FastUpFront Small Business Blog

Business rewards cards are long time tools of the trade for credit card companies. Offering eye-catching rewards and money-saving opportunities is a tactic credit card companies use to lure small business owners into a new account. If you have good credit, you can be disciplined with your spending, and you make the effort to research [...]

Forget about what the media has been saying. If it feels like bank lending to small businesses has been on a decline over the last few years, it’s because it is really happening. Surprisingly though, this decline extends way beyond the past few years. According to data collected by the FDIC, small loans (those under [...]

Now that the 2013 tax season has gotten into high gear, you may be considering using the services of an accountant- whether to help you with your tax preparation or to get your financial reporting in order. But where and how should you start looking for the right candidate? Making a poor choice with a [...]

How can you get quick capital to help cover any unexpected emergencies or significant cash shortfalls in your business? Even if you have few assets, you may still have options as long as you put in little forethought before something happens. Running a Business is Full of Bumps One of the givens of running a [...]

After the credit crunch and subsequent housing meltdown in 2008, the banking industry made a much publicized move to reign in small business lending. What had once been a moderate flow of small business finance to the nation’s smallest companies, then almost completely dried up. In it’s wake, various alternative lenders and other loan arrangements [...]

A couple of weeks ago, the U.S. House of Representatives made a conspicuously bi-partisan effort to pass the Entrepreneur Access to Capital Act which essentially makes it easier for businesses to raise capital through crowdfunding.   Crowdfunding is a relatively new form of raising money. By tapping into the extensive reach of the internet, prospective [...]

In my last post, I listed 10 notoriously ridiculous fees that many of the big banks are charging these days. If you are a small business owner then choosing the right bank is all the more important. As you make an effort to maintain a healthy cash flow and get financing when you need it, [...]

The other week over at Small Business Trends, I saw an interesting poll. The sole question: “What’s your biggest business mistake?” Though there are various options to choose from, such as “Failing to market my business,” and “Selling myself short,” the overwhelming favorite response (at the time of writing it is holding at 86% of [...]

When multiple people are involved in starting and building a new business, it is very easy to overlook what seems to be a small, mundane issue: how to divide founders’ equity. But, if a bit of forethought is brought in at the beginning regarding the definition of ownership and the anticipated compensation that each of the founding members will receive, [...]

Over the past couple of years, crowdfunding has emerged as a quick and agile way to raise money- whether for a new business, charity, or artistic project. While many have been quick to point out the various “side benefits” of turning to the online community for funding, such as generating customer interest and building brand [...]