Every business needs to be fully stocked in order to survive. The process of stocking, however, often doesn’t work as well as it should. Being supplied by the wrong vendor means high prices, difficult relationships, and lowered value for your business all around. It’s important, then, to find the right vendor for your business. What makes a vendor “right” will be different for every business, but a few…
Whether it’s for home, health, life, or auto, choosing an insurer can be a big decision with long-term financial impacts. For all of those essentials, the question is the same: Which company offers the most protection, at the best price, and with the most reliable service? Especially when it means poring over pages of fine print, there’s rarely a clear answer. Hoping to make insurance more understandable —…
JetBlue hit major turbulence in 2007, when an enormous ice storm forced flight cancellations across the East Coast. Surely the airline couldn’t be blamed for this “act of God,” right? Wrong. While its competitors canceled flights promptly so their customers could wait out the delay comfortably at home, JetBlue dragged its feet. This resulted in passengers sitting on the tarmac for hours and snarled operations that lasted nearly…
There has never been a better time than today to start, run, and grow a business. While there are still challenges, various resources for entrepreneurs and business leaders abound, with most accessible via a single click or touch. From private and public sector programs to communities, websites, podcasts, and DIY videos, entrepreneurs have access to a robust support ecosystem that’s exploded to an unprecedented scale. Technology also performs…
Many entrepreneurs start their businesses because they genuinely like what they’re doing. But even if that’s the case, eventually, you’ll need to think about retirement. You can’t keep working forever; at some point, you’ll want to take things easy (and hopefully have enough money to live comfortably). With Social Security running out of money, and no higher-up employer to provide you with retirement benefits directly, it’s all on…
Owners of small and medium businesses never expect to fail, but every year, thousands of companies close shop, anyway. Reasons for failure vary from cash flow problems to poor product-market fit, but in many cases, company leaders could have avoided the worst if they’d known what to expect. Keep an eye out for these common mistakes so you can prevent them: 1. Failure to Delegate When you start…
The concept of wellness is an old one. Originating thousands of years ago, wellness describes a harmony between one’s body, mind, and spirit. Wellness gained steam in the West in the 1980s, and soon, the workplace wellness program was born. In the 40 years since, a lot has changed. For one, wellness programs were once found primarily at enterprises. Today, they’re actually more common at startups, where 85…
If you run a small business, your 2018 taxes were probably far higher than expected. The reason: The 2017 Tax Cut and Jobs Act significantly modified the tax code. These changes didn’t become evident until Americans filed their 2018 taxes. At their heart, the changes aimed to lower taxes for corporations. While this mostly means bigger companies, forming or modifying an LLC can help reduce your tax burden.…
Relationship building and networking are important to entrepreneurs, but they may not come easy. No, it’s not just you: Americans across the board are becoming lonelier. According to a Cigna study released last May, 46 percent of American adults say they always or sometimes feel alone. Just 53 percent say they experience meaningful in-person interactions, like engaging in a deep conversation with a friend or family member, on…
Today’s tight labor market is flipping the script on recruiting. Rather than job seekers trying to impress employers, the opposite is happening. Apprenticeship opportunities, in which employees are paid to be trained rather than incur student debt, have grown by 42 percent since 2013. And they’re no longer limited to blue-collar fields: Most of the growth has been fueled by companies in science and technology. The global talent…