FastUpFront Small Business Blog

As a small business owner, offering a employer-sponsored 401k retirement plan to your employees is an attractive benefit that will generate both goodwill and loyalty among your workforce. This is especially true these days, when countless businesses big and small have been reducing or dropping altogether their health care and retirement plans.     But, [...]

Many small business owners these days have been smarting from a health care headache as they try to offset the rising cost of care in the midst of a sluggish economy that has eaten away at profit margins and stymied growth. Now, a recent study conducted by PwC Health Research Institute suggests that the headache [...]

According to recent reports, such as this one from the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB), many small businesses have finally begun to consider a price hike. It was to be expected as the increased cost of commodities, confirmed inflationary pressures, and year-over-year of sluggish consumer spending have whittled away profit margins at a time [...]

When the group discount site Groupon first appeared on the Internet radar in 2008, it seemed like a bane for small business owners looking for a way to pump up sluggish sales and attract new customers. It’s daily deals are known to attract hordes of interested, deal seeking consumers.   But as other deal sites [...]

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, [...]

Need another reason to hate those “Big Bad Banks”? Well, here’s 10 of them. These are 10 of the most common, yet blatantly outrageous fees charged by the well-known mega banks, such as Bank of America, Capital One, PNC, and TD Bank (and many smaller, regional banks have them as well).     1. Research [...]

American poet Nathaniel Parker Willis once opined that June is a “month of leaves and roses, when pleasant sights salute the eyes and pleasant scents the noses.” But those who have been following the recent economic reports that have come out this month, or who are experiencing them first hand, may not be feeling so [...]

Whether you’re a frequent business traveler or you venture out for a business trip only on occasion, these ten apps can make your business travel experience a whole lot easier. Most of these apps will work on both the iPhone and iPad; some are also available for Android and Blackberry phones:   1. FlightBoard This [...]

As smart phones and other mobile devices become common place and people increasingly turn to the Internet to help them plan out their daily business and leisure activities, the growing importance and impact of local search cannot be ignored. If you run a local brick and mortar business, you should do what you can to [...]

The high profile search engine giant Google Inc., recently announced it’s new pay-by-phone service, Google Wallet, slated for a limited run this summer. Though many are quick to point out the service’s glaring shortcomings, such as that it only works with the MasterCard network, is available for only one Android phone model, and so far [...]