Introduction to Crowdfunding for Entrepreneurs

By Montrie Rucker AdamsJuly 29, 2013 Blog crowdfunding, sba, small business administration

Last week I wrote a blog entitled, “Need Money? Try Crowdfunding“. The Small Business Administration (SBA) offers many free online training courses to help business owners succeed. One of their latest training videos is called, “Introduction to Crowdfunding for Entrepreneurs.”

SBA’s Office of Entrepreneurship Education provides this self-paced training exercise as an overview of crowdfunding (also commonly referred to as ‘crowd financing’ or ‘crowd sourced capital’). The highlighted next steps at the conclusion of the program will help you apply what you have learned and engage you in the process of crowdfunding.

The course is free, online and takes 30 minutes. If you have time, you can click here to participate – http://www.sba.gov/sba-learning-center/training/491091. System Requirements: Acrobat Reader, Adobe Flash Player. Classes will not play in iOS devices due to Flash limitations.

SBA Assistance for Women-Owned Businesses

By Montrie Rucker AdamsApril 19, 2013 Blog sba, small business administration, women owned businesses

The SBA is a useful resource for small businesses. If there is an office in your area, please take advantage of their services. If meeting face-to-face is difficult, peruse the information they have available online.

If your business is woman-owned and you need business, marketing or financial assistance, then you should visit the “Women-Owned Businesses” area of the Small Business Association’s (SBA) website. Useful information includes:

Starting Your Business

Writing a Business Plan
Registering a Business
Licenses & Permits
Laws & Regulations
Preparing Business Taxes

Growing Your Business

Hiring Employees
Employee Benefits
Employee Incentives
Marketing a Business
Exporting

Financing Your Business

Estimating Start-up Costs
Financing Basics

Mentoring & Training

Find a Business Mentor
Online Training
Finding Local Resources
Learning about the WOSB Program

Don’t be afraid to seek help when you need it. Use the SBA and their resources whenever you need them. They can help your business grow.

What is a D-U-N-S Number?

By Montrie Rucker AdamsMarch 22, 2013 Blog dun & bradstreet, duns number, government contracting, sba, small business administration

Before you can bid on government proposals, you need to obtain a Dun & Bradstreet, or D-U-N-S, Number. This is a unique nine-digit identification number for each physical location of your business. D-U-N-S Number assignment is free for all businesses required to register with the federal government for contracts or grants.

What do I need to get my D-U-N-S Number?

When registering for your D-U-N-S Number, you will need the following on hand:

Legal name
Headquarters name and address for your business
Doing Business As (DBA) or other name by which your business is commonly recognized
Physical address, city, state and ZIP Code
Mailing address (if separate from headquarters and/or physical address)
Telephone number
Contact name and title
Number of employees at your physical location
Whether you are a Home-Based Business

How do I get my D-U-N-S Number?

Good news! Getting your D-U-N-S Number is easy. Visit D-U-N-S Request Service to obtain more detailed instructions on applying for your D-U-N-S Number.

Also, see the FAQs for obtaining a D-U-N-S Number and visit Central Contractor Registrations (CCR).

For more information about the D-U-N-S Number, click here for a downloadable document.

Customer Loyalty: Simple Ways to Win Them Over

By Montrie Rucker AdamsMarch 20, 2013 Blog customer loyalty, customers, rieva lesonsky, sba, sba.gov, small business administration

Do you receive the Sunday newspaper? Where I live, the Sunday newspaper is filled with news and feature articles. It also has an abundance of sales advertisements and coupons. Wal-Mart, KMart, Target… they have the same three products on sale. Which store do you choose?

There is a one-dollar coupon for Wal-Mart, which is closer to your home. You have a 99-cent coupon for KMart, but they have double coupon day. Then the kicker is Target – if you buy four of this product – which is on sale cheaper than the other two – you will also receive a five-dollar gift card at the register.

On yesterday’s SBA.gov blog, guest blogger Rieva Lesonsky is CEO and President of GrowBiz Media discussed “Creating Customer Loyalty Programs.” Some of the ways she mentions are:

Distribute rewards cards
Offer discount programs
Give a gift
Create a VIP program
Hold events
Use mobile apps
Get personal

If you are looking for a way to get and keep loyal customers, you must be very creative in the way you market to them. You also must think of ways to reward them for their loyalty. In doing so, they will share their commitment with family and friends, which can create new customers for you.

Click here to see “Creating Customer Loyalty Programs and let me know what you think… – http://www.sba.gov/community/blogs/creating-customer-loyalty-programs.

Build Your Business Plan Online with SBA’s Free Step-by-Step Tool

By Montrie Rucker AdamsFebruary 25, 2013 Blog business plans, Financial assistance, goals, sba, small business administration

Do you have a business plan?

Most business owners are only required to have a business plan if they are seeking financial assistance from banks or other lenders. However, all business should have a business plan.

A business plan is a road map that sets the direction for your business. It outlines how you plan to make sales and grow revenue. It sets your business goals, why you believe they are achievable, and it provides detail on how you plan to reach those goals. Additionally, it provides the background information about your business, the owners, employees and other pertinent information.

Business plans are used as decision-making tools and are dynamic as your business grows and goals are achieved. A well-drafted business plan can help you become business credible. A business plan doesn’t guarantee “success” however, it can reduce the odds of failure.

SBA’s Business Plan Tool provides a step-by-step guide to help you get started. Not only can you save your plan as a PDF file, you can also update it at any time, which makes this a living plan to which you can often refer.

The tool can be found here – http://www.sba.gov/business-plan/1.

Below is just one of the many informative videos provided by the SBA.

So what are you waiting for? Get busy!

SBA Announces Contracting Program for Women-Owned Small Businesses

By Montrie Rucker AdamsFebruary 18, 2013 Blog federal contracts, sba, small business administration, women owned small business, wosb

If you are a woman-owned small business (the standard size is 500 or fewer), the SBA has a contracting program. The new Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) Federal Contract Program was fully implemented in 2011, with the first contracts awarded the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2011. Read the excerpt below from the press release in 2011:

“Implementing the Women-Owned Small Business contracting rule has been a top priority for the Obama Administration and SBA,” said Administrator Karen Mills. “Women-owned businesses are one of the fastest growing sectors of the economy. As we continue to look to small businesses to grow, create jobs and lead America into the future, women-owned businesses will play a key role. That’s why providing them with all the tools necessary to compete for and win federal contracts is so important. Federal contracts can provide women-owned small businesses with the oxygen they need to take their business to the next level.”

The WOSB Federal Contract Program will provide greater access to federal contracting opportunities for WOSBs and economically-disadvantaged women-owned small businesses (EDWOSBs). The Program allows contracting officers, for the first time, to set aside specific contracts for certified WOSBs and EDWOSBs and will help federal agencies achieve the existing statutory goal of five percent of federal contracting dollars being awarded to WOSBs.

Every firm that wishes to participate in the WOSB program must meet the eligibility requirements and either self-certify or obtain third party certification. Regardless of their certification method, WOSBs must also upload required documents proving their eligibility to a secure online data repository developed and maintained by SBA.

To qualify as a WOSB, a firm must be at least fifty-one percent owned and controlled by one or more women, and primarily managed by one or more women. The women must be U.S. citizens and the firm must be considered small according to SBA size standards. To be deemed “economically disadvantaged,” a firm’s owners must meet specific financial requirements set forth in the program regulations.

For more information on the Women-Owned Small Business Program or to access the instructions, applications or database, please visit www.sba.gov/wosb.

October was National Cyber Security Awareness Month

By Montrie Rucker AdamsOctober 31, 2012 Blog cyber security, data, malicious code, october, safety, sba, small biz cyber planner, small business administration, stephen morris, wi-fi

The Department of Homeland Security established October as National Cyber Security Awareness Month to educate the public and businesses about cyber security.

Stephen Morris, Community Moderator for the Small Business Association’s (SBA) blog recently wrote a blog about this initiative. Below are some of the highlights.

Mr. Morris notes nine (9) steps your business can take to improve your cyber security. He provided great detail for each of the steps which you can read in their entirety by clicking here.

Use the FCC’s Small Biz Cyber Planner to create a cyber security plan and establish cyber-security rules for your employees
Protect against viruses, spyware, and other malicious code
Educate employees about safe social media practices
Manage and assess risk
Download and install software updates when they are available
Make backup copies of important business data and information
Control physical access to computers and network components
Secure Wi-Fi networks

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As we constantly use our computers and the various mobile devices, as well as Wi-Fi connections – we all need to be aware of the risks and how we can protect our identities, our businesses and ourselves.

The SBA provides a lot of useful information for starting and managing your business. The information is free – so there’s no excuse not to visit the site to get the information you need to protect your business investment.