Marketing: just the word can strike fear into a business owner's heart. You love your business, that's why you started it- but you also want to spend your time in your business, not on Twitter! However, an effective marketing strategy is the most important tool in a small business owner's toolbox. You could have the best business in the world- but without marketing, who would even know it? It's easy to get overwhelmed, so start small! Marketing is a marathon, not a sprint. Here are 10 marketing tips you can take action on today to propel your business forward.

The StreetShares Foundation named annual sponsor of the 4^th Annual Veteran Awards (Vettys®), presented by the Academy of United States Veterans.

It’s been a decade since the financial crisis, yet small business lending has not recovered. Why is this the case? And why is getting a loan so difficult? To learn why, let’s look at two big factors that affect your chances of getting a business loan:

The digital revolution is here. Today, over 2 billion people use smartphones across the globe and the numbers continue to rapidly grow. As a result, smartphones are opening fresh new opportunities for commerce. If you examine the Google Analytics data of your business website, chances are you’ll notice that most of your traffic comes from a mobile device. A small business looking for growth can take advantage of this massive number of potential clients by creating digital marketing platforms that are mobile friendly and suit the needs of these users. We’ll explore why your veteran-owned business needs to be mobile friendly and how you can take advantage of this technology to continue to grow your business.

With the latest federal government shutdown preparing to enter its fourth week, government employees aren’t the only ones feeling the effects. The Small Business Administration (SBA) is among the federal agencies impacted, delivering a significant blow to the American small business community. It’s projected that the current backlog of business loan applications could take weeks or even months to clear, leaving small business owners who were counting on those funds to grow or maintain their business in limbo.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official opinions, policies, or positions of StreetShares or any of its affiliates.

Military veterans are one of the most entrepreneurial groups in the nation for a good reason. As they're very likely to be highly disciplined and extremely careful with both planning and execution, their backgrounds translate well into the world of business.

Despite all that, veteran entrepreneurs, like any other entrepreneur, will make mistakes. Both mistakes and failure are inevitable. Whether it is your first business you're starting—or your fifth—you will run into mistakes. Fortunately, many of them can be avoided. Below is a list of five common mistakes and solutions that you can use to prevent them from occurring in your business.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official opinions, policies, or positions of StreetShares or any of its affiliates.

Picture this - you finally win a federal contract only to realize you now need to scramble to figure out how to finance your new government contract.  Did you realize it could be up to 60 - 90 days from when you begin performance until when you see cash flow back to your business?  How will you pay your employees?  How will you make payments on the equipment you’ve leased?  What kind of terms and rates will you get on a term loan or line of credit when you’re scrambling at the last minute?

As a small business owner, working capital is your lifeblood. Cash-flow management is crucial to your success, which sometimes means you need to take out a small business loan to keep the gears of your business whirring. Equipment replacement, new hires, scaling your business or gearing up for a big contract are all good reasons to start looking for a loan.

There are lots of funding options out there—which is both a good and a bad thing for you. It’s easy to be overwhelmed by the sudden plethora of emails, phone calls, letters and ads from lenders—how do you plow through the weeds and find the best deal for your business? Is there a clear winner or are they all similar?

We want to help you find the best way to do an apples-to-apples comparison of the loan options out there to help you make the most informed decision when choosing your business loan.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official opinions, policies, or positions of StreetShares or any of its affiliates.

Let's face it, there is a lot of bad information floating around the internet about the subject of credit. Credit myths abound and blindly following information or advice from someone who is not truly qualified to give credit advice can cause some serious damage to your credit scores - not to mention it could cost you a lot of money. Even many financial "gurus" give alarmingly bad advice on their television programs, radio shows, and in books which can backfire on the consumers who follow the bad advice. Here are 3 big credit myths which you need to be aware of in order to avoid getting burned.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official opinions, policies, or positions of StreetShares or any of its affiliates.

Happy New Year!  As we roll into the new year, it’s important to take a look and check in at some of the updates and proposals for small business rules and regulations that are set to take effect in 2019.

Here we highlight two major rules that have been enacted for 2019 and three proposed rules that may have a large effect on how government contractors and other veteran owned companies operate in 2019.