AUTHOR ARCHIVES :

Investing your Capital for Maximum Business Growth

Growth should be a core part of the business plan of any organization serious about success. Whatever its size, a business should always be thinking about the future in order to stay relevant and competitive, and the future should always include a vision of growth.

Small business investing

This is a particular challenge for small businesses, which always run the risk of not growing beyond the size they were when they started up, and stagnating as a result. There are many examples however, of small businesses that bucked this trend and achieved remarkable growth against the odds.

Investment is critical to growth and small business owners must understand how various aspects of investment work.…

Continue reading →

3 Tips for Marketing to Low-Income Audiences

Depending on the type of product or service you sell as a business, you likely have at least a small portion of your target audience that falls under the category of “low-income”, whether this is due to being unemployed, underemployed, or suffering an illness or injury that hinders work. However, just because your product or service is best suited for people in a lower income bracket doesn’t mean that you will have less success than those with products or services targeted at a higher income bracket.

Walmart Ad Match and Coupons at Checkout

It does mean, however, that you may have to market yourself differently in order to find the success you need with a low-income audience.…

Continue reading →

Choosing the Right Hosting for Your SME

Having an online presence is vital in the digital age, and with the advent of content management systems such as WordPress getting your company’s website up and running is easier than ever before. There is, however, one part of the process that can leave business owners frustrated and confused – hosting.

Web servers

So, what is hosting?

Hosting is the process needed to get your beautiful new website out to a wider audience. Without a hosting account your site simply would not have a place on the web. In theory you could host your website from your own computer, but in reality this isn’t at all practical.…

Continue reading →

5 Do’s and Don’ts of Professional Office Etiquette (Hopefully you’re Not a Number 5!)

Though most of us are adults, it’s sometimes easy to forget the basics of establishing and maintaining good relationships with the people we work with.

Annoying businessman

Following are 5 do’s and don’ts of inter-office etiquette that everyone should know already, but which are often neglected:

1. Do: Show appreciation to coworkers and management.

Naturally, when someone does something kind for you, you need to say thank you. Failure to do so will result in you looking unappreciative, arrogant, narcissistic, or all the above!

For instance, if someone drops some documents you printed off on their way by your desk, make sure to thank them.…

Continue reading →

Intelligent Insights to Ignite Positive Change for Your Business

Brought to you by Spark Business® from Capital One®

Whether you’re breaking into new industries, creating services within a community, or carving a niche out of an existing market, as a modern entrepreneur, you’re set on exceeding expectations on all fronts. Part of getting to that place is sourcing helpful insights that work to demystify small business, and in turn, lead to positive change.

Spark Business IQ by Spark Business® from Capital One® aims to keep business owners inspired and on the path towards growth and improved financial management through news, tips, tools, and business stories.

Visit Spark Business IQ to help ignite positive change for your business today.

For more information on the Spark Business credit cards, visit www.CapitalOne.com/smallbusiness.

Architect

This editorial is sponsored by Spark Business® from Capital One®

5 Challenges Faced by Small Businesses in 2015

Companies face difficult challenges in today’s competitive business world. Some researchers estimate that about 50 percent of companies only last four or five years before going out of business. To avoid failure, entrepreneurs need to know how they can face these five common challenges in 2015.

Freerider

1. Keeping Up with Regulations

Large companies hire lawyers to make sure they follow the latest regulations for their industries. Small businesses rarely have enough money to keep lawyers on retainer. This can make it difficult for them to keep up with evolving regulations.

There are several ways to lower the costs of regulatory compliance.…

Continue reading →

Consulting Advice for your Startup

Startup companies typically have a high amount of energy, which they need to grow into something that is viable as a business. Taking it to the next level isn’t always easy, though. Read on for advice on how to organize leadership, manage projects, and develop tools that help startups succeed.

Organizational Management

Your startup’s leadership team is the strength that holds your entity together, so how you organize your leadership team is important. Building a leadership team involves inspiration, motivation, goal championing, and efficiency.

For a business to succeed, you typically need the right people to hold the right positions.…

Continue reading →

5 Considerations to Make When Your Stock Falls

Investing in the stock market can be an incredibly rewarding, and dangerous, game. Many investors are successful in turning a profit every year due, in part, to their choices when deciding whether to keep or sell stock. When you have invested in a stock and it drops, you may be considering whether or not to sell. Included here are a few tips to consider when your stocks fall.

Falling stock prices

Weakness in the Market

When your stocks fall, it is crucial to keep in mind whether the problem is the specific company, or the stock market overall. Weakness in the stock market is never a good reason to sell, as stocks are always prone to rises and falls.…

Continue reading →

Office Rebranding: 7 Personalization Tips to Make Your Space Your Own

It seems that nine out of 10 offices look exactly the same: gray cubes, white walls, fluorescent lighting, and dull, dreary-eyed workers. While this uniformity may be the cheapest décor option, it certainly doesn’t inspire your workers to be better — or entice prospective clients to buy your products. What you need to rebrand your frumpy office interiors with a bright new style that encourages everyone to feel better and work harder.

Office rebranding

Here are seven tips to claim your company’s office space with inviting decoration.

1. Develop a Theme

Your corporate brand didn’t come together in a single afternoon — it took weeks of brainstorming to develop a meaningful message and attractive logos to go with it.…

Continue reading →

Here’s What You Need to Know About Trademarking Your Company Name

If you’re a small business owner or entrepreneur, you probably don’t need to be told how important it is to protect your company name and logo. The hit to your business if some other company started using your name or logo could be substantial. Trademarking your company’s name and logo is one of the best things you can do to protect your intellectual property from infringement.

Brand

You can use the trademark (TM) logo without having a registered trademark, but registering your mark is what gives you the right to take intellectual property infringers to court. You should trademark your company’s name at the same time as or soon after you file for incorporation.…

Continue reading →