Local
How Small Businesses Compete Regionally
Kentucky Business Goes “Bananas” For Intuit Small Business Grant
The stress of starting a new business is enough to drive almost any entrepreneur bananas. But for PJ Lucas, her small business was supposed to be “Bananas” in the first …
Are You Ready to Open a Second Location?
Business is booming at your restaurant or retail store, and you’re considering opening another location. But doing so will require a significant investment. Are you biting off more than you …
Midwestern Momprenuer Wins $25,000 Hiring Grant from Intuit
Kelly LeFevre loves to make her clients feel happy, pampered, and confident through jewelry. These days, however, LeFevre is feeling the same way. But it has nothing to do with …
Do Small Businesses Help People Live Longer?
Here’s a nice conversation-starter for your next cocktail party: Small-business owners help the people around them live healthier lives. It’s true. A paper co-authored by professors at Louisiana State University …
‘Cash Mobs’ Boost Local Businesses
To combat the onslaught of daily deals and big-box stores that are squeezing local merchants, consumers nationwide are banding together in groups known as “cash mobs.” A cash mob is …
Market Your Business More Effectively as Part of a Collective
When it comes to promoting your business, joining a collective — a group of affiliated enterprises — can increase your reach and marketing power, present new opportunities, and even reduce …
Todali Tackle Reels in Success After Winning Intuit Grant
Alicia Haynes still remembers the phone call she received in November 2010. It was a call that would profoundly impact her business, Todali Tackle, a maker of custom, hand-poured fishing …
For Humphry Slocombe, Twitter is the Cherry on Top of the Ice Cream
How does a local ice cream parlor transcend the plain-vanilla archetype? By not serving plain vanilla, for starters. Sure, purists can find mainstays like chocolate and mint chip on the …
Good Things Come to The GoodOnYa Bar after Intuit Hiring Grant
Kris Fillat, owner of The GoodOnYa Bar in San Diego, Calif., was the February 2011 winner of a $25,000 Intuit hiring grant through the Love a Local Business campaign. This …
Eric Kent Wine Cellars Survives Recession with Craftsmanship (and a Little Luck)
The wine business was booming in 2002 when Kent Humphrey sold his advertising company and invested in starting Eric Kent Wine Cellars. Unbeknown to him, the global financial crisis lurked just …
Intuit Goes to The Dogs (and Cats) to Award Latest $25,000 Hiring Grant
The newest small business catering to pets in Elwood, Indiana is still just a pup itself. “We recently opened on December 19,” owner Matt Spivey confesses, noting that his humble …
How to Identify Your Most Influential Customers
You try to be good to all of your customers, but you may want to reserve extra-special treatment for those who talk about your business online. A “peer influence analysis” …
Sustainable Practices Earn Dry Cleaner Local Acclaim
The Cleanery is New Mexico’s only Green Business Bureau-certified dry cleaner. Its green practices not only have helped the company to avoid many of the environmental and health concerns associated with …
How One Independent Bookstore Survives and Thrives in Tough Times
Digital publishing, intense competition from Amazon.com, and other factors have made it more difficult than ever for small bookstores to turn a profit. Even large national chains have struggled, sometimes …
Aqua Salon Wins $50,000 Love A Local Business Grand Prize
Aqua Salon has taken top honors as the $50,000 Grand Prize winner of Intuit’s Love a Local Business grant competition. The Chicago, Illinois-based salon became a Grand Prize finalist after …
