Micro business owners using AI to compete with big brands, industries

Micro business owners using AI to compete with big brands, industries

Over 3,000 micro business owners were surveyed by Venture Forward, GoDaddy’s international research initiative, in February 2024 about leveraging generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) to compete with large brands and level the playing field across a multitude of industries.

The findings concluded that 44% of micro businesses, companies with 10 or fewer employees, somewhat or wholly agree that AI capabilities will assist in business growth over the next year. Of those surveyed, 50% have admitted to trying AI over the past few months, but 40% of owners responded that they do not personally know of

Read More

Massachusetts small business owners make pitch for state aid

Massachusetts small business owners make pitch for state aid

BOSTON — Boasting that he’s a “paperwork guy,” a whiz at filling out and filing forms, Neil Abramson, CEO of ECi Stores in Leominster said even he is confounded by the complexity of applying for state workforce training grants.

“And It can take up to six months to get the money back,” Abramson told legislators attending the briefing for Small Business Day Wednesday at the State House. Some grants, Abramson said, require applicants make the initial investments before getting reimbursed.

Massachusetts small business owners make pitch for state aid

His stores, Cutie Patuties, are celebrating their 25th anniversary in Leominster this year, Abramson said. They are crucial to

Read More

New survey sheds light on how small business owners are staying resilient amid uncertainty

New survey sheds light on how small business owners are staying resilient amid uncertainty

A new survey of small business owners conducted by Capital One looked at how small businesses are dealing with adversity and remaining resilient amid uncertainty about the economic outlook.

Capital One surveyed over 1,000 small business owners with less than $20 million in total annual revenue and at least one employee and found that the need for small businesses to be nimble to keep pace with the competition and not fall behind in the use of new, emerging technologies can take a toll on the owners who

Read More

Tax variations little organization owners need to be informed of as the tax deadline looms

Tax variations little organization owners need to be informed of as the tax deadline looms

As Tax Day methods, there are loads of factors smaller business entrepreneurs need to retain in thoughts when filing taxes this year.

April 15 is however the annual tax deadline for many compact organizations whilst, unlike persons, smaller businesses can have different deadlines depending on the type of company, the state the taxes are submitted in, and other things. Quarterly estimated tax payments are commonly needed in the course of the 12 months. And specified kinds of smaller businesses experienced to file by March 15.

Because company tax submitting is complicated, most industry experts endorse smaller company owners work with

Read More

Bike Lanes Are Good for Business, but Store Owners Still Hate Them

Bike Lanes Are Good for Business, but Store Owners Still Hate Them

Businesses hate bike lanes. Sure, they reduce pollution, slow the pace of climate change, cut traffic fatalities, and make cities healthier and more pleasant. But they also take away parking spaces, which makes it tougher for shoppers to load up their cars with piles of stuff. Freaked-out business owners have been fighting bike lanes coast to coast, in cities from San Diego to Cambridge, Massachusetts. They worry — not unreasonably — that anything that makes it harder for customers to get to their stops will eat into their already precarious margins. 

 “As someone whose family had a small business when

Read More

Cup Foods owners sue Minneapolis over lost business at George Floyd Square

Cup Foods owners sue Minneapolis over lost business at George Floyd Square

The owners of Cup Foods and several other businesses near George Floyd Square are suing the city of Minneapolis, saying that concrete barricades and the lawlessness that flourished within those barriers cut their income and crushed their property values.

The lawsuit accuses Mayor Jacob Frey and other city officials of essentially abandoning the businesses and offering little more than lip service and weak financial help following the 2020 murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer in front of Cup Foods, now known as Unity Foods.

The lawsuit underscores lingering acrimony over the city’s response to the unrest that

Read More