Small Business Hiring Slowed in September, But the NFIB Data Tells Two Stories
Fewer owners are hiring, yet plans for new jobs and pay raises moved the other way. The gap between those readings deserves a closer look.
Isabel Duarte · October 9, 2026Business News 7
What Accounts Receivable Factoring Really Costs Small Businesses
Accounts receivable factoring trades slow invoices for fast cash, but the price hides in three layers: the discount fee, the holdback and the contract extras.
Priya Vaithilingam · October 4, 2026
Trade Jobs Explained: Why Skilled Trades Are Booming
Electricians, welders and plumbers are in demand for structural reasons that will not fade next quarter.
Lena Fischer · October 2, 2026
The Highest Paying Trades That Skip the Four-Year Degree
Nuclear operators, elevator installers and ship engineers top the pay scale — but the training path matters as much as the number.
Priya Vaithilingam · October 1, 2026
The Best Entrepreneurship Podcasts Worth Your Commute
How to tell a show that teaches business fundamentals from one that sells a lifestyle.
Isabel Duarte · September 30, 2026
How to Explain Entrepreneurship to Kids Without the Jargon
The mindset behind starting a business can be taught with lemonade stands, chores and honest talk about failure.
Isabel Duarte · September 24, 2026Is an Entrepreneurship Degree Worth It? An Honest Look
What four years of classroom study buys you, what it does not, and how to decide before you pay.
Priya Vaithilingam · September 23, 2026How Small Businesses Can Navigate Social Media's Data Evolution
Meta's shift toward automated targeting means your own customer data now does the work ad settings used to do.
Isabel Duarte · September 21, 2026
Currency Exchange Explained: Why the Dollar Matters Everywhere
Exchange rates are set by supply, demand and a spread you pay without seeing. Here is how the machinery works, and who it quietly taxes.
Lena Fischer · September 26, 2026Small Business
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Why Small Business Investment Decides Whether a Downtown Thrives
An Indianapolis mayoral candidate's argument doubles as a durable playbook for how cities and owners grow local economies.
Tanya Brooks · September 27, 2026
Why Profitable Small Businesses Still Run Out of Cash
Profit is an opinion settled at year-end; cash is a fact settled every Friday — here is how the gap kills otherwise sound businesses.
Tanya Brooks · August 28, 2026
What an SBA 7(a) Loan Really Costs Small Business Owners
Beyond the interest rate, the SBA's most popular loan program comes with an upfront guaranty fee and a separate annual service fee, and the agency — not the bank — sets the ceiling on both.
Tanya Brooks · August 18, 2026
How to Close a Business in Good Order
An orderly shutdown settles taxes, creditors, employees, and registrations in a legal sequence — and protects the owner from the liabilities that outlive the company.
Tanya Brooks · July 16, 2026Trade
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What Small Importers Now Owe After the $800 De Minimis Exemption Ends
A CBP rule that took effect June 24, 2026 ends duty-free entry for most low-value shipments, forcing small importers into formal customs procedures.
Priya Vaithilingam · August 22, 2026
Section 301 Tariffs Now Cover 60 Trading Partners After Section 122 Expires
USTR's July 23 final action put two-tier Section 301 tariffs — 10 and 12.5 percent — on imports covering 99.4 percent of U.S. trade, with USMCA goods exempt.
Priya Vaithilingam · August 3, 2026What a Customs Bond Covers and When You Need One
An import bond is a guarantee to Customs that duties and penalties will be paid — required for most commercial entries, sized by duty volume, and cheaper to arrange than to be caught without.
Priya Vaithilingam · July 29, 2026How a Small Exporter Hedges Currency Risk
A foreign-currency invoice is an unhedged position — and the cheap fixes, invoicing in dollars, forwards, and matching, cost less than one bad exchange-rate month.
Priya Vaithilingam · July 7, 2026Startup News
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How the SBA Microloan Program Actually Works for Founders
The federal program caps loans at $50,000 and routes every dollar through nonprofit lenders. Here is what it covers, what it costs, and what disqualifies an application.
Isabel Duarte · August 20, 2026
Half of New US Businesses Reach Year Five, Federal Data Shows
Isabel Duarte · August 16, 2026July Set a Record With 14 Billion-Dollar Funding Rounds
Startups raised $65 billion in July — the most billion-dollar rounds ever in one month, led by Blue Origin's first external $10 billion raise — after a record $515 billion first half.
Isabel Duarte · August 5, 2026SambaNova and Keyfactor Raise $1 Billion Each in a Two-Mega-Round Week
AI chipmaker SambaNova's $1 billion Series F at $11 billion and Keyfactor's $1 billion private-equity round topped a week that also set a $300 million quantum Series A.
Isabel Duarte · July 25, 2026Business News
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What Does an SBA Loan Actually Cost a Small Business?
Priya Vaithilingam · August 26, 2026
New Overtime Rule Reversal Leaves Small Employers Rewriting Payrolls Again
A 2024 expansion of overtime eligibility was vacated nationwide in late 2024 — here is what the rollback changes for owners now.
Priya Vaithilingam · August 24, 2026How the SBA's $5 Million 7(a) Loan Actually Works
Priya Vaithilingam · August 14, 2026What an SBA 7(a) Loan Costs: Rate Caps, Fees and 25-Year Terms
Federal rules cap the spread a lender may add — 6.5 points on the smallest loans, 3.0 above $350,000 — but leave the rate, the fee notice and the maturity for owners to check themselves.
Priya Vaithilingam · August 10, 2026