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The smallest businesses that have had the most trouble accessing forgivable loans from the Paycheck Protection Program will soon get extra help. The Biden administration on Monday announced changes for the pandemic aid program focused on helping small and minority owned firms as well as sole proprietors. For two weeks, starting Wednesday, the Small Business

UKRAINE – 2021/02/19: In this photo illustration an IBM logo is seen on a smartphone screen. (Photo … [+] Illustration by Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images A pivotal event for AI happened when IBM’s Watson beat two all-time champions of Jeopardy! in 2011. This showed that the technology was far

The Hemphill Brothers Coach Company knows a thing or two about how celebrities live on the road. The Nashville-based RV company, run by brothers Joey and Trent Hemphill, has been building and outfitting luxury tour buses for 40 years, touting an A-list client roster ranging from mega stars like Taylor Swift, Oprah, Dolly Parton and Beyonce

Trying to market a business without a proven solution is like trying to build a house without a … [+] foundation. Early stage startups must first focus on developing a product customers need. getty Every business needs a way to tell its customers about its products and services. Those marketing channels differ from one business

Most of the things you buy these days were transported on a truck at some point. There are around 3.5 million truck drivers in the United States. Their average salary is close to $60,000 per year. In 2021, however, there may actually be a shortage of drivers willing to move your purchases. If you are

Zoom? STEVE WASTERVAL Among the many changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, the transition to remote work introduced a variety of challenges to businesses big and small. Love it or hate it, remote work is here to stay for the foreseeable future — and permanently, for a lot of us. That means that if

Sinelia Louis will finally be eligible to apply for a PPP loan due to changes by the Biden administration that allow access for non-citizen small business owners. Sinelia Louis When Sinelia Louis, 50, heard about the recent changes to the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program, she felt like her prayers had been answered. “I

Data released by the SBA as of Feb. 21, 2021, show that the top PPP lender has now processed 139,559 SBA-approved PPP loans by serving the smallest businesses, especially self-employed individuals and minority and women-owned businesses. Over 98% of its approved loan applications come from businesses with fewer than 20 employees. The reforms to the

MoMo Productions | Getty Images Millions of self-employed and gig workers got good news this week. The Biden administration on Monday changed how the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program calculates forgivable loans for the smallest firms and sole proprietors. But there’s a catch. The updated formula — which will likely lead to larger loan

By Neil Hare President Biden announced changes that make it easier for businesses with fewer than 20 employees to … [+] get loans. getty In an early move to put his stamp on the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), on February 22, 2021, President Biden announced some new changes that make it easier for businesses with fewer than

People gather together to ask the McDonald’s corporation to raise workers wages to a $15 minimum wage as well as demanding the right to a union on May 23, 2019 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Joe Raedle | Getty Images President Joe Biden announced the “American Rescue Plan” in January, which includes raising the minimum wage

Manufacturing is undergoing huge changes, and not just because of the coronavirus pandemic. getty Lean manufacturing is built on the premise that reducing waste, eliminating redundancies, and operating with precision are key to succeeding in the marketplace.  In this model, extra inventory equals wasted resources. It assumes a supply chain that is always on, always

Your business name is one of your most powerful branding assets. © Rawpixel.com – Fotolia.com By Nellie Akalp A company’s business name is among one of its most powerful branding assets. And as with other business assets, it’s wise to protect it. If a business owner fails to do so, they run the risk of

Studies show that the more innovative your startup idea, the higher are its chances of failure. If … [+] you’re building an innovative solution, it’s important to make sure you’re investing your resources in the right idea. Here’s how. getty It’s an empirical fact that most startups fail. In fact, the more innovative your startup

Mahisha Dellinger, founder of hair care line Curls, launched her beauty brand in 2002 and at that time, “Despite having great personal credit, I couldn’t get a small business loan to save my life,” she says. Curls Beauty Brands Mahisha Dellinger was feeling disenfranchised about her experience as a marketing manager in corporate America when

Citibank Can’t Get Back $500 Million It Wired by Mistake, Judge Rules After committing one of the “biggest blunders in banking history,” Citibank won’t be allowed to recover the almost half a billion dollars it accidentally wired to Revlon’s REV lenders. Citibank, which was acting as Revlon’s loan agent, meant to send about $8 million

A worker puts pepperoni on a pizza inside a Domino’s Pizza franchise in New York. Daniel Acker | Bloomberg | Getty Images After a year marked by business closures, disruptions and unprecedented challenges, the franchising industry is poised to bounce back to pre-pandemic levels by year’s end if Covid-19 is controlled, according to an upcoming

Focusing your time and efforts on the most essential, value-adding activities is crucial for a … [+] successful startup journey. Here’s how to invest your time wisely in the early startup stages. getty When you are working on a startup, time is the most valuable resource you have. Your human capital is probably the biggest

Coach Iya Karade had to shut her gymnastics studio, Athletic Arts Academy, when the pandemic hit. Now open, she is operating at about 25% capacity. Source: Iya Karade When the pandemic first slammed the country last March, Iya Karade was one of countless small-business owners who had to shut their doors. Her Orange, New Jersey-based

“Are we the problem?” STEVE WASTERVAL Making a living is one thing — making a positive difference in the world is another. Or is it? More and more often, today’s entrepreneurs are finding ways to make a positive impact on society through their business. Sure, they’re still working hard to make sales, but at the

Jeff Bezos, founder and chief executive officer of Amazon.com Inc., speaks at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, Sept. 19, 2019. Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images Amazon has bought Selz, a company that makes tools to help businesses launch their own online stores. Amazon quietly acquired the e-commerce platform on

This Gen Z entrepreneur focuses on giving back in the cannabis industry. Provided Cannabis and community service might not seem like the perfect match at the onset. However, Millennials and Gen-Z make up an overwhelming percentage of legal cannabis users—48% and 17%, respectively. And these demographics want to see the companies they support giving back

Margaux & Max has been able to stay afloat with Dinges’ Facebook livestreams and creative marketing, even while the retail store remains closed for in-person shopping. Photo: Je Donna Dinges Small business owners have faced a bit of whiplash over the last year as Covid-19 swept the nation, with restrictions leading to closings, reopenings and

Knowledge is power, and it’s what makes us business owners better able to compete in a marketplace … [+] that never stands still. © Syda Productions – Adobe Stock By Susan Guillory Knowledge is power, as we all well know. And yet, for many entrepreneurs, once we initially figure out how to run our businesses,

Katz’s Delicatessen in New York City has been around for more than a century, maturing into an iconic institution on the Lower East Side. Owner Jake Dell told CNBC on Friday he feels the weight of family history as he seeks to navigate the uncertainty and disruption wrought by the coronavirus pandemic. “This is our

A failure in transparency: Corporate reports may claim the organization is diverse, but offer a … [+] photo of a woman driving a forklift rather than providing real data, says reporting expert Rob Rebman. Getty Images In 2020 and early 2021, we’ve seen a dramatic increase in business leaders talking about transparency in their communication

Vanessa Bisorca loves her life as a stay-at-home mom to two teenage children. She also loves fashion. In 2015, the lifelong bargain shopper decided to sell some clothes from her closet to pocket extra cash and make room for new items. Bisorca, 38, downloaded the fashion e-commerce app Poshmark and listed a few pieces of

2021 could be a boom year for e-commerce business owners who want to sell. With U.S. e-commerce sales up 40% in 2020, according to Digital Commerce 360, buyers are circling.  Gary Huang, a seasoned e-commerce seller on Amazon and eBay and founder of the 7-Figure Seller Summit, a free community event now underway, says one of the

Tom Cormier, co-founer DropshippingUniversity.com Thomas Cormier Maybe you’ve seen videos circulating online of people who have quit their corporate jobs to pursue a dream of entrepreneurial success. One of the most popular forms nowadays revolves around a concept in e-commerce known as dropshipping.  Dropshipping is a business model that allows entrepreneurs to sell products to their

Building a startup team is something that you need to get right from the start. Here is what you … [+] need to know about startup hiring in the early versus growth stages. getty For most entrepreneurs, the startup journey starts with an idea. You could argue, however, that the first time you involve another