Why a Sole Proprietorship May Be Best for You

Today, LLCs (limited liability companies) seem to be the favored form of business organization and they do offer a lot of advantages. But for many small startup businesses there is a lot to be said for having no business organization at all, which is referred to as a sole proprietorship.

Sole proprietorship

First what is a sole proprietorship? Basically, it means that there is no legal distinction between you and your business. The income that the business earns is part of your personal income. A sole proprietorship would not have a separate balance sheet since it is not a legal entity: the sole proprietorship does not have assets or debts.…

Continue reading →

The Top 3 Mistakes to Avoid When Establishing Your Business’ Online Presence

Having a strong online presence is good for business. Over 70% of today’s customers search for the information they need online, including information about products, services, and brands. In the previous article, we talked about some of the reasons why your business absolutely needs a strong and positive online presence.

Establishing online presence

The next step to take is actually establishing your online presence. There are plenty of strategies to incorporate and ways to do it, but in this article we are going to focus more on the top three mistakes you need to avoid when trying to establish your online presence.

Not Having a Target Audience

Internet marketing is rather different to conventional advertising.…

Continue reading →

5 Tips to Reduce Your Costs on Web Development

Guess what is the first concern a client has when it comes to a new web development project? Right, cost.

To get good quality services for a low price is not that easy, basically, you receive what you paid for. However, some extra costs can be reduced, if companies strive to invest smartly into their web projects.

Web development

Read these 5 tips and discover how to optimize your web development process and benefit from lower cost.

1. Make up a brief

What is brief? In terms of web development process, it’s a short summary of an overall project management plan. Make everything as clear as possible before you start any development – gather the requirements and write them down.…

Continue reading →

4 GPS Tracking Devices that Will Keep Tabs on Your Company Vehicles

When you own a fleet of vehicles, you understand the importance of keeping operating costs low and productivity rates high. GPS tracking devices can help you reach that goal by providing a link between you and your vehicles, so you can keep tabs on fuel costs, driver behavior, idle times and route efficiency.

GPS tracking

With GPS tracking, you can:

  • Track and manage your vehicles at all times.
  • Keep tabs on driving speeds to prevent speeding tickets and reduce legal costs. The true cost of a speeding ticket in some states can be over $1,000.
  • Keep track of cargo to prevent employee theft and ensure deliveries get where they need to go.
…Continue reading →

Commercial Auto Insurance: What Business Owners Need to Know Before an Accident Happens

If you run a business that has even just one vehicle, then you should look into getting commercial auto insurance. This will help you avoid large payments when an accident occurs and can give you peace of mind every time the vehicle is on the road.

Classic company van

Chances are that you were already required to purchase coverage for bodily harm and property damage when you purchased the vehicle for your business, but policies like that do not cover damage to the vehicle itself. This can leave you high and dry after an accident in the company van, car or truck, even if it wasn’t your employee’s fault.…

Continue reading →

Defined Direction – What Skills You Should Look to Develop When Entering the Business Landscape

When you started university, you didn’t necessarily know what exactly you wanted to accomplish. With so many roads from which to choose, a clear path is not necessarily visible right away. After a time, however, you concluded that you wanted to get into business after uni. Now that you’re closing in on a graduate diploma of applied finance, or a master’s degree in marketing, or whichever business path you’ve chosen, it’s time to consider the outside world a little more.

Happy businessman

If you do plan on owning and operating your own business after you leave our institution, there are a few different skills that you should look to develop.…

Continue reading →

Small Businesses Need an Online Presence, Too!

When you think of company websites, you may think of online retailers: Amazon, for instance. These giant companies live online – that’s where their customers are, where their products are sold, and where their money comes in. So it’s no surprise that they need websites. But what about a small business? What about your local plumbing company, or a small shop you run with your family? Do you really need a website if you run a business like that?

Online business

Yes, you absolutely do – because in this day and age, even business done in person often starts online.

Small businesses do need websites

When a customer walks through the doors of a local shop and buys something they need, it’s easy to imagine that the entire transaction took place the way it would have forty or fifty years ago.…

Continue reading →

3 Tips for Running a Business Booth at a Community Event

Communities the world over have events almost every week where business owners can set up a booth and showcase their products or services to pedestrians in the area. This can be a great opportunity for you to reach an audience that you otherwise wouldn’t have the ability to come in contact with. Not only will this showcase your products to potential buyers in your area, but it will help spread the word about your company to those whom you frequently associate with. However, if you’ve never taken on this challenge before, it can be a little intimidating.

So to help you find success in this marketing avenue, here are three tips for running a business booth at a community even.…

Continue reading →

Dream Big: How Small Businesses Become Global Players

In today’s vast world, small businesses are a bridge between the local and the global. They may employ far less employees than multinational corporations but that doesn’t mean that they don’t dream big – or that their potential and activities do not have equal reach.

Dream big

There is no escaping the reality that small businesses are nowadays global players: in June 2015, the US Small Business Administration reported that while US exports’ known value grew by 1.4% from 2012 to 2013, small business export value improved by 4.5%, led by firms with an employee base between 250 and 499 people. This means increased profit and opportunities, but also increased responsibilities for smaller scale enterprises.…

Continue reading →

3 Times When an SMB Needs a Lawyer

Small business owners should build a relationship with a local attorney and have someone they can call if a legal problem arises. The problem that a lot of small businesses face is that they don’t have the finances to hire a lawyer for all of their needs.

Meeting with a business lawyer

A lot of businesses need to pick and choose when it’s appropriate to hire a lawyer.

1. Large-Dollar Contracts

If you’re making a deal of a lifetime, you’ll need a lawyer to make sure that the contract you provide or must sign is legally sound. At the very least, you’ll want a lawyer to read through the contract for you.…

Continue reading →