FastUpFront Small Business Blog

As the summer beckons, focusing on the daily grind may become a challenge. To offer a bit of inspiration, I created a list individuals that I believe to be “super entrepreneurs.” That is, these are not just people who have amassed wealth or who ran a successful business, they left an indelible imprint on the [...]

Even though the economy may be showing some signs of life, when it comes to small businesses and hiring, slow and steady seem to be the operative words. If you are running a small business and have been asking for more from your employees while providing fewer resources, then your employees may be at risk [...]

Laptops and cell phones are natural thieve targets since they are small, easy to snatch and are often accidently left unattended in public places such as a coffee shop, airport or in a car. According to the FBI, 97% of laptops are never recovered after theft- which is bad news for business travelers. Fortunately for [...]

A seemingly contradictory line up of recent economic indicators has been drawing a lot of attention as of late, leaving in its wake a population of economists and economic analysts who have suddenly been struck dumbfounded. They are, after all, dealing with an economy that just refuses to stick to their models and predictions.   [...]

When times get tough, companies increasingly look to temporary employees to fill their needs- at least that’s what this recent article over at CNN suggests.   As a small business owner, relying on temporary or contractual hires may seem like a quick and cheap solution to getting a particular job done, and these days with [...]

Even as the stock market continues its heady rally and some economic indicators suggest that the economy is improving (albeit slowly), the surge in commodity prices, many of them unavoidable staples, has wreaked havoc on small business profit margins. But, the pain is certainly not being felt equally by all. Some industries have been hit [...]

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 [...]

As a small business owner, getting unexpectedly caught up in a lawsuit can be both overwhelming and scary, not to mention a tremendous drain on resources. But you don’t have to sit around waiting for it to happen. There are many actions you can make to protect yourself in the event that one of your [...]

Now that taxes are still fresh on the minds of many small business owners, I figured it would be a good time to write a post on sales tax for online businesses. Countless small online business owners may be uninformed when it comes to properly recording, collecting, and paying state sales taxes on their online [...]

As the 2011 tax season comes to an end, many small business owners may be learning the hard way that sloppy bookkeeping doesn’t pay- especially when you are dealing with the IRS. For those looking to make amends in the current year, the below are seven of the most common bookkeeping mistakes to avoid:   [...]