By Nancy Jeng
National Small Business Week is a time when we recognize the enormous contributions of small businesses and celebrate their successes. This year, Google and partnering organizations are taking it one step further and encouraging everyone—citizens, communities and business owners themselves—to come together and give small businesses the help they need to succeed.
Small businesses account for 99.7% of employer firms in the US (SBA 2014), which means when small businesses succeed, everyone benefits. Stronger businesses build stronger communities and we can all help to make sure those businesses are set up for success. But many small businesses are lagging behind when it comes to their online presence. 4 in 5 consumers use search engines to find local information nearby like store address, business hours, product availability and directions (Google/Ipsos 2014), yet only 37% of businesses have claimed a local business listing on a search engine (Marketing Sherpa 2012).
This Small Business Week, let’s make sure all the businesses in our local communities are primed for online success. Here are three ways in which you can help a fellow small business owner: (more…)
You’ve been thinking about building a website, but with all the other responsibilities you carry as a small business owner, the thought of taking on another project might be overwhelming. It doesn’t have to be.
Logging and forestry work is a quintessential Vermont industry, but today’s loggers face challenges that those of yesteryear probably never imagined. The days of low-cost tools like hatchets and hand saws that required manpower instead of costly equipment are largely behind us. Today’s loggers need heavy equipment to be relevant in a highly competitive lumber market.