Cash is king. That’s one of the important lessons Jeff Bezos the wizard of cash flow – has taught the business world over the last decade or so. But to maximize cash flow and other key performance indicators, you need to understand how all the moving parts of your company’s financial ecosystem are working […]
Whether you sell surfboards, make coffee, formulate craft beer or sell paperclips in mass bulk, you’re an expert on your product and the people that buy it. But that doesn’t mean you know the basics of running a business (accounting, invoicing, networking, social media), and that’s OK. You don’t have to be a jack-of-all-trades and […]
By Meredith Wood So you want to apply for a small business loan. You go through the application process, and the lender lets you know how much you can qualify for (this tends to be around 8 to 12% of your annual revenues). You may know the loan amount you want or need, but how do […]
Sometimes small business owners can feel besieged. Big businesses have advertising and marketing budgets that dwarf their total yearly receipts. The corporate honchos and their high-salaried lobbyists have the ear of our lawmakers. Politicians only seem to care about small businesses during election cycles. But despite swimming upstream against these insanely strong currents, small business […]
By Brian Hamilton Shark Tank can be a tough show to watch if you’re an entrepreneur. I often find it difficult to enjoy, since I empathize so much with the people coming on the show to pitch their businesses. I get nervous for these contestants because, like most entrepreneurs, I’ve been in similar situations. Believe me, business […]