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Tried & True Ways to Increase Your Cashflow in Just One Month

November 27, 2017

CashflowFormer Congressman Chris Chocola once said that one of the earliest lessons he learned in business is that balance sheets and income statements are fiction, and cash flow is the true reality.

Investopedia defines “cash flow” as the net amount of cash that moves in and out of a business. Cash flow is positive when liquid assets are increasing and negative when they are decreasing. There are only two main ways to increase your cash flow, and that is to bring more revenue in (increase sales) and/or to keep less revenue from going out (decrease your expenses). For this article, I will expand upon both concepts further.

Bringing In More Revenue

There are a variety of ways you can increase your revenue, and what makes you a strategic business owner (with a thriving enterprise) is the fact that you’ve developed your own secret sauce (business plan) to do so. Some ideas to bring in more revenue include, but are not limited to, the following:  (more…)

Adult Assisted Living Facility Opens in Lyndonville, Vermont

November 20, 2017
Success Story: Vermont

Welcome Home Assisted Living, VTKaren Thompson loves to help people. That has always been a strength of hers and something she wanted to turn into a life-long venture for some time. She recently accomplished her wish in the spring of 2017, when she opened the doors of Welcome Home Mature Adult Assisted Living in Lyndonville, Vermont.

The 24-hour elder care facility is already proving to be a great place for Thompson and other staff members to do what they love — helping people. But it has also proven a viable new Northeast Kingdom small business.

While Thompson always knew she was passionate about caring for people, she wasn’t sure how that would translate into a viable business. She needed banking advice and other tips on starting a business and quickly enlisted the help of Vermont Small Business Development Center Area Advisor Ross Hart.

The pair quickly went to work on budgeting and projections for the first year of operation, Thompson said. Hart also helped Thompson establish reasonable financial expectations and identified many helpful local business resources, she said. Thompson described working with Hart as an “educational, insightful, perfect” experience.  (more…)

7 Ways to Make a Holiday Sale Actually Work

November 13, 2017
By Eric Rosenberg

Sale signThe holiday shopping season traditionally kicks off with Black Friday, the annual shopping holiday the day after Thanksgiving that brings retailers “into the black” for the year, indicating a profitable period. But Black Friday alone is rarely enough to compete and make a profit in today’s market. Instead, many business owners run holiday sales to boost business during the busiest time of the year.

1. Start With the Math

In business, there is a concept of selling some products at a small loss to boost the sales of high margin products. These “loss leaders” can work well to boost the top line, but you can’t run a business with a focus only on revenue. You have to turn a profit to succeed in business.

Do the math and calculate margins on the products you expect to sell the most, and figure how to turn lower margin customers into higher margin customers. If you can upsell, convert, or at least turn low margin customers into leads for high profit products, you should be in great shape.

2. Improve the Customer Experience

Many shoppers try new stores, both online and offline, during the holidays. In fact, the National Retail Federation shares that 27.4 percent of all retail sales took place during the holidays in 2015 and most business expect about 20 percent of sales to come during the holiday season.  (more…)

Speech Therapist Branches Out To Better Serve Kids

November 6, 2017
Success Story: Idaho

Michelle Lance, Bloom TherapyWhen speech therapist Michelle Lance starting working with the Idaho SBDC in Pocatello, she was working full-time as a speech therapist for a clinic. As she watched management struggle with employee relationships and effective service delivery, she saw ways to better run a clinic.

She had a hunch the market could support a new speech therapy clinic, and her specialties were in demand. Over the next year, Lance worked with the Idaho SBDC to develop a business plan and secure an SBA loan. She also worked with a group of Idaho State University students on market research. (more…)

How to Find VCs and Angel Investors

October 30, 2017

How to Find VCs and Angel Investors

By Lydia Roth

When you’ve mapped out the coming months for your business and expect to need a good amount of capital to grow, you may need to find outside funds. If you have a wealthy family member who believes in your venture, you’re in a good position. Otherwise, you can seek funds in the form of debt or equity financing.

Debt financing is when you take on someone else’s money in exchange for interest paid throughout the duration of the loan. Equity financing is when you take on someone else’s money in exchange for some ownership of your company.

Two popular forms of equity financing are VCs, or venture capitalists, and angel investors. If you’re thinking “I’ve heard of those and want in,” ask yourself these questions first:  (more…)