Smart Move of the Day: The Small Business Credit Card

May 8, 2013

As a successful small business owner, you already understand the value of being able to accept credit cards from your customers. Shoppers like the convenience payment cards offer, and they appreciate being able to manage their finances by using credit to their advantage. The same holds true for entrepreneurs like yourself, which is why small business credit cards are so popular and a necessary tool for running your operation.

Small business credit cards differ from personal cards because they are issued to firms rather than individual consumers, and they are intended to be used for business purposes only. According to a 2010 report to Congress by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 83 percent of small businesses used credit cards as of the end of 2009. Of them, 64 percent used small business cards, and 41 percent used personal cards. [Read more...]

Small Business Owners’ Mistakes Can Lead to Lawsuits

May 7, 2013

There is such a thing as being too nice – especially if it costs you excessive time, legal fees, stress and possibly the ruin of your business! Too many small business owners have learned the hard way that failing to learn and follow all labor laws can lead to employee lawsuits.  Even if you were only trying to save money for the business or offer more flexibility to your workers – your good intentions can do you great harm if your actions break employment laws.

A recent article in USA TODAY reports, “more workers across the nation have been suing employers under federal and state wage-and-hour laws” since the height of the recession in 2008, with the number of lawsuits filed last year 32 percent higher than in 2008. The main grievance of workers are working more than 40 hours per week and not receiving overtime pay. Various practices include: [Read more...]

Cyber Attacks Hit Small Businesses and Mobile Platforms Hardest in 2012

May 6, 2013

Symantec has released Volume 18 of their 2013 Internet Security Threat Report based on data from the Symantec Global Intelligence Network. The report, which provides an overview and analysis of the year in global threat activity, shows significant increases of online attacks against small businesses and mobile platforms in 2012.

Small businesses may be more vulnerable to attacks since malware creators understand that such firms often have weaker security than larger organizations. According to the report, targeted attacks saw a 42 percent increase, with 31 percent of those attacks aimed at businesses with fewer than 250 employees. This is an increase of 18 percent from a year earlier. Symantec Corporation monitored computers containing its software in over 157 countries and found the US ranked first worldwide in the overall ranking of security threats. [Read more...]

Survey Reveals Consumers Expect Seamless Shopping Experience Across All Channels

May 3, 2013

Whether you are marketing to customers who shop in your store, on your website, or from a mobile device, you will do well to provide a seamless shopping experience across all channels. Accenture’s Seamless Retail Global Customer Survey found that 89 percent of consumers believe that better integration will win their loyalty if they can shop for products in the way that is most convenient for them, regardless which sales channel they choose.

Chris Donnelly, global managing director of Accenture’s Retail practice, believes that although seamlessness can be challenging to achieve — that it is possible to attain. He said, “Traditional retailers must take stock of their operational capabilities. They require a presence at every stage of the customer journey to deliver a consistently personalized, on-brand experience from discovery through research, purchase, fulfillment and beyond to product maintenance or returns.” [Read more...]

World Trade Promoted to Small Businesses Throughout May

May 2, 2013

The potential benefits of engaging in world trade, especially at the small business level, will be promoted throughout the month of May in cities across the United States. The first World Trade Week was declared by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1935, and today it has evolved to a time when entrepreneurs are encouraged to consider how recent technological innovations can help their small businesses expand into international trade by facilitating operations and bolstering their bottom lines.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) notes that nearly 96 percent of consumers live outside the U.S., and two-thirds of the world’s purchasing power is in foreign countries. In promoting World Trade Day on its website, SBA suggests that small businesses should consider exporting if they’re interested in increasing sales and profit, reducing dependence on the domestic market and stabilizing seasonal fluctuations. [Read more...]