Business Tips
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February 17, 2025 at 8:00am
Nina Pinidi, a veteran facing health challenges, launched Solime Royal Hair with the support of the San Diego SBDC. Learn how she overcame adversity and built a thriving business.
The post Veteran Entrepreneur Finds Success with SBDC Support appeared first on America’s SBDC.
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January 30, 2025 at 8:00am
Understand the data privacy risks associated with TikTok, RedNote, DeepSeek, and other platforms. Learn how to protect your small business’s sensitive information.
The post TikTok, RedNote, and DeepSeek: A Quick Privacy Wake-Up Call for Small Businesses appeared first on America’s SBDC.
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January 16, 2025 at 8:00am
Discover how President Jimmy Carter’s military service, business experience, and presidential leadership led to the creation of the SBDC program, a cornerstone of small business support.
The post James Earl Carter Jr.: From Naval Officer to Small Business Champion appeared first on America’s SBDC.
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December 30, 2024 at 8:00am
Don’t let rising costs in 2025 squeeze your profits. Discover 8 strategies to prepare your business, including cash flow forecasting and pricing adjustments.
The post Prepare for Profits – 2025, Part 2. 8 Ways to Fight the Profit Pinch appeared first on America’s SBDC.
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December 23, 2024 at 8:00am
Connor Vanderholm, laid-off revenue manager, leveraged SBDC support to launch Topline, a hotel revenue management firm using data to optimize hotel profits.
The post Prepare for Profits – 2025, Part 1 Your Cost Structure May Never Be the Same appeared first on America’s SBDC.
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Artificial Intelligence Tips for Small Business Owners
October 17
AI is no longer exclusive to large corporations—small businesses can now leverage AI to automate tasks like accounting, boost customer service, improve marketing strategies, and enhance cybersecurity. These tools can provide valuable insights into your business operations, helping you make smarter, data-driven decisions that lead to better outcomes and more efficient workflows. However, adopting AI also comes with challenges, such as upfront costs and potential legal or ethical risks. Before diving in, it’s crucial to evaluate if AI aligns with your business needs and long-term goals. While AI offers significant growth potential, careful planning will help you navigate the complexities and fully harness its benefits for your small business. -
Navigating the New Exemption Laws: Essential Tips for Small Businesses
July 31
These changes affect executive, administrative, and professional employees. Here’s what you need to know to stay compliant and ensure your business is prepared. To determine if you or your employees qualify for this, please refer to the DOL website: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/overtime/rulemaking. -
HR Minute for February 2024
February 9
Although it is being challenged in both Congress and the courts, I still recommend small businesses review and prepare for compliance with DOL expectations https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/flsa/misclassification. Note that the sub-directory title “misclassification” is a strong clue to the continued focus for regulatory oversight. -
Texas Comptroller Changes ‘No Tax Due’ Reporting for 2024
January 9
The term “franchise tax” may be confusing for business owners, especially if their business is not a franchise. Franchise Tax is a privilege tax imposed on each taxable entity and a “franchise” is the right granted to an entity to market their goods or services. -
Cybersecurity: Two Factor or Multifactor Authentication, A Necessary Step
October 30
Some of this is because cracking passwords isn’t all that difficult in most cases. To avoid providing access to your bank or credit card accounts, or to other sources of sensitive information, the companies are striving to ensure that only authorized individuals are accessing those accounts or information. In short, it is just a way of making sure that the owner of the login is the one accessing the account or information. -
Cybersecurity: Passwords Matter
September 21
Another responsibility is security. This responsibility is a big one and encompasses a lot more than some realize. Physical security is something that everyone is familiar with and probably comfortable with. It involves everything from door locks to alarm systems. It is generally easy to implement and not hard to remember to do. It used to be enough. -
Do These Three Steps Before Establishing Your Business Brand Identity
August 9
There are countless things to consider when starting a business. Which structure should I pick? Where do I find suppliers? How do I secure financing? Those are all very important, and often daunting, questions to answer while planning out your business concept and operations. -
Hitting Your Target Market
July 6
For example, it is fairly obvious that an infant and children’s clothing boutique will target parents and grandparents with infants and children that are within a certain age range. For the business to succeed there must be enough parents and grandparents to generate sufficient demand for such clothing and an evaluation of the competitions strength and the number of competitors. -
Promote Your Business with the Go Texan Program
June 1
The Go Texan program is a Texas Department of Agriculture initiative dedicated to identifying and supporting Texas-based businesses and connecting them with customers across the Lone Star State and around the world. The Go Texan program is dedicated to showcasing the diversity and quality of Texas – based businesses. Their efforts support business growth opportunities through developing new sales, establishing partnership relationships and encouraging customers to seek out the iconic Go Texan mark when making purchases. -
But they only worked for me for a week...
April 3
While the length of time the employee has worked may have an impact on an employer’s financial liability for an unemployment claim, it does not completely absolve the employer from the responsibility to respond to the claim. -
Keep Your Business Safe
October 13
All you wanted to do was open a small business on Main Street, or one that operates from home, selling your goods or services. -
Cash Flow Problems?
August 24
Inadequate cash flow is the number one problem for some businesses. Cash flow can be described as how cash moves or “flows” from the time the business pays for the expense of cost of goods or service (cash out) until the time it is collected by the business from the customer (cash in). -
Marketing and Advertising
August 18
When it comes to marketing and advertising your business, it is easy to fall back on colloquial phrases as justification for not being willing to try different techniques or channels. -
Using e-Commerce In a Post Pandemic Market
August 2
If the pandemic taught us all anything, it is that there is more than one way to serve customers. -
Curbside
July 7
As the COVID numbers continue to decrease, and Governor Abbott recalled the mask mandate, it seems businesses are getting back to normal. But what does “normal” really look like after all the challenges the small business community has faced over the past 18 months. -
Employee Service
June 15
I really enjoy reading the posts on Facebook of a high school principal. I know several educators and am “friends” with them on Facebook. However, not one of them is more active on Facebook and Twitter than he is. In fact, it would be fair to say that he is more active than my own school-age children are. -
The Business Factory-San Angelo’s Small Business Incubator
June 10
Business incubation started in 1959 in New York when an old Massey-Ferguson farm implement plant closed. -
Covid-19 & The Winter Storm
March 26
2021 has been a rough start for Texas’s small businesses. Covid-19 and the winter storm affectionately referred to as “Sno-vid” has packed quite a punch for west Texas and the Concho Valley. -
Small Business Assistance Continues with the New Administration
March 18
It is no secret that over the past year businesses have suffered in many ways due to the many tolls COVID-19 has taken on the economy. Our communities and businesses are starting to mend; however many small businesses are still struggling financially. -
Top Things To Know About the Paycheck Protection Program
March 1
The COVID-19 pandemic took our economy on a roller-coaster ride in 2020, and in 2021 we are still feeling the pains and strains from that ride. The introduction of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) in March of 2020 was a lifeline to many small businesses who were struggling due to the pandemic. In late December, Congress tossed another lifeline to small business again with more flexibility in use and some clarifications in hopes to get small businesses back on their feet. Here are a few things you need to know about the PPP. -
Collaboration versus Competition
February 3
If there is one thing the pandemic has forced businesses to do is to think outside the traditional business box. Under the circumstances, getting a leg up on the competition has become more irrelevant and surviving has become the top priority. -
Economic Aid Act
January 22
Newly Issued Pandemic Relief Bill Provides Additional Financial Resources to Small Businesses -
Wow…What a Year!
January 11
We have completed one more revolution around the sun and what a journey it has been! We have seen controversy after controversy, faced a pandemic, and other events that have made 2020 a year like no other. -
SBDC and COVID-19 Crisis
September 7
During the COVID19 crisis beginning in March of this year, the ASU Small Business Development Center (SBDC) staff has helped many small business owners obtain emergency funding due to the shutdown of non-essential businesses. -
What is a budget?
August 24
As a small business owner, you may have needed some sort of financial assistance to get started.