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Savvy consumers and small firms owners are increasingly checking the Better Business Bureau’s list of businesses before they make a purchase or decide to partner with a company.
That’s bad news for small businesses that some how end up on the BBB’s bad-boy list.
OK, it’s not actually called a bad boy list, but if your company ends up in the BBB’s data base with an unsatisfactory rating you can bet you’ll probably lose at least a few sales as a result.
The BBB has reliability reports on about 4 million businesses and of those about 24 percent have an unsatisfactory rating, says Alison Preszler, a spokeswoman for the organization.
So how do you keep from ending up with a “F” on your BBB report card?
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There are lots of small business owners out there that are living life on the edge: They have little to no health insurance.
They figure they're pretty healthy, so they can save money by paying doctors for routine visits out of pocket. But what if they get a serious illness?
Most of you out there figure you'll go to the hospital, get the treatment you need to get nursed back to health and then deal with the bills as they come in. Hospitals, especially nonprofits, have to treat people, right?
Think again.
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| Richard Drew / AP |
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It may sound crazy, but one entrepreneurial experts thinks a recession is a great time to launch a new business.
“The one predictable way to achieving financial success is to own a business,” claims Bill Bartmann, the author of "Billionaire Secrets to Success.” “The current economic landscape is a most opportune time to start a new business. It is all about applying basic common sense.”
Is this man just a nutcase or does he know of what he speaks?
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Craigslist is being sued by eBay because it claims it’s management team “unfairly diluting” its holdings in Craigslist.
The online auction site has had a nearly 30 percent stake in the classifed-ad Web site since 2004.
The two companies are essentially competitors, but EBay, with thousands of employees, dwarfs Craigslist, which only has about 20.
And it’s a whole different mentality over at Craigslist.
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If you are a small business owner who wants to land a government contract, you are not allowed to have venture capital dollars pumping into your company.
For some reason, that’s the way it’s been. Perhaps it was supposed to be a way to level the playing field, so small companies weren’t really deep-pocketed big companies in disguise.
But a bill that would eliminate the restriction, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y., who chairs the House Small Business Committee, was passed by the House this week. And that has some small business advocates up in arms.
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When blogs first came on the scene, they were basically online diaries.
I remember this freaky guy I worked with about nine years ago at a newspaper in Florida was writing this new thing called a blog. His posts were mainly about his sex life, or lack of it. And he also blogged about how he hated journalism and really wanted to be a musician.
What got me thinking about the origins of blogs was a story in the New York Times Friday about how blogs are now being used to air dirty laundry.
Duh! That’s why blogs were created. But recently, blogs have turned into little more than advertising sites for businesses and places where journalist can write shorter stories that are infused with a bit of opinion, and sometimes humor.
But alas, the best-read blogs are filled with personal musings, sex, and the more dirty laundry the better.
So what’s a small business owner to do if they want a blog that’s well read? Should they start writing about their escapades in the bedroom?
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Richard W.C. Lin says he “ain’t Rockefeller, nor Gates, nor Buffet.”
So, when he passes his New York State property casualty exam, which he’s taking this month, he’ll need money to be able to set up his insurance practice.
Since banks are getting tougher when it comes to lending money, especially to budding, new small business owners, he figures his best bet would be a Small Business Administration loan.
Well buddy, it might not be that easy.
SBA lending is down, nearly 14 percent, and the answer for why is different depending on whom you talk to.
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Two years ago, the owner of one of Philadelphia’s favorite cheesesteak joints, Geno’s Steaks, ended up at the center of the national immigration debate when it’s owner Joseph Vento put up this sign in his store:
“This is America: When Ordering Please Speak English.”
As you can imagine his sign got him in hot water including a two-year investigation by the Philadelphia Human Relations Commission that looked into whether the small business owner discriminated against any patrons and violated the city’s fair practices ordinance.
Well, the commission found recently he did not discriminate against anyone and now this entrepreneur wants payback.
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I’m in love with my accountant.
Actually, it’s not a "Pride & Prejudice" kind of love. I really don’t know the guy that well, but he does my taxes. Something I would never want to go solo on.
But I applaud small business owners who are able to go it alone. That’s great. You save lots of money and control your own tax destiny.
I don’t want that kind of responsibility, honestly.
Turns out most business owners are as chicken as I am.
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| Tim Boyle / Getty Images file |
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Does your small business really need a cell phone with James Bond type surveillance capabilities?
Sometimes all you need to do is call someone.
Cell phones are becoming so complicated these days, just calling a business contact takes a bunch of strokes, beyond just dialing the number. And I keep hitting the stupid speaker button on my iPhone with my cheek, allowing everyone near me at the supermarket to hear my conversation while I’m ordering cold cuts.
Small business owners must be at their wits end when it comes to all the options cell phones offer these days. What’s right for your business? Is it worth getting 3-D maps, or voice controls, or GPS?
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