Small Business
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Small-business owners are beginning to treat the valuation of their business as an integral part of running it. A closer look at online valuation calculators, business brokers and the valuation process.
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Those of you who know me know that I'm a big fan of negative campaigning. That's why I can't resist talking about the guys at popcorn company T.T. Buds. It's a Boston-based company founded last year by two former Red Sox employees named Tim and Tom.
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"There was no boom, it was just bust," so says Steve Forrester, the publisher of the Daily Astorian, as the two us stand outside his office on a chilly gray day. "Sustainable is well, a phony word. You have to work hard every day to make a living." Forrester and I are talking about a place each of us has seen move from salmon jerky to gourmet cuisine. The place is Astoria. Get out your maps.
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If necessity is the mother of invention, then Eric Paulson's dad just might be the father. Or at least a cousin. Wilt Paulson started a company called LEKTRO in 1945. What Wilt and LEKTRO did was convert military aircraft into private use. Then he got into the business of turning some of them into agricultural planes, crop dusters.
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We are 50 miles due west of Billings, Montana, just about where the double yellows break. The sign says, 'Welcome to Rapelje', and it has a few buckshot dents in it. We're not exactly in the middle of nowhere, but you can see it from here. "We were dying, and there wasn't anything slow about it."
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If you breezed through a list of the world's oldest professions, somewhere in the top five ( but behind 'that' one) you'll undoubtedly come across 'rug making.' From flying carpets to going out of business sales, the rug making industry is steeped in old world tradition. So what could possibly be new?
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Sometimes 'accidents' are the best money makers. About 20 years ago chocolatier Phyllis Geiger needed something to put outside her shop for a local street fair. The items she made took too much time and cost too much to 'donate' to the passing crowd. So in a hurry, she ran next door to the local movie theater, bought a bunch of popcorn, took it back to her shop, and covered it with milk chocolate.
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Many contractors are seeing business improve as home sales slowly recover and homeowners are feeling better about the economy. Does this uptick have serious momentum?
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Taking a cue from the fashion industry, mobile retailers are popping up across the U.S. Is the business trend right for you?
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With traditional bank loans harder to come by since the financial crisis, small businesses are getting creative in hoarding cash. Here are some cash-flow tips for your business.