It’s that time of year when the tax bill comes due and that adds 1 more layer of stress to the already hectic life of small business owners. Here are some tax tips for the self-employed, from short-term strategies to lower this year’s tax bill to longer-term goals with an eye toward future years. Tip #1: Know your deductions It’s obvious to say, but harder to do, especially if you’re not a tax expert and are trying to keep up with your business. There’s the basic deductions—everything you’ve … [Read More...]
At SBDPro, we take pride in helping entrepreneurs run their small businesses. Whether it's real estate, finance, legal, insurance, or any other organization, we're here to help you achieve your business goals.
As a part of that pursuit, we've dedicated our blog site to answering your questions and providing tips for managing your small business. Are you home-based? We've got expert advice for your niche. Do you need help with marketing yourself? There's a category for that. Would you like to learn more about outsourcing? We've got that covered, too!
Often, running a small business can make you feel like you're on an island. Not everyone understands the pressure and circumstances of your passion—but we do! Stay up to date with your field of work and learn new tricks with our ever-growing blog. Let's take this entrepreneurial journey together.
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The Keys for Promoting Your Small Business on Social Media
Social media can feel like a double-edged sword for many small business owners. On the one hand, it has become an essential part of any small business marketing strategy. On the other hand, social media’s benefits are often indirect and it can seem like a large time suck. In other words, it’s fine for big companies with a large marketing staff, but more troublesome for small business staff that have to wear multiple hats. We understand the dilemma. To help make the best use of your time, here’s … [Read More...]
3 Principles Underlie All the Golden Rules for Customer Service
You know how hard it is to get a customer. You’ve probably got spreadsheets telling you exactly how much it costs to get someone to make a single purchase and how many subsequent purchases each one needs to make for you to be profitable. Those numbers are the concrete evidence of why good customer service can’t just be a nice-sounding phrase. It has to be a priority and these 3 golden rules for customer service must be a part of your company culture. 1. The customer is always the priority The … [Read More...]
5 Must-Have Tech Tools for Startups in 2021
When you start a new business venture, costs are always at the top of mind, but you can’t skimp on everything. There are a number of valuable technological products out there that will make your business run smoothly from the outset. Here are a few of the top tech tools for startups. In the interests of saving on office space, you may have team members working remotely. In these COVID-19 times, you may even just have your entire business operating remote. That means tools for communication, … [Read More...]
Guidelines For How Much You Need to Start a Business
You’ve got the idea for an entrepreneurial venture that you know can make a difference—in the marketplace and for your own life. But now you’re dealing with the cold reality of getting it off the ground and paying the bills in the process. You’re wondering the most bottom line question there is: how much money do you need to start a business? The natural answer is “It depends,”—according to the U.S. Small Business Administration, a home-based microbusiness can be done for as little as $3,000 … [Read More...]
The Most Important Email Marketing Tips for Small Businesses
Getting the most from your email subscriber list is always important in today’s digitized environment. But in these unique COVID-19 days, with more people staying inside, it’s even more important. These email marketing tips will help you maintain your relationship with your most loyal customers. Before deciding what to say in an email, it’s important to understand what your purpose is in writing it. Emails fall into 3 general categories: Transactional: These are emails set up by automation … [Read More...]
How Much Money to Start a Business? These Rules Will Guide You
The problem of money looms over every business venture, especially in its infancy. Asking for money is about as much fun as getting a tooth pulled for most people. The question of how much money to start a business is not an easy one to answer and it’s obviously different for each enterprise. Here are some clear principles to follow that will help make your particular answer a little clearer. Milestones Setting achievable benchmarks that you can reach one at a time is more than just good … [Read More...]
3 Tips for How to Retain Employees in Small Business
Once a small business is up and running, holding on to key employees may be the biggest challenge to its continued growth. Smaller enterprises can’t compete with larger firms when it comes to salary and benefits. The talent you have on hand will realistically have other options. You’ll have to exercise some creativity and prudence to compete. Here are 3 tips for how to retain employees in a small business. Tip #1: Get it right upfront Do your homework when making a hire. Don’t just settle for … [Read More...]
4 Basic Principles for Managing Freelancers
Knowing how to manage freelancers is becoming increasingly essential in a changing economy. Using freelance help offers businesses a way to augment their talent base without taking on the administrative costs of new W-9 employees. Freelance contracts offer a way to test out new talent before offering a full-time position with benefits. On the demand side, more and more workers are simply choosing to go freelance on their own and gain more independence over their careers. Here are some important … [Read More...]
4 Tools for Working Remotely Everyone Must Have
A good portion of the global workforce has had to get used to working from home during the COVID-19 quarantine. Even as economies around the world re-open for business, it’s unlikely that a lot of companies will rush everyone back into the office. It’s more likely that both staff and managers have found that work can still get done from home and that it could be advantageous—for reasons of public health and employee satisfaction—to do more work from home. Here are 4 indispensable tools for … [Read More...]