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    Mark Taylor

    Mark Taylor

  • Five tips on starting a small business later in life from a senior entrepreneur

    We asked Judi Townsend of Mannequin Madness what advice she had for those thinking about becoming an entrepreneur later in life than the usual twenty-something cliche of the startup entrepreneur.

  • Mannequin Madness: Turning a small business into a national success

    “Historically, old or used mannequins were thrown in the trash when the owners, mostly retail stores, were finished with them,” explained Townsend. “Sometimes they still are. When retail stores are remodeling they toss them into dumpsters, which end up in landfills. And it’s expensive to do that: a big dumpster full of mannequins can cost $800 to dispose of. Now it’s cheaper to sell or donate mannequins to me. I’ll go and rescue them.”

  • Love for the work a great foundation for F-Stop Photography, a convention photography business

    Aleman is a convention photographer, one of those guys snapping your picture as you lean forward to hear a speaker, welcome an old colleague or ogle a new product at the exhibitor’s hall. He’s the guy on the ladder organizing the dreaded group photo and the one shooting the celebrity keynote speaker. Aleman’s met and photographed three U.S. presidents and many celebrities and is able to take a vacation during the convention offseason using his voluminous frequent flier miles.

  • Turning life and passion into a business: The Idaho Fly Fishing Company

    Dan Mottern lives in paradise and enviably, works there too, but on his terms. Mottern operates a small, seasonal fishing and snack enterprise on the scenic St. Joseph River in northwestern Idaho, the eight-year-old Idaho Fly Fishing Company. His firm is located along the river in the unincorporated community of Avery (population 35) in the Bitterroot Mountains in the Idaho panhandle.

  • Six Customer Service Tips from the Pros

    Six tips to take your customer service from ordinary to great.

  • Customer Service: Success requires planning

    When it comes to customer service, failing to plan is almost akin to planning to fail, according customer service consultants and several successful small business owners.

  • The Challenges and Opportunities in Diversity for Small Business

    Today America can boast its first black president, a growing minority middle class and a rising number of Hispanic, Asian and African-American millionaires and billionaires. But many minority-owned businesses still face significant challenges in competing in a marketplace where the odds were stacked against them for decades.

  • Small Businesses CAN create Big Brands

    Many of America’s great companies began as small businesses. Their success in the marketplace involved smart decisions, hard work and an element often overlooked by small businesses: branding, a way to distinguish a company from its competitors and build an identity that creates loyal customers.

  • Effective Strategies For Small Businesses To Retain Employees

    The economic recovery is challenging small business owners in ways they haven’t seen in seven years: greater job opportunities for their top-performing employees, making employee retention strategies even more vital, employment experts said.

  • Craftbrewing: A bubbling area for new small business

    A new breed of craft brewers is among more than 3,000 businesses now producing beer in the U.S. Some are seeking to become the next Boston Brewing (Sam Adams beers) or New Belgium Brewing (Fat Tire Beer), whose popular brews are widely distributed throughout the country.

  • The Business of Barbecue

    To listen to some diehard aficionados, the search for the perfect barbecue is more of a religious calling than a cooking style, it’s a quixotic journey into the discovery of the best rub, sauce, wood, smoke and techniques. It inspires a zen-like pursuit of truth, beauty and the American way in a unique mash up of patriotism, down-home cooking and capitalist-inspired competition.

  • Facts and figures about the Barbecue Industry

    According to a 2013 HPBA survey, 80 percent of all U.S. households own a grill or smoker and 40 percent of Americans own more than one grill, with 97 percent actually using their grills in the past year. About 14 million new grills were shipped in 2013 alone.

  • Advice on starting out from Barbecue Pros

    Do it right and go all the way in. You have to be totally committed to your restaurant. Make sure you know what you’re doing and do it with dedication. I come in at 6:30 a.m. and leave at 9:30. I haven’t taken a day off yet. But I’ve wanted to do this or 30 year and now I’m living the dream.

  • Microbrewing in America

    Small and independent American craft brewers contributed $33.9 billion to the U.S. economy in 2012 in overall economic impact. The industry also provided more than 360,000 jobs, with 108,440 jobs directly at microbreweries and brewpubs, including serving staff at brewpubs.

  • Expert Advice for Aspiring Craft Brewing Business Owners

    “Both from the brewer’s and the distributor’s perspective, marketing is hugely important. I have to be able to sell the sizzle, otherwise, your product is another IPA (India Pale Ale) among hundreds of other IPAs out there.”

  • Advice on Implementing Diversity Programs

    Business is about relationships. And all relationships rely on trust. So when your clients are able to trust you, everything is much easier and runs much smoother.

  • Diversity Makes Business Sense

    By 2050, racial minorities will become the majority in what demographers are calling the “tanning of America.” But diversity in hiring and contracting processes, marketing, purchasing and representation in the C suite aren’t just the right things to do in a nation of growing racial and ethnic populations, they make economic sense as well, according to small businesses, large corporations and minority business associations.

  • Cafe Culture: The rise of the specialty coffee small business

    “Coffee is ubiquitous, affordable and if you’re working, it’s a big piece of your life. It also transcends employment status. It did pretty well during the recession and is doing well as the economy recovers. Now outside-of- home coffee consumption comprises more than 30% of consumption.”

  • Positives and negatives for new medical supply businesses

    The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has impacted small medical suppliers in ways that may not be fully understood for years. Even those applauding the law, which expands health insurance benefits to more than 30 million Americans, still question some of the taxes it imposes.

  • Capitalizing on an opportunity: MAC Medical Supply Company

    When Millie Maddocks bought Chicago-based MAC Medical Supply Company from her husband in 2000, her small business’s path ahead looked uncertain. MAC Medical had been a successful cardiology equipment manufacturer and distributor and Bill Maddocks, who was retiring, had already sold those lucrative lines of business. But she needn’t have worried. Millie Maddocks has steered the medical supply company to 30% annual growth in the last three years and will book $15 million in sales this year. MAC Medical now employs 16—hiring five just the last year---and has relocated its national warehouse in a 75,000 square foot facility to Munster, Ind.