Latest Business News

Whether you’re just getting started or have been in business for many years, every business at some time or another will need a little outside financial help. Equipment breaks down, you outgrow your space, or maybe you want to invest in infrastructure. Whatever the reason, it’s nice to know you have options when it comes to financing the growth of your business.

When it comes to injecting money into your business, you typically have four options:

1. Cash, either from you personally or from your business
2. Gifted funds from family and friends
3. Investor funds: this is cash in exchange for ownership/portion of net income
4. Borrowed funds

There are pros and cons to each option, and you will need to weigh them against your current situation and your goals in order to determine which option is best for you.

Cash

We all know that cash is king, but in a young business cash may not be as readily available as it is in a mature business. Eve

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Tags: Business

Indiana will become the first state in the country to require anyone receiving paid training through WorkOne to take a drug test when its new mandatory drug testing policy goes into effect July 1. The policy was adopted by the State Workforce Investment Council and includes all paid training programs funded by the Workforce Investment Act. There are approximately 9,000 Hoosiers enrolled in the programs.

Mark Everson, commissioner of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development, described the policy as “common sense,” and added, “employers routinely screen out applicants due to failed drug tests.

“In this time of scarce resources, it is irresponsible to train someone for a job they can’t get because they use illegal drugs,” said Everson, in a statement released by his office.

People testing positive for a controlled substance will be barred from participating in the training programs, and they will have to wait three months before being retested.

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Tags: Drug Test, Training

In the three months since its launch, online business Lendio has processed almost $1 billion in requests for small business loans, according to a company press release issued today. Furthermore, the approval rate for loans set up through Lendio is five to seven times better than the average rate nationally.

Lendio describes itself as a matchmaker between small businesses looking for capital and lenders who are likely to approve loans to them.

The company was founded to address the continuing difficulty small businesses have faced in obtaining loans since the financial crisis. A recent report by the U.S.

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Tags: Small, Small Businesses

Im amazed how often I still get emails asking me to either write a business plan or recommend a business plan writer for somebody who has a great idea and mistakenly thinks having a business plan done for them, by a supposed expert, will sell that idea to investors.

Sorry, it just isnt so. Your business plan is the key to what you say in the pitch, and how quickly you can respond to questions. Investors want you, not an outsider, to plan your business. And thats what theyre after planning, which leads to management and controlling your destiny not just a plan document.

I say still in my first paragraph because this should be common knowledge by now, but the myth of the great plan lingers on.

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Tags: Business Plan, Business Plan Writer, Plan Writer, Writer

Here are some legal and policy issues small business owners should be aware of this week. Be sure to check through this legal and policy news roundup for the issues directly affecting your small business or entrepreneurial venture.

Trends

No-match letters a new headache for entrepreneurs. No-match letters from the Social Security Administration are back. The letters are issued when an employee’s name doesn’t match an existing social security number. The implications are obvious. But what should you do if you get one of these in the mail? 

Wage and hour lawsuits the lates threat. There were 40,000 of these in 2010, up 15 percent over the previous year. And on

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Tags: Business, Policy News, Small Business