May, 2009

How Factoring Services Can Help You Take Advantage of Discounts

In many industries, an important cash flow strategy is to take advantage of what are often referred to as early pay discounts, or “2/10, net-30 discounts.” Such discounts allow companies to subtract 2 percent (and sometimes more) from the invoice amount if it is paid within 10 days instead of the normal 30.

These discounts can really add up, especially for companies with thin profit margins. The challenge for many companies, however, is managing their cash flow system in a way that enables them to take advantage of these discounts on a regular basis.

Idea Café Grant Registration Closes, Winner Selection Begins

The registration period for the Seventh Idea Cafe Small Business Grant closed on May 17, 2009. The editorial team of the site will now begin the preliminary selection of finalists, and voting for the winner will open on June 2nd. The entrepreneur who received the highest number of votes from Idea Cafe Regulars will be officially announced the winner of the Seventh Idea Café Small Business Grant on July 7th.

WOMbeat! - Operating at WARP Speed (and More Updates)

As you may know from our recent updates, we here at WOMbeat! have used the winning proceeds from the Idea Café “Innovation & Originality Grant” to continue updating our website which allows our users to easily share great local recommendations with people they actually know and trust - friends, family and coworkers. Some of you may have already seen many of the new features we have already implemented over the past couple of months.

Semi-finalists for Seventh Idea Cafe Grant Announced

Idea Cafe's editorial team has selected the semi-finalists for the Seventh Idea Cafe Small Business Grant. The selection process took into consideration several factors: how viable or interesting the business idea was; how well the entrepreneur described her plans for the future; and what she was willing to give back to the local community. We are thankful to everyone who applied for the grant, because going through the descriptions of hundreds and hundreds of wonderful small businesses was an inspiring and somewhat humbling task. And here they are, the semi-finalists for the Entrepreneurial Spirit 2009 Grant.