Starting a business often requires at least a small amount of capital. Unless you have been able to plan ahead and save up a substantial amount of money, you will need a loan.

In some cases, you may be able to acquire a business loan, but more often you will ask for a personal loan to get your business off the ground.

My office building isn’t very big. Six or seven offices with maybe 20 people total who work here. And so we don’t get many visitors (the mailman’s daily arrival is widely looked upon as a highlight).

Yesterday, however, a friendly stranger popped his head into my office and introduced himself as a friend of a friend:

Transparency is as scary in business as it is in personal relationships.

Should you share everything, even if it might leave you sleeping on the proverbial couch? Unfortunately, in today’s increasingly connected society, the fear of bad press has grown to positively phobic levels. It’s easy to get bogged down worrying about what will happen if your business isn’t doing well or you make a big mistake.

Improving your business to impress investors is all about creating that visual identity and image you want your company to possess. The way you present your company to all investors showcases whether you value image or not, and it can dictate how much funding you can receive. Depending on your potential down the road, there are many ways you can actually impress investors to fund your company. Consider doing these things during the meeting.

It is a noble pursuit to want to be a more effective business leader. Effective business leaders make no reservations about getting things done. They are efficient, timely and have a string of accomplishments to show for all their hard work. If you want to strive to reach the lofty position of being an effective business leader, then here are six areas of improvement that will require your immediate attention.

Your online business profile is basically your face to the world.

Making sure your business always looks its best is critical to controlling how your business is perceived.

Here's a quick guide to making sure your online profile is solid on three of the most popular social media sites….

The economy is looking better than it has in a while. Could it be that time ... that time to finally open the business you've been thinking about?

Many people love owning their own business, whether they are the sole employees or if they have some people working for them.

Business owners struggle to create a business that effortlessly flows. Whether it's the lack of consistent action, unacceptable business practice, or flat out laziness, it can be rather hard to create a business that runs as smooth as a river, adjusting seamlessly to whatever life throws at it. In order to achieve this "business like water" state, applying business psychology is not simply a want, it's a must!

Often, small businesses are strapped for resources, both human and financial. Owners and employees usually fill many roles – CEO, CFO, human resources, IT, business development, marketing and one of the most important, sales. Unless sales are being made, a small business, or any business, cannot support the other job functions.

The manner of handling business today has never been more dynamic with the rapid creation of technological innovations. Retailers in all channels have to be vigilant in monitoring trends if they want to survive the competition, get new customers and retain the loyalty of existing ones. Although other factors play a role in businesses failing, not keeping up to date with business strategies will hasten a store’s demise before it has a chance to recover. Here are trends to adopt for 2015 to keep your enterprise relevant and current, and enable you to maintain and grow your store.