As a small business owner, not everyone is your customer. It’s almost impossible to achieve sustainable growth for your business if you don't know who your ideal customer is- having adequate knowledge of your target audience helps make your marketing more effective and cost-efficient. As the marketplace becomes even more crowded with businesses fighting for attention, it’s more necessary than ever to home in on your intended customer with relevant calls to action, and not waste time and money marketing to people who aren’t likely to buy from you.

Establishing a buyer persona helps you internalize and understand your current customers, as well as make it easier to speak to potential customers. Great buyer personas enable you to produce tailored content, customized products, and targeted messaging, as well as to offer services that meet the specific needs of your target audience- or audiences.

Sony, Target, Facebook... it seems that every day another high-profile company is in the news for getting hacked and having their internal communications and customer data exposed. You might think that your business isn't big enough to get hacked, but businesses of every size are a target- and the effects of a data breach on a small business could be devastating. When it comes to customer information, transparency and data security are essential. So what’s the best way to fend off hackers and maintain customer trust? Here are five tips to help you keep your customers’ information safe.

If given $10,000 tax-free, here's how Baby Boomers, Gen X'ers, and Millennials would invest it. How do you compare? 

When it comes to government contracting, the major issues always seem to come back to money. Like it or not, the world of GovCon revolves around the mighty dollar, and operating costs can be significant. Anyone who’s in the field knows the level of competition for those contracts- and the length organizations will go to secure them.

You’ve done all the vital industry networking, you’ve assembled a team you trust and know can get the job done, and you’ve submitted a winning proposal. Once you win that contract, the next step needs to be securing your funding for the project. After all, it can take anywhere from 30 to 90 days after delivery for the government to pay you. So what happens when you have an abundance of contracts secured, but no funds for payroll, materials, and any other overhead cost that might come into play? You need to secure outside funding. Here are the best options for bolstering your company’s bottom line. 

Selling services is a whole different world from selling goods. Without a commodity and inventory, you must sell your prospective customers on ideas, intangibles and promises. This takes a much different strategic approach and practices that many service-based business owners never quite understand. Here are five marketing practices you should implement to maximize the potential of your service-based business.

We are definitely living in the age of the start-up- it seems that everyone is developing an app or starting a business from their basement, hoping to be the next Facebook or Amazon. Start-ups are so oversaturated, with a full 90% failing before they get off the ground, that telling people you're an entrepreneur is more likely to elicit eye-rolls instead of interest. However, without entrepreneurs making waves despite the challenges, our world would be devoid of smartphones, social media, streaming video, and many other every day amenities that you would sorely miss!

Many fail at launching successful businesses, but that doesn't deter budding entrepreneurs from pursuing their dreams. And, countless people fail their first (or second, or third) try and yet do it over and over again. While nothing can guarantee success in the cutthroat world of start-up entrepreneurship, keeping a few vital tips in mind can certainly give you a leg up on your less-prepared competition. 

Just the thrill of owning a business can be rewarding, but all business owners are ultimately in it to win it. There's no easy formula to succeeding in business- if there were, everyone would be able to do it! There are almost as many tips and guides as there are businesses themselves, and if you were to spend all day reading them, your company would surely fail due to your lack of attention. While there are no guarantees for success, keep these three simple tips in mind and you'll quickly be on the right track.

As a small business owner, you are not limited to only providing your goods or services to the general consumer public- you can also sell them to the government! Many business owners are intimidated by the prospect of government contracting, thinking that there's no way their small business can compete with giant corporations. Thankfully, the government helps out with set-asides. Priority is placed within their procurement budget on certain small businesses and contracting opportunities, and can be particularly beneficial for the veteran-owned small business. The government wants to include small businesses when buying goods and services for many reasons:

Everyone is familiar with the image of Rosie the Riveter - a fierce-looking brunette woman, hair back in a red bandana, rolling up a sleeve over her flexed bicep under a text bubble that reads matter-of-factly "We Can Do It!" Coming out of World War II, Rosie's image was synonymous with the women in the workplace who stepped up to work in factories and mills when their husbands, brothers, and fathers went off to fight for freedom. Rosie's power and inspiration didn't stop when the war was over, though - the effect that this iconic character has had on women, the workforce, and the world is as strong today as it ever was.

It takes vision, a lot of courage, and some practical know-how to make a small business competitive! A new business can struggle with a lot, from budget to brand awareness, but there are simple ways to succeed against larger, more well-established companies. Here are five tips for being more competitive in the marketplace: