There are roughly 10,000 BP gas stations in the United States and nearly all of them are independently owned. What does this mean? It means if you drive by a BP gas station because you’ve decided the oil spill has had an adverse affect on your gas-buying decision, you are really only hurting a small business owner by driving to a different gas station. The Wall Street Journal had an interest...

We’ve been getting lots of feedback on small businesses planning marketing campaigns and promotions surrounding the World Cup this month. The soccer tournament is expected to rival that of the Super Bowl, which is annually among the most watched television sports events in the world. The World Cup will span several cities in South Africa during four weeks of play. For a small business owner...

The U.S. Postal Service is again in the news debating whether to drop deliveries on Saturday in a cost-cutting measure. If approved it would bring the number of days of mail service down to five, meaning bad news for the direct marketing industry (and for the millions of dogs that playfully guard the house). It would also mean fewer of the familiar big blue mail boxes lining strip malls and street...

As with many of the stories we tell on this blog, some of the greatest entrepreneurial ventures start out as a result of people no longer working in their initial field (needing a fresh start), or unemployed professionals with an idea. Today’s featured entrepreneur is, let’s say, totally chill in Southern California and freezing out the competition by capitalizing on small business social medi...

Branding is ultra important for any small business owner, entrepreneur or even a solopreneur. Some even consider small business branding as the soul of your company since it offers the emotional attachment between a customer and company. I often say branding can reveal the “off the record” conversation two people have with each other when talking about a business. For a small business owner or...

Is your small business a franchise, or are you interested in running a franchise? If so then you don’t want to miss the #smbiz Twitter chat on Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2010, from 8-9 pm ET. Join the first #smbiz chat of the new year for a special session focused on running a franchise. Joel Libava, The Franchise King, will be our special guest answering all kinds of questions that pertain to operati...