Update: This article was originally published on September 16, 2008 and was updated with new material to reflect issues relevant in 2013. Below you can find the updated content, followed by our original article on how outsourcing affects the U.S. economy.
Outsourcing has been a hot topic in business for many years. There are people for and against it, each with reasoning that makes sense. Some businesses like it because it can save them money on business expenses either from cheaper labor or savings on shipping material. In some industries this is true and valid, such as in manufacturing. Professional [...]
Even Many “Affluent” Americans Live Primarily on Their Own Labor
Let’s talk reality. The majority of Americans – including those who own small businesses – work for a living. They sell used cars, repair plumbing, work in home improvement. They are doctors, nurses, dentists, attorneys, and real estate agents.
While professionals who own practices (doctors, dentists, attorneys, etc.) do earn more they also have much higher expenses so they often end up with even less disposable income than other small business owners.
Those who can not tell that there is no recovery have no idea how the majority of Americans [...]
Do you want to start your own company? Rise the ranks in the corporate world? Pursue an MBA? If any of those plans sound appealing to you, you might want to look into business schools that can teach you the skills you want and introduce you to the professional network you need.
To point you in the right direction, here are ten examples of some of the best business schools around the world, where you might choose to pursue undergraduate or graduate business studies. To help narrow down the list, I considered other recent rankings including those by Forbes, Bloomberg Businessweek, and [...]
WHAT MOST SMALL BUSINESSES SHOULD FOCUS ON
While social media is the hot new toy, it is not the most important priority for any business. Like email marketing, it is best to start both growing, and then make sure you optimize everything in this post before you worry about the ROI of Social Media. These are in priority order based on importance, so DO start at the top!
IMPORTANT TIP: If you only need to do something once, or rarely, hire the very best to do it for you. There is no reason to invest your time and money learning [...]
Affluent Buying Power
Many have survived economic decline so far by focusing their marketing efforts on the most affluent buyers. While that usually does work, when the Federal Reserve keeps printing money that the Federal government buys, inflation and declining buying power are inevitable. This video explains why even the affluent will have less money to spend in the coming year:
Small Business Market Research
Almost all case studies and market research is done on behalf of Fortune 500 companies. Successful PR, Marketing, and SEO agencies primarily serve larger corporations. They then use these studies to advise [...]
Agencies Only Reach the Most Affluent Small Businesses
The B2B services that all small businesses need are managed by affluent founders who do not always see themselves as affluent. Because they are not aware that their lives are so different than the majority of people who own small businesses, they are not adequately reaching 80% of small business owners who need their services.
Some of this is by design because it is much easier to maximize income when you market only to those with deep pockets, but much of it is because they are failing to recognize that small business [...]
Small business is being suffocated, new businesses can not open, and existing businesses are not hiring – and the reason is NOT higher taxes as politician would have you believe. It is ridiculous licensing, fees, and other red tape.
“To hear politicians tell it, the No. 1 barrier to small-business growth is taxes…when surveyed, small-business owners place relatively little weight on tax issues anyway. They’re much more concerned with something Washington rarely talks about: the country’s spreading thicket of licensing rules.” ~ Licensed To Decorate; Taxes don’t kill entrepreneurship. Crazy licensing rules do. ~
Licensing and fees are used to [...]
What do Old Spice, Lego, Ford and Apple have in common? They all almost went under and were able to make turnarounds. The infographic below and the related post by Best Accounting Schools explains what went wrong and how they recovered.
ACCOUNTING PROBLEMS?
While better bookkeeping might have made a difference, in each of these cases there were larger issues than just how they accounted for their income and losses. Each of them made major changes in management decisions and repositioned themselves to appeal to a wider market. Find out why they were dying and what they did to recover [...]
With the ever changing world of technology and social media, it’s no surprise that the sales world has had to adapt as well. The idea to “always be closing” has been forced to take a back seat as consumers are educating themselves in the products they’re looking to buy.
So what works now and what doesn’t? Find out in this infographic provided by PostWire,com – a new free way to privately share exactly the images, links, and videos you want any person or group to see.
Sales and Marketing
Need to add to your sales force or Internet or Social [...]
Small businesses are the key to growing our economy because they create jobs. For small business to hire the best applicants and for talented people to find those new small jobs we can benefit from new solutions.
Most recruiting systems are designed for very large corporations and do not work well for small businesses. I recently came across one that I believe will because they designed an easy to use system.
Most small businesses use a combination of email, excel spreadsheets, online job postings on job boards and possibly one-on-one networking on sites like LinkedIn or Skype. The problem with [...]
2013 Predictions: B2B Will Finally Stop Ignoring 80% of Small Business
Ridiculous Licensing Requirements Damage SmallBiz MORE Than Taxes
Small Business Recruiting and Hiring Process Management
10 of the Most Valuable Online Degrees
Benefits and Drawbacks of Being Your Own Boss