Entrepreneurship is exhilarating and dynamic, especially in the beginning, as the business plan is set in motion and a product or service begins its path to market. The unpredictability of this journey is part of the reason it’s so stimulating to start and build a business, but maintaining that level of excitement and drive can be challenging when the business’s evolution doesn’t unfold according to plan.
When initial funding from family or an investor runs out before benchmarks are met, a startup owner can worry about his ability to repay investors and stay on track. Even businesses that reach the second stage of maturity can stumble — for example, when a large account goes to a competitor or a product doesn’t find traction. Continue reading
Toby Rittner wants to help communities leverage their limited financial resources to solve the needs of business, industry, developers and investors.
Small businesses are attuned to the risks they face when material costs and interest rates start to rise and competitors make inroads into their market share, but they’re not always conscious of less predictable but increasingly common risks, such as natural disasters. And they don’t always know about the resources available when their city or county is formally declared a disaster area and they become eligible for government assistance.
Chambers of commerce are trade associations charged with creating a business-friendly environment for their members in the communities where they’re based. They do this by advocating, educating and providing a variety of publicity tools.
Employers who provide a space where employees can express and store milk or breastfeed a baby quickly realize the benefits of doing so.
If you whisk together hard work and passion and then throw in an effective loan program, your chances for small business success will likely be high. Those ingredients came together in Ruidoso, where Steven and Marie Gomez operate the Cornerstone Bakery & Cafe.
When Nick Harrison couldn’t persuade his mom to let him buy her trophy shop in Oregon, he moved with his wife to New Mexico and bought a complementary business in Albuquerque.