Author: biziebiz

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then InstaTrim owner Greg Amundson wishes his business wasn’t so admired. Over a decade, his made-in-Minnesota sealant grew to more than $3 million in sales last year. But this year, sales are down by 35%. Amundson and his lawyer attribute the abrupt decline to patent-infringing counterfeiters, mostly Chinese, who have launched about 30 similar products over the last several months on Amazon.com. InstaTrim had been relying on the e-commerce platform for about 80% of its sales. “It’s amazing how fast the counterfeiters are eroding our sales with look-alike, copycat products,” Amundson said…

Media Arts students who participated in working at Husker Harvest Days were Bethany Borgheiinck, Newman Grove; Alex Kastens, Sioux Falls, So. Dak.; Rylan Niemoth, St. Libory; Keally Peck, Norfolk; Gabriel Ramos, Chadron; Savannah Robinson, Fullerton; Jordan Stephens, Geneva; and Zane Thompson, Anselmo. Source link

Small business owners in California used to leave their doors open and kept their displays full of their products. Now, many are keeping the doors locked during the day and keeping all of their valuables off the sales floor. The retail industry for the last five years has been in steady decline with a 1.5% shrink rate. However, between 2021 and 2020, there was a $4 billion difference in sales lost, according to the 2022 National Retail Foundations’ Security Survey. Organized retail crime, including professional shoplifting, has increased dramatically since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and is regarded as…

What was once a blooming technology, artificial intelligence or AI has spread its wings over a host of industries. Right from manufacturing, healthcare, and transportation, to data security, the realms of AI continue to expand. Despite stepping late to the party, the marketing industry has also embraced AI with open arms over the last decade.  AI has helped millions of businesses in the marketing sector scale their operations. Besides, the need for personalized customer service is more than ever before in today’s business landscape. AI-powered tools help businesses do just that. AI’s benefits extend to search engine optimization (SEO) and…

The 2022 Best2SMB Global Conference is going to bring offer keynotes, panels, workshops, and labs from some leaders in their field across a wide range of industries and global brands. You will learn how to keep your small business brand relevant in the new normal as well as thrive in an ever-changing world.Leaders from Woocomemerce, Verizon, Ruby, Accenture, Oracle Netsuite, Aweber, and many others will be on hand to share their expertise throughout the three-day event.Click the red button and register to attend the 2022 Best2SMB Global Conference from October 11-13, 2022 in Chicago.Register NowFeatured Events, Contests and AwardsReuters MOMENTUMOctober…

Lead star Alan Ritchson announced the news through a video on his Instagram profile Lead star Alan Ritchson announced the news through a video on his Instagram profile The second season of the Amazon Prime Video series Reacher began production on Friday. Lead star Alan Ritchson announced the news through a video on his Instagram profile.Reacher is based on Lee Child’s Jack Reacher book series, revolving around a U.S. Army veteran named Jack Reacher (played by Ritchson) investigating suspicious activities that frequently put him in danger.The first season of the series, created by Nick Santora, was based on the first…

Everyone — from the biggest government agencies that often smother small businesses with red tape to the biggest businesses which often suffocate small businesses with monopoly power — likes to say that they support small businesses. Indeed, one of the country’s biggest defense contractors testified at a deposition that small businesses are “the backbone of the American economy.” But while big government and big business love to talk the talk, do they walk the walk when it comes to supporting small business? Sadly, the answer is usually no. A good place to start is with the U.S. Small Business Administration…

Start Up Loans of up to £25,000 now available to start-ups that have been trading for up to three years, up from two years New ‘second loans’ available for businesses that have been trading for up to five years Loans to provide much-needed support for the UK’s innovators and entrepreneurs An £884m loan scheme for new businesses is to be greatly expanded, delivering much needed finance to the UK’s array of innovative start-ups, the Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg has announced today (Sunday 25 September). The Start Up Loans programme has provided more than 95,000 loans to start-ups across the UK…

Small business owners throughout the South Haven area will be able to take advantage of a series of free workshops being offered by the South Haven Region Business Hub.The group, which consists of representatives from the City of South Haven, South Haven Area Chamber of Commerce, Lake Michigan College and Greater Kalamazoo Business Resources, formed last year to provide assistance for small business owners.The new round of workshops are scheduled from October through December.The sessions are designed to help budding entrepreneurs, early start-up businesses or existing businesses improve their business acumen, marketing and operations and to find new sources of…

A proof of concept that will allow any independent software vendor (ISV) or customer to officially sign documents during virtual meetings has been developed for Microsoft Teams.Now You Can Sign Docs in Real Time on Microsoft Teams MeetingsThe developers are Teams Ecosystem Engineering and they say the application will let the document owner select the document to sign and add it to a meeting. Then, depending on the role of the attendees as either signers or viewers, the users will be able to sign or see the document during the meeting.Seamless AuthenticationTeams Ecosystem Engineering is confident that the authentication will…