Blog
Supporting Main Street Through Access to Digital Tools
Starting and running a small business is easier and less expensive than ever before. Digital tools and services have made once expensive business operations like building a website, advertising, and processing payments affordable and routine. Because these digital tools are easy to use, a baker or a mechanic on Main Street can expand their customer…
4 Digital Trends To Help Your #SmallBiz Thrive In 2020
A new decade means new opportunities, new challenges and, for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), a seemingly endless array of digital tools, platforms, and services to help bolster and grow their businesses. We scoured the web for lists, guides, and predictions to help you decide which digital tools will best set up your small business…
Big Opportunities for Small Businesses on Amazon
Proponents of antitrust action in the technology sector like to frame the debate as a battle of big versus little, but the realities of e-commerce life on Amazon expose the flaw in that thinking. One of the biggest tech companies in the world has invested much of its innovative energy into building an ecosystem that…
Beware the ‘Private Right of Action’
The unintended consequences of noble-sounding policy ideas have a way of getting lost in the legalese. So it is with current demands for a “private right of action” in privacy regulations, and small businesses will feel the brunt of the regulatory blow. The idea of a private right of action may sound good on its…
A Not-So-Happy New Year on the Privacy Front
The New Year will not be starting on a happy note for small businesses that suddenly find themselves subject to a California privacy law. They will have to invest much-needed revenue into satisfying burdensome rules or face the threat of costly penalties. “Any organization that collects any amount of personal data from California residents –…
It’s a Wonderful Digital Life
George Bailey never knew how much he mattered until he didn’t exist. He is the perfect metaphor for imagining a Christmas without digital tools for small businesses – a future that may come to pass if Congress meddles in the technology space. Bailey is the beloved banker of Bedford Falls in the holiday classic “It’s…
With Digital Marketplaces, #SmallBusinessSaturday Could Be All Year Long
November 30, 2019 marks the 10th anniversary of Small Business Saturday. According to the Small Business Administration’s 2018 Small Business Saturday Consumer Insights Survey, U.S. consumers reported spending a record high of $17.8 billion at small and independent retailers and restaurants. Additionally, some 70% of U.S. consumers also report awareness of the Small Business Saturday…
Amazon Is Open for Small Business
Does the famous internet marketplace help or hinder small businesses’ efforts to remain competitive in the digital age? Googling “Amazon” and “small business” reveals pages upon pages of debate. While some may argue that Amazon is a harbinger of doom for small business, the data points to a more mutually beneficial scenario: Small businesses drive…
