SHOP, Obamacare's small business insurance marketplace, won't become fully operational until the fall of 2014.

However, in the meantime small business owners who are trying to decide whether to offer health insurance coverage to their employees can preview available plans and get price estimates.

Making sales is an obvious essential of a business's prosperity and expansion. Yet, even a company with a strong sales force needs to dedicate resources to a robust long-term marketing plan. Sales and marketing are usually packaged as a duo for business. However, in reality, they are separate business processes with different objectives. A marketer focuses on the needs of the target customer, according to Marketects founder Kerry O'Malley. Conversely, a sales representative focuses on matching the customer need with the product or service being offered.

A small business is affected by Bona Fide Occupation Qualification (BFOQ) dynamics in several ways. Below are some of the topics and issues BFOQ generates with regards to 
hiring practices:

•Limited labor pool of qualified candidates
•Task of distinguishing essential vs. desirable candidate qualifications or traits
•Business credibility among customers

No matter which industry you are in, good project management is essential to success. Effectively planning, organizing, controlling and executing your projects can be tricky, however, without a bit of assistance. Because of this, there are a plethora of online tools available for a businessperson looking to boost their productivity and ensure the success of their projects. Here are five of the most useful project management tools currently available online:

Work has distractions. No one can argue this, even if you work at home by yourself.

But whether you work in a busy office surrounded by others or on your own in your quiet home, you're going to have distractions from your coworker slurping coffee or your dog barking at the joggers outside.

Here are 5 tips to create the perfect office environment and reduce stress and distractions so you'll be both productive and peaceful, something all bosses will come to love and appreciate:

Starting a restaurant business isn't built on whether you can serve a tasty dish or two – there’s much more to it. So before you take the plunge and commit yourself to the foodservice industry, ensure you plan the following carefully first.

Funding Your Restaurant

Starting a restaurant business doesn't come cheap. There are several variables you need to think about, such as your own salary, equipment, venue hire, and staff. Whether you decide to use your personal savings or borrow, make sure your financial details are planned meticulously.

The 21st century places an emphasis on innovation and technology, and the marketing realm is not exempt from these trends. While you might be hesitant about the benefits of online marketing, understanding the immense power it has can change your mind.

Giving Customers What They Want
When potential customers hear about your business through word-of-mouth or a print advertisement, they likely want to learn some more information online. Failure to have marketing-targeted websites means that you aren't bringing the consumers what they want to read, and many of them will move on to other businesses that are more up-to-date with the times.

Most organizations today are looking for the best strategies to employ in order to increase the productivity of their employees. Notably, some of them have failed to accomplish their targets due to employee failure to work to their full capacity. Therefore, there is need to evaluate management practices in such organizations in order to determine whether they motivate workers or not. If they are not effective then there is need for alteration of such management approaches and adoption of new ones that can motivate, satisfy and compel employees to work towards realization of organizational goals. Here are some management practices that can improve employee productivity in an organization. 

In the world of online retail, pre-ordering, and shopping done with the click of a mouse, your business is going to have to package and ship goods at some point. Whether you’re an online or in-store business, follow these few simple rules for packaging goods.

DO NOT: Skimp on Insurance

Thinking you can get away with minimal insurance on your packaged goods is business suicide. Make sure that both your company and the goods you’re shipping are insured properly. If something goes wrong on your end, you’ll need to be protected against client lawsuits. If you’re shipping goods to a client, they will be able to choose whether or not they want to insure the package on their end as well.

“Kill your darlings” is a gruesome writers’ axiom most often attributed to William Faulkner. It’s an expression that means you should delete anything that serves no purpose other than to make you (the creator) happy.

You don’t have to be the literary sort to benefit from this sage advice. “Kill your darlings” applies to developing a minimal viable product, too.