Articles
The 8 Worst Customers in Movie and TV History
Difficult customers can make for brutal experiences in real life. But on the big (or small) screen, few narrative devices are as entertaining as someone losing it in a retail establishment. All of the factors for hilarity and/or drama are already in place—a public setting, a loud conflict, a person taking out his or her…
Small Business Marketing: What Could You Do With $4 Million?
What is a Hackathon and Why is OnDeck Doing One?
A blending of the words “hack” and “marathon,” a hackathon is a creative approach many tech companies use to empower their development and product teams to innovate. A hackathon gives teams a chance to step away from their day-to-day projects and dedicate time to solving problems they really feel passionate about with others motivated to…
5 Ways Social Media Can Get Diners Into Your Restaurant
The days of relying on street fliers and window signs for restaurant promotion are over. The ease and reach of social media now makes it easy to entice diners, provided you ‘know’ how to navigate your online options. Here are a few tips on how to increase your customer base and incentivize past customers to…
4 Things You Didn’t Know Marketing Could Do For You
OnDeck Success Story: Axis Pack N Ship
About Axis Pack N Ship Like most entrepreneurs, Raj Gauri always knew he wanted to be his own boss and run his own business. As a result, he’s been serving his customers for 16 years out of his Norwalk, CT Axis Pack N Ship. In addition to shipping all over the world, he and his…
Do I Really Need to Meet With My Accountant Every Quarter?
Your accountant is there to help you file your tax return, but also to avoid financial missteps, including unwise tax decisions, costly disorganization, and poor budgeting. And while the tax time meeting is mandatory, it’s also important to meet with your accountant throughout the year. Here are six ways that quarterly meetings with your accountant…
Rebuild Your Credit With a Secured Credit Card
Running a small business is not for the faint-hearted. In fact, meeting small business financial obligations can sometimes be very stressful and feel like robbing Peter to pay Paul. In other words, making decisions about which invoices get paid and which ones don’t isn’t easy. And, although this may have been a fact of life…
How ‘Binge Watching’ Has Changed the Way Your Customers Act – And What You Can Do About It
You may have heard of “binge-watching,” the phenomenon popularized by Netflix, in which people watch entire seasons of a TV show all in one sitting. The phrase describes a new trend that is changing the way we consume entertainment. But the “binge” phenomenon also spreads to other types of consumption, including shopping. As Wharton School…
Do I Need to Hire a Bookkeeper?
Chances are, you didn’t start your own small business because you wanted to spend your time on bookkeeping. Handling expense receipts and invoices, along with all the other tasks that come with careful and meticulous bookkeeping, are a crucial part of running a business. But we can all agree these tasks easily suck up a…
Ask These 4 Questions to Find the Right Loan for Your Small Business
When most people think of a small business loan, they think of a term loan at the bank—but there are dozens of other options available to small business owners today. Finding the right loan isn’t as simple as going into the bank anymore. Asking yourself the following four questions will help you find the right…
Read This Before You Hire Your Next Sales Person
Recruiting the right sales person can be one of the most critical aspects of growing your business. That perfect mix of energy, motivation, enthusiasm, and skill is notoriously tough to find, and even tougher to recruit. Here are 4 steps to ensuring your search and recruiting process for sales team members yields the best possible…
Customer Success Story: McClary Brothers
Named for her two sons Jack and Ben, McClary Brothers is where Jess McClary shares her love for local produce and satisfies her entrepreneurial itch. She started the company while in culinary school and since then the company has just taken off. As she realized they would need more inventory to be prepared for the…
These 6 Apps Will Improve Your Business (And Your Life) in 2015
Running a small business is a constant logistical juggle. From making sure your employees get paid to shipping deliveries out on time, there’s never a shortage of details to manage. These apps are designed to simplify your responsibilities, keep all the moving parts on track, and make your to-do list less of a monster. Shyp…
Enter the Loan Process Educated About Small Business Financing
The time to investigate small business financing is before you need it. The last few years have seen big changes in the world of small business financing. Because of those changes, most small business owners don’t know what they don’t know—it’s changed that fast. Although I believe anything that gives greater access to capital has…