Small Business News

small-business RSS Feed

  • The List: Which banks are lending to small businesses
    The Portland arm of the Small Business Administration this week recognized several lenders as part of its Small Business Week celebration. The SBA named Wells Fargo Bank 7a Lender of the Year for Loan Dollar Volume. The bank guaranteed $41 million in loans in fiscal 2012, 19 percent of the 7a loans in the Portland district. Top SBA Lenders >> The 7a program is the SBA's flagship small business loan program. U.S. Bank was named the 7a Lender of the Year for Loan Volume. It guaranteed…

  • Designing jobs for specific employees is a bad idea
    In 2001, Jim Collins wrote his wildly successful book “Good to Great.” It’s about why some companies become great and others don’t. In the book, he talks about getting the right people on the bus and in the right seats — he calls them the A-level people. One of his key points is to put the “who” before the “what.” In other words, find the best people and figure out what to do with them. I respectfully disagree — that approach makes planning a waste of time. Don’t find the…

  • Is social media worth it for small businesses?
    How successful is social media marketing for your brand? If you are like many marketers today, you may have some difficulty answering this question. In fact, USA Today reported that a recent survey by Manta, a social network for small business, suggested that 61 percent of small businesses feel like they are wasting their time on social media. Why are businesses not seeing the value of investing in such a critical connection point with their customer base? Part of the conundrum is a gap between…

  • Kidblog: a young firm that's growing
    A former Twin Cities teacher and a business manager are unlocking millions of student notebooks worldwide and publishing them online. Matt Hardy and Dan Flies created Kidblog Inc. as a platform for teachers to manage and monitor student blogs online. Three years after its creation, Kidblog has surpassed 3 million users, and 150,000 classrooms are using the program. Hardy came up with the idea while teaching at Cedar Ridge Elementary in Eden Prairie. He wrote an early version of Kidblog for his…

  • Career is rising for San Antonio serial food franchisee
    If it can be served between two slices of bread, roasted on a grill or cooked in an oven, Rick Brozek has probably been there and done that. Brozek, who today owns a pair of Papa Murphy’s pizza franchises and two Schlotzsky’s sandwich stores, says there’s never been a time when he hasn’t worked in the food service industry. Growing up in Omaha, Brozek started working fast food jobs at age 16. He went on to try college for a couple of years, but was eager to become an entrepreneur. He was…

  • Use social media to improve customer service
    Be proactive. Experts agree that small businesses need to keep these two words in mind if they want to extend their customer service to the world of social media. Using social media to provide customer service may differ for various companies, depending on their size. For large companies, such as airlines, the big concern may be responding to people who are tweeting about bad experiences in real time, said Jason McDonald, director of JM Internet Group, which provides Internet training. Smaller…

  • Today’s sales managers must be change agents
    The only constant in life is change. And the sales game is certainly doing its share of changing. One of the biggest shifts seems to be in the buyer/seller relationship. Research shows that buyers are not reaching out to contact salespeople and sales organizations until they’re 60 to 70 percent along in the decision process, according to Jill Konrath, an internationally recognized sales strategist. “Instead of contacting a salesperson, customers today are going online first,” Jill says. “I…

  • Houston's newest whiskey and vodka distillery has ambitious plans
    The owners of the newest Houston-area distillery to get into the whiskey-making game are hoping to give consumers a good reason to clink glasses, after the company made its initial shipments to Texas retailers last month. “We’re a small, new distillery but we’re kind of thinking big,” said Travis Whitmeyer, a founder and co-owner of Whitmeyer’s Distilling Company LLC. Behind the distinct flavor of their products is the Whitmeyer’s moonshine recipe, a family tradition that is more than…

  • Daniel Davis is Jax Chamber’s guy
    JACKSONVILLE — State Rep. Daniel Davis said his experience as a lifelong politician and business advocate will complement the economic development skills of staff at Jax Chamber. The organization named Davis its new president and CEO last week. His tenure begins July 1. Davis said he’s been shaking hands for a living since he graduated from Maranatha Baptist Bible College in Wisconsin. His first attempt at a job was a run for the Jacksonville City Council in 1999. He lost the election but…

  • Naia’s gelato on a stick stands out
    When the 10-year lease on Gelateria Naia’s flagship store ran out in 2012, co-owners Chris Tan and Trevor Morris had two choices. They could either hold on to the legacy retail business or accelerate the more lucrative wholesale expansion. Closing the Berkeley store was painful, Tan said, but it was the right move. Over the past three years the microcreamery, based in Hercules, has enjoyed 46 percent growth in revenue thanks to the wholesale expansion. At one point, Tan and Morris ran five Bay…