Receive Startup Loans In A Snap With Biz2Credit iPad App

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• Receive Startup Loans In A Snap With Biz2Credit iPad App
• Getting Ready For Small Business Saturday
• Keeping Company Culture Intact After a Move
• 4 Quick Usability Wins For Your Website

Receive Startup Loans In A Snap With Biz2Credit iPad App Posted: 14 Nov 2012 01:00 PM PST It's a simple concept – businesses need capital in order to grow. But actually finding these funding sources can prove to be tricky. And many options available to brand new businesses come with high interest rates or other strings attached, making it difficult for these startups to actually grow and succeed. Online financing platform Biz2Credit, owned and operated by Rohit Arora, CEO and co-founder, and a contributor here at Small Business Trends, has been helping these small companies search for and secure the right financing options since 2007, and now the platform has just released an updated iPad app that can pull financial data from even more sources, including the IRS. The platform matches entrepreneurs and startups with funders based on preferences selected by the business. Over 100 major banks in the U.S., as well as credit rating agencies and other related service providers use Biz2Credit's technology. The site offers access to a wide array of loan and funding types, such as business startup loans, SBA loans, equipment financing, franchise loans, business credit cards, business acquisition loans and more. The process, illustrated in the photos above, requires users to fill out a quick loan application outlining their company's information and financial needs. Then Biz2Credit searches through its database of different types of lenders to find those that are most relevant. So for independent startups that want to avoid dipping into their own savings or taking out expensive lines of credit, Biz2Credit offers access to many different options that probably wouldn't be feasible for a small company to track down on its own. The release of the company's iPad app simply makes this tool even more accessible for businesses and entrepreneurs. Small businesses can even use the app to get a near-immediate credit score from credit rating agency Dun and Bradstreet. The platform currently has BizAnalyzer apps for both iOS and Android devices that allow entrepreneurs to see a roundup of their financial data and gives them an idea about their chances of receiving funding, as seen in the sample screenshot above.  You can also view a sample report (PDF) Biz2Credit works with more than 1,100 banks and financial institutions and more than 150,000 small businesses. The company boasts a 74% loan approval rate for small businesses, as well as a 95% rate of returning customers. The post Receive Startup Loans In A Snap With Biz2Credit iPad App appeared first on Small Business Trends.

Getting Ready For Small Business Saturday Posted: 14 Nov 2012 11:00 AM PST Small Business Saturday is almost here—is your business ready? Held on November 24, 2012, Small Business Saturday is now in its third year. The annual event, founded by American Express, encourages shopping at local, independent small businesses on the day after Black Friday. This year, almost half (47 percent) of small business owners nationwide plan to integrate Small Business Saturday into their holiday marketing strategy, reports the first Small Business Saturday Insights Survey by the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) and American Express. In order to get customers to "shop small," the majority (67 percent) plan to offer discounts on Small Business Saturday. In addition, 46 percent will create coupons for future offers or discounts; 25 percent will offer free gift wrapping; 23 percent will give away prizes or host contests; and 20 percent will give away free gifts with a purchase. Small business owners are excited about Small Business Saturday—some 34 percent say it's the most important shopping day of the holiday season, compared to 24 percent who cited Black Friday and 14 percent who cited Cyber Monday. (Thirty-seven percent said all the days were equally important.) Eight out of 10 expect their sales to increase compared to Small Business Saturday last year. To further take advantage of Small Business Saturday, 28 percent plan to have more employees than normal working that day, and 87 percent will promote Small Business Saturday through social media. Of those, 96 percent say they will use Facebook, 33 percent will use Twitter, 15 percent will use Google+ and 15 percent will use Pinterest.  You can follow the Small Business Saturday Facebook page and Shop Small on Twitter (hashtag #SMALLBIZSAT). There's still one area with room for improvement, apparently: Some 81 percent of entrepreneurs surveyed say Small Business Saturday would be more effective if their communities came together and hosted events. Is there still time to pull together an event with your fellow small business owners? American Express is making it easy to promote your involvement in Small Business Saturday. At ShopSmall.com, you can get free tools including customizable marketing materials, geo-targeted online advertising opportunities, and tips from small business owners who participated last year. One reason Small Business Saturday has been so successful is that it capitalizes on desires that consumers already have to help their communities. Data from American Express show that 89 percent of consumers believe small business owners contribute positively to their communities, and 93 percent believe it's important to support local small businesses. Why not make the most of those attitudes? In fact, I'd encourage you to keep the Small Business Saturday spirit going all year long. American Express cites data that small businesses in communities with "buy local" initiatives grew an average of 5.6 percent annually in 2010, compared to just 2.1 percent for companies in communities with no such initiatives. Before the buzz of Small Business Saturday wears off, talk to your fellow business owners, your chamber of commerce or other business organizations, and your local government officials about ways your community can encourage customers to shop local and keep dollars, jobs and tax revenues in the community. The post Getting Ready For Small Business Saturday appeared first on Small Business Trends.

Keeping Company Culture Intact After a Move Posted: 14 Nov 2012 08:00 AM PST Many companies will eventually outgrow their current location. Maybe your startup team is doubling in size and you need a bigger office; maybe there’s a new market that you want to explore, so you’re simply opening up a second branch. Perhaps you’ve set your sights abroad. But it’s easy for team members (current and future) to feel dislocated and disengaged. Whether they’re moving themselves, or just having to liaise with a brand-new department head in another city, a move can tax the very things that drove your growth in the first place — especially company culture and morale. We asked members of the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invitation-only nonprofit organization comprised of the country's most promising young entrepreneurs, the following question to find out their advice for navigating a company move or expansion: “If you plan to expand your business to a new location (one you bought or a new office entirely), what’s your best tip for making sure cultural issues don’t get the best of you — or your relocated team members?” Here's what YEC community members had to say: 1. Locate Smart “Location plays a key role in business. It can determine who your customers will be, what your network is, and the talent you’ll be able to hire. So pick a location that you like. Pick a location that you can culturally identify with and enjoy going to. Unless you are doing a huge international expansion you should choose your location based on your brand DNA. Don’t get caught up in just cost.” ~ Raoul Davis, Ascendant Group 2. Share Experiences on Social Media “Constant communication between teams helps ensure the culture is not lost. One thing that we do is have simultaneous, similar events. Last month we had a surprise event where the NY team stopped working and went to a Yankees game while our San Francisco team went to a Giants game. We were on opposite sides of the country, but got to have a similar experience shared through Twitter and Instagram.” ~ Bobby Emamian, Prolific Interactive 3. Find a Common Ground “Regardless of where a business is located, the mission and values of the company’s work should serve as the common ground on which all team members can bond. Thinking Caps has offices in diverse cities, but all of our employees are focused on our common mission to help students be successful and Independence learners. The whole team is behind one common value.” ~ Alexandra Mayzler, Thinking Caps Tutoring 4. Study the Market “In the spirits business, every state is like entering a new country. Before making a move or an expansion, it is crucial for business owners to understand the market dynamics. Hit the pavement and meet with key partners, visit customers and listen. These insights will help shape your business’s expansion or move.” ~ Nikhil Bahadur, Blue Nectar Spirits Company 5. Hire for a Common Vision “Wherever you are creating offices and hiring employees, you should be hiring people who are agree with your vision for the company. Whether you're looking to expand to the East Coast, the West Coast, Middle America or internationally, there are people who will fit your company culture and you should seek them out. “ ~ Zach Cutler, Cutler Group 6. Communicate Often and Offer Support “We are, in fact, consolidating a number of offices and moving our headquarters to a newly built out space in New York City. We've been keeping employees posted on this move for weeks, and we've implemented ways to support people during the transition by giving our new VP of Internal Operations the authority to handle all concerns, questions, and complaints—as well as to receive creative input.” ~ Michael Seiman, CPX Interactive 7. Yammer “Our headquarters is currently in SF but we have offices in New York City and San Diego. Our employees love Yammer it and stay better connected to each other even across office locations. We share jokes, photos, YouTube videos, and more across offices to maintain our fun company culture.” ~ Jesse Pujji, Ampush 8. Mitigate Risk With Convenience “There are a lot of risks with any move, whether down-the-block or across a continent, as “business as usual” will change. Work with your team to understand what about your current location is critical to their work product; try to build those features into the new spot. Maybe it’s locating near a highway for convenience, having a lot of windows for sunshine, or a fast printer!” ~ Aaron Schwartz, Modify Watches 9. No Suprises — Involve Employees Now “Give your team the information way ahead of time. Whether it is when you consider it or when you start looking for space, by sharing with your team, you may find that someone can help you or has been through it before. Talk to your employees and see if they would go with you or if you can work something out with them. So while it’s an executive decision, don’t spring it on your team last minute.” ~ Aron Schoenfeld, Do It In Person LLC Business Move Photo via Shutterstock The post Keeping Company Culture Intact After a Move appeared first on Small Business Trends.

4 Quick Usability Wins For Your Website Posted: 14 Nov 2012 06:00 AM PST Usability is one of the most overlooked elements of Web design, however, it's also one of the most important. When a user lands on your site, you want them to be engaged in your content and to set down a path that you've laid out for them. But each time a usability roadblock gets in their way you stop them from accomplishing that task and risk sending them to a competitors website. Below are some quick wins for SMBs to follow to make sure you’re following usability  best practices and helping users to navigate your site successfully. Global Navigation Global Navigation is a fancy term which really just means that your navigation is consistent through your website. If on your homepage you're using a top navigation system (for example, like we do at SmallBizTrends) then you don't want to suddenly change on that interior pages and move your navigation to the left- or right-hand side. Similarly, if your navigation bar shows Home, Management, Marketing & Sales and Finance as your tabs (again, like up above), then you don't want to change those elements on other pages of your site. You want everything to be consistent so that its easy and intuitive for users to make their way through your website. Breadcrumbs Breadcrumbs are a navigational element that helps users identify where they are on your website. Breadcrumbs are best used on sites with a clear hierarchal structure. Meaning, take a look at your sitemap. If you're able to draw clear lines showing how users would navigate through your site to find information, then breadcrumbs may be an element worth adding to your website. If your site is relatively flat, then this may not be something that will benefit users all that much. By adding breadcrumbs to your site you're essentially giving users a second navigation structure to help them move around. Readability Your images can be compelling and your articles can be top class, but if your users can't read the text on your website, none of its going to matter. They're going to leave and they'll probably leave angry. Whether you're an eCommerce site with a long list of product descriptions or you're a news-oriented site with pages and pages of text, your key focus should be on making your content as easy to read as possible. This means respecting white space, using formatting like bullets and text emphasis to make your content easy to scan, keeping paragraphs short, using simple backgrounds, and making your font large enough for your reader. These may all sound like common sense things, but readability is often sacrificed for "flashier" sit features. Intuitive Your website should be set up so that it's easy to use. This may include things like allowing users to accomplish their tasks in as few clicks as possible, not asking them to fill out unnecessary forms, avoiding jargon terms in navigation elements, making sure links and call to action items are easy to spot, and other Web best practices. Remember, at the end of the day you are designing your website for users, not for yourself. Above are a few simply usability wins that any small business should be able to incorporate on their website. Focus on usability and you focus on your customers. The post 4 Quick Usability Wins For Your Website appeared first on Small Business Trends.

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