Business Builders

Who’s your new hire? How to check

How well do you know the people you are hiring? In today's business environment, failure to perform proper due diligence, including pre-employment background checks, can have lasting and potentially costly consequences for companies. Continue reading →

How to keep your banker on your side

Over the past 20 years, banking has suffered an image crisis - shifting from a trusted adviser to a commodity in the eyes of many consumers. Every bank started to look like another, and for business owners the choice often came down to terms and credit limit. Continue reading →

How to dodge financial pain when others file

The economic crisis of recent years has resulted in near-record bankruptcy filings. The impact upon your business when a customer or vendor files a petition for bankruptcy can be devastating. Continue reading →

Here are tips so looks don’t kill

The adage that looks can kill cuts both ways. And it is still true today, despite a decade or more of dressing down in many business environments. Continue reading →

Why employers must address networking sites

Last year, the city of Bozeman, Montana, implemented a policy that prospective employees must supply the usernames and passwords for any Web sites they belonged to, including Facebook, MySpace, Yahoo, Google and YouTube, so that they could make informed decisions about recruiting, hiring and firing. Continue reading →

Simple often beats complex in accounting

Oscar Wilde once said, "A cynic is a man who knows the price of everything but the value of nothing." Unfortunately, the same could be true about traditional accounting systems. Continue reading →

Going green must start at company’s top

While most business owners will say they understand the need for going green, many struggle with implementing green policies in the face of economic adversity. A Wells Fargo/Gallup survey of small businesses early in 2009 found that only 33 percent of those responding said they will do everything that can be justified by cost. Continue reading →

When engaging customers online, take precautions

Feelings, opinions and discussions on all topics are published on Facebook. Twitter is used to report things people say immediately. People are able to find others with similar interests in almost real time. Companies are joining right in with this social media marketing revolution and capitalizing on attracting new customers. Continue reading →

Key Steps Of Defining Target Consumers

If you own a small restaurant and someone asks who your target market is, do you reply, "Anyone who eats." Continue reading →

How to know how low you should go

In the last year, I've talked to many businesses owners about how low they can drop their prices. Some of their competition seems willing to sell products or perform work at or below their cost. Continue reading →

One owner’s view on how to exit well

I've discovered another way to look at retirement: you can call it "successful planning," a term especially attractive to us diehard entrepreneurs. Continue reading →

Twitter tactics

Still trying to figure out why it makes sense to "tweet" for your business? You're not alone. While some entrepreneurs and professionals are using Twitter as the main way they communicate with their networks, they are still a minority. Continue reading →