What is a business plan? Whether you’re starting a small business or exploring ways to expand an existing one, a business plan is an important tool to help guide your decisions. Think of it as a roadmap to success, providing greater clarity on all aspects of your business, from marketing and finance to operations and...
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The telltale flash, a floor-shaking boom, and darkness. Thunderstorms are often the culprit, but power outages can be caused by a variety of problems, from transformer malfunctions to a squirrel chewing through the wrong wire. With so many ways your power can be cut, it’s important to be prepared in the event of a power...
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Strolling around the local farmers market on a Saturday morning is a popular pastime, and if you grow, bake, craft, or create things as a hobby, you may have wondered if you might sell your goods and produce there. Farmers markets are growing in popularity, so it’s no surprise that gardeners, bakers, artists, and other...
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Small business owners wear a lot of hats. Decisions on health care plans, retirement plans and other benefits are often left solely to the owner. Offering a small business retirement plan to employees isn’t always on the radar. A study by LIMRA showed that only 42 percent of small businesses offered retirement plans – despite...
Read more about How to Pick a Small Business Retirement Plan [Slideshow]
Technology continues changing the automotive industry, and along with those changes come more career opportunities. Computers have become ubiquitous in our world, and today they control everything from our wireless music systems to our thermostats. They are also playing a significant role in the automotive industry. According to Forbes, electrical engineers now top the list...
Read more about It’s Technical: A Look at the Hottest Jobs of Tomorrow’s Auto Industry
Only about half of all new businesses survive five years or more, and only about a third survive beyond 10 years, according to the Small Business Administration. From not having enough startup money to trying to do it all yourself to not investing in marketing, common errors in planning and management can provide challenges for...
Read more about How to Avoid 5 Common Small Business Mistakes [Slideshow]
Have you ever had an idea for a small business? Maybe it’s a unique product you believe would be a hit, or a brick-and-mortar storefront that would provide a needed service to a neighborhood. For those would-be entrepreneurs who actually take steps to realize their business idea, however, many eventually hit a brick wall. Financing...
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A key challenge for many small businesses is keeping costs low. One key fixed cost is real estate. Sure, many companies get started around a dining room table, but a home office isn’t practical once you have employees or when you need a place to hold client meetings. A great solution for many business owners...
Read more about Shared Office Space: The Benefits and Disadvantages of Coworking
The business you are building has been an all-consuming priority, a labor of love. You’ve devoted time and trouble to get the business up and running. Your creativity keeps it growing. You’re a rock of commitment. It’s exactly because you’re so devoted to the business, though, that you might be overlooking business risk factors that...
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As a boy, Brendan Droppo loved watching NASCAR races with his dad. He was mesmerized by the many different colors and paint schemes; after the races, the young artist would spend hours drawing pictures of the winning cars. “Then I’d draw a second version with my own paint scheme,” he says. “I fell in love...
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If you just purchased a new-to-you vintage car, or if your current vehicle needs some light upgrades but you just don’t know where to start, here is some good news! These are ten common, easy-enough enhancements that will inspire confidence and get you on the road! 1. Tires make the world go ‘round. Since tires...
Read more about Top 10 Shortcuts to Car Safety, Reliability and Better Gas Mileage from Hagerty
Starting a business is an exercise in managing risk. But the riskiest time for a new venture is often in the initial weeks and months as you work to establish your service or product with potential customers. Keeping expenses low is important during this critical period. One unavoidable cost, though, is: space. Whatever your business,...
Read more about The New Office Space: How Coworking Spaces and Incubators Can Help Your Start-Up Thrive