small-business

Before You Start A Food Truck, Slow Your Roll
Food trucks offering everything from cupcakes to waffles have sprouted in cities all over, and it sure sounds fun. Driving around, selling unique food, tweeting about it, who wouldn't want that? But before you jump in, you should know it's a darn hard grind. $100,000 in startup costs is not unheard of, and you better make sure you know the regulations. For instance, how are you going to sell food from your truck if you're not allowed to park it anywhere? More »

South Dakota Is Best State For Small Business
According to the Small Business & Entrepreneur Council, if you want to start a small business, you should head for the hills of South Dakota. The state has a low crime rate and, according to the SBEC, also has a limited number of bothersome health insurance mandates. Hey, it worked for Phillip Vandamm. More »

Study Says Small Businesses Hurt Economy
Conventional wisdom says small businesses are the backbone of the economy, but a new study counters that mom-and-pop businesses are an economic cancer instead. More »

Mafia Money Laundering Filling In For Banks That Aren't Lending
Where do you go when you have a legitimate business that can't get credit from a bank? The mafia, says the Bank of Italy. More »

Give Us Your Questions For The White House: Small Business Edition
Yesterday, President Obama spoke at the Brookings Institute about his administration's plan for spurring job growth in our not-quite-a-recession-anymore-but-still-pretty-much-a-recession. Now they've invited Consumerist to bring our readers' questions about the program to Austan Goolsbee, the staff director and chief economist on the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board. More »

Ways To Raise Funds For a Small Business

—>Forgive potential investors for being skeptical of tossing you their spare change for your business proposition in this post-Madoff world. Banks aren't exactly waving small-business loans in your face these days either, so what's someone with a great new business idea to do?   More »

Crisis At The Florist: When Cooler Heads Prevail

After weeks of trying to get our floral cooler fixed, it has been fixed as of 2:00pm today! The issue was with the dryer valve and not the compressor. The valve was completely clogged and we had a new one soldiered on. It went from 85 degrees to 44 degrees in 15 minutes. It is the best $324.45 I have ever spent!  More »

Entrepreneurs: Sweeten The Deal To Keep, Get, Customers

Add some additional benefits to your standard offer. Offer free shipment, extend your guarantee, or create a more generous return policy.  More »

Advanta Notifies Customers About Impending Credit Shutdown

—>T-Minus four days to the closing of Advanta accounts to new charges this Saturday, the small business credit card issuer sent an e-mail out to customers explaining the situation and how it will affect them.  More »

Advanta Moves Up Credit Freeze Deadline, Still Doesn't Notify Customers

—>UPDATE: Advanta Notifies Customers About Impending Credit Shutdown  More »

Advanta Shuts Down Small Business Credit Card Accounts

—>UPDATE: Advanta Moves Up Credit Freeze Deadline, Still Doesn't Notify Customers  More »

Yelp Will Allow Business Owners To Respond To Negative Comments

—>Angry small business owners get your keyboards ready — Yelp is going to let you respond to negative comments! This is going to be .... awkward! Oh well, we love a good fight.  More »

American Express Judges You Based On Who Holds Your Mortgage, Where You Shop

—>Has your credit limit been inexplicably lowered lately? Well, it might not be anything personal. The problem might be with your mortgage lender. Or where you've been shopping. Or where you live. American Express, long rumored to judge customers based on this criteria, has admitted that it evaluates who you do business with and where you live when determining how much credit to give you, says MSNBC.  More »

WaMu Backs Down, Returns The $1500 To Bill's Bank Account

—>Bill, whose small business checking account had been inappropriately drafted $1500, sent us the following email late last night:  More »

WaMu Presents Random $1500 Check On Someone Else's Account, Then Calls It Fraud

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Sellers Growing Increasingly Unhappy With Lack Of Professionalism At Etsy

—>Etsy.com calls itself "your place to buy and sell things handmade" and is a pretty cool website that we personally enjoy. The sellers who use the site, however, are getting all riled up after several stores were shut down without notice due to simple, easily-resolved complaints from buyers.  More »