SmallBusinessExecutiveInforming, Inspiring and Connecting Businesses
Global Biz: Navigating the legal landscape of overseas expansion
By Michael Muth, GlobalBiz columnist Increasingly, small businesses are targeting a global market. To be successful, it helps to learn from other, experienced firms how to launch an international business, what types of business structures work best for global expansion and how to adapt to local cultures. In GlobalBiz, contributing columnist Michael Muth will shed light [...]
Guest column: Save time by seeking advice
By Lorene Kennard, Guest Columnist “If I knew then what I know now, boy, would I have done things differently!” This is a popular refrain uttered by everyone who has embarked on a new business venture. Most proprietors planning to start a business discover they have an infinite number of things to do before, during [...]
Survey says: Marketers plan to push more activities online
Watch for marketers to continue to boost their online marketing activities, while downplaying traditional advertising and tradeshows. That’s according to an online survey by Naperville-based FusionB2B, which found two-thirds of respondents planning to increase their marketing activities in the future. Internet marketing and social media received the largest vote of confidence, with 97 percent of [...]
Time out for thanks
What are you thankful for? Chicago-based communications design firm Faust Inc. wants to know. Faust has launched Appreciate-it.com, an online holiday letter for everyone to contribute their laundry list of thanks. The longer the list, the better: The firm is aiming to make the Guinness Book of World Records with the longest, most sentimentalist holiday [...]
Guest column: Avoid business mistakes by routinely comparing costs, services
By Lennie Rose, Guest Columnist Often, business mistakes only show up in hindsight. Had I not transitioned from my last company into my new company, I never would have discovered the thousands of dollars I was overpaying for accounting and insurance. Nor would I have learned the importance of periodically comparing the cost and services [...]
Giant Greenbuild expo beckons smaller players
Small companies with environmental products or services were among 27 employers participating in a a “green” jobs fair that attracted 500 Chicago-area job seekers to McCormick Place Nov. 16. The jobs fair was hosted by the U.S. Green Building Council in conjunction with the BlueGreen Alliance and the city of Chicago. While applicants lined up 12 deep to [...]
Steadfast Networks acquires Radius
Chicago data center Steadfast Networks has made its third acquisition of the year, buying consulting firm Radius IT to better serve the financial services sector. Steadfast, which is targeting annual sales of more than $6 million this year, generally prefers to grow through sales, but the company turned to an acquisition strategy this year partly [...]
GlobalBiz: More global expansion how-to from Ed Hamburg
Increasingly, small businesses are targeting a global market. To be successful, it helps to learn from other, experienced firms how to launch an international business, what types of business structures work best for global expansion and how to adapt to local cultures. In GlobalBiz, contributing columnist Michael Muth will shed light on these issues through [...]
Veterans nab business benefits
Chicago business owner Derryl Caldwell credits his status as a veteran for helping his company weather the recession. Caldwell, a reservist with the Army National Guard for 9 years who has owned apparel merchandising company DC Mad Hatter at Navy Pier since 1996, said he gets special attention from the U.S. Small Business Administration. “As [...]
GrubHub nabs more growth capital
Watch for online restaurant delivery service GrubHub to continue adding jobs, now that it has raised $11 million in a new round of venture capital from Benchmark Capital in Menlo Park, Calif. The new funding, which brings to about $14 million the total investment capital GrubHub has raised, will allow the company to expand to new [...]
