April, 2017

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3 Business Valuation All Entrepreneurs Should Know

Fundera

What is your business worth? Remember that article I wrote about your balance sheet a while back? That’s where you can find the very literal answer to the above question. The book value of your business, or total equity, is what your business is worth at a given moment in time. But it’s never the value used when valuing a business for purposes of a sale or investment.

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New guide focuses on improving cash flow to grow the business

Abrigo

Small businesses in the U.S. face cash flow challenges on a monthly basis, but are business owners and their advisors asking the right questions and addressing the critical areas to change course? Recent research by JPMorgan Chase Institute showed that the median small business has an average of only $7 more in daily cash inflow than it has in daily cash outflow.

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The Insider’s Guide to 2017’s Small Business Week

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For more than 50 years, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has celebrated small business owners during National Small Business Week. What does National Small Business Week mean to your business? How can you take advantage of it or participate in the event? Here’s what you need to know. When Does Small Business Week Take Place? National Small Business Week is held every spring; in 2017, it runs from April 30 to May 6.

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The Ultimate List of 22 Resources for Minority-Owned Businesses

Fundera

Today, minority groups are well on their way to becoming the majority of our workforce and a large part of the nation’s entrepreneurial endeavors. According to the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), the number of U.S. minority business enterprises more than doubled between 2002 and 2012, totaling around 8 million. But starting and running a business can sometimes seem particularly challenging if you’re a minority business owner.

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The 7 Different Personalities in the Workplace (And How to Manage Each of Them)

Fundera

For as much as we complain about our colleagues, workplaces would be boring—and ineffective—if we all shared the same personalities, motivations, and communication styles. That said, there’s a difference between individual personality types complementing each other and conflicting with one another. In fact, the Universal Class website cites research from Gatlin, Wysocki and Kepner suggesting that these differences can lead to challenges in the workplace if they aren’t appropriately addressed.

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The Solopreneur’s Survival Guide

Fundera

If you’re thinking of starting a business or already have one going, it’s very possible that you’ll be a solopreneur for some time. Many small business owners start out by paying their entrepreneurial dues as a solopreneur wearing all the hats required to keep their business running. As a one-man or one-woman act, this can cause your business venture to be exciting, scary, and stressful all at once.

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8 Genius Marketing Tactics to Boost In-Store Sales

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In the U.S., more than 81% of shoppers conduct online research before making big purchase decisions. On top of that, nearly 50% of people who do local searches visit a store within one day. If you own a brick-and-mortar business, these stats make staying on top of the latest digital marketing trends crucial to attracting customers. From social media to blogging and search engine optimization, having a strong online presence for your business can do much more than relying on traditional word-of-

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“What Business Should I Start?” How These Entrepreneurs Answered That Infamous Question

Fundera

Starting a business is a huge undertaking. That’s why it’s important to figure out what type of business to start early on. No one wants to step out on the wrong foot and start something that will ultimately fail. For some people, the type of business they’ll start is obvious. They are confident their dreams, skill set, and drive will lead them to the right business type for them.

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The Best POS Systems for Small Businesses in 2017 (Reviewed by Real Business Owners)

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For many small businesses, a robust POS (point of sale) system is something they absolutely can’t function without. But with so many POS systems on the market, how can you weed through your options to find the best for your small business? Well, we turned to small business owners just like you to get their take on the POS system they use. Check out these four best POS systems—reviewed by real business owners themselves!

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The 3 Best Business Credit Cards for Bad Credit

Fundera

If you have bad credit but want to start a business, you can find financing options out there for you. While there are very few business credit cards for bad credit, you can get a personal credit card that lets you pay for your company’s expenses and rebuild your FICO score. We’ll help you find the right bad credit card for you, explain how to get a business card for bad credit with your personal history, and lay out exactly how secured credit cards work.

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The 8 Best Banks for Small Business Loans (and 5 Other Alternatives)

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Do big banks approve business loans to our nation’s smallest businesses? If you’re someone who keeps up with the latest in the small business banking world, then you might be quick to answer, “No.”. You know how the numbers look: 80% of small business owners get shut down on bank loan applications, and bank lending to small businesses has dropped by over 20% in the last decade.

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12 Business Experts’ Advice on Selling Your Business to a Competitor

Fundera

When you’re ready for retirement, starting a new business, or simply exiting your industry, selling your existing business to a competitor can be a bitter pill to swallow. While you might think that the process is the same as any old business sale, selling a business to a competitor takes a unique kind of due diligence. And if you’ve never gone about this process before, you have a few different best practices to learn.

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3 Important Skills For Managing Your Business Finances

Fundera

Managing business finances is one of the big challenges facing entrepreneurs. Your ability to survive and thrive as a business owner often depends on making sure you have the financing for day-to-day and long-term needs. This takes skills that you undoubtedly already have and are using in building your business. Learn more below about how your communication, confidence, and proactive mindset can serve you well in your lending relationship. 1.

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Can You Get a Business Credit Card With No Personal Guarantee?

Fundera

Are you looking for a business credit card that doesn’t require a personal guarantee? It may seem like every single card offer requires you, as an individual, to serve as a guarantor. Small business lending can be risky, and since credit card loans are unsecured, banks want an extra line of defense in case your business can’t pay its debts. As a result, almost every bank asks for a personal guarantee on business credit cards.

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Making the Most Out of Your Small Business Marketing Budget

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Guest Article by Mike Bang. You’re an entrepreneur who wants to let people know about your business and find potential customers for your products or services. That’s what marketing is all about. If you’re a small or medium-sized business with a limited budget, you understandably want to make sure you make the most of your marketing dollars. Actually, no matter the size of your marketing budget, you should always think about how to maximize the return on the money you spend for ads and other for

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Working Capital: A Tough Challenge for Hardware Tech Startups

Fundera

Access to working capital is a challenge for any business. It is a particularly big hurdle for hardware tech companies, especially startups. That was one of the reasons Greg Fisher, a Berkeley, California-based entrepreneur and CEO of Berkeley Sourcing Group, started Hardware Massive, a network and online platform for hardware tech companies. Hardware Massive , which launched in early 2016, has 2,200 active members and reaches about 30,000 companies globally.

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How These Small Business Owners Are Preparing for Retirement

Fundera

It’s difficult for small business owners to prepare for retirement. But the biggest mistake isn’t about waiting too long to start—it’s not planning at all. Perhaps one reason that some don’t plan is that most small business owners don’t want to retire. According to the Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index , 53% say that’s not their desired career outcome. “I really enjoy what I do,” says Michael Wood, owner of Providence Homes , a homebuilding

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How to Advertise on Google and Grow Your Small Business

Fundera

Have you ever run a Google search for a product and clicked through one of the first few listings, then found yourself seeing promotions for that same product or others like it for days or even weeks afterward, seemingly everywhere you turn? Without even realizing it, you likely come into contact with Google advertising dozens—if not hundreds—of times per day.

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Equity Financing 101: Pros, Cons, and Everything in Between

Fundera

Starting a business can be expensive—there’s no doubt about it. And while some entrepreneurs are lucky enough to cover different startup costs with their personal savings, not all new small business owners can afford to do so—or want to do so, for that matter. When funding your startup on your own dime isn’t in question, you have two general options available: debt financing and equity financing.

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An Easy Cash Flow Formula Any Small Business Can Utilize

Fundera

It takes many things to start and run a successful small business: passion, determination, discipline, and the right people, but the best-laid plans will go nowhere without one key ingredient—cash. The way you manage your cash flow can make or break your business and affect your ability to grow. Small business owners need an easy formula to help them analyze how they use cash and project how much cash they’re going to need to grow their business and meet their future obligations.

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Form 8832 FAQs for Business Owners

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As much as starting and running a business involves grit and good ideas, it also involves the delightful tedium of paperwork—and knowing which forms the government needs from you based on the type of business you own. That’s where IRS Form 8832 comes in. Businesses use this form to elect how they will be classified for federal tax purposes. If that sounds like gibberish to you, don’t worry: Take a look through our FAQ to decipher all you need to know about this business-specific tax form.

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3 Steps to Building a Successful Social Media Strategy

Fundera

Social media is one of the pillars of digital marketing. Done right, social media marketing can reach customers where they are and build awareness of your business. But with ever-changing platforms and features, social media can also feel overwhelming for busy small business owners, especially if they aren’t regular social media users outside of their business.

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The Small Business Owner’s Guide to Trade Credit

Fundera

When you think through different options for business funding , your subconscious might instinctively start bracing itself for a trip to the local bank, complete with an overwhelming stack of paperwork. Turning to Google, you quickly find yourself researching loan opportunities from online alternative lenders. You might even consider using a credit card to finance your most immediate business expenses.

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Where to Find the Best Long-Term Loans for Business

Fundera

What’s a business loan ? Today, that question could have many correct answers. With traditional banking institutions getting more innovative and alternative lenders entering the small business lending space, there are many different types of business loans. But if you were to answer that question 10 or 15 years ago, you’d probably respond in one—maybe two—different ways.

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Do You Have the RIGHT Tax Advisor?

Fundera

It can be stressful trying to find a good, proactive tax advisor who is reputable, trustworthy, and will bring a ton of value to your working relationship. There are cases where someone has used the same tax professional for a long time and they are reluctant to change. Usually the client and tax advisor have built a great personal relationship over many years of working together.

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The Best States for Small Business Taxes in 2017

Fundera

Mark your calendar—April 18th is fast approaching! While small business owners all across the country are busy sending off checks to Uncle Sam, there are certain states where entrepreneurs are dishing out a whole lot more to their local and state governments. Which lucky small business owners pay less in taxes, and who pays more? We wanted to examine and quantify how an entrepreneur’s location can affect the amount they’ll pay in taxes this 2017 tax season—so we turned to data.

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The 4 Best Business Credit Cards for New Businesses

Fundera

When you’re starting a company , capital can be hard to come by. If you don’t have a long credit history or three to five years’ worth of sales records, you might find that banks are less willing to offer business loans. Business credit cards are an excellent financing option for new businesses, offering flexible loan amounts, alternatives to business credit scores, and sometimes rewards and perks.

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What the Fed’s Rate Hike Really Means for Your Business

Fundera

When the Federal Reserve raised interest rates in mid-March, analysts and investors alike were left scratching their heads. What does a 0.25% increase actually mean, and what will the impact be? These occasional rate hikes can be scary for small business owners. After all, no one wants to see an increase in their interest rates, and small businesses have a wide variety of complicated financial products to choose from.

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Where To Start: Stress-testing commercial real estate portfolios

Abrigo

Stress testing, especially for community banks, can be challenging because of the lack of specific methodologies and practices recommended by regulators. This gap exists, in part, to allow banks to come up with their own unique program that shows regulators that they can identify and manage those risk, which is the goal of stress testing all along. But banks need to take that first step.

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4 key characteristics of the modern SMB borrower

Abrigo

During a recent webinar with Sageworks , David O’Connell, a Senior Analyst at Aite Group , presented data from a recent survey by Aite of small and medium business borrowers. Included in this data were some key insights into the small business borrower. 1. They apply early… The Aite survey data first looked at the timeline that most borrowers have when they begin applying for a loan. 39% of respondents apply for credit months before they actually need the funds, while another 32% apply weeks bef