Blogs

As any small business owner knows, the holiday season is the perfect time to boost your bottom line. But figuring out the best way to market your business or product and how to stand out from the crowd can feel overwhelming. But, there's no need to get your stockings in a twist. Whether you’re an online vendor, a restauranteur or even an accounting firm, there are some easy ways that you can connect with your community and your clients during this busy time of the year.

Open enrollment to purchase health insurance plans for 2020 through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) individual marketplaces is in full swing. This open enrollment season, we’re excited to partner with Airbnb to get the word out about open enrollment and share important resources to help entrepreneurs, small businesses and Airbnb hosts get covered. As part of this effort, we’re hosting two webinars to help you navigate enrollment and share important deadlines and resources so you can find the best healthcare option for you. 

Fran Bonner is not your average small business owner: She has been a caregiver for more than 67 years. When she was just 11 years old, her grandmother and great aunt both suffered from strokes, and Fran would spend her days going back and forth from school to home in order to make sure her loved ones were fed and taken care of.

Since opening his market 10 years ago, Alap Vora is proud to say 80% of his employees from his opening day are still working for him, and his business boasts an overall employee retention rate of more than 70%. These numbers are virtually unheard of for hourly-wage jobs in Brooklyn, N.Y., but Alap’s personal approach to business may have something to do with it.

In celebration of National Women’s Small Business Month, we co-hosted a Twitter chat with Women's Business Development Center (WBDC), Community Reinvestment Fund, USA (CRF) and CDC Small Business Finance to share resources and advice with women small business owners. 

When you think of a harpy, you may picture a mythological half-bird, half-human creature. However, Harpy Information Technology Solutions in St. Louis is named for a very real bird—an eagle—found in South and Central America. Co-owner Laurie Calkins describes the harpy eagle as an incredibly majestic bird and says she was drawn to it because of its unapologetic hunting techniques. 

“They go for what they want and they get what they need, no questions asked,” she says. 

While many 13-year-olds dream of becoming firefighters or football players, 13-year-old Johnathon Bush not only dreamed of being an entrepreneur but was already becoming one. While growing up in Toledo, Ohio, he realized the only way he could make money at a young age was through entrepreneurship, so he started baking cookies and selling them to friends and family. But, his bake sales evolved into something bigger than his middle school self could have expected. 

In October we celebrate National Women’s Small Business Month by sharing resources for small business owners and women’s stories of entrepreneurship. This year, we asked a panel of experts about their personal and professional experiences with women’s entrepreneurship. 

While many of us are heading to pumpkin patches and apple orchards this month, Deb Ramirez Rock, owner of Sonoma Hot Sauce in Sonoma County, Calif., is encouraging her community to go pepper picking instead at her fourth annual harvest party.

“I’m an advocate for peppers over pumpkins,” Deb proclaims.

Harvest parties are a popular tradition in Sonoma County at this time of year and are one of the many reasons why Deb decided to base her business in Sonoma five years ago. 

When her brother was first deployed to Iraq, Candy Alford embroidered every piece of clothing he owned, from his socks to his washcloths, with his name so his things wouldn’t get misplaced in the group laundry. Not only were the name tags practical, but they garnered quite a few compliments from her brother’s fellow pilots, and he suggested she turn her hobby into a business.