Posted by Chad Gardner

It is difficult to turn on the television or browse through most publications without finding analysts and professionals of all types declaring a gloomy outlook for the economy.  When coming across an article or post that may be negative, it’s important to remember that this is an opportunity to find solutions for the problems at hand.

For instance, there was a recent post on Small Business Trends discussing industries feeling the crunch the most that starts off:

“The year 2008 is turning out to be a tough one for small florist businesses. Sales are down nearly 15%.”

True, there are less consumers going out and purchasing flowers. But are these small businesses giving consumers more reasons to buy from them? According to research, online sales could increase up to 12% from last year — which is a market that needs to be tapped into if in-store sales are lagging.

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Popularity: 64% [?]

Posted by Lisa Hephner

Sale season has arrived and bargain hunters abound. It seems everywhere you look prices are slashed 70%, yellow clearance signs scream out deal, and consumers are carefully considering every penny spent.

On top of the holiday spending, this is the time of year when many gift subscriptions, club memberships, and service contracts come up for renewal, and consumers are thinking about the value of each one and whether they plan to continue it, or whether they can get a better deal elsewhere.

The result is price wars that can bring an increase in sales, in conjunction with a decrease in profits because of the deep discounts. In the case of rates for year-long service contracts, the profits lost from holiday price cutting reverberate throughout the entire next year. While large businesses can absorb the declining profits, small business often cannot.

The key to winning the holiday discount game is to develop offers that provide real savings as well as real value to both your customers and to your business. The following three discount offers do just that.

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Popularity: 55% [?]

Posted by Chad Gardner

A big PaySimple Thank You to Allison, Elissa, Sherri, Mark, Lonnie, and Matt!

With Thanksgiving just a day away, many of us are surrounded by friends or family (or hopefully have plans to be around loved ones). This is one of my favorite times of year because I am struck by a greater sense of awareness and a sense of gratitude.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, this is the perfect opportunity to recognize and show our appreciation to a group of co-workers for their altruism over the past month. Since I have been here, PaySimple has always enabled its employees to empower others, focusing on helping those associated with small businesses. Two weeks ago, a group of PaySimplers gathered outside of work on Sunday to cook a meal for families at the Ronald McDonald House for a chance to help empower our community.

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Popularity: 48% [?]

Posted by Evan Berlin

As Elissa reminded us a couple weeks back, humor is a huge part of success in startups, small businesses, or any business for that matter. Recently, I locked myself in a room for a few minutes with a few co-workers to come up with a funny-because-it’s-true list for small business owners and their employees.  Enjoy!

You know you work for a small business if:

1. Your company has grown so rapidly, the CEO decided to share his/her office to make room for new employees.
2. Your company screen prints its own softball jerseys–and you are not a screen printing company.
3. It’s announced that your company is moving to a new office, and after pricing several moving companies, it’s decided that the Sales Team is the most cost-efficient option.
4. You spend so much time at the office, half your wardrobe is stuffed under your desk.
5. Your IT department is in charge of fixing the coffee machine…and the toaster…and assembling chairs.
6. Inter-office romances would just be…awkward.
7. When free Friday lunch is ordered from a local pizza bistro, and not Papa John’s, the office goes wild.
8. Your company is referred to as “hippy-ish” in the Wall Street Journal.
9. Every employee in the company qualified for the economic stimulus check.
10. Someone in your office inevitably blasts Michael McDonald’s “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” at 8:30 in the morning.
11. The electrical room has morphed into a supply closet, a kitchen, and then the IT guy’s office.

Have any of your own office quirks? Feel free to share!

Popularity: 32% [?]

Posted by Chad Gardner

With new social platforms popping up seemingly every day, small businesses have the opportunity to inexpensively connect with like-minded people in their industry’s niche. These social platforms can them help discover valuable resources and give them the ability to learn from seasoned professionals. However, the limited amount of time available for small business owners makes it difficult to weed out the tools that are most valuable to them.

Fortunately, there are plenty of reputable blogs that provide an aggregation of useful small business resources. Now, I realize there are hundreds (if not more) “Top Blog” lists out there, but these are my absolute favorite resources. What makes them my favorites?

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Popularity: 28% [?]

Posted by Lisa Hephner

We’re all facing difficult economic times right now from big businesses to small businesses, to all of our customers.

The following 5 tips can not only help make an economic downturn work for your small business, but can also position you well against your competition–large and small–so you can best reap the benefits when the economy rebounds. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 14% [?]