StartupNation Blogs

The recent CIT Group news hit the franchise community late last week. One of the larger small business lenders announced, CIT Group announced it needed additional money from the government to stay affloat. The government denied their request but CIT was able to cut a deal with its creditors giving them a little more time [...]

As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the Small Business Administration (SBA) has now added a 100% interest free SBA backed loan with no fees attached. With so many businesses (big and small) crumbling in the current economic climate, the new loan program is an attempt by the SBA to reach [...]

Given the global recession, real estate presents new challenges and opportunities for business owners. Businesses especially are affected by the pressures of reduced demand and tighter lending criteria. The fact is, you’re challenged to do more with less.
I just moderated an expert panel on video as part of the Wells Fargo Webcast Series on this very topic [...]

I wonder if products have the same experience people do, that when they meet their match, they feel like they are “home?” I’ll bet the product manager of this doosey has earned his bonus:
Hillshire Farm ham and turkey + reusable Gladware
= Green, Money Saving, The-Big-Corporation-Proves-It-Can-Still-Listen-To-Customers

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What partnerships could you consider in your business?
Example: B&B could supply guests with brunch [...]

StartupNation PR Team Connects you to a Casting Call for an ABC TV show about Entrepreneurs and Inventors!
Do you have the next great moneymaking idea?
StartupNation is working closely with the wonderful folks at Mark Burnett Productions/ABC to help them in their search for entrepreneurs, inventors, businesspersons, dreamers, promoters, creators, innovators, etc. We hope is to [...]

When you consider your business model (which includes your marketing efforts), you generally concentrate on these core components:

Why will people pay you? (money, votes, donations)
What does it cost you to sell your item…margins?
What protects you from competition, price-feature battles?
How will you turn an agnostic audience into loyal customers?

Early on when transactions had no costs, doing [...]

Recently, I was contacted by a PR firm (Attention) and asked if I would profile Blake Mycoskie on my blog(s). I’m ashamed to say how long it’s taken me to turn this piece around, however seeing the latest ATT commercial featuring Blake after a long day of meetings (at my day job) shamed me into finishing. My [...]

It’s no secret that running a business in this economy is a challenge. But with the right smarts, you can get through the storm.
To survive you’ll have to make the most of your time (which you likely have more of as a result of less customer activity) and take into account the impact of your [...]

If you’ve been following StartupNation for years, not just months or weeks, you know that we were one of the pioneers that popularized the “Elevator Pitch”, your chance-of-a-lifetime opportunity to pitch your dream investor in a blazing 60 seconds. It was always one of the most popular segments in our nationally syndicated radio show and [...]

As 2009 gets under way it’s painfully obvious that the economy is still struggling.  Sales are continuing their downward trend, unemployment is rising, and many Americans are still having trouble paying their mortgage.  After struggling through 2008, the average consumer is facing the New Year at a financial rock bottom.  The best indicator of this [...]