A lot of theories have been circulated for why small businesses aren't hiring -- the bank lending crunch, emotional nervousness about the economy, high taxes, low sales. This week, noted Case Western Reserve University professor Scott Shane weighed in with his theory: It's all about the residential real-estate collapse. read more...

Bros. According to the Urban Dictionary, they're young, white alpha males found most commonly in Southern California beach cities, they drive lifted trucks, wear tilted mesh hats and talk primarily about chicks and beer.  

So how could this ripped-up sector of society be beneficial to entrepreneurs? Well, it just so happens that frosted-tips aren't the only thing these dudes have to offer. They also have a fresh disposable income and a constant desire for the latest and greatest products available. Bros are trendsetters, and if you can, it might be wise to align your business with their needs. 

Major clothing retailer American Eagle has recognized the buying potential of partying 18 to 34 year-old guys and recently released the wildly-popular Bro baseball hat. Now, for just $19.50, you can get a bright red, vintage-inspired cap with the word "BRO" prominently embroidered on the front. (If a bro likes one thing, it's labeling himself as such).
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The e-mail message was alarming and ominous:



Thinking the above message must be spam, the folks at The Inn at Mount Snow in West Dover, VT, immediately logged onto their Facebook account, where they were promptly confronted by the following message at the top of their Page: read more...

In the downturn, many companies have scrambled to change what they do. They're quickly added products or services, introduced multiple new versions, marketed to many new audiences.

So maybe it's time to ask -- are you in over your head? Unfocused? Are you simply doing too much?

Some businesses have taken the opposite tack in the downturn, stripping down their company to the bare essentials. They're staying laser-focused on what matters most to their customers, creating bare-bones products or services. Then, if demand dictates, they might add one feature or two.

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Where can you go when you need a loan and banks aren't lending? One answer is to private lenders who make you pay through the nose.

New reports are that so-called "hard money" lending is on the rise -- and small businesses' use of hard money threatens many of these business's very survival. Long a frequent lending source for real-estate speculators, hard money has been inching into more mainstream small-business life. In this arena, it's sometimes known as "merchant cash advances." 

In essence, a hard-money lender is just a person or finance organization that still has money to lend. And they make you pay through the nose for it -- 36 percent interest and more is not uncommon. Unlike consumer lending, business lending isn't subject to the same interest-rate caps and consumer-protection laws that keep lending rates from soaring to the sky for shoppers. The world of hard money is relatively unregulated, and scams abound. read more...

Shortly after I launched my web design firm in 1995, I did something my accountant told me was pretty crazy. I sold my house in Hollywood, Fla., moved to New York City, cashed in my mutual funds and put every dollar I had into a brownstone in Brooklyn Heights that I couldn't afford on what I was making as a freelance writer.

Looking back, my contrarian bet was a pretty smart move. Not only did my Brooklyn brownstone double in value over the next eight years (I sold it in 2003), but it served as collateral for the credit line that I used to take my company public in 1999. My brownstone also served as a home office for my growing company as well as a great place to raise my two daughters. And thanks to the tax deduction that the government gives for mortgage interest, I was able to own my own home for less than it would have cost to rent a house and an office.

Of course, that was then and this is now. read more...

Facebook is not just for kids anymore, nor is LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube or the many other popular social media platforms and services. As today's Pew Research Center study entitled "Older Adults and Social Media" concludes, "Social networking use among those ages 50 and older nearly doubled over the past year." In fact, the fastest growing demographic of social networking users consists of Baby Boomers ages 50 to 64. Nearly half (47 percent) of internet users ages 50-64 and about one in four (26 percent) users age 65 and older now use social networking sites, according to the study.

If your business or marketing department has dismissed Facebook and other social networking venues or social media platforms as digital playgrounds for indolent teenagers and twenty-somethings, this Pew Research Center study should be the blaring wake-up call to get you thinking otherwise. read more...

Troubling statistics have been rolling in lately about job losses. While the beginning of the recession saw the shedding of thousands of jobs en masse at major corporations, by the end of last year, job cuts were concentrated at small businesses. While financial aid aimed at small businesses continues to sit in the Senate, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 62 percent of cuts were at firms with less than 50 workers -- the kind that provide nearly one-third of all jobs. 

And those cuts hurt that business, and the economy, in ways big-company layoffs never will. 

Small businesses will often cut to the bone before laying off longtime workers. Some have done furloughs, voluntary sabbaticals, pay cuts, deferred maintenance, marketing reductions -- anything but pink-slipping workers. For many entrepreneurs with small staffs, those people have become like family.  read more...

Pop-up stores are popping up everywhere. All the big brands are into them -- Pop Tarts opened up a Pop Tarts World pop-up in New York City's Times Square earlier this month. Gap hit SoHo with a pop-up store for its Piperlime brand that was slated to stay up just 25 days during Fashion Week. For its part, Pita Pit brashly camped its pop-up restaurant in front of Fox News' New York headquarters for a month, landing more press and attracting record numbers of new-franchisee applications. Pop-Up stores are so hot that some retail advisors now specialize in designing and creating them.

These big retailers are onto something smaller retailers can take advantage of, too. Here's why now is a great time to open a pop-up store: Empty space. There is an unprecedented amount of open retail space right now. Make a landlord an offer and they'll probably jump at it. read more...

It may seem early to be stressing about taxes, but many business owners are already worrying about April 15. 
One reason? A complex Web of new tax regulations they may not understand. Another? The fact that many stimulus-related tax breaks are expiring after this year.

There's been a whirlwind of tax changes, and more seem to be coming down the pike every day, including the possibility that ecommerce sales may need to start collecting sales tax in all 50 states and sending it off to the IRS. read more...