FastUpFront Blog:

In the begining, when Americans were still reeling from the after shock of a freshly burst credit bubble and a crash in the housing market, to mention the term Recession felt almost dirty. Only the brave few dared to mention the “R” word for fear of persecution or being labled as a doomsday party-pooper. Most [...]

Ever since Skype rolled out its Skype 4 and Skype SIP in 2009, numerous small businesses have been using the service in order to keep overhead costs to a minimum. In May of this year, Skype released it’s 5.0 beta version packed with several great features particularly appealing to small businesses, such as video conference [...]

Cost-cutting needs have produced the latest trend: spouse-run businesses. According to the Kauffman Foundation, 8% of new small businesses in the U.S. are co-owned by husbands and wives.

 
Both marriage and business co-ownership are relationships with potential for conflict. How can a couple successfully work together without compromising their marriage?
Here are some of the possible pitfalls [...]

All the hype aside, Apple products are cool. Those sleek electronics with even sleeker features have suddenly become an indication of those who are with it and *sigh* those who are just not.
 
 
But would you use your Apple computer to run your business? Though the majority of small business owners tend to shy away from [...]

One of the positive fallouts of the recent economic crisis has been the insurgence of entrepreneurism among those who would have otherwise worked for others. Along side this trend has been the emergence of a new phenomenon called “co-working.” For those who are unfamiliar with the term, co-working refers to an arrangement where budding entrepreneurs [...]

It’s well known that small retail businesses often struggle against their big corporate competitors. And with the rise of Internet-based retail, the economies of scale are tipping even more in favor of the mega firms that have the resources to invest and can offer a wide range of merchandise at cut-rate prices. But a new [...]

The use of a virtual assistant (or VA) can be a cost-effective and efficient alternative to hiring on-site employees. But, just like most things in life, one needs to know how and when to use them in order to maximize the benefits.

 
But before we can discuss the ways to maximize the use of a Virtual [...]

Many small business owners may be apathetic when it comes to business insurance- seeing it as an expense to avoid or to minimize where possible. But savvy business owners realize that business insurance is in essence an investment on the future. The various business insurance products available protect not only the owner(s) of the business, [...]

The reasons why a business would fail to post a profit are many. According to the Small Business Administration (SBA), the majority small businesses take at least a year to show a profit due to the fact that it takes some time to generate enough revenue to cover the company’s start-up expenses. There are other [...]

The passage of the healthcare reform bill in March may have been welcomed news for many small business owners struggling to provide coverage for their employees. But small business owners should be aware that many of the health initiative’s main provisions will mostly benefit businesses with 50 or fewer employees and many of these provisions [...]