Small Business Trends

With recovery shaky at best and fears of a double dip recession still looming, small businesses have seen many ups and downs. There are many ways to deal with the problems you face everday in your small business venture and many tough decisions affecting your company’s future. Making these decisions often requires reflection and the information necessary to determine whether you are on the right track or whether it is time to make a change. We hope some of the information below helps. Enjoy! 

Operations

Looking for absolutes in small business management? Whether your business is big or small, you will likely meet with considerable ambiguity and few absolutes when it comes to the decisions you make. In fact, in some management circles it is considered a part of any training to deliberately place future management people in positions where no easy right or wrong answer exists. Feel overwhelmed by the uncertainty of the decisions you make each day in your small business? Read the above post and discover you’re not alone. What Do You Want From Them 

eCommerce

Hosted eCommerce tools compared. Interested in starting an online eCommerce business but don’t know what tools to use? How about beginning with a software application that offers a ready made technical solution for your new online store? Major platforms Volution and BigCommerce go head to head in this comparison. Do you have a favorite hosted eCommerce service for your online business? What kind of eCommerce solution do you recommend and why? MyWifeQuitHerJob. 

Trends

Are small businesses hiring again? This report looks at one of the chief indicators in the health of the recovering economy. But it’s also a subject near and dear to our hearts here at Small Business Trends, namely the possibility that more small businesses are now looking at increasing their staffs than were contemplating a similar move several months ago. Of course, ongoing concerns about the availability of financing remain. How about your small business? Is it time to start hiring?DC Report 
When things aren’t going well. Remember that despite some good news, it’s still a pretty bleak economy out there. And we continue to see businesses struggle. When your business is hit by hard times, you may be tempted to throw in the towel. Bankruptcy is certainly one solution. But be aware there are many kinds of bankruptcy, both business and personal. And none will be the answer to all of your problems. GoodFinancialCents 

Social Media

Don’t screw up your social media. By now, every small business owner has probably heard of how social media can benefit your marketing efforts. Be aware, however, that simply using social media is not enough. Using these tools effectively is also critical to success. Here are some simple mistakes anyone can make while trying to use social media effectively. Pixld 

Marketing

Here’s the bad news. Marketing research can turn up all sorts of evidence that your assumptions are incorrect, that your marketing plan is in error or even that your entire business model, product or service is wrong for your target market. But believe it or not, there is a bright side to all of this. Bloggertone 

Branding

Brand new branding for your small business. Once branding was solely the domain of companies like Coca-Cola or Nike. Many small businesses haven’t traditionally thought about branding much. But, of course, with the growing global reach available to many small businesses, that has begun to change. Here’s a strategy for approaching your small businesses brand. Jackie Purnell 

Book Shelf

Fifty outstanding black women and their achievements. In his review of Jewels: 50 Phenomenal Black Women Over 50, Pierre DeBois focuses on these portraits of black women over the age of 50 who have become great achievers including in the world of business. DeBois says the lessons about balancing personal and professional responsibilities can have a much broader audience. Is this a book for you? Small Business Trends 
The story of Facebook. Ivana Taylor reviews The Facebook Effect: The Inside Story of the Company That Is Connecting the World, the story of one of the most important social media platforms around today. Increasingly more important for small business, this may be a great look behind the scenes of a company and a platform whose services have become critical to small business marketing and communication in general on planet Earth. Small Business Trends 

Startups

Passion trumps recession. You might not think specialty pet businesses would be successful in an economic slump when discretionary spending is down. But these pet business owners have found big success despite the recession by following their heart and giving their all in a field they clearly love. Open Forum Innovation

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