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America’s SBDC Blog

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How to Write and Follow a Business Plan: Tips for the First 365 Days

November 17, 2022

By Dustin Ray

Starting up a successful business is no small feat. Many prospective entrepreneurs are daunted by the statistics and the harsh reality that 18.4% of businesses fail within their first 365 days, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It’s bound to be a competitive landscape, no matter what industry you’re in.

Luckily, your first year doesn’t have to be a flop with some careful planning and preparation. Creating and following a business plan, avoiding common pitfalls, taking advantage of resources, and learning from others are all important steps in getting your new business off the ground. This guide is designed to help get you off to a good start.

Digital marketing for the holidays: It’s not too late to get your business up to speed

November 15, 2022

By Alysha Love

You’ve already figured out that you were supposed to start planning your holiday marketing in the summer… whoops.

Even if you’re among the 1 in 4 small business owners who told QuickBooks they don’t have marketing expertise, there’s no need to panic. You can still get up to speed with a digital marketing campaign for the holidays. If July was the best time to start, the second-best time to make a plan is now.

Digital marketing for the holidays: It’s not too late to get your business up to speed Share on X

6 Strategies to Prevent Quiet Quitting from Your Team

October 20, 2022

“Quiet quitting” is the newest buzzword in the business world. While this term evokes mental images of employees leaving their job without saying a word, the reality is much less terrifying. Quiet quitting is when employees stop going above and beyond at their workplace. Quiet quitting is a response to the idea of hustle culture, a form of workplace culture that can lead to severe burnout.

Unfortunately, for many small businesses, the idea of employees doing the bare minimum for their job is unsustainable and can cause stagnant business growth. However, there are plenty of things that you can do to prevent quiet quitting. Things like valuing your employees, clearly communicating work expectations, and offering advancement opportunities can all go a long way toward preventing the “quiet quitting” phenomenon.

Here are 6 Strategies to Prevent Quiet Quitting from Your Team Share on X

October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month and We’re Taking the Cyber out of Cyber Security

October 18, 2022

By Earl Gregorich, Co-Chair America’s SBDC Cybersecurity Task Force

Cybersecurity is a term we hear a lot these days. It brings a wide range of reactions, from fear to eye-rolls to curiosity. For small business owners and those who work in entrepreneurial circles, cybersecurity just seems expensive and too complex to tackle. But what if we removed “cyber” from the word for a moment and just thought of it as security? Security is a lot more approachable and while it still has a cost associated with it, there is a better understanding of why “security” costs are justified. So, let’s take a walk through a small business and consider how we might see a few things differently if we focused more on security and less on cyber when protecting the digital assets within the company.

5 ways to get funding for your new business

September 20, 2022

By Myranda Mondry

You’ve got it: Your million-dollar business idea. The only problem? You don’t have a million dollars (yet—fingers crossed!). Launching a new business takes passion, courage, and, yeah, capital. If you don’t have at least a small bank of startup money lying around—few of us do—it can be the roadblock that prevents your million-dollar idea from taking off.

Fortunately, new businesses like yours have a few options when it comes to funding and capital. And you don’t have to be well versed in finance to take advantage of them. The following are a few common ways entrepreneurs can fund their big ideas—transforming them into small businesses.

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