Where can you go when you need a loan and banks aren’t lending? One answer is to private lenders who make you pay through the nose.
New reports are that so-called “hard money” lending is on the rise — and small businesses’ use of hard money threatens many of these business’s very survival.
Long a frequent lending [...]

Read the rest of this entry »

Shortly after I launched my web design firm in 1995, I did something my accountant told me was pretty crazy. I sold my house in Hollywood, Fla., moved to New York City, cashed in my mutual funds and put every dollar I had into a brownstone in Brooklyn Heights that I couldn’t afford on what [...]

Read the rest of this entry »

Facebook is not just for kids anymore, nor is LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube or the many other popular social media platforms and services. As today’s Pew Research Center study entitled “Older Adults and Social Media” concludes, “Social networking use among those ages 50 and older nearly doubled over the past year.” In fact, the fastest growing [...]

Read the rest of this entry »

Troubling statistics have been rolling in lately about job losses. While the beginning of the recession saw the shedding of thousands of jobs en masse at major corporations, by the end of last year, job cuts were concentrated at small businesses. While financial aid aimed at small businesses continues to sit in the Senate, the [...]

Read the rest of this entry »

Pop-up stores are popping up everywhere. All the big brands are into them — Pop Tarts opened up a Pop Tarts World pop-up in New York City’s Times Square earlier this month. Gap hit SoHo with a pop-up store for its Piperlime brand that was slated to stay up just 25 days during Fashion Week. For [...]

Read the rest of this entry »

It may seem early to be stressing about taxes, but many business owners are already worrying about April 15. 

One reason? A complex Web of new tax regulations they may not understand. Another? The fact that many stimulus-related tax breaks are expiring after this year.
There’s been a whirlwind [...]

Read the rest of this entry »

Last week, a friend of mine sent me a story from a local paper quoting several bloggers complaining about letters they received from Philadelphia tax authorities demanding $300 for the privilege of doing business in the City of Brotherly Love.
“The real kick in the pants,” says Marilyn Bess, who claims she’s only made about $50 [...]

Read the rest of this entry »

After the initial buzz dies down, most of the chatter surrounding Facebook Places — the just-now-released location-based check-in tool — will likely focus on how it might affect similar social networking tools like Foursquare, Loopt, Gowalla and Whrrl. Oh, there will be some discussion of privacy concerns to be sure, but what will be left [...]

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s undeniable that the recession has created a more conscious consumer. Coming off a binge of consumption, more people are simplifying their lives and looking for new ways to save money. The age-old practice of bartering has recently seen resurgence online where people are trading everything from books, to cars, to manual labor.
“Swapping is [...]

Read the rest of this entry »

Can just one employee do one single thing different and completely transform your company as a result? They can. The story of Johnny the Bagger, currently making the rounds of retail blogs, shows how it can be done.
The story begins with employee-motivation expert Barbara Glanz. The Contagious Enthusiasm author relates in her own video that she [...]

Read the rest of this entry »