ZenBlog

If you're thinking about starting a business, there is no time like the present Never have there been so many opportunities. Running a small business can be exceptionally rewarding, providing the opportunity to be your own boss and create jobs. ...

In today's fast paced world, discovering ways to be more productive is a regular topic of interest especially amongst entrepreneurs and business people. The study reveals that an innovative work experience and environment drives productivity. As many as half of all U.S. employees, however, admit to feeling overloaded at work. Wh...

If you manage other people, the first thing you need to understand is that your success depends on their success. If you empower your employees, they will blossom into employees who work harder and make your business better. The more you empower your employees, the more they will grow and thrive. Investing in your employees is an investme...

Small businesses face several challenges, including trying to break even, establishing customer loyalty, branding, and marketing. Mistakes made in these areas can easily be overcome with the right skill set and objectives but legal mistakes, on the other hand, go unnoticed but later come back to hurt the business. As an owner of a sm...

Diversity in the workplace can be a touchy subject, but in many companies it is even harder to execute. Promoting workplace diversity has many bottom line benefits. It might be challenging to promote diversity, but it's definitely worth the effort. Diversity is an essential part of every workplace. Diversity encourages creativity and innovatio...

​One of the major issues facing small businesses over the last few decades, directly from their mouths, is their ability to access capital when and where they want it or need it. It's no secret that small businesses can have a hard time getting financing. One of the top reasons for small business failures is lack of capital. Being able to...

​Does your mind go blank when you begin writing a sales letter? Do you have good ideas that somehow don't come together on paper? If so, you're not alone. These are common obstacles many business owners face. It can be intimidating to sit down and write a great sales email to a prospect. Email marketing has evolved as one of the best marketing chan...

​According to a recent study, over 94% of new businesses fail during first year of operation. Lack of funding turns to be one of the common reasons. Money is the bloodline of any business.This money can come from many different sources. It is often not possible to get bank loans because banks aren't interested in unproven businesses. ...

​For any business that provides a product or service to customers, the act of finding, targeting and obtaining new customers is always going to be among its top priorities. But what many businesses tend to forget is that once a customer makes the first purchase, there is much more to be done in the customer relationship. Smart businesses know that ...

Leads are an integral part of any sales force strategy. Without leads the process stumbles, relying on only chance and fortune. Small business owners, especially those selling services or large expensive products, are often faced with the need to follow up on their sales leads. While this may seem straightforward, there are many variables...

​Generating money to start a new venture or to expand an existing business can be a challenge for small businesses. There are a number of ways to capitalize a business using debt or equity. After their personal equity contributions, many small-business owners may prefer to utilize some type of debt to fund the business rather than take on addi...

​If you're a small-business owner, you're by definition a risk-taker. Businesses of all sizes face risks regarding development of products, manufacturing them, selling them, earning a profit on these operations and managing growth. If the entrepreneur is a sole proprietor, they face additional personal liability risks and financial risks. Take...

Getting payroll right can be a big headache for small business owners. Companies are always looking for ways to streamline this responsibility, making it easier for the staff in charge of completing the procedure. Regardless of the size of your business, it's important to have an organized payroll system in place to protect you from IRS penalt...

The saying "if it doesn't exist on the Internet, it doesn't exist"1 is reigning truer every day. Nowadays, it is hard to imagine most businesses without an e-commerce platform, let alone without a web presence at all. Even though you might offer great products and write excellent product descriptions for your goods, it's not necessarily going ...

​​Business leaders tend to lack focus in certain areas when things are going well. Whether things are going well or starting to take a turn for the worse, anything necessary for your business to achieve goals and succeed must be managed and measured consistently. Without regular analysis of what's working, what can be improved upon and trends that ...

Are you a small business owner who's disappointed that you've never reached the profit level you had hoped for when you started your business? Or, has your once-profitable business started to take a nosedive? Both situations are fairly common. Everyone wants to be more profitable. After all, profit is how we keep score in business. It's not ab...

Business persons should consider what data points will be most helpful down the road, when their business is bigger and more complex and decisions need to be made more quickly. Especially in the launch stage, paying close attention to your pricing and costing strategies is essential, because inaccurate estimates of either can throw your company int...

​People choose to leave companies for all sorts of reasons. Compensation and career progression concerns are typically at top of the list of reasons to bail out, but there are plenty of underlying issues that affect job satisfaction. But today, with placement opportunities very low and unemployment extremely high, very few people opt to quit a...

​No matter if you're a B2B or B2C marketer, lead generation is a necessary function of your marketing team. And it's something we're all trying to improve upon. A great way to bring leads to your website is through business blog. In the age of content marketing, blogging has fast become one of the most effective ways to market your brand....

First of all, if you're new to accounting, it's a good idea to go with software that's well established and popular. When you start out, you'll likely need some help from an outside accountant to figure out how to record transactions properly. One of the main reasons businesses fail is because there isn't a good bookkeeping system in place tha...