Similar to your personal credit, your business credit file follows you everywhere, tracking your payment history, outstanding balances, business transactions, and more. CreditPlayers LLC uses this data to calculate a series of business credit scores and ratings. Business partners, like potential lenders and creditors, can get a glimpse into the financial health of your company by checking your EXPERIAN business credit file. By nature, these scores and ratings can fluctuate often, changing based on your financial activity.

 Why Business Credit Matters

Regardless of where you are in your business journey—whether you’re just starting out, trying to improve cash flow, or looking to expand— maintaining a strong business credit file can be essential to your success. That’s why it’s important to know what’s inside your business credit file. 

Step 1 Choose the subscription service below that best fits your business needs.

Step 2 Be the first to know when there are changes to your business credit scores with 24/7 alerts sent directly and securely to you.

Step 3 Get notified when other companies request to see information on your business credit file and when new business events, like liens and judgements, are reported. 

Manage Your Small Business

You have an established business, happy customers, and reliable systems, but you realize there’s always room for improvement. Use the following tools and information to help you manage your business more smoothly and efficiently.

You have an established business, happy customers, and reliable systems, but you realize there’s always room for improvement. Use the following tools and information to help you manage your business more smoothly and efficiently.

Research

Learn how benchmarking can help you grow

Improve

Take steps to potentially impact your credit file

 Decide

Determine if extending credit to others is right for you

Explore

Discover how and when to consider applying for a line of credit

Whether you’re looking to open new locations, land larger contracts, hire new employees, or all three, you’ll need resources to help you get started and stay on track.

Land Contracts

Learn tips on how to prepare a bid for an RFP

Promote

Take steps to help promote your business

Apply for Grants

Help determine if you may qualify for federal- or state-based grants

 Hire

Find and retain highly valuable employees

How Your Business Credit File Can Help

Your business credit scores and ratings can play a critical role in your company’s success. The better they are, the better your chances may be for securing the financing, contracts, customers, and supplies you need to grow. That’s why it’s so important to not only know what’s in your business credit file, but to also be able to monitor and seek to manage your business credit file, so you can start building toward a brighter future.

Impact Your Scores and Ratings 

CreditPlayers LLC offers a variety of online tools to help you seek to manage your business credit file with 24/7 access to view information in your business credit file, as well as the ability to potentially impact your scores and ratings.* 

Help Avoid Potential Risk

Working with certain customers, suppliers, partners, or vendors could pose a risk to your company’s financial well-being.

Common risks include:

• Late/non-payments
  
• Late/non-delivery of products or services
• Contract termination

You can take steps to help mitigate business risk by checking and monitoring other companies’ credit files.

For almost all businesses, capital is essential. While in simple terms, capital is the money or resources needed to open, operate, and profit; capital is more complex in the sense that it can come in many different forms.

For some businesses, the resources necessary for operating come from traditional lenders such as bank loans, Small Business Association loans, or even personal credit cards.

Yet there are plenty of alternative ways to access capital. For instance, many businesses are finding that their ability to access capital is related to the source–businesses may have a higher chance of getting loans and investments, if they look outside of traditional sources. From CDFI (community development financial institution) reserves to crowdfunding to loans reserved for special groups, there are countless ways businesses can access capital.

Any problems with accessing capital lie not in the lack of money, but rather in the lack of connection between those who need the capital and those prepared to offer capital. So, while the question “What is capital?” might seem unnecessary, many small businesses have found it to be one of the most crucial questions of them all.

In learning what, exactly, capital means in today’s stressed economy, businesses are better equipped to pursue not only the type of capital, but more importantly the type of lender, they need to connect with in order to sustain their business and ensure growth.

Small businesses are types of corporations, partnerships, or sole proprietorships which have a small number of employees and/or less annual revenue than a regular-sized business or corporation. Businesses are defined as "small" in terms of being able to apply for government support and qualify for preferential tax policy. The qualifications vary depending on the country and industry. Small businesses range from fifteen employees under the Australian Fair Work Act 2009, fifty employees according to the definition used by the European Union, and fewer than five hundred employees to qualify for many U.S. Small Business Administration programs. While small businesses can also be classified according to other methods, such as annual revenues, shipments, sales, assets, annual gross, net revenue, net profits, the number of employees is one of the most widely used measures.[1]

Small businesses in many countries include service or retail operations such as convenience stores, small grocery stores, bakeries or delicatessens, hairdressers or tradespeople (e.g., carpenters, electricians), restaurants, motels, photographers, very small-scale manufacturing, and Internet-related businesses such as web design and computer programming. Some professionals operate as small businesses, such as lawyers, accountants, dentists, medical doctors and developers (although these professionals can also work for large organizations or companies). Small businesses vary a great deal in terms of size, revenues, and regulatory authorization, both within a country and from country to country. Some small businesses, such as a home accounting business, may only require a business license. On the other hand, other small businesses, such as day cares, retirement homes, and restaurants serving liquor are more heavily regulated and may require inspection and certification from various government authorities.

Small businesses in the Central Zone of São Paulo

Researchers and analysts of small or owner-managed businesses generally behave as if nominal organizational forms (e.g., partnership, sole-trader, or corporation), and the consequent legal and accounting boundaries of owner-managed firms are consistently meaningful. However, owner-managers often do not distinguish between their personal and business interests. Lenders also often skirt organizational (corporate) boundaries by seeking personal guarantees or accepting privately held assets as collateral.[2] Because of this behavior, researchers and analysts may wish to be cautious in assessing the organizational types and implied boundaries relating to owner-managed firms. This includes the analysis of traditional accounting disclosures and studies that treat the firm as defined by a formal organizational structure.

Portici di Sottoripa, Genoa, Italy. Galleries tend to form clusters of small business owners over time.

The concepts of small business, self-employment, entrepreneurship, and startup overlap but also carry important distinctions. These four concepts are often conflated.Their key differences can be summarized as:

• self-employment: an organization created primarily to provide income to the founders, i.e. sole proprietor operations.
• entrepreneurship: all new organizations.
• startup: a new organization created to grow (and have employees).
• small business: an organization that is small (in employees or revenue) and may or may not have the intention to grow.

Many small businesses are sole proprietor operations consisting only of the owner, but many also have additional employees. Some small businesses that offer a product, process or service, do not have growth as their primary objective. In contrast, a business that is created to become a big firm is known as a startup. Startups aim for growth and often offer an innovative product, process, or service. The entrepreneurs of startups typically aim to scale up the company by adding employees, seeking international sales, and so on, a process which is often but not always financed by venture capital and angel investments. Successful entrepreneurs have the ability to lead a business in a positive direction by proper planning, adapting to changing environments, and understand their own strengths and weakness. Spectacular success stories stem from startups that expanded in growth. Examples would be Microsoft, Genentech, and Federal Express which all embody the sense of new venture creation on small businesses.[3]

Self-employment provides work primarily for the founders. Entrepreneurship refers to all new businesses, including self-employment and businesses that never intend to grow big or become registered, but startups refer to new businesses that intend to grow beyond the founders, to have employees, and grow large.

The legal definition of "small business" varies by country and by industry. In addition to the number of employees, methods used to classify small companies include annual sales (turnover), the value of assets and net profit (balance sheet), alone or as a combination of factors.

• In India, all the manufacturing and service enterprises having investment "Not more than Rs 10 crore" and Annual Turnover "not more than Rs 50 crore" come under this category.
• In the United States, the Small Business Administration establishes small business size standards on an industry-by-industry basis but generally specifies a small business as having fewer than 500 employees for manufacturing businesses and less than $7.5 million in annual receipts for most non-manufacturing businesses.[4][5] The definition can vary by circumstance—for example, a small business having fewer than 25 full-time equivalent employees with average annual wages below $50,000 qualifies for a tax credit under the health care reform bill Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.[6] By comparison, a medium-sized business or mid-sized business has fewer than 500 employees.
• The European Union generally defines a small business as one that has fewer than fifty employees and either turnover or balance sheet less than €10 m.[7] but the European Commission is undertaking a review of this definition.[8] By comparison, a medium-sized business has fewer than 250 employees and either turnover less than €50 m. or balance sheet less than €43 m.[7]
• In Australia, a small business is defined by the Fair Work Act 2009 as one with fewer than 15 employees, although the Australian Bureau of Statistics uses less than 20 employees as its threshold. By comparison, a medium-sized business or mid-sized business has fewer than two hundred employees.
• In South Africa, the National Small Business Amendment Act (Act 26 of 2003) defines businesses in a variety of ways using five categories previously established by the National Small Business Act (Act 102 of 1996), namely, standard industrial sector and subsector classification, size of class, equivalent of paid employees, turnover and asset value excluding fixed property.[9]

Small businesses usually do not dominate their field.[10]

The following table serves as a guide to business size nomenclature.

Business size definitions (by number of employees)

AUSUSCANEUMinute/micro1-21-61-4<10Small<15<2501-99<50Medium<200<500100-499<250Large<500<1000>500<1000Enterprise>500>1000N/A>1000

• Most cells reflect sizes not defined in legislation.
• Some definitions are multi-parameter, e.g., by industry, revenue, or market share.

In 2016 a study that examined the demographic of small business owners was published. The study showed that the median American small business owners were above the age of 50. The ages were distributed as 51% over 50 years old, 33% between the ages 35–49, and 16% being under the age of 35. As for sex: 55% were owned by males, 36% by females, and 9% being equal ownership of both males and females. As for race: 72% were white/Caucasian, 13.5% were Latinos, 6.3% were African American, 6.2% were Asian, and 2% as other. As for educational background: 39% had obtained a bachelor's degree or higher, 33% had some college background, and 28% received at least a high school diploma.[11]

The United States census data for the years 2014 and 2015 shows the women's ownership share of small businesses by firm size. The data explains percentages owned by women along with the number of employees including the owner. Generally, the smaller the business, the more likely it to be owned by a woman. The data shows that about 22% of small businesses with 100-500 employees were owned by women, a percentage that rises the smaller the business. 41% of businesses with just 2-4 employees were run by women, and in businesses with just one person, that person was a woman in 51% of cases.[11]

Franchising is a way for small business owners to benefit from the economies of scale of the big corporation (franchiser). McDonald's and Subway are examples of a franchise. The small business owner can leverage a strong brand name and purchasing power of the larger company while keeping their own investment affordable. However, some franchisees conclude that they suffer the "worst of both worlds" feeling they are too restricted by corporate mandates and lack true independence. It is an assumption that small business is just franchisees, but the truth is many franchisers are also small businesses, Although considered to be a successful way of doing business, literature has proved that there is a high failure rate in franchising as well, especially in the UK, where research indicates that out of 1658 franchising companies operating in 1984, only 601 remained in 1998, a mere 36%.[12]

A retailers' cooperative is a type of cooperative that employs economies of scale on behalf of its retailer members. Retailers' cooperatives use their purchasing power to acquire discounts from manufacturers and often share marketing expenses. They are often recognized as "local groups" because they own their own stores within the community.[13] It is common for locally owned grocery stores, hardware stores, and pharmacies to participate in retailers' cooperatives. Ace Hardware, True Value, and NAPA are examples of a retailers' cooperative. Retail cooperatives also allow consumers to supply their own earnings and gain bargaining power outside of the business sector.[13] Retail cooperatives mainly reside within small communities where local businesses are often shut down.[13]

Small business in Bursa, Turkey. One of the claimed advantages of small business owners is the ability to serve market niches not served by mass production industries. Consider how few major corporations would be willing to deal with the risks and uncertainty that small antique store deals with buying and selling non-standardized items and making quick assessments of the value of rare items.

Many small businesses can be started at a low cost and on a part-time basis, while a person continues a regular job with an employer or provides care for family members in the home. In developing countries, many small businesses are sole-proprietor operations such as selling products at a market stall or preparing hot food to sell on the street, which provide a small income. In the 2000s, a small business is also well suited to Internet marketing; because, it can easily serve specialized niches, something that would have been more difficult before the Internet revolution which began in the late 1990s. Internet marketing gives small businesses the ability to market with smaller budgets. Adapting to change is crucial in business and particularly small business; not being tied to the bureaucratic inertia associated with large corporations, small businesses can respond to changing marketplace demand more quickly. Small business proprietors tend to be in closer personal contact with their customers and clients than large corporations, as small business owners see their customers in person each week.

One study showed that small, local businesses are better for a local economy than the introduction of new chain stores. By opening up new national level chain stores, the profits of locally owned businesses greatly decrease and many businesses end up failing and having to close. This creates an exponential effect. When one store closes, people lose their jobs, other businesses lose business from the failed business, and so on. In many cases, large firms displace just as many jobs as they create.[14]

Independence is another advantage of owning a small business. A small business owner does not have to report to a supervisor, manager, or a board to report to, which is the situation for a corporation's CEO. Also, many people desire to make their own decisions, take their own risks, and reap the rewards of their efforts. Small business owners possess the flexibility and freedom to make their own decisions within the constraints imposed by economic and other environmental factors.[15] However, entrepreneurs have to work for very long hours and understand that ultimately their customers are their bosses.

Small businesses (often carried out by family members) may adjust quicker to the changing conditions; however, they may also be closed to the absorption of new knowledge and employing new labor from outside.[16]

Small businesses benefit from less extensive accounting and financial reporting requirements than those faced by larger businesses.

The European Union's Directive on annual financial statements of 2013 aims to "limit administrative burdens and provide for simple and robust accounting rules, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)".[17] In the UK, the Companies, Partnerships and Groups (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2015 transposed the EU Directive into UK law and amended the reporting regime for reduced disclosure accounts for any accounting period commencing on or after 1 January 2016.[18] "Abbreviated accounts" were permitted for smaller entities under "FRSSE", the Financial Reporting Standard for Smaller Entities). Until 2015, companies deemed small under the UK Companies Act 2006 were allowed to use this standard.[19] For accounting years ending on or after 1 January 2016, FRSSE is no longer available,[20] but there are options known as "abridged accounts" and "filleted accounts":

• Abridged accounts: accounting for profit / loss begins with the declaration of gross profit or loss, not turnover
• Filleted financial statements or filleted accounts: profit and loss accounts are excluded, but balance sheet and balance sheet notes are to be disclosed.[21]

Alternatively, the smallest companies are able to file "micro-entity accounts".[22] FRS 105 is a Financial Reporting Standard applicable to the Micro-entities Regime.[23]

Small businesses often face a variety of problems, some of which are related to their size. A frequent cause of bankruptcy is under capitalization. This is often a result of poor planning rather than economic conditions. It is a common rule of thumb that the entrepreneur should have access to a sum of money at least equal to the projected revenue for the first year of business in addition to the anticipated expenses. For example, prospective owners anticipating 100,000 in revenue the first year with 150,000 in start up expenses should have at least 250,000 available. Start-up expenses are often grossly underestimated adding to the burden of the business. Failure to provide this level of funding for the company could leave the owner liable for all of the company's debt in bankruptcy court under the theory of undercapitalization.

In addition to ensuring that the business has enough capital, the small business owner must also be mindful of contribution margin (sales minus variable costs). To break even, the business must be able to reach a level of sales where the contribution margin equals fixed costs. When they first start, many small business owners underprice their products to a point where even at their maximum capacity, it would be impossible to break even. Cost controls or price increases often resolve this problem.

In the United States, some of the largest concerns of small business owners are insurance costs (such as liability and health), energy costs, taxes, and tax compliance.[24] In the United Kingdom and Australia, small business owners tend to be more concerned with perceived excessive governmental red tape.[25]

Contracting fraud has been an ongoing problem for small businesses in the United States. Small businesses are legally obligated to receive a fair portion (23 percent) of the total value of all the government's prime contracts as mandated by the Small Business Act of 1953. Since 2002, a series of federal investigations have found fraud, abuse, loopholes, and a lack of oversight in federal small business contracting, which has led to the diversion of billions of dollars in small business contracts to large corporations.

Another problem for many small businesses is termed the 'Entrepreneurial Myth' or E-Myth. The mythic assumption is that an expert in a given technical field will also be an expert at running that kind of business. Additional business management skills are needed to keep a business running smoothly. Some of this misunderstanding arises from the failure to distinguish between small business managers as entrepreneurs or capitalists. While nearly all owner-managers of small firms are obliged to assume the role of capitalist, only a minority will act as entrepreneurs.[26] The line between an owner-manager and an entrepreneur can be defined by whether or not their business is growth-oriented. In general, small business owners are primarily focused on surviving rather than growing; therefore, not experiencing the five stages of the corporate life cycle (birth, growth, maturity, revival, and decline) as an entrepreneur would.[27]

Another problem for many small businesses is the capacity of much larger businesses to influence or sometimes determine their chances for success. Business networking and social media has been used as a major tool by small businesses in the UK, but most of them just use a "scattergun" approach in a desperate attempt to exploit the market which is not that successful.[28] Over half of small firms lack a business plan, a tool that is considered one of the most important factors for a venture's success. Business planning is associated with improved growth prospects. Funders and investors usually require a business plan. A plan also serves as a strategic planning document for owners and CEOs, which can be used as a "bible" for decision-making [29]

An international trade survey indicated that the British share of businesses that are exporting rose from 32% in 2012 to 39% in 2013. Although this may seem positive, in reality, the growth is slow, as small business owners shy away from exporting due to actual and perceived barriers. Learning the basics of a foreign language could be the solution to open doors to new trade markets, it is a reality that not all foreign business partners speak English. China is stated to grow by 7.6% in 2013 and still, 95% of business owners who want to export to China have no desire and no knowledge to learn their local language.[30]

When the small business fails, the owner may file for bankruptcy. In most cases, this can be handled through a personal bankruptcy filing.[31] Corporations can file bankruptcy, but if it is out of business and valuable corporate assets are likely to be repossessed by secured creditors, there is little advantage to going to the expense of a corporate bankruptcy.[32][33] Many states offer exemptions for small business assets so they can continue to operate during and after personal bankruptcy.[34] However, corporate assets are normally not exempt; hence, it may be more difficult to continue operating an incorporated business if the owner files bankruptcy.[35] Researchers have examined small business failures in some depth, with attempts to model the predictability of failure.[36][37]

Small businesses can encounter several problems related to engaging in corporate social responsibility, due to characteristics inherent in their size. Owners of small businesses often participate heavily in the day-to-day operations of their companies. This results in a lack of time for the owner to coordinate socially responsible efforts, such as supporting local charities or not-for-profit activities.[38] Additionally, a small business owner's expertise often falls outside the realm of socially responsible practices, which can contribute to a lack of participation. Small businesses also face a form of peer pressure from larger forces in their respective industries, making it difficult to oppose and work against industry expectations.[38] Furthermore, small businesses undergo stress from shareholder expectations. Because small businesses have more personal relationships with their patrons and local shareholders, they must also be prepared to withstand closer scrutiny if they want to share in the benefits of committing to socially responsible practices or not.[38]

While small businesses employ over half the workforce in the US [39] and have been established as a main driving force behind job creation,[40] the quality of the jobs these businesses create has been called into question. Small businesses generally employ individuals from the Secondary labor market. As a result, in the U.S., wages are 49% higher for employees of large firms.[40] Additionally, many small businesses struggle or are unable to provide employees with benefits they would be given at larger firms. Research from the U.S. Small Business Administration indicates that employees of large firms are 17% more likely to receive benefits including salary, paid leave, paid vacation, bonuses, insurance, and retirement plans.[41] Both lower wages and fewer benefits combine to create a job turnover rate among U.S. small businesses that is three times higher than large firms.[40] Employees of small businesses also must adapt to the higher failure rate of small firms, which means that they are more likely to lose their job due to the firm going under. In the U.S. 69% of small businesses last at least two years, but this percentage drops to 51% for firms reaching five years in operation.[39] The U.S. Small Business Administration counts companies with as much as $35.5 million in sales and 1,500 employees as "small businesses", depending on the industry. Outside government, companies with less than $7 million in sales and fewer than five hundred employees are widely considered small businesses.

Main article: Cyber crime

Cybercrime in the business world can be broken down into 4 main categories. They include loss of reputation and consumer confidence, cost of fixing the issue, loss of capital and assets, and legal difficulties that can come from these problems. Loss of reputation and consumer confidence can be impacted greatly after one attack. Many small businesses will struggle to gain confidence and trust in their customers after being known for having problems prior. The cost of fixing the cyber attack would require experts outside of their field to further the investigation and find the problem. Being down for a business means losing money at the same time. This could halt the online operations and mean the business could potentially be down for a long period of time. Loss of capital and assets ties well in with the cost of fixing the issue. During a cyberattack, a business may lose its funds for that business. Worst-case scenario, a business may actually lose all its working capital and funds. The legal difficulties involved with cybercrime can become pricy and hurt the business itself for not having standard security measures and standards. Security not only for the business but more importantly the customer should be the number one priority when dealing with security protocol.[42]

The monetary dollar damage caused by cybercrime in 2016 equaled out to be over 1.33 billion dollars in the United States alone. In 2016, California alone had over 255 million dollars reported to the IC3. Certain cyber attacks can vary on how long it takes to solve a problem. It can take upwards to 69 days for an average everyday attack on a business. The types of attacks include viruses and malware issues. Employee activities within the workspace can also render a cyber attack. Employees using mobile devices or remote work access off the job makes it easier for a cyber attack to occur.[43]

Although small businesses have close relationships with their existing customers, finding new customers and reaching new markets is a major challenge for small business owners. Small businesses typically find themselves strapped for time to do marketing, as they have to run the day-to-day aspects of the business. To create a continual stream of new business and find new clients and customers, they must work on marketing their business continuously. Low sales (the result of poor marketing) is one of the major reasons for small business failure. Common marketing techniques for small business include business networking (e.g., attending Chamber of Commerce events or trade fairs), "word of mouth" promotion by existing customers, customer referrals, Yellow pages directories, television, radio, and outdoor ads (e.g., roadside billboards), print ads, email, and Internet marketing. TV ads can be quite expensive, so they are normally intended to create awareness of a product or service. Another means by which small businesses can advertise is through the use of "deal of the day" websites such as Groupon and Living Social. These Internet deals encourage customers to patronize small businesses.

Example of keyword analysis based on market competition

Many small business owners find internet marketing more affordable. Google AdWords and Yahoo! Search Marketing are two popular options of getting small business products or services in front of motivated web searchers. Social media has also become an affordable route of marketing for small businesses. It is a fraction of the cost of traditional marketing and small businesses can do it themselves or find small social marketing agencies that they can hire out for a small fee. Statistically, social media marketing has a higher lead-to-close rate than traditional media.[citation needed] Successful online small business marketers are also adept at utilizing the most relevant keywords in their website content. Advertising on niche websites that are frequented by potential customers can also be effective, but with the long tail of the Internet, it can be time-intensive to advertise on enough websites to garner an effective reach.

Creating a business website has become increasingly affordable with many do-it-yourself programs now available for beginners. A website can provide significant marketing exposure for small businesses when marketed through the Internet and other channels. Some popular services are WordPress, Joomla, Squarespace, and Wix. Social media has proven to be very useful in gaining additional exposure for many small businesses. Many small business owners use Facebook and Twitter as a way to reach out to their loyal customers to give them news about specials of the day or special coupons, generate repeat business and reach out to new potential clients. The relational nature of social media, along with its immediacy and twenty-four-hour presence lend an intimacy to the relationships small businesses can have with their customers while making it more efficient for them to communicate with greater numbers. Facebook ads are also a very cost-effective way for small business owners to reach a targeted audience with a very specific message. In addition to the social networking sites, blogs have become a highly effective way for small businesses to position themselves as experts on issues that are important to their customers. This can be done with a proprietary blog and/or by using a back-link strategy wherein the marketer comments on other blogs and leaves a link to the small business's own website. Posting to a blog about the company's business or service area regularly can increase web traffic to a company website.

Marketing plan

• Market research – To produce a marketing plan for small businesses, research needs to be done on similar businesses, which should include desk research (done online or with directories) and field research. This gives an insight into the target group's behavior and shopping patterns. Analyzing the competitor's marketing strategies makes it easier for small businesses to gain market share.
• Marketing mix[44] – Marketing mix is a crucial factor for any business to be successful. Especially for a small business, examining a competitor's marketing mix can be very helpful. An appropriate market mix, which uses different types of marketing, can help to boost sales.
• Product life cycle[45] – After the launch of the business, crucial points of focus should be the growth phase (adding customers, adding products or services, and/or expanding to new markets) and working towards the maturity phase. Once the business reaches the maturity stage, an extension strategy should be in place. Re-launching is also an option at this stage. Pricing strategy should be flexible and based on the different stages of the product life cycle.
• Promotion techniques – It is preferable to keep promotion expenses as low as possible. ‘Word of mouth’, ‘email marketing’, ‘print-ads’ in local newspapers, etc. can be effective.
• Channels of distribution – Selecting an effective channel of distribution may reduce the promotional expenses as well as overall expenses for a small business.

In the US, small businesses (fewer than five hundred employees) account for more than half the non-farm, private GDP and around half the private sector employment.[39] Regarding small business, the top job provider is those with fewer than ten employees, and those with ten or more but fewer than twenty employees comes in as the second, and those with twenty or more but fewer than one hundred employees comes in as the third (interpolation of data from the following references).[46] The most recent data shows firms with fewer than twenty employees account for slightly more than 18% of the employment.[47]

According to "The Family Business Review", "there are approximately seventeen million sole-proprietorship in the US. It can be argued that a sole-proprietorship (an unincorporated business owned by a single person) is a type of family business" and "there are twenty-two million small businesses (fewer than five hundred employees) in the US and approximately 14,000 big businesses". Also, it has been found that small businesses created the newest jobs in communities, "In 1979, David Birch published the first empirical evidence that small firms (fewer than 100 employees) created the newest jobs", and Edmiston claimed that "perhaps the greatest generator of interest in entrepreneurship and small business is the widely held belief that small businesses in the United States create most new jobs. The evidence suggests that small businesses indeed create a substantial majority of net new jobs in an average year." The U.S. Small Business Administration has found small businesses have created two-thirds of net new private-sector jobs in the US since 2007.[48] Local businesses provide competition to each other and also challenge corporate giants. Of the 5,369,068 employer firms in 1995, 78.8 percent had fewer than ten employees, and 99.7 percent had fewer than five hundred employees.[49]

Small businesses in Biloela, Central Queensland, Australia, 1949See also: Small business financing

Small businesses use various sources available for start-up capital:

• Self-financing by the owner through cash savings, equity loan on his or her home, and or other assets
• Loans or financial gifts from friends or relatives
• Grants from private foundations, government, or other sources
• Private stock issue
• Forming partnerships
• Angel investors
• Loans from banks, credit unions, or other financial institutions
• SME finance, including collateral-based lending and venture capital, given sufficiently sound business venture plans

Some small businesses are further financed through credit card debt—usually a risky choice, given that the interest rate on credit cards is often several times the rate that would be paid on a line of credit at a bank or a bank loan and terms can change unpredictably.[50][51] Recent research suggests that the use of credit scores in small business lending by community banks is surprisingly widespread. Moreover, the scores employed tend to be the consumer credit scores of the small business owners rather than the more encompassing small business credit scores that include data on the firms as well as on the owners.[52] Many owners seek a bank loan in the name of their business; however, banks will usually insist on a personal guarantee by the business owner.

In October 2010, Alejandro Cremades and Tanya Prive founded the first equity crowdfunding platform[53] for small businesses in history as an alternative source of financing. The platform operates under the name of Rock The Post.[54]

Several organizations in the United States also provide help for the small business sector, such as the Internal Revenue Service's Small Business and Self-Employed One-Stop Resource.[55] The Small Business Administration (SBA) runs several loan programs that may help a small business secure loans. In these programs, the SBA guarantees a portion of the loan to the issuing bank, and thus, relieves the bank of some of the risk of extending the loan to a small business. The SBA also requires business owners to pledge personal assets and sign as a personal guarantee for the loan. The 8(a) Business Development Program assists in the development of small businesses owned and operated by African Americans, Hispanics, and Asians.[56]

Canadian small businesses can take advantage of federally funded programs and services. See Federal financing for small businesses in Canada (grants and loans).

In the United Kingdom, the Small Business Commissioner (SBC) provides information and advice for small businesses and deals with complaints resolution with specific reference to late payment problems and other unfavourable payment practices. The SBC's role is to make non-binding recommendations advising on how the parties can resolve a dispute.[57]

Small businesses are also encouraged per public policy on taxation. For example, from January 1, 2020, Armenia introduced a special micro-entrepreneurship tax system with a non-taxable base of 24 million AMD. Accordingly, a micro-business will be exempted from taxes other than income tax which will not exceed 5,000 AMD per employee.[58]

Small businesses often join or come together to form organizations to advocate for their causes or to achieve economies of scale that larger businesses benefit from, such as the opportunity to buy cheaper health insurance in bulk. These organizations include local or regional groups such as Chambers of Commerce and independent business alliances, as well as national or international industry-specific organizations. Such groups often serve a dual purpose, as business networks to provide marketing and connect members to potential sales leads and suppliers, and also as advocacy groups, bringing together many small businesses to provide a stronger voice in regional or national politics. In the case of independent business alliances, promoting the value of locally owned, independent business (not necessarily small) through public education campaigns is integral to their work.

The largest regional small business group in the United States is the Council of Smaller Enterprises, located in Greater Cleveland.[59]

United Kingdom Trade and Investment gives out research in different markets around the world, and research in program planning and promotional activities to exporters. The BEXA's (British Exporters Association) role is to connect new exporters to expert services. It can provide details about regional export contacts, who could be made informally to discuss issues. Trade associations and all major banks often provide links to international groups in foreign markets, and some help set up joint ventures and trade fairs.[60]

Several youth organizations, including 4-H, Junior Achievement, and Scouting, have interactive programs and training to help young people run their own small business under adult supervision.[61]

• Business and economics portal
• American Independent Business Alliance
• Big business
• Distributism
• Federation of Small Businesses
• Home business
• Independent telephone company
• Localism (politics) versus transnational corporations
• Market capitalization
• Micro-enterprise
• National Federation of Independent Business
• S corporation
• Small Business Administration
• Small Business Commissioner
• Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)
• Small business software
• Small is Profitable
• Small office/home office
• Small-scale project management
• Small start units

1. ^ K. Hillstrom, and L. C. Hillstrom, eds. Encyclopedia of Small Business (Gale, 2 vol. 2nd ed. 2002).
2. ^ Shailer, Gregory E. P. (1 September 1993). "The irrelevance of organizational boundaries of owner-managed firms". Small Bus Econ. 5 (3): 229–237. doi:10.1007/BF01531920. S2CID 154579337.
3. ^ n. Berger, Allen; f. Udell, Gregory (1 August 1998). "The economics of small business finance: The roles of private equity and debt markets in the financial growth cycle" (PDF). Journal of Banking & Finance. 22 (6–8): 613–673. doi:10.1016/S0378-4266(98)00038-7. ISSN 0378-4266.
4. ^ Small Business Administration. Summary of Size
5. ^ Dilger, Robert Jay (17 April 2018). Small Business Size Standards: A Historical Analysis of Contemporary Issues (PDF). Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
6. ^ Small Business Health Care Tax Credit for Small Employers. IRS.
7. ^ Jump up to:a b European Commission, What is an SME? accessed 18 October 2017
8. ^ European Commission, Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs Revision of the EU SME Definition: Inception Impact Assessment, accessed 18 October 2017
9. ^ Banking Association South Africa, Small Business Definition Archived 5 December 2018 at the Wayback Machine, accessed 18 October 2017
10. ^ Small Businesses joined by Facebook. Steve Kaplan. 2014. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
11. ^ Jump up to:a b "The Surprising Demographics of Small Business Owners". Small Business Labs. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
12. ^ *Healers, S. Purdy, D. Stanworth, C. Watson, A.2004. Franchising as small business growth strategy: A resource-based view organizational development: International small business journal,22(6), pp 539-599
13. ^ Jump up to:a b c "Types of Cooperatives". Nebraska Cooperative Development Center. University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
14. ^ Fox, W.F.; Murray, M.N. (2004). "Do Economic Effects Justify the Use of Fiscal Incentives?". Southern Economic Journal. 71 (1): 78–92. doi:10.2307/4135311. JSTOR 4135311.
15. ^ Longenecker, Justin G.; Carlos W. Moore; J. William Petty; Leslie E. Palich (2008). Small business management: launching and growing entrepreneurial ventures (14th ed.). Cengage Learning. p. 768. ISBN 978-0-324-56972-8. OCLC 191487420.
16. ^ Walczak, D.; Voss, G. (30 September 2013). "New Possibilities of Supporting Polish SMEs within the Jerem

Lay the groundwork for your business before you launch

Every great business has started with an idea, and through hard work and perseverance, became the brands we know and love today. To ensure your idea can take root and flourish, you can use the resources and information available here to help prepare.

1. Expand Your Online Presence

Regardless of the type of business you own, having a strong online presence is essential to your success. Updating your company information in CreditPlayers LLC online Business Directory makes it easy by exposing your business to:

• 16 million unique views per month
• More than 60 online search platforms, including Apple Maps, YP.com, Nextdoor, and Yahoo

We offer a simple solution where you can claim and maintain a consistent business identity across the web at all times, so your customers can quickly find you whenever they need you.

2. Save Time Finding Your Best Audience

CreditPlayers LLC Now Consumer Basic and CreditPlayers LLC Business Plan™ Now (powered by Meta Global) Disney Advertising offer small businesses access to the same digital marketing technology that larger companies use to help find and engage their best new customers quickly but at a fraction of the cost.

3. Understand Your Site Visitors and Convert Them Into Pipeline

De-anonymize web traffic, and determine how to best convert these visitors into pipeline. All you need to do is plug in to get started!

Continued

Creditworthiness is how a company is evaluated or considered by another company to determine if they’re “creditworthy.” If you’re a company seeking a line of business credit, imagine how your suppliers might view you and what their concerns might be when considering if and how to work with your company. Most of the time, it all boils down to this: Is your company capable of paying the invoice in full, on time, and within terms?

Most companies that extend business credit have a set of criteria that they use to determine a customer’s creditworthiness. These criteria can be both subjective and objective. Subjective criteria can include things like whether the customer seems easy to work with or comes across as honest and trustworthy over the phone or in person. Objective criteria tend to include things such as whether your financial statements show you have sufficient cash flow to pay the invoice or whether your trade references show your company has previously paid on time.

One of the most well-known formulas to determine creditworthiness is the “5Cs of credit”: capacity, capital, character, collateral, and conditions. After reading about the 5Cs of credit, imagine again how your company may be perceived by a supplier evaluating you for trade credit.

Capacity – What is the business’s financial capacity to pay its invoices? Does it have sufficient cash flow? Is it heavily saddled with debt? Business credit applications typically ask the applicant to supply bank references, trade references, and financial statements. These documents will reveal the applicant’s capacity to pay. If an applicant can’t provide financials or references, credit managers will need to find other ways to assess the company’s capacity to pay. Many consult business credit reports which contain scores and ratings that can reveal a potential credit risk.

Capital – Capital describes the financial and non-financial assets that a business holds, as well the amount of money the business owners have invested in their company. If the financial assets listed in the financial statement demonstrate growth (such as owning instead of renting a vehicle fleet), that may imply a lower risk of non-payment. Of course, having a financial statement makes it easier for a credit manager to assess the credit-seeker’s capital strength.

Some industries are more capital-intensive than others, and this is where the non-financial assets – including real estate, inventory, machinery, and other equipment – can be helpful in determining creditworthiness. Those industries that require major investments in inventory and equipment may seem riskier than those that operate with a lower overhead, but this is where the credit manager’s expertise comes into play. Their knowledge of various industries and trends can help assess financial strength.

Character – Credit managers use a character judgement to help determine if an applicant seems willing to honor their debt. Trade references, payment records, and a clean legal history in the business credit report help illustrate character. Otherwise, character is subjective, and many used to consider it the most important “C.” Before credit decisions were automated, the credit profession placed a strong emphasis on the applicant’s character and the professional relationship between the customer and the credit manager. If they knew their customer’s business well, they would be more willing to work with that customer account in times of slow payments. A customer that doesn’t return phone calls or emails may wind up having their invoice sent to collections, which can hurt the business’s chances for future credit requests.

Collateral – Applicants with a questionable credit history may be asked to put up collateral to secure their debt obligation for a high line of credit, the same as any other type of loan. Here, the inventory, machinery, and other equipment noted under Capital as assets can be used as collateral. While collateral offsets the lender’s risk, it’s important to remember companies would rather work out a payment plan with their customers than try to seize an asset as part of the collections process.

Conditions – Conditions allows the credit manager to look at the big picture and consider economic conditions within the applicant’s industry, its competition, and its geographic location, to name a few. For example, two companies of the same industry and the same size each seek a line of credit, but one is located in a city with thriving demand and the other is located in a smaller market and has been losing customers to the competition for years. The thriving company seems low risk, but the other one may have growth potential if it has recently changed its business strategy to account for the competitive impact. Stepping back and considering macro-level conditions and opportunities for growth enables credit managers to make more calculated risk decisions.

 A traditional loan is a bank loan, pure and simple. But often there’s nothing simple about acquiring one of these loans, even if you go through the Small Business Administration. Click below to find more information on the different kinds of traditional lenders and advice on how to prepare to meet with them. 

 Many small businesses start out using personal assets, reaching out to friends and family, or, in a few cases, obtaining venture capital to get their companies off the ground. Eventually, many business owners reach a point where in order to grow or protect their businesses, they need to seek outside funding. Depending on the circumstances for the company, a small business loan from a traditional lender can be an attractive option. 

SBA and the Community Navigators are your ideal partners

There is so much that SBA can offer when you want to start, manage, or grow a small business. Do you need to understand your loan options and get advice on working with a lender? How about some guidance on reaching new customers?  We are happy to help you with advice, resources, and mentorship.

Our Community Navigator Pilot Program strengthens outreach to businesses by working with organizations that have deep connections in communities like yours, so you can access SBA assistance easily.

Brought to life by the American Rescue Plan, this SBA program connects business owners to critical resources and assistance. Community Navigators are experienced guides who can advise you on the opportunities SBA provides, including:

• Affordable loans and other types of financing.
• Marketing and business development.
• Operations improvement.
• Industry-specific training for you and your employees.
• Import and export opportunities.

Powering Small Business

Entrepreneurs and innovators come from all over the world to start a small business idea with CreditPlayers LLC, Reading Pa, United States From photographers and furniture makers to artists and acupuncturists, our small businesses are as diverse as the Credit community itself.

We are proud to serve such a wide range of businesses, and our Business Launch small business assistance program offers curated support that helps small businesses grow and thrive.

Small Business Focus: Business Relocation: A Case Study

Relocating a small business to a new space is a significant undertaking that presents many challenges. Moving to a different location can be a daunting task for small businesses, whether due to expansion, cost considerations or changes in the business landscape. When Reena Bawa, Founder of,  Beauty Fair Hairstylist's learned she needed to find a new location after running her Columbia Pike business at the same location for  more than 35 years  the process seemed daunting. Luckily, she  sought  professional help assistance and found her a new space for her business.

First and foremost, finding a suitable space that meets the needs of the business can be a significant hurdle. Generally, this process can take one to three years. Particularly along vacant retail space can be hard to find, and with low supply, rents are rising.

For businesses facing a relocation decision, reach out to CreditPlayers LLC as early as possible, as finding a suitable space for your business can take some time. Schedule a meet with one of our experts today. For more information about CreditPlayers LLC, visit  Www.CreditPlayers.Pro/howwehelp 

Email Confidential@creditplayers.pro

Expert Advice

CreditPlayers LLC offers a variety of free, business coaching, counseling and consulting services designed specifically to help our small business communities  overcome any hurdle. 

With 14 years'  experience, our team is adept at quickly assessing where you are in the process, what your greatest need is and how we can best assist you.

One-on-one Counseling from CreditPlayers LLC

Figuring out how to open a business in any jurisdiction can be difficult. Every county has a different process and it often involves dealing with multiple departments. 

CreditPlayers LLC offers free, one-on-one business counseling, in English and  Spanish, to help local small businesses navigate the process. These personalized session are individually-tailored to your needs and concerns. Our team can help review your business plan, provide tips on how to navigate the County's requirements, match you with a mentor and so much more.

Whether you’re looking to start a small business or grow your small business, we’re here to help you succeed. Reach out to schedule an appointment by selecting one of the five options below. 

https://creditplayers.pro/pricing

Starting a business is a daunting task. But you don’t have to go it alone. We can help. Tell us more about your needs and we will match you with the staff person best suited to assist you.

As a  small business owner, you don’t have time to sift through countless resources and web sites to find what you need to start, grow or manage your business. That's why we created this resource center.

Here, we've pulled together a thoughtfully selected set of articles, how-to videos and templates that will help you tackle branding, financial management, customer service, record keeping and more. Not sure where to begin? Call (484)258-2025 Talk to one of our Chief Executives  and we will help you get started.

Small Business Focus: National Small Business Week

National Small Business Week is a time to celebrate the contributions of small businesses to our economy and to our communities. From April 30 to May 6, 2023, we recognize the hard work and dedication of small business owners and entrepreneurs who are the backbone of our local economy. This week is an opportunity to shine a light on the challenges faced by small businesses and to provide resources and support to help them thrive.

What Is Business Insurance?

In the United States, there are approximately 

33.2 MM small businesses. If you’re among them or want to join their ranks, you may wonder whether getting business insurance is a smart move or if it’s potentially unnecessary. After all, small business insurance typically costs between

 $ 14 - $340 per month https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business-insurance/small-business-insurance-cost/, depending on the type of policies or the number of policies you get. Depending on your income level, higher rates could be a significant strain on your budget.

However, by understanding a bit more about what business insurance provides, it’s easier to see the value it offers. Here’s what you need to know about business insurance.

Business insurance is a type of financial safety net that protects you against business-related losses and provides funds in specific situations. Essentially, it’s meant to limit your financial exposure. When a qualifying incident occurs, the insurance company compensates you for the related losses or expenses.

There are multiple types of business insurance, each offering a unique kind of protection. For example, some focus on physical property, such as equipment and materials. If the covered items are stolen or damaged in a covered incident, such as a fire, the business receives funds that can help repurchase or repair the property.

Business insurance works similarly to the other types of insurance most people are familiar with, such as homeowner’s, renter’s, or auto insurance. The policies provide coverage for specific events, situations, or property. Then, when a qualifying incident occurs, policyholders can contact their insurer to file a claim.

The claims-filing process varies depending on the type of business insurance you have in place. For property insurance, you might need documentation showing it’s a qualifying incident, such as a police report if the claim is related to theft or vandalism. A list of the damaged items is also often necessary, and an adjuster may need to come in to view the damage to move the claim forward.

For liability-related business insurance, documentation is primarily what’s needed. That could include copies of lawsuit documents, for example. Typically, the insurer will outline what’s required to support the claim, giving you clear guidance.

Once the claim is approved, the policyholder receives compensation from the insurer. After that, they can use the funds to recoup money spent or fund further activities related to the claim.

What business insurance protects against depends on the type of policy purchased. As mentioned above, property insurance focuses on physical items like equipment, materials, inventory, signage, and furnishings. Professional liability insurance works differently, as it’s primarily designed to offset the financial burden created by claims of negligence or failure to meet contract terms.

Home-based business insurance covers business-related assets that aren’t addressed in homeowner’s insurance policies. Product liability insurance provides coverage for damages experienced by others who use your product.

Ultimately, the type of business insurance you choose determines the protections available through the policy. As a result, it’s wise to look at the available options to find a policy (or set of policies) that addresses the specific needs of your business.

Did you know that 40% of small businesses are uninsured? Additionally, most insured small businesses are inadequately protected because 75% of them are underinsured.

Despite this low uptake, business insurance is proving to be necessary. One in three small businesses faces an insurable event in a year. They face contract disputes, employee injury, customer injury, and property damage risks. To protect yourself, you need to apply for business insurance.

Courtesy: seb_ra/iStock

Business insurance offers financial protection if your small business faces risks that affect operations. It is a risk management tool used to help cater for events including employee injury, injury caused by your products or services, fire events, extreme weather events, and burglary.

You need to contact a licensed insurance broker who’ll assess your business’s risks. This professional will then advise on the insurance company’s policies and the premiums to pay annually.

Whenever an insurable event such as an employee injury happens, the insurance company will help cover the costs. Depending on your agreement, you’ll pay an amount of money to help cover the expenses before the insurance company settles the bill. This is known as a deductible.

An insurance company won’t pay for an event that you aren’t covered for. For example, a commercial property insurance policy will cover the loss of business property but won’t help settle bills when a worker is injured at work. You, therefore, should ensure that you’re sufficiently protected.

To do this, you need to understand the different types of business insurance.

 Courtesy: atakan/iStock

Workers’ compensation insurance is necessary when you have employees. This will protect them when they fall ill or get injured on the job.

Professional liability insurance is important if you offer services. Consultants, including doctors, need this to protect themselves against negligence suits and other work-related errors. In medicine, for example, 41% of Americans believe to have experienced medical malpractice at some point. Despite this, only a few people file for medical malpractice suits. Although medical malpractice suits aren’t prevalent, they are costly, sometimes costing as much as $100,000. So, you better get covered, to be safe.

Product liability insurance is very different from professional liability insurance. While the latter covers services, the former covers products. Product liability insurance is, therefore, vital for product-oriented businesses. This covers damages caused by the product. In 2020, 11 million Americans were treated for injuries caused by consumer products. Product liability lawsuits are not limited to particular products. Everything is fair game.

Commercial property insurance protects businesses with a brick-and-mortar location. Inventory, equipment, office space, furniture, and signage, among other items, are protected in case of a burglary. Fire is covered too with this policy, but you should talk to your insurance agent to know the extent to which you’re covered. Usually, there’s the basic, broad, and special form cover for fires. Read the fine print.

Key person insurance covers important individuals who are critical to the business, such as the owner, or top executive. The insurance company helps find a replacement and covers losses if the worst-case scenario happens and that individual can no longer run the company.

General liability insurance covers third-party bodily injuries, personal and advertising injuries, and third-party property damage. If you can’t afford all necessary policies, ensure that you at least get this one.

So, once you get an idea of policies to pay for, it’s time to find a good business insurance policy. But are you eligible?

 Courtesy: designer491/iStock

In general, every business is legally required in the United States to have business insurance. Businesses with employees must have unemployment, workers’ compensation, and disability insurance. There’s additional coverage that’s legally required depending on your state. It’s a requirement in Michigan, for instance, for all business owned-vehicles to get commercial auto insurance. Bodily injury coverage and personal injury protection are a must.

Eligibility for business insurance also depends on the policy you want to take. Business Owner’s Policy (BOP) is an excellent choice because it covers both property and liability coverage with a discount. This deal, however, has criteria you must meet.

Your business should have fewer than 100 employees, earn less than a million dollars annually, and have a physical location. It should also operate in a low-risk industry and need less than a year of business interruption insurance. Business interruption insurance covers lost income when your business operations are interrupted.

Now that you’re eligible, how do you apply for business insurance?

Courtesy: kasayizgi/iStock

You need to identify a reputable licensed agent. There are almost 6,000 insurance companies in the United States. The easiest way to shop around is by asking for recommendations from friends and family. You can also use your social media platforms and online forums to get ideas. Prepare a list of all mentioned companies and do thorough research on them. Read about them online by visiting their website and reading online reviews. Also, visit their offices to assess issues such as customer service.

You can then understand the insurance company’s financial strength. Be keen on the claims settlements honored and how easy the process is. Once impressed, you can then look at the cost of cover by your company of choice.

There’s always room for cheaper insurance through discounts. Business insurance discounts generally include loyalty, safety, group, and bundling discounts. Talk to your insurance sales rep to understand what more you can do to qualify for further discounts.

Get the paperwork done once satisfied by everything your company of choice offers. Ensure that you understand your insurance contract. Exclusions should be well stated.

 Courtesy: Ridofranz/iStock

Business insurance protects your business against several risks, such as losing executive members. You’re legally required to take business insurance but should ensure that you’re eligible for specific policies such as the Business Owners’ Policy. Remember to read the insurance contract to understand the exclusions. Shop around by asking friends and family for recommendations, assess your companies of choice, then settle on necessary policies for your business.

30 (Legal) Ways to Boost Your Bank Account This Week

If you needed extra money, like, yesterday, you’ve come to the right spot.

Our team has compiled a list of creative ways you can fatten your bank account this month. Certainly, there’s something here that fits your needs.

If you’re turning blue in the face waiting for a raise at work, it might be time to quit holding your breath and start speaking your mind to someone who wants to listen.

Brands want to hear your opinion to help inform their business decisions on everything from products and services to logos and ads — and they’re willing to pay you up to $140 a month for it.

A free site called Branded Surveys will pay you up to $5 per survey for sharing your thoughts with their brand partners. Taking three quick surveys a day could earn up to $140 each month.

It takes just a minute to create a free account and start getting paid to speak your mind. Most surveys take five to 15 minutes, and you can check how long they’ll take ahead of time. 

And you don’t need to build up tons of money to cash out, either — once you earn $5, you can cash out via PayPal, your bank account, a gift card or Amazon. You’ll get paid within 48 hours of your payout being processed, just for sharing your opinions.

They’ve already paid users more than $20 million since 2012, and the most active users can earn a few hundred dollars a month. Plus, they’ve got an “excellent” rating on Trustpilot.

It takes just a minute to set up your account and start getting paid to take surveys. Plus, right now, you’ll get a free 100-point welcome bonus just for becoming part of the community.

If we told you that you could get paid to watch videos on your computer, you’d probably laugh.

It’s too good to be true, right?

But we’re serious. A website called InboxDollars will pay you to watch short video clips online. One minute you might watch someone bake brownies and the next you might get the latest updates on Kardashian drama.

All you have to do is choose which videos you want to watch and answer a few quick questions about them afterward.

No, InboxDollars won’t replace your full-time job, but it’s something easy you can do while you’re already on the couch tonight wasting time on your phone.

Unlike other sites, InboxDollars pays you in cash — no points or gift cards. It’s already paid its users more than $56 million.

It takes about one minute to sign up, and you’ll immediately get a $5 bonus to get you started.

Wouldn’t it be nice if you got an alert when you’re shopping online at Amazon and are about to overpay?

That’s exactly what this free service does.

Just add it to your browser for free, and before you check out, it’ll check other websites to see if your item is available for cheaper. Let’s say you’re shopping for a new smart vacuum, and you assume you’ve found the best price. Here’s when you’ll get a pop up letting you know if that exact vacuum is available elsewhere for cheaper. If there are any available coupon codes, they’ll also automatically be applied to your order.

In the last year, this has saved people $160 million.

You can get started in just a few clicks to see if you’re overpaying online.

Need a little extra cash to pay off credit card debt, remodel your house or to buy a big purchase?

We found a company willing to help.

Here’s how it works: If your credit score is at least 620, Fiona can help you borrow up to $50,000 (no collateral needed) with fixed rates starting at 5.99% and terms from 6 to 144 months.

Fiona won’t make you stand in line or call a bank. And if you’re worried you won’t qualify, it’s free to check online. It takes just two minutes, and it could save you thousands of dollars.

Totally worth it.

Chances are you do a lot of your shopping online. Whether it’s pet food, toilet paper or even gifts, you’re probably leaving money on the table.

A free website called Rakuten has the hookup with just about every online store you shop, including Walmart and Target, which means it can give you a kickback every time you buy.

In fact, since Denver resident Colleen Rice started using Rakuten, it’s sent her checks in the mail totaling $526.44. For doing nothing. Seriously. Rice says she uses Rakuten for things she already has to buy, like rental cars and flights.

It takes less than 60 seconds to create a Rakuten account and start shopping. All you need is an email address, then you can immediately start shopping your go-to stores through the site.

When was the last time you compared car insurance rates? Chances are you’re seriously overpaying with your current policy. 

If it’s been more than six months since your last car insurance quote, you should look again. 

And if you look through a website called CheapRatesOnline, you could save yourself up to $500 a year*.

It takes just two minutes to answer some questions, and CheapRatesOnline’s smart matching technology will show you the insurance providers that are the best fit for you. And don’t worry — CheapRatesOnline uses advanced data security and encryption technology, so all your details are safe. 

The website is free to use and can even save you up to an additional 20% if you add another vehicle to your policy. You could be paying as little as $19 a month* for car insurance.

CheapRatesOnline has already helped millions of people find affordable car insurance. See how much money you could save with a new policy.

Our smartphones are the world’s greatest time-killers. You can browse Facebook; watch a video; download a new app.

You’re doing all this anyway — why not get paid for it? With a website called KashKick, you could get paid for things like answering survey questions or downloading an app — up to $100 per app.

You can also earn money by playing games, watching videos and reading emails, but surveys are the main way to make money.

Once you earn $10 in your account, you can immediately get paid via Paypal. This is an easy way to make a little extra money while you’re killing time on your couch. All you need is your phone or computer.

It takes just a minute to sign up, and you’ll immediately earn $1 just for completing your profile on the site. You’ll be that much closer to cashing out.

We get it. There are kids to drop off at school, errands to run and dinner to cook, so the idea of getting a full-time job without any flexibility just doesn’t work for a lot of people.

Truth be told, life would be a lot easier if you could just make money without leaving the house. But that’s not something most employers offer. But have you considered bookkeeping? It’s the No. 1 most profitable business, according to an article in Inc Magazine.

And you could earn up to $69 an hour by starting your own bookkeeping business, according to Intuit, the creator of QuickBooks.

You don’t have to be an accountant or good at calculus to be successful at bookkeeping. As long as you’re motivated, a company called Bookkeepers.com will teach you everything you need to know. It’s one of the leading training courses in the field, and it even gives you the first three classes for free.

It’s helped thousands of people launch their own businesses, including Daniel Honan, a military veteran and former painter. He never considered starting his own company, but he signed up for Bookkeepers.com, and now he’s making $50,000 a year.

It only took him three months to get started, taking one class a week. Oh, and he makes his own schedule, earns up to $69 an hour and is able to spend more time with his wife than ever.

If you’re just a little curious, you just have to submit your email address here to take the first free class. If you stick with it, you could be running your own business in just a few months.

Taking surveys might not sound like the best way to make money, but if you’re just vegging out on the couch — or pretending to be interested in your partner’s new favorite show — why not click a couple buttons? It could earn you up to $40 a month. Seriously.

There are a bunch of paid survey sites out there, but one of the best we’ve found is Survey Junkie.

They’ll ask you questions about things like, what kind of laundry detergent you use, or if you prefer Pepsi or Coke. You get points for answering, and many people accumulate enough points to request a check within a few hours. Completing just three surveys a day can earn you as much as $40 a month.

More than 20 million people already use Survey Junkie, and it has 4.5/5 stars on TrustPilot. Give it a try by visiting Survey Junkie and clicking the “Join Now” button. It’s free.

Got an eye for great service? <strong>You could make money — and get the occasional free meal — as a mystery shopper.

Companies want to know the employees serving their customers are putting a good face on the brand. Because a CEO of a&nbsp; huge chain can’t pull an “Undercover Boss” every week, many companies send mystery shoppers into the field to rate the customer experience.

This can be a simple way to make extra money — if you’re efficient. Here’s what to do — and what not to do — if you want to be a successful mystery shopper.

Swagbucks is definitely a reader favorite, probably because of the wide variety of ways to make money beyond taking surveys. It’s also famous for handing out free rewards points (called SBs) at random just for being a member.

You’ll get SBs for each survey you qualify for and complete that you can redeem for cash via Paypal or gift cards to a number of popular retailers, including Amazon.

Even better? You’ll earn a 500 SB (or $5) bonus when you sign up and earn 2,500 SB within your first 60 days.

The craft beer industry is hoppin’, so take advantage of it by, well, getting paid to visit breweries.

When you sign up as a mystery shopper, it’s your job to go to a grocery store, gas station, restaurant or, in this case, a breweries, and provide anonymous feedback.

Now, you can get paid to mystery shop — and drink — at breweries in your area through Secret Hopper. (Clever, right?)

The company is looking for detail-oriented beer-drinkers to hop around to different breweries and objectively rate and review their experiences. One Penny Hoarder gave the gig a try. He paid $16 on his visit to a local brewery. Secret Hopper paid him $20 via PayPal within a few days.

So, no, you’re not going to get rich, but you will get free beer, and that makes us hoppy.

All you have to do is sign up, then it’ll contact you when you’re needed.

Affiliate marketing is simple in theory: Link to products, and when people use your coded link to visit and buy something, you make a commission.

People can make hundreds of dollars monthly from affiliate sales. Search “affiliate program” or “associates” plus the name of a product to locate something specific to promote, or sell just about anything as an Amazon Associate.

Selling Craigslist freebies is a great way to make a profit quickly, because you get the items for free. You could even have cash in hand today.

Go to the free section on Craigslist and look for things that are close to you and easy to sell immediately. They could be scraps from a job site or metal items you can sell, for example.

For a quick turnaround, avoid items like furniture or electronics. These can be good to sell, but they’ll take longer.

Cash in your treasures by reselling on Craigslist, including them in a rummage sale or selling to specialty buyers, like a pawn shop or a local business.

Cities around the country are filled with two things: incredible restaurants and busy people.

You can help connect them by delivering food through DoorDash.

As a “Dasher,” you’ll work as an independent contractor, setting your own hours and working as much or little as you want, meaning how much you can make is up to you.

You’ll earn a $6 fee for each delivery, plus keep 100% of your tips. Depending on the day, you could earn up to $25 an hour. If you drive full time, that’s $1,000 a week!

For a real-life case, Jose Neri, a former Dasher in California, reports earning $500 to $600 a week working just lunches and dinners. They could take about two-and-a-half deliveries an hour, and users would tip between 10% and 15%.

All you need to get started is an insured vehicle or a bicycle and a smartphone. You should be at least 18 years old and have a minimum two years’ driving experience.

If you’re interested in becoming a Dasher, you can learn more here.

What did you think of the new Spiderman movie? Is a hot dog a sandwich? Who’s your favorite Real Housewife?

The research company, MyPoints, has paid people over $236 million to answer poll questions like that over the past 23 years.

And they’re currently recruiting new panelists. You can do it right on your phone, and you’ll even earn a $5 bonus when you sign up and complete your first five polls.

Any extra money you can put toward your credit cards is good in our book — but in this editor’s opinion, no, a hot dog is not a sandwich.

A mock or surrogate juror reviews evidence and renders a decision to help lawyers prepare for real cases. Participation usually requires a full day cooped up in a hotel conference room.

Fortunately, there are online surrogate juror options, too: eJury and OnlineVerdict. Those opportunities pay $5 to $60, but they can take less than an hour.

To qualify as an online juror, applicants must be:

• A U.S. citizen
• 18 years or older
• Free of any past felony convictions

Creating an account for either site above is free but will require a questionnaire that will ask very personal questions about your age, marital status, criminal history, income, political opinions and more.

You know all those flyers and advertisements you get in the mail each day? The ones you never wanted but have no idea how to opt out of?

Well, you can turn them into cash.

The Small Business Knowledge (SBK) Center is a market research company that wants to get a peep insight your mailbox. Join its consumer panel, and start shoveling that junk mail into a postage-paid envelope and, at the end of each week, send it over to the SBK Center.

No, you won’t be rolling in extra cash, but you can earn up to $20 every six to 10 weeks.

Bottom line: HealthyWage will literally pay you for losing weight.

Not only are you getting more healthy, you’re also making some money. How’s that for motivation?

Here’s how it works:

1. Read more about HealthyWage, and sign up.
2. Define a goal weight and the amount of time you’ll give yourself to achieve it.
3. Place a bet on yourself ranging from $20 to $500 a month.

Depending on how much you have to lose, how long you give yourself to do it and how much money you put on the table, you could win up to $10,000!

Wondering if it can really work? We talked to one woman, Christina Castro, who lost 84 pounds — and made $1,191.

Data entry isn’t the best-paying online job, but it is one you can do with few skills or previous experience — all you need is a solid internet connection and a computer, and you must be at least 18 years old.

Pay ranges on a per-hour or per-project basis. Typically, you can pick up jobs as frequently as you’d like through freelance broker sites like Smart Crowd and Clickworker.

Search engines use complicated algorithms to determine the results you see — and they don’t always get it right.

They’re vulnerable to errors, so they need real humans to look at the results and judge them for quality, relevance and usefulness. And those humans can get paid around $12 an hour for the work.

If you want to get paid to clean up Google’s mess (or Bing’s or Yahoo!’s), look for a job as a search engine evaluator.

Tech company Lionbridge is typically hiring for these jobs, and it pays $12 to $15 an hour.

Here’s the thing about investing: The sooner you start, the better. And we found a company that will give you free stock to get started. 

An investing app called Robinhood will give you free stock worth between $2.50 and $200 just for downloading its free app and funding your account. 

Yeah, you’ve probably heard of Robinhood. Both investing beginners and pros love it because it doesn’t charge commission fees, and you can buy and sell stocks for free — no limits. Plus, it’s super easy to use.

Whether you’ve got $5, $100 or $800 to spare, it takes just a couple of minutes to sign up, fund your account and get your free stock — a nice boost to help you build your investments.

Selling your possessions on the auction site eBay is one way to pocket some cash quickly.

You can also make money by buying designer clothes for cheap, then selling them on the site to the highest bidder. If you have an eye for fashion — or at least the most popular labels — you can track down inventory at local thrift stores.

Create listings for your items, making sure to include well-written item descriptions and quality photographs to give your listings a professional polish (and get top dollar). Check out similar items to get a sense of where to set your starting bid, and be sure to incorporate the costs of shipping and eBay’s seller fees into your price.

Penny Hoarder Kat Tretina resold designer jeans by starting with a minimal investment — packaging tape and a scale to weigh packages for shipping — and ended up more than tripling her money.

How much money can you make? Your profitability depends upon what you’re selling, but for working 10 to 15 hours a month, Tretina made $500 to $800.

Working from home is wonderful, but sometimes it’s nice just to experience a new space — perhaps in a new town or a new country.

Consider house sitting. People will pay you big bucks to look after their house (and maybe a pet or two) while they’re away.

If you’re not sure where to find these types of gigs, there are tons of websites out there that’ll help, including House Sitters America and Mind My House.

Want to start your own website? Turn it into some money?

It’ll take quite a bit of dedication, but it can really pay off.

Take, for example, Helene Sula, a professional travel blogger who visited more than 85 cities last year and earned $200,000, in part through her blog, “Helene in Between.”

We recommend you start by building up your high-quality content. Then you can look into advertising platforms like Google AdSense, a tool that automatically serves your readers display ads. The price advertisers pay varies, so there’s no way to say how much you can make using Google AdSense, but you’ll get paid when a reader interacts with the ad.

If you want all the details, check out our guide to starting a blog, gaining page views and monetizing it.

Have you heard of a luchador?

It’s a masked Mexican wrestler, and San Diego resident Motros Jungle (whose real name remains a secret per the tradition of luchadores) makes extra money hopping into the ring each weekend.

“You go from being just a regular, average Joe to becoming a superhero as soon as you put the mask on,” he says.

Motros Jungle says he makes anywhere fro $200 to $500 for three matches during the weekend. That doesn’t include merch — T-shirts, stickers, buttons and masks.

Learn more about what it takes to become a luchador.

Your mom was wrong. Playing video games might not be a waste of your time after all.

Cory Michael started streaming his gaming sessions and over four years attracted 29 million people to watch him tackle Destiny and other multiplayer online games. As a result, Twitch accepted his partnership application and agreed to pay him to play.

How much money can you make? Michael explained to The Penny Hoarder that there are three ways to make money streaming on Twitch: tipping, ad revenue and subscriptions. Top Twitch streamers can earn hundreds of thousands of dollars per month.

Got a Ping-Pong table you don’t use? Someone might need it for a party, so why not rent it out? You can make money with almost anything in your home now thanks to websites like Zilok that make it easy to rent out your stuff.

Zilok is free for individual members to create listings, but rental businesses have to pay fees. To list your item on Zilok, you’ll have to create a post with a description, photos and a price per day. Once a renter finds your product, Zilok takes a commission depending on the listing price. For everything under $10, the commission fee is $1. Fees range between 5% and 9% for all other price categories.

Get paid to be someone’s buddy! We’re not kidding.

You can register to become a friend at RentAFriend.com, where paying users can contact you to attend concerts, sporting events, family functions, VIP events and more.

You can charge up to $50 an hour and set your own schedule.

Friends working full time (five days a week) earn up to $2,000 a week, plus free dinners and access to those events I mentioned.

What could you do as a friend for 40 hours a week?

First of all, the site clarifies that it is “solely a platonic friendship website” — beyond that, options are endless.

If you have a special skill, like cooking or speaking a foreign language, you could teach them. Some people traveling or new to an area hire a friend to show them the town.

Some people just want someone to talk to.

Unfortunately, we haven’t found a way to get paid as a professional napper, but this opportunity is pretty darn close: NASA will pay volunteers to take part in bed rest studies.

Yup — you turn yourself into a test subject and spend 60 days in bed, all in the name of science.

It might be tougher than you think, though. You’ve got to shower, dress, exercise and eat… all from your bed.

The good news is the gig pays. One of the more recent calls for volunteers offered $19,000 for 60 days.

Delivering deep insights about your most valuable relationships by applying machine learning, AI, industry experience, and understanding to your data and ours. 

CreditPlayers LLC  Models, Ratings, Scores and Predictors (“Analytics”) are derived from data elements comprising a collection of firmographic data sets, which include data about basic business attributes (e.g., industry, business size and business age), and contributed data sets https://creditplayers.pro/business-development-%F0%9F%92%BC  as well as the historical performance of such data sets.

Not all data elements of basic or contributed data sets are available to us for all businesses. In instances where data elements are not available, Analytics for such businesses may be estimated based on benchmark data derived from appropriate peer groups associated with basic business attributes that are substituted for the absent data elements. The replacement data, which is an estimate, may not result in the calculation of the same Analytics that would be calculated for a business if a business’s actual data elements were available and used instead.

CreditPlayers LLC obtains data from external sources it believes to be accurate and reliable, but CreditPlayers LLC is not an auditor and undertakes no duty of due diligence or independent verification of any information it receives. Because of the possibility of human or mechanical error, the data provided to CreditPlayers LLC may include inaccuracies or errors, which may in turn affect the performance of certain Analytics.

In some cases, you may be able to supplement the data about your business in our data sets. If you are a principal of a private organization based in the US and would like to view the basic information we have on your business, you may do so using our free solution,  you can submit updates or dispute information, subject to review, validation and potential acceptance by CreditPlayers LLC at https://creditplayers.pro/m/login?r=%2Ffirst-class-membership   you may contact our Customer Service team at Wisdom@creditPlayers.Pro and select the Contact Customer Service button to submit updates or dispute information, subject to review, validation and potential acceptance by CreditPlayers LLC

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Every business decision, to some degree, represents an assumption of risk. Our Analytics are predictions, but CreditPlayers LLC cannot guarantee the performance of such Analytics for each individual business. Further, CreditPlayers LLC  Analytics do not take into account every risk that might affect a business or your specific business, including but not limited to other economic factors or changing market conditions. Our Analytics should not be relied on and are not a substitute for the skill, judgment and experience of the user of our Analytics, its management, employees, advisors and/or clients when making business decisions. Finally, past performance does not guarantee or indicate future results.

Further, our Analytics do not take into account the individual circumstances of each user of our Analytics. Therefore, each user should evaluate and use our Analytics based on individual circumstances and specific credit analysis needs. Nothing in any of our Analytics is an endorsement or a determination of a business’s qualification for a loan, or any other extension of credit. CreditPlayers LLC does not represent that its Analytics are identical or similar to any other credit score or score model.

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A business idea is a concept that can be used for financial gain that is usually centered on a product or service that can be offered for money. An idea is the first milestone in the process of building a successful business.

The characteristics of a promising business idea are:

• Innovative
• Unique
• Problem solving
• Profitable
• Understandable

A business idea is often linked to its creator who needs to identify the business's value proposition in order to launch to market and establish competitive advantage.

For businesses, this could mean: creating new ideas, new product development through research and development, or improving existing services. Innovation can be the central focus of a business and this can help them to grow and become a market leader if they execute their ideas properly. Businesses that are focused on innovation are usually more efficient, cost-effective, and productive. Successful innovation should be built into the business strategy, where you can create a culture of innovation and drive forward creative problem-solving.[1]

• Apple was a $2 billion company in 1997, then it jumped to a $700 billion valuation in 2015 as a result of the innovation that came from the Macbook, iPod, iPad, and iPhone.[2]
• Tesla built an electric car with exceptional aesthetics and efficiency, which has helped build the electric sports car company earn a market capitalization of $33 billion, with revenues up 54% since 2014.[3]
• Uber was founded in 2009 and has become a $50 billion company in just 6 years, with its simple yet unusual idea of getting a taxi with the press of a button that has completely revolutionized the way we book taxis.[4]

These successful companies were built on sheer innovation and we can see how valuable they have become in the short time they have been around or have been focusing on innovation. When Tesla's value is compared to that of General Motors, we see that the market capitalization of General Motors is $53.98 billion today [5] in which the company has been around since 1908 [6] whereas Tesla was founded in 2003 [7] and has achieved 50% of General Motors value within 12 years.

A unique selling point (USP) is the factor that makes a company or a product stand out from its competitors, whether it is through; pricing, quality, customer service or innovation.[8]

Each successful company has a unique selling proposition (USP). A USP can be created through the element of being first to a market, for example Uber was the first company to allow for taxicab hailing via mobile app.[9] Because Uber had reached this market first, it had a USP and therefore it received loyal customers. However; with fierce competition copying Uber's business model, Uber has had to develop its service through innovation. [1][10]

Business ideas that solve problems are fundamental to developing the world and companies such as Curemark are one of many who do this. Curemark is a biotech company founded by Joan Fallon, who noticed that a lot of the children she treated were low on an enzyme for processing protein and since then she has quit her job and has built Curemark to solve this problem. Curemark has now raised $50 million and is on its way to solving a problem that truly exists.[11]

Profitability is a business's ability to generate earnings compared to its costs over a certain period of time.[12] This is possibly the most important aspect of any business idea in the long term, as this is what makes a business survive in order to keep having the impact that it has. Profitable ideas need a strong revenue stream against its costs and this tends to create the success of the business, however, some companies defy this and make losses to begin with, yet are still exceptional business ideas that are worth billions.

• Snapchat is valued at $10 billion [13] despite making a loss, because of the monetization potential it has based on the 100 million everyday users of the app.[14]
• Uber is valued at $50 billion and is making a $417 million operating loss. Despite this, investors are still willing to offer large amounts of money to fund the company because of the potential the company has in the longer term.[15]

• Business opportunity
• Minimum viable product
• Viability study

1. ^ Unknown. "What is innovation?". Business.gov.au. Archived from the original on 29 October 2015. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
2. ^ Kotter International (22 November 2013). "It's not the idea, it's what you do with it". Forbes.com. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
3. ^ Dyer, Jeff (19 August 2015). "Decoding Tesla's secret formula". Forbes.com. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
4. ^ Davidson, Lauren (21 August 2015). "Uber IPO planned for first half of 2017 as bookings grow four-fold this year". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
5. ^ Unknown (29 October 2015). "General Motors Company - NYSE". Yahoo.com. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
6. ^ General Motors. "General Motors company history". gm.com. General Motors. Archived from the original on 11 March 2015. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
7. ^ Tesla. "About Tesla". Teslamotors.com. Tesla Motors. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
8. ^ "Definition of USP". whatis.com. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
9. ^ Basu, Anasuya (28 August 2014). "Uber tops where taxis fail to tread". telegraphindia.com. Archived from the original on August 31, 2014. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
10. ^ "Uber Rush how it works". rush.uber.com. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
11. ^ Krippendorf, Kaihan. "great companies solve problems that matter". fastcompany.com. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
12. ^ "Profitability ratios". investopedia.com. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
13. ^ Egan, Matt (23 January 2015). "Startup lose money despite being worth billions". money.cnn.com. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
14. ^ Smith, Craig (8 October 2015). "By the numbers: 60 amazing snaphat statistics". expandedramblings.com. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
15. ^ Newcomer, Eric (30 June 2015). "Uber bonds term sheet reveals $470 million in operating losses". bloomberg.com. Retrieved 29 October 2015.

Category: 

• Innovation

Get Down to Business: Tips for Working from Home Effectively

Due to the current crisis, employers are advising people to work from home. New to the work from home lifestyle? It certainly doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Working remotely provides flexibility and perks that help you stay balanced and productive.

Sometimes, you need to test what works best for you, such as figuring out your most productive times, how to prevent loneliness and what counts as a real break. Working remotely doesn’t have to be a struggle. Here are expert tips for working from home, so you can be your most productive self. You won’t even miss the office after you master working from home.

If your usual office hours were from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., stick to that time frame while you’re working from home. Try to keep things as normal as possible to prevent another snag in your routine.

 Courtesy: Kaylah Otto/Unsplash

Maintaining your schedule also stops you from unexpectedly working fewer hours or even extra hours. According to U.S. News, remote workers log five to seven more hours per week than office workers.

New to the company? Ask your supervisor what time the majority of the team is online. This gives you an idea of when you need to be available and responsive.

Many companies allow their employees to take their laptops and chargers home. However, if you frequently use your mouse and keyboard, throw them in the bag too, so working from home will feel like being in the office. It doesn’t hurt to ask for other equipment to make the transition more comfortable, like monitors, chairs or printers.

 Courtesy: Pekrepo

If you have a desktop computer at work, find out if you can take it home. For those who don’t want to lug it on public transportation, check with your company to see if you can expense a taxi or rideshare (e.g., Uber or Lyft).

Figure out what your team relies on for communication before going home, and make sure it works. Many remote workers use software like Slack (for messaging), Microsoft Teams (for email) and Zoom (for video conferencing). FYI, it’s very important to know how to use the mute button and the video camera.

Courtesy: Pankaj Patel/Unsplash

Having the necessary Wi-Fi connection is also a good idea. Does your company want you to use a secure line? Does the software work with your home Wi-Fi? These are great questions to ask the IT department ahead of time. If your internet crashes, have a backup plan. Some workers tether through a mobile phone, for example.

What will get you to buckle down and begin work? Many folks recommend forming a good routine that will get you in front of the computer. It could involve setting your alarm, making a nice, big cup of coffee and getting in a quick workout.

 Courtesy: Emma Matthews Digital Content Production/Unsplash

For some folks, it’s a morning routine. For others who work at another time of the day, it just needs to be a routine to help you get started. Some people pretend they’re going into the office. However, find out what gets you in the mood to kick-start your job.

When you work from home, you can wear whatever you want. However, when it comes to productivity, there’s been a long debate about whether you should wear pajamas or dress up. If you asked founder and creative director Misha Nonoo, she’d say her go-to work from home outfit is matching sweatsuits.

 Courtesy: Pexels

Marianna Hewitt, cofounder of Summer Fridays, claims putting on real clothes helps her get work done. Science and The Wall Street Journal are on Hewitt’s side. According to Fast Company, wearing office clothes at home will transport you into work mode and boost your productivity. Plus, you’ll always be ready for last-minute video calls. Are you Team PJs or Team Office Attire?

Set expectations with other people in your home. If you have children, parents, siblings or roommates, let them know that you need to work remotely, and they need to respect your space and time. Remind them you’re not in the office, but that doesn’t mean you can do chores, run errands or anything else you normally do when you’re at home.

 Courtesy: Annie Spratt/Unsplash

It’s easy to get distracted at home, but when the people in your space understand that you need to be in work mode, you can be more productive. Some people put up signs or wear headphones to make it clear that it’s “office time.”

Just kidding, but you do want to be ready for distractions. It’s hard to get work done with kids at home, especially if you have babies or toddlers. The good news is it’s possible to master working from home with a good game plan.

 Courtesy: BBC News/YouTube

Try finding help from a family member who can remain isolated with you during the social distancing period. While they watch the kids, go hide in a room and lock the door. If your employer gives you permission, change your hours, so you can successfully work while the kids are sleeping. You can also keep them occupied with long activities, such as puzzles, stickers or crafts. In addition, talk to your kids about the new situation.

Understand your employer’s break policies and put them to use. It’s easy to forget to take rest periods while sitting in front of your computer screen or working on your phone. Therefore, it’s a good idea to actually schedule your breaks throughout the day, just like you would at work.

 Courtesy: S’well/Unsplash

Also, commit to using your breaks in their entirety. If you tend to take shorter breaks, you can set a time to be locked out of your computer using an app, like TimeOut for Mac and Smart Break for Windows. Experts recommend taking productive breaks, such as a home workout, preparing for dinner or taking a shower. Unproductive breaks include watching YouTube or checking your email.

In early March, Twitter users shared their creative and hilarious workspace setups, proving almost anything can be used as a desk. One person used stacks of toilet paper on top of their dining table to create a standing desk. Another person worked from the top of their recycling bin. Courtesy: @joshmateo/Twitter and Roberto Nickson/Unsplash

Whatever gets you in the zone to finish the job, right? However, many work-from-home pros recommend designating a functional space that supports good posture, curbs distraction, lets in natural light and feels more like the office.

It would be great if everyone had two separate computers or laptops, one for work and one for personal purposes. However, that’s not always the case. Plus, if you do have both devices, your desk will become overcrowded and uncomfortable.

 Courtesy: Austin Distel/Unsplash

Many remote workers choose one device. However, it’s important how you identify between work and play for the device. For instance, when your laptop is connected to the monitor and external keyboard, you know it’s time for business. If your device is disconnected and on your lap, it’s playtime. Some people create new accounts on browsers or devices to keep their work and personal worlds away from each other.

It’s a good idea to avoid working on your bed or couch because these places are associated with leisure time. A great dedicated workspace is one where you can close and lock the door. This is excellent for productivity, but it isn’t realistic for everyone.

 Courtesy: Andrew Neel/Unsplash

If you don’t have a spare room or desk space, try setting up in your dining room or kitchen. Wherever you choose to work, make sure to walk away and never return to it after you clock out. However, if you need to come back to the space, clean up the area to avoid thinking about work when you’re there.

Governments and health experts suggest social distancing during the time companies are asking employees to work from home. That sounds like you’re going to be indoors a lot, right? Well, it’s not a good idea to be holed up in your workspace the entire day.

Courtesy: Moon/Unsplash

Depending on your region’s current policies, go on a short walk around your building or neighborhood during your breaks, and wash your hands when you return home. If you’re unable to leave the building, open the windows in different rooms to welcome as much fresh air as possible.

When you’re working at home, it’s easy to stick to a chair all day. However, sitting all the time isn’t healthy at home or at the office. If working on your feet is your preference, invest in a standing desk (or create your own custom standing desk). Also, switch up the scenery, but make sure you can still focus.

 Courtesy: Pexels

Standing up, stretching and moving around regularly are beneficial to your health and well-being. Go beyond the fridge when you move around. If you don’t need to be in front of your computer for conference calls, wear your Bluetooth headphones and walk around your house during meetings.

Tackle your harder tasks during your most productive hours. According to various reports, employees are the most motivated and productive in the morning. After lunch hour, people are less excited and focused. However, your peak time to accomplish more work might be different than someone else’s.

Courtesy: Nirmal Rajendharkumar/Unsplash

A great way to find your productive period is to track your tasks and how long it takes to complete them. Do you knock out more tasks in the morning or the afternoon?

You can also track your feelings throughout the day. Record the times you feel excited and energized versus distracted, unmotivated, tired and foggy. Taking moments to pause and reflect on your workday will help you capitalize on your most active periods.

Virtual private networks, a.k.a. VPNs, give you extra online protection when you’re connected to a Wi-Fi network that you don’t own. This includes Wi-Fi at libraries, cafes and airports. VPNs are also great for when you’re at home.

Courtesy: Petter Lagson/Unsplash

VPNs protect your privacy, making your traffic secure from spies, hackers and the outside world. If your employer has servers or websites that require a VPN to access, you’ll need a VPN for those cases too. In general, it’s always safer to keep your VPN on.

When you’re in the moment, it takes time to figure out your tasks throughout the workday. Unfortunately, that may cause you to forget what you need to do next and take time away from actually getting things done. Plan out your day with a list of all your assignments before you dive in. It’ll save you time and effort.

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Your agenda might change from time to time. Remember, that’s okay, but having a set list will give you a clear idea of what needs to be done and when it needs to be completed. Try organizing your schedule before you start work or even the day before, if possible.

It’s common to feel lonely and isolated while working remotely. For extroverts, the situation may be even rougher. Don’t worry, you can still communicate with your co-workers without physically being together. For instance, regularly check in with your team through email, chat or video calls.

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Some companies offer more ways to socialize. For example, chat channels allow remote employees to talk about common interests like music, movies, food and travel. You can also try opening an invite to a lunch or happy hour video call. DJ Haddad, the CEO of Haddad & Partners, says his remote team interacts often. They stay connected by chatting about everything, from books to children. Plus, the team sometimes live chats while watching TV.

Keep your work world and personal world separate. That means using your home phone or mobile phone for personal purposes only. For colleagues or clients from work, create a different phone number. The good news is you don’t need another landline, mobile device or SIM card.

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Even better, it’s free and super easy to set up a new phone number using a free Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service, like Google Voice or Skype. Having another phone number for work helps you maintain your work-life balance.

Music has the power to affect your mood and mind, so why not take advantage of its effects to boost your productivity? Not every type of music will make you work effectively. You have to add music that matches your work rhythm.

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Listening to music that you enjoy makes you happier and helps you work effectively. If you’re doing repetitive tasks, adding music will help you crank through them faster. For more complex assignments, ambient sounds or white noise might do the trick. Music with lyrics and loud music tend to distract people. In the end, it all depends on how your body and mind respond. Find out what motivates you to perform the best.

Working from home may seem like a great time to make progress on house chores. However, trying to accomplish work and housework simultaneously creates issues. You’ll be more distracted and less productive. Doing chores during breaks might backfire too. You’ll be tempted to finish them instead of getting back to work on time.

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If you were in the office, you wouldn’t be doing housework. To avoid at-home distractions, schedule chores before and after work. This could include laundry and preparing meals or snacks. Also, don’t turn on the TV while you’re working from home, even as background noise. If you don’t do it at the office, don’t do it while you’re working remotely.

When you’re sick, you avoid going to the office to spread germs and infect others. You won’t risk getting anyone else sick, and you can still get some work done if you work from home. However, if you’re not feeling well, denying yourself a real sick day isn’t a good idea.

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Working while sick shows how dedicated you are to the job, but you’ll be miserable and more likely to make mistakes. More importantly, you’re prolonging your illness. When you’re under the weather, you need to call out sick, rest and recuperate. Take the time off you need to get better, so you can be your best self in the long term.

Working remotely means there’s room for miscommunication. This is where overcommunication comes in. It doesn’t mean you need to write an essay about everything you do, but it does mean giving essential information to prevent confusion — sometimes more than once.

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Tell people your schedule and availability. If your hours change, notify everyone you often interact with for your job. When you’re done with important tasks, let it be known. You can also suggest new ideas and projects and share goals. However, you should share more than just good news. If anything sounds unclear, ask questions until you fully understand. If you’re struggling or need help, say so.

It’s easier to mess around on social media while working from home. Social media is created to be accessible and consuming, but it can also harm your productivity at work. Experts suggest logging out of every account on your browser and mobile phone.

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To make sure you’re not signed on to social media, it’s also recommended to use private browser windows. On Chrome, it’s called going “Incognito.” If you’re still tempted to browse on social media, download a blocking tool and set work hours. It’s for your own good.

It’s easy to communicate while working from home, thanks to apps like Slack and Zoom. However, it can also lead to awkward exchanges. Without facial expressions, tone of voice and other signs, your messages are open to interpretation. Staying positive is key.

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Your company might think you’re being too positive, but it’s better than sounding like a jerk. Use the exclamation point when you’re excited. Embracing emojis is a good idea too. There’s nothing wrong with a thumbs up or smiley face from time to time.

Working from home comes with a lot of perks. You have a more flexible schedule, so schedule breaks and lunch whenever you want. In an office, people sometimes struggle to find silence. Now, you get to control your environment’s noise level.

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It’s also easier to make calls. No more scrambling to find a free room or running out of the building. Plus, you have no commute, so you don’t need to deal with traffic or crowds. Since you’ll save time, figure out how you can take advantage of the moment to become more productive. Squeeze in a walk or a quick workout, for example.

Avoid writing 10 sentences when three will do the job. Do you need to practice? Grab a previous email or message that you wrote and tighten it down to almost half the words. You’ll see that you can still get the same message across.

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Another tip is to stay away from squishy words and phrases like “I feel,” “I’m not sure” and “perhaps.” Passive voice and adverbs take up too much of your time and confuse your recipients. Sometimes, the outline of an email or message will suffice.

Schedule calls in the afternoon. In the morning, you might be too tired to talk and still powering up to speak to others. Take on solitary assignments in the morning and leave phone calls, meetings and team work for later.

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Quartz reported that YouCanBookMe, a U.K. company that makes scheduling apps for businesses, discovered Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. is the best time for meetings. However, if you can’t make that work, mid-afternoon and mid-week meetings are just as good.

Remote employees need to be very disciplined to succeed. Working from an unconventional space requires major focus skills. However, everyone zones out from time to time. Don’t feel like you’re alone. If you put too much pressure on yourself, you may stress out and burn out faster.

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You may find yourself working one moment and reading the news next. If you do, don’t brutally criticize yourself. Take a step back and think if people do the same thing in an office environment. In many companies, they do, so give yourself a break.

Starting your day with a routine is a good idea. Creating a habit at the end of the workday is a nice touch too. This could involve logging out of your company’s messaging app, signing out of email applications and shutting down your laptop.

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It might also be putting away your workspace, taking a live workout class in your living room and preparing meals and snacks ahead of time. Whatever you decide, make sure to step away from your workstation and don’t go back to work until the next morning.

At the end of the day, do whatever is the most effective for you. Sometimes, you won’t know what really works until you test it out yourself. Figure out if you’re more productive in pajamas or another outfit. See if the dining room table or another space in your house is the best place to keep busy.

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The answer might be right in front of you. Other times, you might need to reach out to co-workers and find out what’s working for them. You can also find a supportive community on messaging channels, blogs and social media.