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SBA AND W20 GROUP LAUNCH SOCIAL MEDIA WEBINAR SERIES FOR SMALL BUSINESSES

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Small Business Administration and the W20 Group, an entrepreneurial ecosystem of digital communications companies, is launching a five-topic social media webinar series to help small businesses leverage and grow their businesses using social media tools such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blogs and mobile marketing. Read More →

If you’re going to invest your time marketing your small business on Facebook, then you need to understand Edgerank.  Edgerank is the Facebook algorithm that determines which of your posts get displayed in the newsfeeds of your fans.

You see, just because someone is a fan of your business, that does not mean they will see everything you share on your Facebook page.  In fact, it is estimated that as few as 16% of your fans will see any given post that you make.

So, how can you maximize the chances that more of your fans will see your content?  You must make sure that you are frequently posting engaging content.  In other words, the goal of  your posts should always be to generate likes, comments and shares for these actions increase your Edgerank with fans, thereby increasing the likelihood that your future posts will be present on their respective newsfeeds.   Read More →

There’s never been a better time to start a business with no money. And this manifesto will show you how.

Are you struggling with bootstrapping your Kentucky startup, contact your local SBDC for small business advice and assistance. Read More →

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 3, 2013) – The Kentucky Small Business Development Center (KSBDC) will induct the sixth class of the Kentucky Business Pacesetters on May 22 in Frankfort at the Capitol Rotunda. The Kentucky Business Pacesetter Program honors high performing, second-stage businesses that are producing innovative products, increasing sales, creating jobs and serving communities in Kentucky.

This year’s outstanding Kentucky businesses are: Read More →

SBA and AARP, along with the SBDC, SCORE and the Women’s Business Center, will host free Encore Entrepreneur Mentor Month events for those ages 50+ who want to start or grow a business.  These events are free, but registration is required. For more information or to register, go to the links below or call 1-877-926-8300.

April 24: McKendree University, 10168 Linn Station Road, Louisville, KY 40223

April 30: Community Ventures Corporation, 1450 North Broadway, Lexington, KY 40505

It seems that certain types of small businesses are more likely to fail.  Why do you think this is?

Of course, there are many factors that contribute to the success or demise of a specific small business.  Lack of industry experience, inadequate financing, poor cash flow, poor business planning, ignoring the competition, management incompetence, a diminished customer base, poor location (especially true for retail and restaurants), and a lack of entrepreneurial skills are a few of the more commonly referenced reasons for failure.

The infographic below attempts to illustrate some of the reasons why certain types of businesses are more likely to fail than others. Read More →

At KSBDC, we often receive questions from potential entrepreneurs related to what type of business they should start.  As Catherine Clifford at Entrepreneur.com writes, “Past performance is no guarantee of future results, as the old business truism says. But you also may have heard that you can’t know where you’re going without knowing where you have been.”

Entrepreneur.com partnered with Sageworks.com to analyze financial data from small businesses across the US to produce these results.  Here’s a look at the industries where U.S. companies with $10 million or less in annual sales have shown the highest and lowest percentage change from Jan. 1 to Dec 31, 2012. As a benchmark, the average growth rate across all U.S. small businesses in the time period was 8 percent, says Libby Bierman, an analyst at Sageworks. Read More →