Small Business United Blog

The Unsinkable GenY Entrepreneur

by Carolyn Ockels

Looking for a bright spot in today’s doom-and-gloom world?  Take note of the GenY entrepreneurs around you.  They’re building a future unlike those of generations past.  GenYers, according to Jeff Cornwall, Professor of Management and Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship at Belmont University, make up the most entrepreneurial generation ever.
 
Even in a ...

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Lessons for the Working Woman

by Holly Perez

Intuit and the Intuit Financial Freedom Foundation sponsored the Women’s Conference in Long Beach, Calif. During the two-day event, we distributed thousands of journals and made personal connections with women…

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Sage Advice for Women from a Secretary of State

by Holly Perez

While speaking to nearly 25,000 women (including myself) at the recent Women’s Conference  in Long Beach, Calif., Madeleine Albright believes there is a special place in hell for women who don’t help each other. Now, these may seem like harsh words, especially coming from a woman who was named the first female Secretary of State ...

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From Local To Global Small Business: 5 Best Practices That Make It Happen

by Laurel Delaney

Looking ahead ten years, it is easy for me to see that nearly every single person on the planet will have a global small business that hopefully will become BIG someday.  This evolution will be similar to the shift from black and white television to color.  If you had tried to watch black and white ...

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Reverse Innovation - Lessons From Emerging Markets

by Steve King

One Laptop Per Child’s (OLPC) mission is to produce low cost laptops designed for children to use for educational purposes in the developing world.  Their first product, the XO, was released in 2007.
Because the XO was designed for the developing world, the price had to be very low.  To keep costs down, OLPC built a ...

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Riding the Economic Waves

by Troy Marcyes

How many times have you heard the saying, “treat others the same way you wish to be treated?” This saying is now being implemented by numerous small businesses as they work to grow their business.
In the eyes of the customer, that is a huge deal. It has been a reason why small businesses remain ...

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40 Companies Join Intuit for Entrepreneur Day

by Jan Bosch

This afternoon Intuit will host 40 start-up companies selected for Intuit’s first Entrepreneur Day. Our objective is to find ways to grow together through open innovation and partnerships.
 
Thank you to everyone who submitted. It was great to see the enthusiasm, interest and applications from many small and startup companies and we wish ...

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Fighting Greenwashing

by Anne Field

Seems every time you turn around, another company is trying to increase sales by pretending to sell an environmentally responsible product. Trouble is, consumers are so sick of this greenwashing. They often regard all claims skeptically, even those made by legit businesses.

That means even the greenest companies can’t rest on their laurels, assuming consumers will believe their marketing message. Sure, it’s unfair and highly inconvenient, but they have to bend over backwards to prove their bona fides…

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Are Worms a Girl’s Best Friend?

by Carolyn Ockels

The answer is yes, for Maria Rodriguez, who is creating social change through her new business start-up, Byoearth.  Rodriguez sees worms as an answer to self-help in the urban slums and better farming practices throughout her native Guatemala. 
 
Worms, according to this Gen Y social entrepreneur, are at the core of a growing ...

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Going Nuts with SEO

by Troy Marcyes

Imagine walking into a gift store and smelling the aroma of freshly roasted hazelnuts and vanilla being added to toffee. That is the exact experience for customers who visit Hazelnut Hill’s gift shop. Customers can stop by the small business and view the roasting and packaging process before they make a purchase. Quite a unique ...

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