March, 2018

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21 Modern Lead Generation Strategies to Grow Your Business (and Not Waste Money)

Fundera

One size doesn’t fit all for most things small business, and that’s the case with lead generation strategies, too. Even knowing that, though, many small business owners still struggle to determine which lead generation strategies work for their company, industry, or for business size. But why? Well, paralysis of choice, for one. In this era of digital marketing, there are just so many lead generation tactics.

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Getting paid on time: Free e-Guide for accountants

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The ultimate guide to getting paid on time for SME accountancy firms. We guide you through 5 practical, low-cost, high-impact tactics that will reduce your firm's average payment times and debtor days.

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Buying an Existing Business: What to Know Before Taking the Plunge

Fundera

Yes, it’s a huge decision—but when you pull the trigger on buying an existing business, you get the opportunity to become an entrepreneur without starting completely from scratch. And lots of people consider purchasing an existing business each year, so you certainly shouldn’t feel like you’re thinking about something totally out of left field! Every year, more than 500,000 businesses change hands , and that number is expected to skyrocket in the next several years as millions of baby boomers be

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3 Small Business Payroll Tips to Make Things Run Smoothly During Tax Season

Fundera

Come tax season, the nice thing about small business income taxes (yes, there’s a nice thing ) is that they’re generally fairly predictable. From an accountant’s perspective, a small business owner’s taxes follow a pattern of calculating, reporting, and paying that repeats on a set schedule. In the case of business income taxes, the schedule is most often a series of quarterly estimated payments in combination with an annual business income tax return.

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The Entrepreneur Salary: How Much (and When) Do You Pay Yourself?

Fundera

Anyone who hasn’t been a business owner firsthand tends to romanticize the idea of “being an entrepreneur.” It just sounds sexy, doesn’t it? And, sure, it’s easy to imagine glamorous CEOs who have it all together, know exactly what they’re doing, and have a plan for everything. Oh, if only everything were that plug and play!

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4 Signs You Have What It Takes to Be Self-Employed and Leave Traditional Jobs Behind

Fundera

Have you noticed more and more people quitting their jobs… and going to work for themselves? It’s not just you! The number of self-employed workers is growing, and quickly. According to results from FreshBooks’ Second Annual Self-Employment Report , nearly 27 million Americans are anticipated to leave traditional work behind in favor of self-employment by the year 2020.

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The 8 Most Damaging Things You Can Do to Your Credit as a Small Business Owner

Fundera

You probably know how important your credit score is when you’re applying for a small business loan. But with all of the surprising ways you can damage your credit, that number might come as a surprise when it pops up on your application. Still, as a small business owner, it’s crucial to keep your personal credit score as high as possible. Whether you need to replenish your inventory, do a major renovation, update your equipment, or simply have access to a source of working capital, it’s very li

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The Most Efficient Way to Run an ECommerce Business

Fundera

Running an ecommerce business—especially running it with some semblance of efficiency—is incredibly difficult. You have to stay focused, of course, but you also need to be on as many sales channels as possible for the search engine benefit. And there’s your own website, of course, but then you also need to think about expanding into Amazon, eBay, Walmart, Groupon … any number of places where your product will be in front of your target customer.

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What Do I Need to Open a Business Bank Account? It’s Not a Silly Question

Fundera

You’ll hit plenty of milestones when you start your own business. Some are a bit more exciting than others: picking out a logo, getting your first client, or making your first million dollars. Less exciting for a founder is figuring out what they need to open a business bank account. It’s far from the most glamorous task that business owners need to tackle.

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Business Loan vs. Personal Loan: Pick the Right One for Your Small Business

Fundera

When you’re a small business owner looking for money, you usually look to two common avenues for funding: business loans vs. personal loans. And both of these options can work, whether you’re trying to take on a new project, bolster inventory, or make your invoices liquid. Especially for new business owners, whose options for small business loans might be fewer, there’s a lot to think about when debating which of these two financing options is right for your specific business.

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8 Retirement Planning Tips for Entrepreneurs

Fundera

Retirement planning can seem like a daunting task—especially for self-employed individuals without access to traditional 401(k)s. And as an entrepreneur, creating a plan to step away from your business is likely not your number-one priority. But when it comes to retirement planning, time truly is money: The longer you withhold your investments, the more you’re missing out on the opportunity to grow your nest egg.

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How to Open a Business Bank Account Online in 3 Easy Steps

Fundera

As a small business owner busy running just about everything, you’re not alone if you feel insanely frustrated by the prospect of having to haul yourself all the way to a bank branch to open a business bank account. That’s why it’s certainly worth looking into how to open a business bank account online from the comfort of your own office or home. Because, hey, why not?

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Everything Small Business Owners Need to Get Their Books Into Shape for Taxes ASAP

Fundera

We’re sure we don’t have to remind you… but in case you’ve been willfully ignoring it, Tax Day is almost here. You’re getting down to the wire to file your business taxes , and your tax professional has likely been hounding you to get your books into shape. ( Yes , you say. I know , you say.). If you’ve been procrastinating about your business taxes , it’s seriously time to buckle down and get to work.

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How Hard Is It to Get an SBA Loan?

Fundera

If you’ve done any research into various small business loan options, you probably have discovered that loans backed by the U.S. Small Business Administration are some of the best—and most highly coveted. But if they offer so many loan products—which they do—how hard is it to get an SBA loan? Well, the TL;DR of it is, unfortunately, hard. SBA loans tend to carry the lowest interest rates and longest repayment terms available, while also offering funding for amounts more substantial than bo

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How to Spend Your First and Last Moments at Work

Fundera

The way that you start and end your work day can affect your productivity and your overall performance at the office. Both entrepreneurs and busy professionals can benefit from establishing an intentional schedule for their morning and end of work routines. Being mindful of your work habits can help you assess how you are spending your time and allow you to identify opportunities for improvement.

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The Best Candidates for Local Business Loans Have These 6 Qualities in Common

Fundera

Need funding? Then your first stop might be to head to your local bank to see if you’re one of the best candidates for a local small business loan. And that makes sense, since banks tend to offer great rates on their loan products. But it can be pretty hard to get one of these local business loans, whether that’s a term loan or a highly coveted SBA loan , since they’re both so in demand.

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Loans for Business Owners, According to Your Needs (and How to Pick)

Fundera

Nearly every small business owner understands the need for funding. No matter what stage your business is in, understanding your options for loans for business owners is always a good thing. Because whether you’re in the early stages of growing or you’re well established and ready to expand, you always want to know how to have enough money on hand. When you haven’t been through the small business loan process before, you can easily feel smothered when looking through all of the financing options

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How to Set Up an LLC as a Freelancer (aka Your Smartest Decision Yet)

Fundera

If you’re starting out as a freelancer, often, one of the first pieces of business advice you’ll get is to set up an LLC. OK, then, how do you set up an LLC as a freelancer—and, wait, why do you want to do this, exactly? These are both really, really good questions, and if you’ve just jumped head first into solopreneurship, you shouldn’t feel shy about asking them.

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Is There a Minimum Credit Score for Business Loan Eligibility?

Fundera

Practically no one would call the process of getting a small business loan “simple.” You’ll have to meet a ton of different business loan requirements , which change depending on the loan product you want. And among those fluctuating factors might be a minimum credit score for loan eligibility. Or, maybe not. It has to do a lot with your situation and what exactly you’re after.

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12 Little Ways You Can Upgrade Your Business Technology to Make a Big Difference

Fundera

Here’s your factoid of the day: Businesses that harness digital technology earn twice as much revenue per employee as businesses that don’t, according to a Deloitte study. But researchers conducting the same study found 80% of small businesses aren’t taking full advantage of technology. Although that statistic might seem insane when you look at the raw numbers, it makes sense when you think about the cost.

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The Best Business Checking Account for Your LLC: How to Find and Choose One

Fundera

We all have a favorite personal bank—perhaps the one you grew up using or wherever you had your first bank account. But when you need to choose the best business checking account for your LLC, pure loyalty simply isn’t enough. There’s actually a lot that goes into this decision, since where you set up your business bank account for the LLC you’ve just established could affect your business operations.

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9 No-Fail Tips for Giving Constructive Criticism at Work

Fundera

Though criticism is an inevitable part of any workplace, most people find it difficult to give negative feedback to direct reports. Whether you are offering real-time observations or engaging in a formal review discussion, it can be stressful to critique the work of your colleagues. Don’t let yourself be intimidated by difficult feedback conversations!

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4 Simple Steps to Step Up an LLC in NYC—Including 1 to Save You Hundreds of Dollars

Fundera

Maybe you’ve been working on a side hustle in Brooklyn for a while and a client has asked you to make things a little more official for them. Or perhaps you’ve decided you’re ready to leave your traditional job in Midtown behind and work for yourself. Whatever it is, it’s exciting—but now you need to figure out the steps for how to set up an LLC in NYC.

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How Much Collateral Is Needed for a Small Business Loan?

Fundera

If you’ve started perusing options for small business loans , you’re likely scribbling down lots of questions about the loan process and what you’ll need to qualify. Among them is how much collateral is needed to secure a small business loan. The very short answer: It depends. Sometimes none at all, but other times it’s hard to put a concrete number on it.

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How to Write a Business Loan Request Letter That’ll Impress a Lender

Fundera

If you’ve ever considered applying for a small business loan at a bank, you might have thought about how to write a business loan request letter. If you haven’t had the pleasure of getting acquainted with the concept yet, a business loan request letter is essentially a letter that goes along with your application packet to a lender. Okay, then—what’s in this document, exactly?

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Is a Free Business Checking Account Online with No Deposit Best for My Small Business?

Fundera

Getting your small business off the ground comes with lots of important steps. Even after you get through a ton of paperwork (okay, not an actual ton—but close), you’re still not done. Next you’ll need to set your company up with a business bank account. The nice thing about being a small business owner now is that with the advent of online business banking, it’s become much easier to find the right business checking account for your small business—with plenty of free online business checking a

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23 Tools to Transform Your Business Blog Posts Into a Destination for Customers

Fundera

So you have a website for your small business—and you’ve even set up a blog! That’s great. Now what? If you’re regularly posting on your small business’s website , you want to make sure that your blog posts are reaching people—your target audience specifically—and not just languishing in cyberspace, unread. You want your business’s blog to look professional, feel authoritative, but be interesting to read, too.

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Should You Use a Business Credit Card in Place of a Business Loan?

Fundera

Throughout the course of a small business’s life, there will almost always come a moment when the owner is plagued with answering a very, very difficult question: “ How do I finance my business? ”. This question can come about for a number of reasons—whether the business owner has hit a cash crunch, needs capital to pursue a specific business opportunity, they’re looking to expand, etc.

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The Top 3 Best Business Gas Credit Cards for Frequent Drivers

Fundera

Whether you’re delivering orders or shuttling between client meetings, gas can easily become a large cost for your small business. Branded gas credit cards can provide relief at the pump—but there are a some better, perhaps surprising, options that provide more value. We’ll break down the advantages of gas cards, tell you why you might want to steer clear of branded gas cards, and name the top offers on the market.

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3 Crucial Invoice Factoring Mistakes for Every First-Timer to Avoid

Fundera

This guest article was written by Art Omega, an underwriter for BlueVine. Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, he’s been in the factoring industry for more than 15 years, and is addicted to live escape room games. If you’re new to invoice factoring, you’ll be excited to find out that it’s a small business loan option that can help fix your business’s cash-flow problems.