SmallBusinessExecutiveInforming, Inspiring and Connecting Businesses

Ifbyphone finds growth in call management

Chicago-based Ifbyphone CEO Irv Shapiro has twice started companes that landed on the Inc. 500 list.

By Ann Meyer

If you think the  growth of the Internet and text messaging have wiped out the need for phone calls, think again.

One of the fastest-growing small businesses in the nation routes more than 15 million minutes of phone calls in a typical month, and it’s not in the traditional phone business.

Chicago-based Ifbyphone is CEO Irv Shapiro’s …

How to avoid hurting your social media image

By Marsha Friedman
Guest columnist

– I remember when the Internet first gained prominence and it became apparent that having a website was essential for any commercial enterprise.

Back then, web designers were not plentiful and few people thought to hire a professional to create a site. They felt that any web presence was better than none, and they found people they knew who were “into the whole Internet thing” to help them.

As …

10 years after 9/11, security still top of mind

By Ann Meyer

– Chicago photographer Jimmy Fishbein hasn’t forgotten the terrorist attacks that struck New York 10 years ago, where his photography studio was located at the time.

Fishbein lost just about everything, including his portfolio, when his studio next to the World Trade Center got caught in the disaster …

Angel investor market picks up: UNH analysis

Submitted by the Center for Venture Research
DURHAM, N.H. – Following a considerable contraction in investment dollars in 2008 and 2009, the angel investor market continued to recover in 2011, a trend that began in 2010 in investment dollars and in the number of investments, according to the 2011 Angel Market Analysis released by the Center for Venture Research at the University of New Hampshire.

Total investments in 2011 were $22.5 billion, an increase of 12.1 percent over 2010 when investments totaled $20.1 billion. A total of 66,230 entrepreneurial …