Dear Dan: The last time I tried to raise prices it was a disaster. Customers revolted. But I’ve cut costs as far as I can, and profits are too thin. How can I raise prices and not lose business? — Once Burned, Price Shy
Dear Price Shy: Millions of small business owners across America seem convinced that raising prices in a bad economy is financial suicide. Held hostage by industry pricing and recession fears, many business owners believe that working harder and earning less is the only way to survive.
But that’s wrong, says pricing specialist Dale Furtwengler, a CPA and president of Furtwengler & Associates, a pricing consulting firm. Cutting costs is like dieting. It rarely produces lasting results. Furtwengler contends that the economy isn’t the issue. Rather it’s the inability of most small business owners to understand the value in what they sell, to make changes if necessary and communicate that value to customers. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Daniel Kehrer
With millions of small and medium businesses using QuickBooks to manage their financial affairs, the industry for QuickBooks “add-ons” has blossomed. Add-on programs are essential to many small and mid-sized businesses because they are often the only way to get industry-specific or highly specialized functions. They’re great for adding extra capabilities in key areas such as inventory, time and project tracking, invoicing, e-commerce and others.
Want to really target your advertising in a cutting edge medium that could surpass even the Internet in terms of advertising growth in the next few years? Then take a look at the emerging field of digital out-of-home (DOOH) advertising, also called out-of-home video advertising.
When our “new” (well, kind of) corporate parent’s PR department called recently wanting to profile me on the company’s internal “Thought Leaders & Trendsetters” web page, I naturally thought it was either a hoax, or just another corporate whim that would quickly fade. But hey, my photo might (and now does) appear right next to the CEO himself, so why not? And later Tweeting my kids that I’m a trendsetter? Priceless.
By Jean Van Rensselar
Need a small loan to start or expand a business – a so-called “microloan?” If so, there’s good news. Despite what you might have read lately, microloans of $500 to $50,000 are available through a variety of private sources, government programs and even non-profits. Some of them might even surprise you.
Merchant account chargebacks are a dreaded event for any business that accepts credit or debit cards. They are expensive, time consuming, subject to fraud and just downright annoying.
After a year of delays, the Federal Trade Commission’s new FACTA Red Flags rules that have caused great fear and confusion among small and medium businesses, are in effect as of November 1, 2009. The FACTA Red Flags rules will require millions of businesses (large and small) that grant credit to establish and implement identity theft safeguards for customers. This could include auto dealers, jewelers, furniture companies, health care companies, mortgage brokers, doctors, dentists, equipment leasing dealers and suppliers of various types — many of which are still unaware of the looming compliance issues. 
If your business pays wages, you must file quarterly IRS Form 941 reports to process tax payments and reconcile tax withholding. 
The time has finally arrived. After multiple delays stretching a year, the much-feared FACTA Red Flags Rules — new anti-fraud legislation that requires millions of credit-granting businesses (both large and small) to implement identify-theft safeguards — take effect just after midnight on Halloween (technically, on Nov. 1, 2009). The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the rules enforcer, had previously delayed the effective date of FACTA requirements three times.
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