March, 2010

The Ninth Idea Cafe's Small Business Grant is now closed for applications. What's Next?

The application deadline for the Ninth Idea Café Cash Grant is now behind us. The first grant campaign for this year is going very strong. We are proud that Idea Cafe's Small Business Grant Program continues to attract so many creative entrepreneurs who are designing their own worklife on their own terms and approaching business and life with zeal.

Surveying the Small Business Financing Landscape

Over the past month or so, there has been a noticeable shift in the dialog coming out of Washington, D.C. with regard to economic priorities. Health care reform has for the most part been put on the back burner, replaced by an emphasis on job creation.
As part of this emphasis, the federal government has proposed and launched several initiatives to help increase access to capital for small businesses. One of these would transfer $30 billion to a new Small Business Lending Fund that could be accessed by community banks.

Are You Mobile? Why Your Company Needs a Mobile Friendly Website

If you think about it, your company’s website is an extension of your business. What message is it conveying to the visitors? Is it easy to navigate through? How are people accessing your website? It is important as a business owner to answer all of these questions and have a clear idea of how your website will interact with your clients.

Tax Tips: Ensure Your Business Taxes Are Perfect

With April 15 just around the corner, millions of Americans are rushing to complete their tax returns. But mistakes are easy to make. Ted Shalek, CFO of Smart Online, developers of OneBiz® suite of web based small business applications, offers a few tips on how to successfully tackle taxes:

Online Marketing Never Stops

There's one immutable key to effective online marketing: You can't stop.

Ever.

Building links, testing conversions and creating quality content is a never-ending machine, a beast that must be fed constantly. Business owners and entrepreneurs have to focus on analytics and customer interaction like there's no tomorrow.

And the Semi-Finalists for the Ninth Idea Cafe's Small Business Cash Grant are...

Here they are, the semi-finalists for the Ninth Idea Café's $1,000.00 Small Business Grant. It was tough since there were so many super candidates. But now we've selected the cream of the crop from over one thousand exceptional applicants. 40 Grant Applicants impressed us with their ingenuity, business acumen and their intent to leverage their business and personal talents to help others. (Read below for short descriptions of our semi-finalists' businesses and ideas.) If you are on the list -- congratulations! If not – cast your vote to determine which of the semi-finalists will continue to the next stage of the grant campaign. Those five of the semi-finalists who receive the highest numbers of your votes will make it to the final round and eventually compete for the cash prize.

Profits, Growth and Cash Flow: Which is Most Important to Small Business Success?

Business growth and profitability. Most entrepreneurs would consider these to be the Holy Grail of business ownership. So it’s not too surprising that many participants in the financial workshops I lead are surprised when I tell them that instant profits and rapid business growth aren’t always a cause for celebration.

“How can this be?” you might be wondering. The best way to explain it is to tell the story of the Wonder Widget Company. Haven’t heard of them? Well, this is a fictitious company I made up to help me explain business financial concepts in an easy-to-understand way.

Cooking up Diner - Planning for a Restaurant

Restaurants, fast food chains, and diners all share a similar makeup that can ease new owners and start-ups into the process of opening for business. From the kitchen staff to the pos system registers, there are priorities that have been proven effective by years of experience. At the same time, these businesses also face the threat of being too standard in an age that has focused much of its interest on change.

Semi-finalist Q&A: More Brains Media

More Brains Media is an independent production company that also serves as a distributor.

Information from their grant application is available here. Read below for more, and if you have questions for our semi-finalists don't hesitate to ask them in the comments section.

Also, don't forget to cast your vote! YOUR vote will determine which entrepreneurs most deserve to be amongst the finalists.

Semi-finalist Q&A: DSOFT SYSTEMS Inc.

DSOFT SYSTEMS Inc. has built medical management software that automates most of the tasks of medical professionals. We developed a software that integrates appointment scheduling, medical billing, electronic claims, electronic medical records, reporting all in one software.

Information from their grant application is available here. Read below for more, and if you have questions for our semi-finalists don't hesitate to ask them in the comments section.