Many small businesses have been struggling, and in this economy it seems like small business owners have to keep cutting costs in creative ways. Lots of companies have cut hours, abolished company perks, and even downsized in order to stay afloat. Although it might not seem like much of a prize for your recently or not-so-recently formed corporation, or L.L.C., Microsoft has announced that they will be providing their Microsoft Security Essentials for free to small businesses. Now the Security Essentials, have been free since they replaced One Care Suite last year, but this license allows small business owners to install the software onto 10 of their computers legally. Many businesses are cutting back, and that includes on subscriptions to other anti-virus software, while it may seem like a cost that you can do without, if one of your business computers gets a virus, it will not only be difficult to remove but it will also put that computer out of commission for a while. Small businesses out there can rejoice in knowing their computers can be protected for free!

Many times small business owners open up an LLC or a corporation and focus solely on their relationship with their clients, but it's also important to build strong relationships not only with your clients but also your vendors. The way you want your clients to treat you is how you should treat your vendors. Sometimes business is not always about paying the cheapest price, but paying a fair price in exchange for quality service. I'll use an example of a restaurant buying fresh flowers daily from a local florist, now if you're the florist you become accustomed to the restaurant's business daily, if the restaurant stops a delivery one day, you'd probably wonder what the problem was. As the restaurant owner, it's important to let your vendor know what the problem is and maybe they can fix it, if you're getting a cheaper price elsewhere and you have a good relationship with your current vendor, sometimes it's best to not switch, or to ask your current vendor to match the price you're being quoted. Many times if you've been doing business with your vendor long enough, they will have no problem in providing you with extra discounts or services, as they are happy to retain your business. The best thing to keep in mind is to treat all clients and vendors as you'd like to be treated. It's a pretty simple concept and we all learned it as children, but it still holds up today, and not just in personal relationships, but business too.

Small business isn't just about making the quick dollar and sending your client away with no reason to return, a small business is about building relationships with not only clients but with other small business you work with. In order to keep those relationships healthy you must nurture them and treat every client and small business with respect. If you do business with a vendor, they've most likely obtained your business by having reasonable rates and good service, and it's the reason why you stay with your that vendor. Often times other vendors will call offering the same product or service at a slightly lower cost, and though cutting costs is important, it's not always the right solution. If you were to leave a vendor you've been working with for years, you're going to have to build a new relationship with a new vendor, often times you'll expect the same quality service, but they've got to cut their costs too in order to offer you the lower prices, so you never know what type of service you're going to get.

For example, we here form corporations and form llcs, often times we get calls from clients who are satisfied by us simple answering our phones, because there are many services like ours that tend to give their clients the run around by having them hold for a very long time, or have the caller go though several menus before speaking to an actual person. Simple things like that set your service apart from others.

If you're happy with your current vendors and feel that you pay a fair price for their services, there should be no reason you should seek to change, like the old saying goes, "if it's not broken, don't fix it." Also when you keep a good relationship with your clients because they will often times refer their friends when looking for a service like yours. You can also give incentives to your current clients for bringing you new clients, for example, for every new client they bring they could get 10% off their next order. It doesn't have to be a huge incentive, but you've got to make them feel appreciated. These tips we're providing may not work for everyone, but for the most part, it's what's helped not only us, but those we know. Good luck!

When you're set to buy something, whether it be a product or service, what do most of us do? Go to your local Target, Walmart, Autozone, etc. These are all major corporations throughout the United states, and some even throughout the world. It may be convenient to go to a store like Walmart and get lots of different things without having to go to a specialty store, but the truth is, shopping with small businesses may be not only advantageous to you but it definitely is beneficial to small business owners.

Why would anyone choose to shop with a small business rather than a big corporation? Well for one, small businesses are more dependent on every client that comes in, in turn your service is better. A small business not only wants you to come back but their livelihood depends on it. Sometimes you'll hear people say that they get better prices at the big chains, while that may be true for some stores, the better price often compromises the quality of the product. And although in some cases the price advantage that big chains provide may be true, there are many cases where it is not, for example small grocery stores often have better prices on produce than big budget  stores such as Ralphs or Vons. Some Walmart stores stock fabrics at a decent price, but I know many mom & pop shops that are not only cheaper but will throw in an extra yard or two if I'm buying enough. Little perks such as that last one just mentioned make doing business with small businesses a pleasure.

When hiring a company to provide a service such as design a website, it also might be better to go to a small company, as often with big companies your project could get lost in the shuffle or not get as much attention as some of the company's bigger clients, though if you're getting good service by either a big business or small business you probably want to stick to that company.

Thinking of starting your own small business? We have packages to suit all your needs, whether you want to file a limited liability company or form a corporation, you can contact us at 866-999-8200 with any questions you may have.

If you ever started a business or are thinking of starting a business you should be prepared for a lot of solicitors, many offering services you really don't need, but some services are legitimate and can be helpful to your business. We've gotten so many mail solicitations for credit card terminals, all promising so much for very little money. Credit card acceptance is important, you can't really succeed as a business online without accepting credit cards, but there are so many services out there that offer merchant accounts at a low cost and they're easy to sign up.

When you have a traditional brick and motor store, it's also important to accept credit cards, not accepting cards really hurts a business, especially since cash is becoming less and less important in today's market. Why many business owners do not accept credit cards is puzzling, maybe they do not want to deal with the hassle of learning how to use the terminal, or don't want to open a merchant account or they just like to keep things simple with cash.

The days of paper money are winding down, and now a company called SquareUp is bridging the gap between cash and traditional credit card terminals. The device, which is free, is attached to an iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad and allows anyone to accept credit cards instead of cash. This is great news not only for small businesses, but for outdoor vendors, event vendors as well as regular folks just selling stuff on eBay or CraigsList. Not only is the device free but the rates for such transactions are competitive with the rate services like Paypal would charge you, and it wouldn't require the user to sign up and sign in.

For more information visit SquareUp, and for more information about forming your own business or whether it be forming a Limited Liability Company, forming a Corporation or even applying for a DBA, please give us a call at 866-999-8200.