Business & E-Business
December 2008 Archive

The Top Blog Posts Of 2008

December 30, 2008 | In 2008, bMighty and SmallBizResource blogged about the emerging trends, innovative products, and industry shifts that the owners of small and midsize businesses need to know about and understand. Now as the year draws to a close, our editors have looked back over the year and picked our Top 20 Blog Posts of 2008.
By bMighty Staff

Last-Minute Year-End Tax Tips

December 29, 2008 | It's not too late for year-end tax planning. With just a few days left of 2008, there is still an opportunity for smaller businesses to minimize their tax bills. Here are some recommendations about what business owners should purchase now -- and how to afford it -- so that they can deduct it later.
By Jennifer Moline

Look To Startups For Cost-Effective Innovation

December 24, 2008 | IT departments shouldn't dismiss startups when looking for vendors, says network security veteran Matt Stevenson, because newer companies can often provide a faster innovation cycle and quicker customer service at a more affordable price than more-established vendors.
By Matt Stevenson

The Top Stories Of 2008

December 23, 2008 | Over the past year, bMighty has covered new technologies and old technologies, trends and threats, first-time entrepreneurs and established, innovative companies, all with an eye to ways that business owners can use technology to gain competitive advantage in their market. Now as the year draws to a close, our editors have picked our top 20 for 2008.
By bMighty Staff

What The Coming Year Holds For Growing Businesses

December 18, 2008 | Unfortunately, the financial crisis will continue to take a toll on smaller businesses in 2009. But cloud computing and SaaS, green IT, and social networking are three markets that should evolve significantly next year and offer the prospect of reducing costs for growing companies while often enhancing quality.
By Benjamin Tomkins

10 Innovative Growing Businesses

December 17, 2008 | In 2008, bMighty and SmallBizResource covered scores of businesses. Along the way, we unearthed the details of the newest products and services from start-ups and established companies alike and captured the perspective of veteran business leaders and young entrepreneurs. We learned the secrets of their success and what keeps them awake at night. Now as the year draws to a close, our editors have selected 10 growing businesses for the first annual bMighty Innovation awards.
By bMighty Staff

A Business Is Not A Family

December 17, 2008 | Lots of businesses say that they're like a family -- but they don't really mean it. Calling your business a family may sound warm and fuzzy, but are you really ready to take on the obligations of a family?
By Fredric Paul

Mid-Market Heroes: Opting For Online Content Management

December 16, 2008 | Tired of e-mailing documents back and forth to co-workers and dealing with compatibility issues along with files that were too large, the Distressed Property Institute turned to Xythos on Demand, a document management site that allows customers to store any file type. At $400 to $600 a year, it's the right fit for a six-employee company that couldn't maintain a server and backup at that price.
By Jennifer deJong

Beyond The Meltdown: A Look Back At How 2008 Affected Your Business

December 15, 2008 | If you can somehow look past the fall's economic meltdown, there actually were other important developments in 2008, from cloud computing to smartphones to social networking and host of other notable opportunities and trends in technology for growing businesses.
By Fredric Paul

Q&A With DirectoryM's Panos Bethanis: Why Now Is The Time To Grow

December 15, 2008 | Now that we're officially in a recession, business owners may have put thoughts of growth on hold. But Panos Bethanis -- CEO of DirectoryM, an online advertising platform with about 20 employees -- has some suggestions for smaller companies to try. One is to take aggressive measures.
By Jennifer Moline

Strategy Matters: How To Develop Criteria For Achieving Business Goals

December 11, 2008 | When the economic picture shifts, so does the criteria for success. How do you know you're winning? How do you change goals when the competitive ground is different, yet still keep the team aligned? Criteria development is crucial to the establishment of new or revised strategy.
By Nilofer Merchant, CEO of Rubicon Consulting

12 Innovative Products For Your Business

December 10, 2008 | In 2008, a host of new products debuted (or introduced enhancements), many of them with unique appeal for small and midsize businesses. Sorting through the thicket of new products to find the ones that best suit your needs is a daunting task, but we're here to help. In the first annual bMighty Innovation awards, our editors select 12 (one for each month) of the best products for growing businesses.
By bMighty Staff

How To Manage IT Supply And Demand

December 9, 2008 | IT managers constantly juggle resources to wring maximum value from IT dollars, staff, and equipment while also maintaining the capacity for responding to unforeseen demands. By implementing best practices for managing IT supply and demand, you can optimize IT resources for your entire organization.
By Jennifer Perrier-Knox, Courtesy of Info-Tech Research Group

Mid-Market Heroes: Luring Big-Time Customers With SaaS

December 8, 2008 | Small companies need to do everything they can to meet customers' needs if they expect to compete successfully against larger companies. Ninety-employee Rapala outsourced its EDI functions through a software-as-a-service platform to do just that.
By Scott Koegler

Simple Approach To E-Commerce Means Bigger Profit Margins

December 5, 2008 | By using simple low-cost and free tools, business owners can quickly develop online stores with lots of functionality, but not run up big costs building and maintaining a Web site.
By Amanda Kooser

Calculate Your Web Site Conversion Rate

December 4, 2008 | Every visitor to your company Web site is a potential customer, and how effectively you can convert them from prospect to customer will drive your revenue. By accurately calculating your Web site conversation rate, you can adjust your marketing, site design, and pricing to increase your sales.
By bMighty Staff

Create Your IT Budget

December 2, 2008 | Creating budgets is a necessary and time-consuming endeavor for every business owner and department head. Using this FREE IT Budget Template, you'll be able to develop your budget more quickly and easily identify opportunities to improve your IT operations.
By bMighty Staff