SmallBusinessExecutiveInforming, Inspiring and Connecting Businesses
5 ways to plan and brand your small business
By Liz DiMarco Weinmann Guest columnist In the current economic climate, thousands of people are starting their own businesses. Some stride confidently into setting up a business that they’ve been thinking about for a while. Others are taking on freelance assignments while they continue to network and interview for their next full-time position. For [...]
How to protect your domain name from adult entertainment competitors
By Michael R. Graham Guest columnist A new “dot-xxx” top-level domain name registry is being rolled out for the use of the adult entertainment industry. Trademark owners concerned that their trademarks may be used as a second-level domain name in this registry (e.g., yourmark.xxx) can take steps to block the registration of such domain names [...]
Perceptions on value: How to articulate your relevance to the market
By Suzanne Ross Guest columnist Who would ever introduce themselves by saying what they are NOT? It is a crazy proposition but it happens far more often than you might imagine. A discussion with my teenage daughter, about how she will stand apart as she starts considering highly competitive colleges and then the professional [...]
Kauffman study indicates Internet’s impact on startup longevity
Submitted by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation (KANSAS CITY, Mo.) Oct. 20, 2011 — The Internet’s profound effect on how U.S. businesses operate is even more pronounced among young companies, according to a research report released today by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. The study, “Casting a Wide Net: Online Activities of Small and New [...]
Tables turned: Pizza restaurateur asks community for help and receives it
By Ann Meyer This time the cause is his own. Nick Sarillo, the owner of Nick’s Pizza & Pub in Crystal Lake and Elgin, who has frequently extended a helping hand to employees and customers is now holding out his own hand for help. Sarillo, who grew up in the restaurant business and learned from [...]
By building trust, restaurateur builds a business
From our archives This story first appeared in the Chicago Tribune April 11, 2005. By Ann Meyer Like a big family, everyone who works at Nick Sarillo’s restaurant knows everything about the place, including how much Sarillo pays himself in salary, how much the cheese costs, how customers rate the service and even how many napkins [...]
5 tips for successful hiring
By Doug and Polly White Guest columnists When we interviewed more than 100 small business owners for our book, “Let go to grow,” we heard a common theme: hiring is a big problem. They told stories of bad hires where employees were terminated for embezzlement, theft and misappropriation of company resources. One owner shared that [...]
SBA proposal would increase defined size of small businesses in two categories
Submitted by the U.S. Small Business Administration WASHINGTON – Proposed rules published today for comment in The Federal Register by the U.S. Small Business Administration would adjust the size definition of small businesses in 52 industries in two broad categories of businesses, ranging from travel agencies and movie production to waste management. The proposed adjustments [...]
First-half angel investments climb 5 percent
By the Center for Venture Research at the University of New Hampshire DURHAM, N.H. – The angel investor market in the first two quarters of 2011 showed signs of stabilization with total investments totaling $8.9 billion, an increase of 4.7 percent over the same period in 2010, according to the Center for Venture Research at the [...]
Health care reform could spur small firms to rely more on temps
By Pamela Villarreal and Peter Swanson National Center for Policy Analysis As the United States recovers from the 2008 recession, many consider any employment growth to be a good sign. But uncertainties about future tax and health care costs could be inhibiting permanent job growth, shifting more of the labor force to temporary and part-time [...]
