Articles
Looking for a Small Business Loan? Loan Purpose Matters
It’s true, there are more options available today than ever before for business owners looking for a small business loan, but there isn’t really a one-size-fits-all solution. Understanding the relationship between why you need the loan and where you should be looking will help you find the right loan. Should your first stop be the…
Budgeting and Forecasting – What’s the Difference?
When you plan for the future of your small business, you assign yourself two important tasks: budgeting your dollars and forecasting how your business will behave in the year ahead. Preparing a complicated annual budget seems challenging until you realize that forecasting is even more complicated, because you have to account for the unknown. Both…
5 Questions with The Juice Cellar’s Chris Roberts
Our blog series “5 Questions With…” takes a behind-the-scenes look into the daily lives of our small business customers. Read through this ‘delicious’ next entry below! Name: Chris Roberts Company: The Juice Cellar Location: Belfast/Bangor, Maine Products/Services: Raw juices, smoothies, and plant-based food Years in Business: 3 Years Facebook: TheJuiceCellar Instagram: @TheJuiceCellar 1. Tell us about a day in the life…
Back-to-School Shopping: Should Your Small Business Get Involved?
The back-to-school season is a big one: according to the National Retail Federation, it will reach around $68 billion this year. Even if you don’t sell pencils, it’s tempting to want to grab a piece of the pie. But is it worth your small business marketing dollars to try to win some of these back-to-school…
Protect Your Business Against Identity Theft
Identity theft is a hot topic and a big concern for many people these days. It seems like we regularly hear about personal data being stolen from one company or another. Have you ever considered the likelihood that your business might be vulnerable to the same type of identity theft? A business’ credit profile is…
Have Negative Yelp Reviews? Here’s How to Deal with Them.
Getting great online reviews can boost your business-owner confidence and, perhaps, bring new customers to your door. But what do you do when a negative Yelp review pops up? Start out by not worrying too much–this is fixable!–and then follow these guidelines to handle the unfavorable review. Don’t Panic One bad review (or even a…
Meet Young Wizards Academy, Our Vancouver $5K Prize Winner
To celebrate our recent Canadian expansion, we held contests in Toronto and Vancouver to give small businesses the opportunity to win $5,000 (CAD) by answering one simple question, Why Do You Love Being a Small Business Owner? We received hundreds of submissions from very worthy small businesses of all kinds, and it was hard to…
6 Outstanding Online Invoicing Tools for Your Business
Invoicing is an essential part of business operations. Whether you run a one-person shop, a brick-and-mortar operation, or a growing business with multiple locations, you need to be able to quickly and easily create, send, and track invoices. A good online invoicing tool can provide both accessibility and security, and make it easier to keep…
PayPal Is Free: How the Split from eBay Affects You
Did you know that digital payments company PayPal recently split from e-commerce giant eBay? The separation was announced last September, and this July, PayPal officially became an independent, publicly-traded company once again. Since more than 169 million users have active accounts on PayPal, according to the company, all small business owners should be aware of the…
The Business Books That Small Bookstore Owners Want You To Read This Summer
If you’re looking for some good business-building books to read this summer, who better to ask than bookstore owners? Successful independent bookstore owners are simultaneously devoted readers and the proprietors of small businesses. Here, they share the titles that helped propel their stores to the top of the heap. So put down the murder mystery…
Boost Your Personal Credit Score: Take These Four Steps
For most small business owners, a personal credit score is still an important metric lenders may consider to measure your creditworthiness when evaluating your application for a small business loan. While different lenders weight the score differently, the benefits of building and maintaining a good personal credit score will likely never go away. With that…
4 Things You Can Learn from Online Lenders… Even if You Don’t Need a Loan
Online lenders are expanding access to capital for small business owners across the country. In fact, in a world dominated by traditional lenders, these new players are changing the way small business owners look for a business loan. How they’re doing it might even help your business. Here are four things you can learn from…
What Do Business Owners Think About OnDeck?
We love hearing from our customers. Here are just a few of the comments we’ve received over the last 30 days: “OnDeck proved to be an excellent source for short-term financing that enabled us to manage cash flow. The process was straightforward and remarkably fast. I would not hesitate to recommend OnDeck to other companies.”…
Video: Tips for Running Your Small Business Better (Part 2 of 4)
Online lending, and crowdfunding, and invoice financing, oh my! The new world of business financing may seem daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. Find out more about the options available to small businesses like yours in this 2nd video from our “Tips for Running Your Small Business Better” video series. In this video, we’re…
Meet Our Toronto $5K Prize Winner, Underdog’s Brewhouse
To celebrate our recent Canadian expansion, we held contests in Toronto and Vancouver to give small businesses the opportunity to win $5,000 (CAD) by answering one simple question, Why Do You Love Being a Small Business Owner? We received hundreds of submissions from very worthy small businesses of all kinds, and it was hard to…