Tis the season to make predictions. If my crystal ball is working, 2013 is going to be a good year for small businesses.
The economy (fiscal “cliff” threat notwithstanding) seems to be on track for a stronger recovery in 2013, buoyed by consumer confidence and more Americans going back to...
Content marketing is an essential component in buyer engagement, social media, lead generation and online marketing. In fact, the power your content carries is growing by the day as new tactics and trends propel content development to new heights in brand publishing.
Blogging is not enough. Social...
Times are not good for the venture capital industry. A recent press" release> from the National Venture Capital Association and Cambridge Associates explained that ten year returns for investments in venture capital funds were now negative.
While the decade-long trend of poor financial returns to...
This week I am returning to a topic that I have written about several times since the recession began: what’s been happening to self-employment in the down economy and how it compares to the job situation in the rest of the private sector.
Below is a figure I created from the Bureau of Labor...
What are some of the key trends affecting small businesses? And more importantly, what do these trends mean and what kind of opportunities will they lead to for your business?
These are the questions we answered in a recent webinar I hosted for the Intuit Community.
I was joined by a special...
Surprise, surprise – the impact of the recession on consumer spending and attitudes will continue to dominate economics for pet-related small businesses in 2010. It has long been thought that pet-related spending is recession proof and 2009 certainly tested that theory. As a result, I think we...
More than half of all U.S. businesses are home-based. These firms are often dismissed as hobbies or part-time ventures with limited economic impact.
But our research shows otherwise. We estimate that about 6.6 million home-based enterprises provide at least half of their owners’ household...
Crystal ball gazing can be a popular pastime at year end. It makes sense; we are all overcome by that Janus impulse to look at the year that is over and the new year that will soon be upon us, in a re-enactment of rituals of passage that are older than time.
All the experts weigh in with their...