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If you’re like many small business owners, your business insurance might not be adequate in the case of a fire, flood, natural disaster, theft, or personal injury. Often home-based business owners assume they are covered under their homeowner’s policy. Other entrepreneurs, working long hours and pulled in too many directions, may never get around to talking to an insurance agent about their business. If you’ve been procrastinating on business insurance,…  Read more

Few business owners have extra time to devote to a lengthy business planning process. But every entrepreneur needs a solid blueprint to get their business successfully up and running. The Lean Canvas—designed by Sparks59 CEO and Running Lean author, Ash Maurya—is a simple, effective planning tool that helps entrepreneurs assess and test their ideas before investing too deeply in building a product. For the small business owner, the Lean Canvas…  Read more

If you’re a small business owner with a modest marketing budget, every dollar you spend has to be worth the investment. For decades—before the web, Google, and social media transformed the nature of marketing—buying an ad in the local Yellow Pages was a reliable way for people to find a business. The fact is, these days most consumers across the globe use the web and review sites like Yelp, TripAdvisor,…  Read more

If you have any doubt that word-of-mouth referrals are important, consider these recent stats: According to Neilson, 92% of shoppers trust recommendations from friends and family more than traditional advertising 20% to 50% of consumer purchases are made because of a word of mouth recommendation 81% of buyers are influenced by their friends’ social media posts. So how can you encourage positive word of mouth for your small business? Try…  Read more

Wealth through value investing is the stock selection strategy famously used by business magnate and third wealthiest person in the world, Warren Buffett, whose total net worth exceeds $91.5 billion. Developed in the 1930s by Columbia University professor and economist, Ben Graham, wealth through value investing involves screening securities to find stocks undervalued relative to peers and the market. Stocks are then assessed for their intrinsic value, determined by a…  Read more

Taking out a business loan may be your first plan of action for financing business growth. But there are excellent reasons to consider other options for finding capital to expand your business. For one, it can be very difficult for a small business to secure financing, especially in the early days. You’ll need to prove to a lender that you aren’t a high risk, with financial documentation that shows your…  Read more