Small Business Feedback Sparks Popular Changes To SBA’s Website and Social Media Tools
Focus group sessions held in three major U.S. cities resulted in recommendations to the U.S. Small Business Administration on how to improve its award-winning SBA.Gov website and maximize social media tools and tutorials for the 800,000 individuals who visit the site each month.
Focus groups in Baltimore, Richmond and Washington, D.C., helped SBA learn how to better serve the needs of small business owners and entrepreneurs. Feedback from focus groups suggested that small business owners often aren’t aware of many of SBA’s resources or how our partner organizations can help …
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Workshop Helps Small Business Owners Increase Information System Security
Can you answer the following questions?
What happens to my business if my sensitive business information falls into someone else’s possession?
What would it cost me to be without some or all of my sensitive business information?
Could I recreate lost sensitive business information and what would be the cost?
What would be the implications to my business if I could no longer trust the accuracy or completeness of my sensitive business information?
If you cannot answer these questions, this workshop is for you! The National Institute …
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SBA Announces Small Business Video Contest: Tell Us Your Story!
Do you have a small business story to tell? Every business has one. Tell your story to the SBA and your video may appear at National Small Business Week, SBA’s marquee event that attracts hundreds of small business owners, Fortune 500 company executives, Members of Congress and Obama Administration officials.
In celebration of National Small Business Week 2012, SBA is looking for creative videos from small businesses that show how they have been helped by an SBA program or service. The contest will raise awareness of the importance of SBA programs, and the impact …
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How’s Your Follow Through?
How many times have you gone to a networking event and had great conversations, traded business cards and then never followed up? This happens more times than we care to admit. Here are 3 tips to help get you moving into action after a great networking event. Tip #1: Send an email no later than 24 hours after the event. 97% of people take your card and never follow up. I always like to connect with the person on Linked In. When I finish my conversation I always ask, would it be okay to connect with you on Linked In? … Read Full Post »
Comedian and Master of Ceremonies Announced for 27th Annual Small Business Leadership Awards
The South Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce, South Metro Denver Small Business Development Center (SBDC), and South Metro Denver Economic Development Group announce comedian Karyn Ruth White will be the Master of Ceremonies for the 27th Annual Small Business Leadership Awards.
Karyn Ruth White is a motivational speaker with over 15 years of professional stand-up experience. Her clients include organizations such as Microsoft, Nextel, Janus Funds, Ball Aerospace, Corporate Express, Xcel Energy, General Foods, the International Customer Service Association, the Colorado Departm …
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SBA Opens Second Round of Applications for Intermediary Lending Pilot Program
The Intermediary Lending Pilot Program (ILP), which provides long-term loans to eligible non-profit intermediary lenders to finance their lending to small businesses, has opened a second competitive application period. As a result, small businesses, especially those in underserved markets looking for loans up to $200,000, will soon have access to twice as many community-based funding sources under the U.S. Small Business Administration program.
“Providing small businesses with the financial resources they need to start, grow and succeed is at the core of SBA’s mis …
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Six Steps to a Winning Sales Strategy
1. Overall Goal and Vision for your Sales Strategy • What do you want the product or service to do for your business? • Determine if a need exists for your offering and work to outline a clear Vision and goal for a successful product launch. Create an actionable sales plan that includes packaging, pricing and value message. 2. Target market for your product or service • Who are you selling to? • Profiled your potential customers to understand their needs • Your product or service needs to solve a problem or issu … Read Full Post »
Five Ways to Improve Your Website
You have heard that it is essential as a small business owner to have a website, but did you know your website may be able to save you time? Try these tips to save some valuable time. 1. Add pages.Make sure your website has an FAQ page and a Contact Us page with your business hours. Update your FAQ page regularly to keep up with your latest products and services. 2. Review your website.Does your site work intuitively? Can your customers find what they need and want quickly and easily? 3. Offer Internet-only sales.Do you feel like you are wasting time taking orders on the phone? … Read Full Post »
SBA Announces New Partnership to Connect Small Businesses with Corporate Supply Chains
A new private-public collaboration will help small businesses strengthen their revenue streams by gaining access to more than $300 billion in combined supply chain spending by a consortium of 15 of America’s largest corporations, the U.S. Small Business Administration announced today.
Supplier Connection, created by the IBM Foundation, is part of the Obama Administration’s American Supplier Initiative and is designed to help bridge the gap between small, nimble businesses looking for new opportunities and large corporations looking for innovative new ideas and diversity in t …
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Unique Mentoring Opportunity for Food and Beverage Business Owners
Are you a food, beverage or hospitality small business owner? Are you looking for marketing, packaging, legal, financial or sales and distribution advice? We can help! On April 25, food, beverage and hospitality entrepreneurs in Denver will have the chance to attend the first Sam Adams Brewing the American Dream Speed Coaching event in Colorado! The unique format of this evening offers small business owners: A chance to meet one-on-one for 20 minute sessions with Samuel Adams employees and local business experts Opportunity to network and connect … Read Full Post »
27th Annual South Metro Denver Small Business Leadership Awards Finalists Announced
CENTENNIAL, CO – The South Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce, South Metro Denver Small Business Development Center (SBDC), and South Metro Denver Economic Development Group are proud to announce the finalists for the 27th Annual Small Business Leadership Awards.
The finalists for the 27th Annual South Metro Denver Small Business Leadership Awards are:
Small Business of the Year
Health Images
Terracare Associates
The Wright Group Services
Emerging Business of the Year
Checkmate Moving and Storage
Gr …
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Free Colorado Lending Source Webinar on Special Loan Programs
Colorado Lending Source, the state's not-for-profit, small business financing expert, offers monthly web trainings to help you better understand the small business financing available through their organization.
This month, Colorado Lending Source's webinar will provide you with information about two financing options available to small businesses:
1. The Small Business Administration's 7(a) Loan Program, what it can be used to finance, and how we can assist bank lenders with their 7(a) packaging.
2. The Colorado Main Street Loan prog …
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Six Steps to Successful Strategy
Trying to develop a strategy to deal with an issue in your business? How about a strategy for the future of your company? Here are 6 steps to use anytime you're looking to develop a successful strategy: 1. Define the problem(and any underlying problems) clearly and concisely. 2. Keep your values clear. Focus on intangibles (how a customer feels about your brand) and the potential to deliver. 3. Create alternatives. Stretch beyond your comfort zone while making sure your strategy is doable. Include a comprehensive range of sol … Read Full Post »
pureSilicon Reduces Carbon Footprint with High-Tech Solid-State Drives
Like many cleantech companies, pureSilicon is focused on reducing the carbon footprint within its industry. It produces solid-state drives (SSD) that combine maximum density with high performance and low power demand. pureSilicon currently has two products - the Nitro and Renegade. The Nitro is a solid-state drive designed for data centers, supercomputing, professional media, servers or networking that require high-performance storage to keep the Internet running or perform multiple, quick transactions. The Nitro, which is small enough to FedEx, can replace 1,000 rotating hard drives t … Read Full Post »
Free Webinar - Five Things You May Not Know About SBA Disaster Assistance
In the aftermath of a natural or man-made disaster, you don’t have to be a small business owner to get recovery assistance from the U.S. Small Business Administration. But did you know that SBA’s disaster assistance program is the agency’s only direct loan program? Did you also know that SBA can provide assistance to communities in the aftermath of a disaster, independent of a Presidential disaster declaration?
Interesting and useful facts about the range and depth of SBA’s disaster assistance programs will be presented during the April 10 …
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Colorado Small Business Development Center Network Announces Award Winners
The Colorado Small Business Development Center (SBDC), a division of the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, announces its annual Colorado Leading Edge Business Plan Competition winners:
First place: Kurt Fulwider for his business plan for St. Bon's Café, a gluten free deli and bakery.
Second place: Lynne Vickerstaff for her business plan for Little Weedz, LLC, a clothing company that designs dresses and skirts for little girls.
Third place: Midian Crosby for her business plan for Monster Midian Makeup & Effects, LLC, which pro …
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