Small Business Blog

How do you buy products and services today? What is the first couple of things that you do to begin the process? I am guessing that some...

On NPR’s “Marketplace” this morning, the host asked a simple question: Who has more disposable income — Gen Y’ers or Baby Boomers? The...

Social Media Toolkit: The Nuts & Bolts of Your Social Media Strategy Posted using ShareThis #SmallBusiness #Socialmarketing #Entrepreneur...

The main reason is to provide interesting, useful and frequent content to your customers, potential customers, industry experts, media,...

I do a lot of reading, thinking and brainstorming on ideas for small business in small communities like Council Bluffs and across...

Want to trade accounting services for goat cheese? How about bike repairs for graphic design? Advertising for overnight accommodations?...

When I ask new or established businesses how they plan to market their products or services they answer “…mostly through word of mouth”....

Tip #3 – Do Not Save Important Information for the Closing. I work with many small businesses in many different industries.  I have found...

In the next few days/weeks I will focus on some tips and observations that I have picked up in the last very busy months.    In the mean...

Tips For Small Businesses Today Last year at this time the majority of our clients here at the Iowa Western Small Business Development...

From the Small Business Association’s Website: If your small business is stressed meeting expenses during these economic times, the U.S....

Everywhere you turn for marketing advice, you’ll hear how important word-of-mouth marketing is. Start-up business owners even list this...

We all know the old saying about familiarity, but I have been thinking about it differently based on a conversation I had last week. I...

Last Friday’s Big O conference created lots of buzz about failure for entrepreneurs. What was most compelling to me was to hear the...

We hear every day how busy everyone is. We’re busy, our friends our busy, our family members are busy, and on it goes. Guess what? No...

This week, my small business records were audited for three years for state sales and use taxes. I learned some important lessons from...

Yes.  Times are tough and businesses bottom lines are suffering.   I am seeing even the strongest businesses taking a double take at...

As a Small Business Development Center Director for Southwest Iowa, I tell ALL of the businesses and start-ups that I work with that they...

Remember how your mom used to tell you that if something seemed to good to be true, it probably was? In today’s information-overloaded...

Three times in the past week, I’ve been at meetings where I wanted to hand out my business cards. Three times in the past week, I’ve...