Author: Small Business Desk
Former Small Business Entrepreneur Leah Kalanguka Poultry Farmer Crowned Miss Uganda
A former small business entrepreneur of mushroom and poultry farmer has been crowned Miss Uganda following a major rebranding of the annual beauty pageant, now designed to promote agriculture in the east African nation. Leah Kalanguka, 23, beat off 19 other finalists after a competition that saw the glamour of the catwalk ditched for an army-sponsored boot camp on a farm, where contestants had to milk cows and work with goats and sheep. “The youth willRead More
Hottest Small Business Trends
Trend watching has emerged in big business as a discipline of business management and a popular topic among top media publications and futurists. Small business can benefit from trend watching, too. This week’s feature is on the hottest trends for business of all sizes. Trends are far easier to observe than time. Timing of entering into a growing trend market can be costly if the trend has yet to enter public consciousness. My personal experienceRead More
There’s No Such thing as “Perfect Work-Life Balance”
“Stop trying to achieve it all.” That bit of wisdom may sound surprising, coming from the head of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO). After all, you might expect the head of a prominent women’s business organization to advocate for trying to achieve everything you can possibly achieve. But Darla Beggs, the National President of NAWBO, is NOT saying women should stop pushing for business success or settle for something other than theirRead More
What Issues Are Affecting Small Business Right Now?
Small Business owners have their fair share of issues they need to stay on top of. These days they can add three more to the list. Gas prices are plunging. Fears about the Ebola virus are increasing. And the upcoming elections are raising questions about what the new Congress is likely to do. All of these issues affect small businesses and can have positive or negative ramifications depending on the situation. Here’s a look at each:Read More
The State of Small Business and Eric Schurenberg Interview
Eric Schurenberg, President and Editor-in-Chief of Inc Magazine talks about essential leadership skills and the state of small business in America. The State of Small Biz in 2014? The Sky’s the Limit As usual, our Inc. 5000 folks are upbeat. But only, they say, if Washington cleans up its circus act. In the face of squabbling lawmakers, a government that seems to close for business every month or so, and an on-edge economy, two guysRead More
Young entrepreneur ‘gloves’ his way to $8 million mark—and beyond
Brian Lim isn’t your typical “glover.” What is “gloving,” exactly? Young Entrepreneur Lim didn’t know either, until his then girlfriend and now fiancee got him into the trend in 2010. Gloving is a form of dancing typically showcased at raves or large parties or festivals, and electronic dance music events. Dancers face off wearing gloves that have lights on the gloves’ fingertips. Lim, now 27, has the glove dance moves down, plus a multimillion-dollar business,Read More
How workplace technology can transform the small business
After eight failed startups, 27-year-old Nic Blair turned things around with two successful small businesses with using modern technology — Search Factory and Brus Media. Search Factory started out from his parents’ house, and, in just three years, the company has grown to 27 full-time staff members who operate from two offices in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley, with an annual turnover of more than AU$2 million. Two years ago, Blair took the learnings from Search Factory andRead More
Yahoo Small Biz Exec on Going Digital
With nearly 80 percent of Americans using the Internet, the days of small businesses being able to survive without an online presence are over. No one knows this better than Yahoo! Small Business General Manager Thomas Byun, who has spent the last decade consulting small businesses and has seen the shift in consumers’ methods of finding the businesses they want to patronize. While they used to be much more loyal to local stores, Byun saysRead More
Interact with Investor Connect
Meet the Brightest Innovators The Cleantech Open is the world’s largest cleantech accelerator, and our Investor Connect is a ‘speed-dating’ event which connects investors with startups that have completed the Cleantech Open’s programs, grooming companies in software, materials, energy storage, smart grid, agriculture, water conservation and purification, clean chemistry, and a host of other products that also happen to be ‘clean.’ If you are an Angel, private VC, corporate VC, or potential strategic partner orRead More
Britain’s export credit agency targets small business as banks retreat
As more British companies begin to look overseas to tap new markets, the pressure is on George Osborne, the Chancellor, who has set a target to double the value of exports to £1 trillion by 2020, to provide greater financial support to businesses selling abroad. Traditionally, British companies were able to draw upon the financial clout of the City and the nation’s banks to help underwrite overseas projects and exports with letters of credit. But sinceRead More