interview

Cloud computing is coming to small business, and it brings benefits in terms of price and stability. A number of different services, necessary for running a small business, can run as a hosted (cloud) service. We explore the issue in an exclusive Q&A with Scott Kinka, Senior Vice President at EvolveIP.

Idea Cafe: What is the cloud and how can it help small businesses? What types of services run in the cloud?

As we’ve reported previously, the government is concentrating on securing loans for small business. Steve Kaplan—an entrepreneur and Wall Street Journal bestselling author—presents all of the steps necessary to get a small business loan in his upcoming book Sell Your Business For the Max.

Leah Larson and YALDAH magazine won the previous Idea Cafe grant back in September. Now, the magazine has won the Well Fargo's Someday Stories contest (and $100,000), after receiving more than 28,000 votes. Leah started working on YALDAH magazine when she was 12, targeting an audience of Jewish girls.

We at Idea Cafe are proud to have selected her as a winner for the Kent Capener grant, and hope her story will be an inspiration to entrepreneurs of all ages. Read below for an exclusive Q&A.

Please tell us a bit about yourself. When did your passion for working with small businesses start? Jim Tracy, 43, married, two sons, President of America's Best Companies, educated with a degree in Chemistry from Loyola University.

The passion for working with small businesses started when I was nine or ten and my father started a small plumbing company. I watched him experience the highs and lows of building and maintaining a small business. I was destined in life to build my career around helping small businesses. It was easy for me to identify with their needs.