to be reported on a personal tax return had...

10 Customer Service Tips With Big Impact

Posted On: January 20, 2009

The simple things that you and your employees do to greet employees, answer the phone and follow up to questions have a great impact on your customers’ thoughts about your small business. Those little gestures can also have a huge impact. It sounds simple: If your small business treats a customer better than the giant retailer down the street, then it’s very...

Three Ways to Make Your Business Card Unique

Posted On: September 08, 2008

Though small, lightweight and often tossed in the trash, business cards are one of the most important tools in your business. And while they provide vital information for both prospective and current customers, that’s the easy part. It’s one thing to tell people how to contact you with your business card; it’s a whole other ballgame when it comes to...

The Manager's Responsibility for Cost Control

Posted On: August 19, 2008

Most managers have too much on their minds to devote attention to controlling the cost of their products. After all, managers have to worry about meeting schedules and deadlines, getting the work out, keeping customers happy, and dealing with problem employees and employee problems. Virtually every move a manager makes has a resulting effect on the cost of operations. Cost...

When to Use a Notary

Posted On: December 03, 2007

You’ve just signed that lucrative contract to build a million widgets, and you’re feeling great. Your company is in the black, employee morale is high and you had a notary public witness you signing that contract. So if any questions pertaining to the authenticity of your signature arise in the future, you are covered. What? You did not have your signature...

What Your CPA Wishes You Knew

Posted On: August 08, 2007

April 15 may seem light years away right now, but your accountant probably isn’t just lounging at the beach only starting to work on April 1. In fact, he may already be gearing up to handle the work of many clients. Your accountant’s job is to complete your tax preparation accurately and promptly—and save you money in tax-prep charges and...

Checklist for Managing a Small Business' Finances

Posted On: November 14, 2006

Small-business owners need to be informed about every aspect of financing, from bookkeeping to cash-flow projections to securing loans from bankers. While you may not need to be an expert on each of these aspects (and, really, you can’t be unless you have an accounting degree), the more you understand about these vital components of small-business finance, the greater the...

Working on Retainer: The Ideal Situation for a Home-based Business

Posted On: April 15, 2002

When you began your home-based business, you were probably eager to take any work that came along, no matter how small, just to get started in your field. The trouble was, having a lot of little jobs meant that as one ended, you had to go out and find the next. To some degree at least, self-employment may always...

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