Being a small business owner and entrepreneur you likely have a positive outlook and a “can do,” attitude; a trait that has probably served you well in turning your business concept into an actual business venture. But it is critical to the success of your business to know when those...
Generating revenues costs money. Understanding and anticipating the cash flowing into and out of your business is critical to ensuring that you have enough cash available to meet current and future obligations. If your business does not collect cash immediately upon making a sale, you need to know when you...
All of us have times when we are cash strapped. Sometimes it is because of seasonal flux in business sales, at other times it is because we have problems with our business approach or model that burn through the checking account. Particularly during the start up phase, small business owners often seek...
Crowdfunding is a hot topic among Iowa small business owners right now, in part because of the passage of the Jobs Act this past April which makes it possible for individuals to invest in small businesses without the rigorous Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) compliance typically associated with equity investment. While...
My husband Dave and I ran an antique shop when we were first married. Called Antiques of Marion, we opened it in 1982 in a beautiful downtown Italianate-styled brick mansion in Marion, Iowa. We spent most weekends at auctions, where Dave would select furniture to restore and I...
Often the Iowa Business Concierge fields questions about the legitimacy of internet, virtual and/or online home-based business opportunities. Unfortunately, the vast majority of those which we have researched thus far have been spam in the least, clearly criminal in the worst. Here are some real and legal ways to...
If you haven’t read the fine print on Dodd-Frank (and I don’t know anyone that has – including myself) - you may have missed a nice little sweetener for small business. Effective July of 2011, banks will be allowed to pay interest on business accounts. For those of you that remember 1933, the Glass-Steagall...
With technology so ubiquitous now in our everyday life, it is sometimes hard to be surprised by what it can do. My latest experience with Amazon's Video on Demand service pleasantly surprised me with what is possible in terms of better customer service. Typically, determining customer satisfaction with a technology service...
I had intended to write about the wonderful world of credit card fees a few weeks back as I was getting things together for the store, but I havent exactly found time for it. At some point, I intend to put something a bit more full blown together on how...
