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Photograph by Corey Hendrickson
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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Advice
Starting a Business While Raising Kids Alone
Determine how you'll support yourself before you earn enough to raise a family; then research the idea and build a network -
Smart Answers
Advice for Small Employers Confused by Obamacare
What size businesses are affected? Does it pay to drop coverage? Industry experts weigh in on a handful of common questions about the law's forthcoming requirements -
Smart Answers
When to Make an Employee a Business Partner
Giving a top apprentice a share of the company may not be the best way to reward her -
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 -
Advice
Getting Started, Getting Paid, and More Answers to Business Questions
To address challenges readers face in their businesses, Karen E. Klein interviews experts and distills their insights -
Smart Answers
How Are the SBA’s Loan Programs Doing?
The Small Business Administration is pushing to expand loan availability and streamline its loan-guarantee approval process. Approvals in the last two years set records, but it's unlikely that pace will continue -
Advice
Divorced, but Still in Business Together
After a couple has separated, exes with mutual trust, maturity, and clearly defined roles can help their jointly run business continue to prosper -
Advice
When It Pays for the Founder to Take a Break
While it's complicated and risky for founders to take a hiatus from running the show, the business can benefit from the new perspective -
Financing
'Halal' Financing for Muslim Entrepreneurs Gains Currency
With the U.S. population of Muslims expected to more than double by 2030, banks are offering business funding that complies with Islamic law -
Policy
Three Months After Sandy, a Report Card on Small Business Relief
SBA loan approval rates for Sandy are more than twice as high as those for Katrina and Rita -
Policy
What’s Driving the Spike in Small Business Acquisitions
Beyond beating tax hikes and taking advantage of rising valuations, difficulty finding skilled talent is helping fuel the increase -
Taxes
Pricier Penalties for Tax-Reporting Scofflaws
Small employers who miss IRS deadlines must pay steeper penalties this year. The maximum failure-to-file penalty is now $500,000 -
Policy
Tax Laws Leave Small Government Contractors in Limbo
As the March sequestration deadline nears, businesses with relatively few contracts are already feeling its effects -
Financing
‘Grunt Funds’ Are Trending in Startup Circles
Equity stakes are a common source of conflict at nascent business ventures. A new way to determine who gets what is gaining traction -
Policy
What Obamacare Means for Small Employers in 2013
One of every four business owners are uninsured, studies say, and small employers are more likely to terminate coverage
Read
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Smart Answers
Advice for Small Employers Confused by Obamacare
What size businesses are affected? Does it pay to drop coverage? Industry experts weigh in on a handful of common questions about the law's forthcoming requirements -
Advice
Advice for Small Employers Confused by Obamacare: Part 2
Can benefits vary depending on employee type? Are multiple businesses counted in employee tallies? Industry experts weigh in on questions about Affordable Care Act requirements -
Advice
Paying Yourself When You Start a Business
To avoid cash-flow problems and hassles with the IRS, understand the implications of taking money from your business for personal use -
Advice
Time to Sell? Setting a Price for Your Cash Business
To determine the value of a services business, calculate the "seller’s discretionary earnings"—the total financial benefit the owner derives from it each year -
Policy
What Obamacare Means for Small Employers in 2013
One of every four business owners are uninsured, studies say, and small employers are more likely to terminate coverage -
Advice
How to Lower Your Company's Property Taxes
To convince officials to reduce a company's tax burden, build a case backed with data and get peers and politicians to support it -
Smart Answers
Cutting Health-Care Costs for Aging Employees
Employees who don't participate in a company plan are still counted in its rating pool. To reduce costs, offer an attractive retirement plan -
Smart Answers
When to Make an Employee a Business Partner
Giving a top apprentice a share of the company may not be the best way to reward her -
Smart Answers
How Small Retailers Get Big Brands to Trust Them
Persuading household names to let independent shops sell their products means meeting requirements, from promising good placement to sharing financial information -
Financing
'Halal' Financing for Muslim Entrepreneurs Gains Currency
With the U.S. population of Muslims expected to more than double by 2030, banks are offering business funding that complies with Islamic law -
Smart Answers
How Are the SBA’s Loan Programs Doing?
The Small Business Administration is pushing to expand loan availability and streamline its loan-guarantee approval process. Approvals in the last two years set records, but it's unlikely that pace will continue -
Advice
Divorced, but Still in Business Together
After a couple has separated, exes with mutual trust, maturity, and clearly defined roles can help their jointly run business continue to prosper -
Advice
Getting Started, Getting Paid, and More Answers to Business Questions
To address challenges readers face in their businesses, Karen E. Klein interviews experts and distills their insights -
Advice
Starting a Business While Raising Kids Alone
Determine how you'll support yourself before you earn enough to raise a family; then research the idea and build a network -
Policy
Three Months After Sandy, a Report Card on Small Business Relief
SBA loan approval rates for Sandy are more than twice as high as those for Katrina and Rita
Shared
-
Advice
Advice for Small Employers Confused by Obamacare: Part 2
Can benefits vary depending on employee type? Are multiple businesses counted in employee tallies? Industry experts weigh in on questions about Affordable Care Act requirements -
Advice
Time to Sell? Setting a Price for Your Cash Business
To determine the value of a services business, calculate the "seller’s discretionary earnings"—the total financial benefit the owner derives from it each year -
Smart Answers
Advice for Small Employers Confused by Obamacare
What size businesses are affected? Does it pay to drop coverage? Industry experts weigh in on a handful of common questions about the law's forthcoming requirements -
Advice
How to Lower Your Company's Property Taxes
To convince officials to reduce a company's tax burden, build a case backed with data and get peers and politicians to support it -
Smart Answers
Cutting Health-Care Costs for Aging Employees
Employees who don't participate in a company plan are still counted in its rating pool. To reduce costs, offer an attractive retirement plan -
Financing
'Halal' Financing for Muslim Entrepreneurs Gains Currency
With the U.S. population of Muslims expected to more than double by 2030, banks are offering business funding that complies with Islamic law -
Advice
Paying Yourself When You Start a Business
To avoid cash-flow problems and hassles with the IRS, understand the implications of taking money from your business for personal use -
Advice
Starting a Business While Raising Kids Alone
Determine how you'll support yourself before you earn enough to raise a family; then research the idea and build a network -
Policy
Three Months After Sandy, a Report Card on Small Business Relief
SBA loan approval rates for Sandy are more than twice as high as those for Katrina and Rita -
Advice
Getting Started, Getting Paid, and More Answers to Business Questions
To address challenges readers face in their businesses, Karen E. Klein interviews experts and distills their insights -
Advice
Divorced, but Still in Business Together
After a couple has separated, exes with mutual trust, maturity, and clearly defined roles can help their jointly run business continue to prosper
Discussed
-
Advice
Advice for Small Employers Confused by Obamacare: Part 2
Can benefits vary depending on employee type? Are multiple businesses counted in employee tallies? Industry experts weigh in on questions about Affordable Care Act requirements -
Advice
Paying Yourself When You Start a Business
To avoid cash-flow problems and hassles with the IRS, understand the implications of taking money from your business for personal use -
Advice
How to Lower Your Company's Property Taxes
To convince officials to reduce a company's tax burden, build a case backed with data and get peers and politicians to support it -
Financing
'Halal' Financing for Muslim Entrepreneurs Gains Currency
With the U.S. population of Muslims expected to more than double by 2030, banks are offering business funding that complies with Islamic law -
Advice
Time to Sell? Setting a Price for Your Cash Business
To determine the value of a services business, calculate the "seller’s discretionary earnings"—the total financial benefit the owner derives from it each year -
Smart Answers
Advice for Small Employers Confused by Obamacare
What size businesses are affected? Does it pay to drop coverage? Industry experts weigh in on a handful of common questions about the law's forthcoming requirements
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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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