In the history of promotional products, can you guess the first ever made? Hint: It wasn’t a pen, T-shirt or tote. It was a button. When George Washington became the first president of the U.S. in 1789, commemorative buttons were created to celebrate the election and our newly formed country.

Hundreds of years later, we are still celebrating with promotional products. Except now, when you look at a promotional item with a brand logo, you aren’t thinking about the product’s long history; you’re thinking how useful, cool or weird the item is.

Let me tell you a little secret: I’ve never thought about opening my own business. I thought I would work in a 9-5 job, day-in-day-out, until I retired. Everything changed when my husband Michael asked, “why don’t we open a cat café?” When we realized this was something that we definitely wanted to do, we had to figure out if it was something that we actually could do. How do you open a cat café? If you do manage to open one, how do you know if you’ll make enough money to keep it open? What if we started this business and it didn’t succeed? What was the backup plan? Where would a business like this thrive, and where would it even be allowed? At first, there was a myriad of answers we didn’t know, and we didn’t even have the right questions to ask.

Where it used to be that marketing and advertising campaigns relied on traditional avenues such as newspapers, television, and radio ads, times have changed in the past few decades and today, marketing has taken on a digital approach. With that said, businesses have come to the realisation that one of the most effective marketing routes is to create an email marketing campaign that is targeted and specific.

These days most of the businesses have a website of their own. Your website is like your company’s online face. It is built to bring you more business. And all of us, while searching the Internet tend to limit ourselves to considering the options that are listed on the first page. Very seldom we search the following pages.

This appears to be conundrum for many business owners, knowing who to follow on Twitter that will be beneficial for their small business.

Many have mixed feelings towards Twitter as a business platform, however, if you're a small business owner who finds Twitter a pointless platform for your business, perhaps it's because you aren't following the right accounts?

When running a business, you’ll want to stay on top of your finances so that you won’t run into money troubles. Being wise with your money can help you stay in business longer and keep you out of debt. Here are four pieces of advice that you should follow if you want to keep your company out of financial jeopardy.

The world of SEO and online marketing can often feel overwhelming to someone who has just stepped in. From continually evolving search engine algorithms to advanced technicalities of optimisation, there is so much to baffle you. However, there is a method to this madness. SEO follows a set of logical (almost mathematical) principles based on which every website is assessed.

As a newcomer, you need to go back to the beginning and learn the fundamentals before advancing to the more complex stages. It would be your first step towards eventually mastering SEO and becoming a respected expert in the field. Since search engine optimisation has such a long and winding history, it is natural for you not know where to begin. Below is a brief discussion that is sure to help you out!

When you are embarking on your journey of self-employment and running your own small business, you may have visions of more flexibility to your working day, increased financial reward and autonomy, but the reality of working for yourself can be different to your expectations. If you are feeling a little jaded about your situation, read on for solutions for common issues that affect the self-employed.

Today's highly-educated, modern and tech-savvy people have relinquished their love for 9 to 5 jobs. They establish startup companies to capitalize the talent they have, provide job opportunities to desperate candidates, sell their products/services, and earn great revenues. The successful commencement and development of your business depend on how well you manage different business activities and meet the growing expectations of your customers.

The short answer to the above-mentioned question is yes - you can do anything, including opening a restaurant, while operating on a budget. Now, the success of your restaurant is going to hinge on how high your budget is and what your expectations are. For instance, it might not be best to try and open a fine restaurant in San Francisco on a budget of less than $3 million. Do things such as look for restaurant table tops for sale before deciding on a theme. This will enable you to work within your budget rather than trying to make a round peg fit into a square hole. First, review your budget and decide if it is realistic for you to open a restaurant. Second, look to see if increasing your budget can help your restaurant to grow. Lastly, run the numbers and figure out if your restaurant is likely to be successful.