Everyone needs customers, and while new customers are always great, sometimes it makes more sense to target your already loyal customer base. A huge benefit of marketing additional services to your current client base is that they already know you.

When it comes right down to it, customers are the only reason you’re able to do what you do, and a little attention and gratitude can go a long way toward making your customers feel like your company cares.

No, to respond to the adage The Customer Is Always Right, I don’t agree one hundred percent – the customer is not always right, but they sure are right a lot. I will say this: You ignore what your customers think at your own peril.

If you work from home, then your overhead costs are already pretty low. With a home office you save on transportation, rent, and utilities, but when times are tough you may need to look for more creative ways to save. The trick is to cut costs without cutting corners.

People start their own business for all sorts of reasons – freedom, passion, boredom – you name it. But one reason that I have never seen is that they like budgeting… well, unless that person is an accountant, but you get the idea.

Traditionally, there have been two ways to fund a business: Debt financing and equity financing. Debt financing is what it sounds like – you take on debt in exchange for capital. Debt financing can take many forms. It could a loan from a bank, a Small Business Administration loan, or even a loan from a friend or family member. It actually makes little difference. If you go into debt for the money, that is debt financing.

Whether you live and work in an earthquake zone, the pathway of hurricanes, the snow-belt, the Mississippi River flood plain or in tornado territory – natural disasters will pose a threat to your small business. You may think you have taken reasonable precautions against the most common ones, like a fire or burst pipes. But in all likelihood, you probably have not been spending most of your time contemplating how the forces of nature can undermine your years of hard work.

The New Year has come and gone, and with parts of the ACA beginning to go into effect, healthcare is definitely on everyone’s mind. However, one thing that should also be part of the conversation is the fact that your ultimate goal should be to keep yourself out of the doctor’s office as much as possible in the first place.

If you want your microbusiness to be a more macrobusiness, then you need to do one thing right now: Crank up the marketing.

The internet is an incredibly valuable and important resource for businesses of all kinds. With an audience vaster than any other, the web is the only tool out there which allows smaller businesses to compete on a level playing field with their larger competitors.