President Barack Obama raised a glass to American ingenuity Thursday while seated among the world's most enterprising business leaders.
Should health benefits be treated as taxable income? That's what a group of economics bloggers thinks.
Harvard grads Jennifer Hyman and Jennifer Fleiss create Rent the Runway—the Netflix of the fashion world.
For a limited time, the SBA is offering a loan refinancing program designed to help small businesses whose commercial mortgages are set to mature in the next few years.
Baldwin sues the "Waterworld" star over oil-spill cleanup technology sold to BP for $53 million.
If you'd like to work with canines for a living, options abound in franchising.
New York's Spot Dessert has been holding contests on Facebook and offering discounts to people who "like" the place—and that's just the beginning.
Companies of all sizes are urging their franchisees to share ideas and help each other out. They're holding conference calls and conventions, setting up mentoring programs and sending in veteran owners to assist newcomers or struggling outlets.
Issues large and small marked another litigious year for the U.S. franchising industry. Here's a look at the landmarks.
We're still getting comments and letters from readers about yesterday's story, "Married to the Job (and Each Other)," about sweethearts who run businesses together.
A growing share of unpaid bills at smaller businesses are 'severely delinquent,' a report says.
President Obama's fiscal 2012 budget proposal for the Small Business Administration asks Congress for $985 million—45% less than the $1.8 billion that the agency received in 2010.
While some sweethearts can handle the pressure of building a relationship and a company, many others warn it's a difficult path. The secret to making it work? Have a good marriage in the first place.
It's no secret that some entrepreneurs use home equity to finance their companies, but during the housing boom they leaned on it harder than ever. That set them up for a credit crunch when the market collapsed.
Small companies are using a host of online options to make billing and payment as easy—and inescapable—as possible. Some are even trying to head off problems before they arise by checking potential clients' credit history over the Web.
Growing numbers of Americans are striking out on their own as solo entrepreneurs. And a whole industrial complex has sprung up to support them, with everything from temporary offices to online services.
Don't say you're self-employed. Not because it isn't true. For folks who own their own firm, that certainly is the case. It's just that, to put it bluntly, "self-employed" is not a sexy descriptor.
Panera Bread Co.'s Ron Shaich, discusses his early days at the helm of Au Bon Pain to his latest entrepreneurial endeavor, Panera Cares.
Chargebacks, reverse credit-card transactions, can happen when a consumer disputes a charge or if there's a processing error. To recoup the loss, merchants must prove to the card company that the transaction was valid, which often is hard to do.
Auto mechanics hope the new small-business-friendly tone in Washington will re-energize the Right to Repair Act, a bill they say levels the playing field with dealerships.
Research spending and technology exports were some of the menu items Thursday evening when President Obama sat down for dinner with Apple's Steve Jobs, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and other corporate chieftains.
Small businesses whose books are audited by a hired certified public accountant improve their chances of getting a loan than businesses with less scrutinized financial statements.
Small 'business-to-business' companies are trying their hand at marketing on sites like Facebook, but some find social media might not be the best way to connect with their target audience.
Entrepreneurs have long tapped family for help in launching new businesses, but recent data suggest that friends and family may be less willing to take such a gamble on their loved ones.
Curves, whose 30-minute workout for women once made it among the world's fastest-growing franchises, seems to be running out of steam.
Use this startup calculator to figure out the true costs of launching a company. How much do you think it will take to open your business?
From Palo Alto Software, the makers of Business Plan Pro
With inspiration from the Better Business Bureau
A majority of the nation's small-business owners are more bullish about business conditions this year, a new survey shows.
Entrepreneurs operating on a tight budget may be tempted to forgo professional help in preparing their companies' returns. But experts say the investment is typically worthwhile to maximize deductions and avoid penalties.
The U.S. push to spur homegrown innovation by fast-tracking the patent process might do more harm than good, some in the patent industry say, by giving money-rich companies an edge over start-ups.
The widely repeated notion that small businesses face disproportionate regulatory costs rests on some questionable calculations and assumptions.
Approaching an industry with fresh eyes can lead to a great business concept. After all, Amazon.com's Jeff Bezos was a hedge fund guy, not a bookseller, when he applied technology to the way books get sold.
Being first on the scene rarely pays off, a new research paper concludes. Think Netscape, Friendster and Commodore Business Machines.
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Rosetta Stone warned that it expects its fourth-quarter results to fall short of already downbeat guidance it gave in November.
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Surfwear maker Billabong posted an 18% drop in net profit, but the chief executive says conditions in the Australian retail sector have improved to their best level in a year.
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Big Lots has settled a closely watched lawsuit with a Florida research firm whom the retailer had accused of stealing trade secrets by "wrongfully inducing" Big Lots managers to reveal store sales and other data.
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