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25-Year Serviceman Grows Business and Community, While Serving Fellow Veterans

July 27, 2015
Louisiana SBDC Success StorySuccess Story: Louisiana

“If you’re looking for real business growth, I encourage you to attend the LSBDC seminars and bring a pen, paper and an open mind.” – Troy Downs, Owner of Downs Enterprise

Impact of working with the Louisiana SBDC: Downs Enterprise offers consulting, logistics and other business services. It has assisted in starting and managing over 25 successful businesses, created over 50 jobs, and counseled over 100 people through the various products Downs Enterprise has to offer. During the course of all of these achievements, Troy Downs has found a way to extend a helping hand to veterans in the community. And because of his business and community impact and success, the LSBDC nominated Downs Enterprise for the 2015 Veterans Business Outreach Centers Excellence in Service Award, which was presented by the U.S. Small Business Administration at an awards reception held at the Louisiana Governor’s Mansion in May.

Read the whole story, and learn more about Downs Enterprise and the Louisiana SBDC.

FranNet Consultants Offer Guidance On Franchise Ownership Options

July 24, 2015

Franchise-OptionsFor some, the idea of getting off the corporate treadmill and becoming their own boss is the attraction. For others, retirement allows them to fulfill a life’s dream. And recently, unemployment may have brought the alternative of business ownership into sharp focus for many.

FranNet brings together franchisors and individuals who are interested in exploring self-employment as a career option. FranNet consultants provide both information and guidance at no charge to prospective franchise owners to help them assess their aptitude for business ownership and to identify the best franchise options for their background and interests.

To make it easier to connect with a local FranNet consultant, the “Find a Consultant” feature on FranNet’s website prompts users to enter their zip code. The website displays a complete profile of the local FranNet consultant, including contact and background information.  (more…)

Small Business Payments Toolkit – Top 5 Takeaways

July 17, 2015
By Mary Hughes

Small Business Payments ToolkitThe Remittance Coalition has released the first volume of the Small Business Payments Toolkit, which is intended to encourage the adoption of electronic business-to-business payments and remittance information exchanges by small businesses.  Many small businesses continue to over-rely on paper checks, which are labor-intensive, expensive and prone to fraud.  The Remittance Coalition is a group of payments industry stakeholders (including Federal Reserve Banks) that works to increase the efficiency of business-to-business (B2B) payments made and reconciled by US businesses.  The toolkit provides a host of useful information that can be leveraged by small businesses, SBDC consultants and trainers, financial institutions, vendors, and anyone interested in learning more about payments.

Here are the top five takeaways from the Small Business Payments Toolkit:

1. Adopting B2B electronic payments and remittance information exchanges may make life easier for small business owners

Although it may not currently be a top priority, small businesses that choose to enhance the efficiency of their payments processes can yield benefits in a number of ways:  (more…)

Diversify Your Portfolio With A Franchise Business

July 15, 2015

diversity-your-portfolioIn this week’s blog edition, we’re going to tackle the issue of using a franchise or small business to diversify your portfolio of investments. As you’ll see, there are several advantages for doing so, the least of which is the creation of a figurative safety net. This safety net is designed to do two things:

  • To prevent the depletion of wealth in the event of a severe downturn in the economy—something we all became familiar with beginning in 2008.
  • To provide a fall-back source of income should your current job or position be eliminated.

While signs of recovery continue to aggregate, arming yourself with additional information will be a helpful exercise in diversification.

As an investor, if you have a healthy portfolio, you are always looking for ways to diversify your holdings. Owning a small business or franchise opportunity can be a smart addition which gives you the option to stay engaged in the semi-absentee model of operations while keeping your day job, so to speak. As we have covered before, the semi-absentee model allows you to run the business from afar, typically with a smooth “manage the manager” philosophy.  (more…)