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Your Small Business Questions, Answered
Send us your questions on challenges you face in your business. Journalist Karen E. Klein will interview experts and distill their insights into answers.
Recent
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Profiles
Don't Throw That Out! LeanPath Harnesses Data to Fight Food Waste
A small company's simple technology entices kitchen workers to waste less, saving big food-service operations money -
Small Business
A Business Friendliness Ranking Questions Business Friendliness Rankings
Thumbtack.com and the Kauffman Foundation say their survey does a better job than others because it relies on small business owners' responses -
Technology
How Small Businesses Use Big Data
Startups and small companies are finding ways to use voluminous data sets to gain insights into customers, employees, and products -
Advice
Renegotiate a Lease When a Big Competitor Moves In
Start by gathering information about the market and preparing an affordable, palatable plan. Then avoid e-mail and do your best to meet in person or on the phone -
Policy
Think Twice About Opening a Moving Company in Kentucky
“Certificate of necessity” laws are preventing aspiring entrepreneurs from opening moving businesses in Kentucky and other states -
Financing
Coming to a City Near You: Chinese Business Incubators
Investors from China are building space to house U.S. startups that want to do business across the Pacific -
Profiles
To Report Election Violence in Kenya, Text Ushahidi
Kenyans are using technology to try to prevent a repeat of the violence that followed the 2007 presidential election -
Logistics
The U.S. Ex-Im Bank Seeks to Back More Small Exporters
Fewer than 1 percent of America’s 28 million small companies export. The U.S. Export-Import Bank is trying to boost that number -
Profiles
Beyond EBay: Coupon Clippers Grab Online Deals to Resell Overseas
A growing number of resellers in the U.S. are using online deals to buy coveted products at steep discounts, then flipping them in overseas markets -
Profiles
Beyond Webvan: MyWebGrocer Turns Supermarkets Virtual
Buying diapers? Don't forget baby food. Supermarkets leery of Amazon and Wal-Mart are feeding a Vermont software business that handles online ordering and virtual promotions -
Policy
Coding to Cut Red Tape for Startups in Santa Cruz
The city hopes a new "TurboTax for business creation" will take some of the pain out of paperwork -
Advice
Government Surplus: Cheap Stuff From Uncle Sam
To save on equipment, small businesses are snapping up excess government inventory, from kitchen sinks to Coast Guard cutters -
Profiles
Dragging Fashion Wholesalers Into the Digital Age
New online marketplaces (for designers and retailers, not consumers) want a cut of the roughly $158 billion in clothing sold in the U.S. -
Profiles
Portland Bike Maker Sees Made-in-USA Demand from Overseas
About 99 percent of bicycles sold in the U.S. are made in Asia. One Portland (Ore.) manufacturer still makes everything here and is riding a wave of foreign orders -
Advice
Retailers Use Technology to Manage the Holiday Rush
Apps and other services can help retailers manage the customer deluge, both online and in brick-and-mortar shops
Read
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Policy
Overlooked in the Online Sales Tax Bill: Free Tax Software
Tax collection is too complex for retailers, say opponents of a proposed law scheduled for its final vote in the Senate in May. Free software is intended to make it easier -
Policy
A California Startup Pushes Florida to Legalize Wine in Kegs
Wine keg distributor Free Flow Wines wants to make Florida change an obscure law so that the company can tap a larger market -
Profiles
"We Buy Gold." How Shops Are Faring, Post-Gold Crash
Despite cratering prices and a clientele that sold while the selling was good, small businesses that deal in gold aren't going to disappear -
Technology
How Small Businesses Use Big Data
Startups and small companies are finding ways to use voluminous data sets to gain insights into customers, employees, and products -
Marketing
From Bloggers' Wrath to Foodies' Delight: Saffron Road
Adnan Durrani's brand aims to appeal to U.S. Muslims who seek halal food and to non-Muslim Whole Foods shoppers hungry for ethnic meals—or merely healthy food -
Advice
Breaking Into the Energy Drink Business
First, determine how to raise the $100,000 you'll likely need to launch your product. Then evaluate whether to hire a consultant or go it alone -
Advice
Great Product. Now, How to Sell It?
Getting a new product from the factory to store shelves can be a minefield for entrepreneurs -
Profiles
When Designers Want Their Clothes 'Made in the USA'
New York startup Maker's Row is betting that fashion designers will use its directory to hire domestic manufacturers -
Manufacturing
Small U.S. Manufacturers Give Up on 'Made in China'
Put off by piracy and quality problems, small companies are returning to U.S. factories -
Advice
How Startups Negotiate Favorable Leases
As real estate markets improve in some parts of the country, attorneys share tactics for businesses with seemingly little leverage -
Profiles
Beyond EBay: Coupon Clippers Grab Online Deals to Resell Overseas
A growing number of resellers in the U.S. are using online deals to buy coveted products at steep discounts, then flipping them in overseas markets -
Advice
Making the Web's Subscription Economy Hum
As online ventures embrace subscriptions to sell products that range from condoms to clothing, they're outsourcing billing and other chores -
Policy
Small U.S. Oyster Farms Are on the Rise
On the Atlantic seaboard, a revival in small-scale oyster farming -
Profiles
Portland Bike Maker Sees Made-in-USA Demand from Overseas
About 99 percent of bicycles sold in the U.S. are made in Asia. One Portland (Ore.) manufacturer still makes everything here and is riding a wave of foreign orders -
Profiles
Don't Throw That Out! LeanPath Harnesses Data to Fight Food Waste
A small company's simple technology entices kitchen workers to waste less, saving big food-service operations money
Shared
-
Policy
A California Startup Pushes Florida to Legalize Wine in Kegs
Wine keg distributor Free Flow Wines wants to make Florida change an obscure law so that the company can tap a larger market -
Marketing
From Bloggers' Wrath to Foodies' Delight: Saffron Road
Adnan Durrani's brand aims to appeal to U.S. Muslims who seek halal food and to non-Muslim Whole Foods shoppers hungry for ethnic meals—or merely healthy food -
Profiles
"We Buy Gold." How Shops Are Faring, Post-Gold Crash
Despite cratering prices and a clientele that sold while the selling was good, small businesses that deal in gold aren't going to disappear -
Technology
How Small Businesses Use Big Data
Startups and small companies are finding ways to use voluminous data sets to gain insights into customers, employees, and products -
Profiles
Don't Throw That Out! LeanPath Harnesses Data to Fight Food Waste
A small company's simple technology entices kitchen workers to waste less, saving big food-service operations money -
Policy
Overlooked in the Online Sales Tax Bill: Free Tax Software
Tax collection is too complex for retailers, say opponents of a proposed law scheduled for its final vote in the Senate in May. Free software is intended to make it easier -
Profiles
Beyond Webvan: MyWebGrocer Turns Supermarkets Virtual
Buying diapers? Don't forget baby food. Supermarkets leery of Amazon and Wal-Mart are feeding a Vermont software business that handles online ordering and virtual promotions -
Profiles
When Designers Want Their Clothes 'Made in the USA'
New York startup Maker's Row is betting that fashion designers will use its directory to hire domestic manufacturers -
Profiles
Driver's Ed for Would-Be Food Truck Entrepreneurs
Manhattan restaurateur David Weber explains the mechanics, allure, and pains of managing mobile operations -
Advice
Breaking Into the Energy Drink Business
First, determine how to raise the $100,000 you'll likely need to launch your product. Then evaluate whether to hire a consultant or go it alone -
Profiles
Local Farmers Go Online to Sell Direct to Chefs
Rather than rely on a food distributor or farmers' market, chefs seeking local ingredients can now buy them directly from farmers online -
Advice
Using a Barter Exchange to Conserve Cash
The head of a popular barter exchange explains the mechanics of the system that business owners use to sell excess goods and services
Discussed
-
Policy
Overlooked in the Online Sales Tax Bill: Free Tax Software
Tax collection is too complex for retailers, say opponents of a proposed law scheduled for its final vote in the Senate in May. Free software is intended to make it easier -
Profiles
"We Buy Gold." How Shops Are Faring, Post-Gold Crash
Despite cratering prices and a clientele that sold while the selling was good, small businesses that deal in gold aren't going to disappear -
Marketing
From Bloggers' Wrath to Foodies' Delight: Saffron Road
Adnan Durrani's brand aims to appeal to U.S. Muslims who seek halal food and to non-Muslim Whole Foods shoppers hungry for ethnic meals—or merely healthy food -
Advice
Breaking Into the Energy Drink Business
First, determine how to raise the $100,000 you'll likely need to launch your product. Then evaluate whether to hire a consultant or go it alone -
Policy
A California Startup Pushes Florida to Legalize Wine in Kegs
Wine keg distributor Free Flow Wines wants to make Florida change an obscure law so that the company can tap a larger market -
Profiles
Portland Bike Maker Sees Made-in-USA Demand from Overseas
About 99 percent of bicycles sold in the U.S. are made in Asia. One Portland (Ore.) manufacturer still makes everything here and is riding a wave of foreign orders -
Advice
Small Businesses Team Up to Land Federal Contracts
Subcontracting and partnering can help entrepreneurs break into the lucrative world of government work
Feed
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Businesses will collect more than $9 billion by one estimate. Small ventures likely settled more quickly and for less than their larger counterparts
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