FastUpFront Small Business Blog

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 interest and enthusiasm for daily deals sites, such as Groupon, LivingSocial, and Google Offers have begun to wane, a new wave of social media of platforms lies in their wake. Location-based services, such as Yelp and Foursquare are being heavily targeted to small businesses as a way to increase sales and customer engagement. [...]

The new year hasn’t even arrived, yet many small business owners may be wishing the clocks would go backwards. With big issues such as the Fiscal Cliff and the early stages of health care reform slated to go into effect on January 1st, there’s little wonder why. But even if 2013 looks a bit rough [...]

A few days ago, the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) released their monthly Small Business Optimism Survey, and it ain’t pretty. Not only has optimism among small business owners taken a nose dive, but growth-building activities such as hiring, making capital outlays, and increasing inventory have seemingly slowed down across the board. For the [...]

With the rising costs of health care and the tangible benefits that come with living a healthy life style, it’s almost a no-brainier that implementing a wellness program in your small business can offer a potentially big payback. And don’t think that it will necessarily cost you big bucks. Just because you can’t afford to [...]

Now that the iPad has opened the floodgates on tablet computers, and the cost to own one of these devices is getting more reasonable (several models are selling for $200-$400), you may want to consider using them in your small business. Most of the research that has come out lately, such as this study by [...]

If your to-do list is fast becoming unsustainable, you do not have to wait till you are literally drowning in tasks you do not have the time, skills, nor expertise to accomplish. You could hire a virtual assistant (VA) to help you. As small business profit margins stay slim and trim while sales continue to [...]

As countless brick and morter small business owners fish for ways to survive a whirlwind of sluggish sales, creeping inflation, and economic uncertainty, many may be making decisions that are actually hurting their companies.   According to a recent survey conducted by American Express Open, the majority of Americans seem to realize the value of [...]

When it comes to the U.S. economy, sometimes it seems that everyone loves a good scapegoat- especially when the “everyone” is desperately trying to turn a blind eye to some ugly, fundamental problems…   As economic analysts try to make sense out of Wall Street’s recent nose dive, there are so far several suspects in [...]

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 [...]