100 Posts Found

Many of the mechanics of running a business are opaque, particularly to first-time entrepreneurs. You may not have done bookkeeping or contract negotiation before. You might be used to working in companies with processes and people in place to support your work. Don’t worry! Every skill involved in running a business is learnable. Atlas exists to help entrepreneurs worldwide start, run, and grow internet businesses. … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Source: Stripe | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Small Business

If you’ve been acting more like a worker and less like a leader, these 5 activities can put you firmly back in the driver’s seat of your small business.

Content: Article | Author: Anita Campbell | Source: OPEN Forum (American Express) | Subjects: Career, Management, Small Business

As a serial entrepreneur, I know running a small business is hard work, but there are lots of things you can do to make your life a little easier and increase your chances of success. Here are eight that have helped me, and will help you, too.

Content: Article | Author: Tom Harnish | Source: OPEN Forum (American Express) | Subject: Small Business

When you decided to start a business, it probably wasn’t the fun of keeping up with the latest employment regulations, tax issues, and OSHA requirements that lit your fire. Nevertheless, if you have even a single employee, you’re stuck with all that and more. You’re not alone and fortunately, where there is opportunity there are generally entrepreneurs with a solution. Enter the world of professional … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Kate Lister | Source: OPEN Forum (American Express) | Subjects: Human Resources, Outsourcing / BPO, Small Business

People often live by the saying: if you want to get something done right, you need to do it yourself. While I have heard people toss this phrase around like a badge of honor, there is no philosophy more toxic for an organization, especially small businesses. Businesses of any size are complex and it is unrealistic to think that a small number of individuals will … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Stephen Shapiro | Source: OPEN Forum (American Express) | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Productivity / Work Tips, Small Business

I’ve found that it is helpful to break the planning process down into separate topics, and then look at how they fit together in the overall business plan. It’s also a good idea to think of yourself as an investor in your business and review what you come up with from that point of view. Here are the business planning topics that I believe are … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: JoAnne Berg | Source: OPEN Forum (American Express) | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Small Business

It’s a good idea for small business owners to put agreements in writing. Here are three agreements that you should definitely consider getting in writing.

Content: Article | Author: Barbara Weltman | Source: OPEN Forum (American Express) | Subjects: Legal, Small Business

Business planning advocates will tell you that every business needs a full-fledged business plan, which is certainly true if you’re going to seek outside investors or a small business loan. While it’s beneficial to have one even if you don’t seek outside funding, the reality is that many successful businesses launch and grow without a full, formal business plan. However, few businesses succeed without any … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Scott Allen | Source: OPEN Forum (American Express) | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Small Business

There are a lot of numbers in a small business. Most entrepreneurs do a lousy job of reviewing their financial statements while simultaneously trying to manage with the production, sales and delivery of their product. However, numbers are a very powerful tool in business. Without knowing how a business has performed financially, it is impossible to predict where it should go. If as a small … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Barry Moltz | Source: OPEN Forum (American Express) | Subject: Small Business

Your financial statements may not make the bestseller list, but they do tell an intriguing story—at least to a banker. Unfortunately, the tale they tell may be misleading. Since finance is no place for fiction, you need to make sure your statements tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

To do that, the first thing you need to know is that … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Kate Lister | Source: OPEN Forum (American Express) | Subjects: Accounting, Small Business

An entrepreneur’s guide to offering trade credit, crafting a credit application, and evaluating a customer’s credit-worthiness.

Content: Article | Source: Inc. Magazine | Subjects: Finance, Management, Small Business

This reference guide is designed to serve as a comprehensive small business management manual. It contains numerous topics that cover most aspects of small business management. You will find here hundreds of guides, worksheets and tips that will give you solutions to almost every problem or situation you can possibly encounter in the course of operating your business.

Content: Online Resource | Author: Meir Liraz | Subjects: Reference / Search, Small Business

The basic spreadsheet and accounting programs you’ve relied on ’til now won’t help your growing business eliminate decision-making bottlenecks, reduce IT costs, increase productivity, or improve the customer experience. To do all that requires an enterprise-wide, integrated software system. Learn how an integrated system can help take your business to the next level, and how to ensure you get the right system for you. … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Ali Jani | Source: TechnologyEvaluation.com | Subjects: IT / Technology / E-Business, Small Business

Existing strategy frameworks are designed for bigger firms with plentiful resources. They should not be liberally borrowed and advanced as solutions for SMEs, who face resource constraint. This very lack of resources impacts the competitive strategies that are feasible to SMEs. What’s more, the current literature in SME strategy fails to take into consideration potential competitive reactions from market incumbents in prescribing competitive strategies for … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Lee Khai Sheang, Lim Guan Hua, Tan Soo Jiuan | Subjects: Small Business, Strategy

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Too much money is worse than too little for most organizations. Until that day comes, the key to success for most organizations is bootstrapping. The term bootstrapping comes from the German legend of Baron von Munchhausen pulling himself out of the sea by pulling on his own bootstraps. That’s essentially what you’ll have to do, too.

Content: Article | Author: Guy Kawasaki | Source: OPEN Forum (American Express) | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Small Business

Guy Kawasaki provides a list of ten things that every small business owner should do in the new year, though you will likely find the list applies to larger businesses as well.

Content: Article | Author: Guy Kawasaki | Source: OPEN Forum (American Express) | Subjects: Management, Small Business

Guy Kawasaki has compiled his best wit, wisdom, and contrarian opinions in handy book form. From competition to customer service, innovation to marketing, he shows readers how to ignore fads and foolishness while sticking to commonsense practices. He explains, for instance:

– How to get a standing ovation
– The art of schmoozing
– How to create a community
– The top ten lies of entrepreneurs
– Everything you wanted … [ Read more ]

Content: Book | Author: Guy Kawasaki | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Small Business

What are your customers thinking? Wouldn’t it be great to identify what they want in a product or service? Business owners understand the value of market research for uncovering customer needs and desires, yet the cost is often prohibitive for companies on a small budget, where research is considered too expensive and time-consuming.

According to author Lloyd Corder, a seasoned marketing research strategist, you can conduct … [ Read more ]

Content: Book | Author: Lloyd Corder | Subjects: Market Research, Small Business

You probably lend your customers more money than you realize. Have you checked lately?

Content: Article | Author: Norm Brodsky | Source: Inc. Magazine | Subjects: Finance, Small Business