Andrea Coutu

Small business incomes standards fall into a wide range. Some small businesses fail to earn any income, whereas others may earn millions. The US Small Business Administration has developed small business size standards to help entrepreneurs determine eligibility for programs. You can also read about regulations for small business size standards. As the tables show,  […]

Government-funded small business loans can help you launch or sustain your small business. With government-funded small business loans, you may be able to secure financing when other more traditional lenders hesitate. In many cases, these loans come with special services, like business plan counselling, mentoring, courses, or workshops. Because of the additional support available from

Bad small business credit card management is becoming more and more common. And it may go from bad to worse as more small business owners charge business and personal expenses. In fact, banks have become more lenient in giving out credit cards, even to people with bad credit. That’s because people who manage their credit

New business with a line of credit? Understand your line of credit and you’ll save yourself (and your new business) a lot of headaches. Yesterday, I mentioned some of the reasons for taking out a line of credit for a new business. Today, I’m following up with more information on managing a line of credit.

New business owners should think about opening a line of credit. In fact, you should think about a line of credit before you start your new business. That’s when you still have job security and all the other things that make banks happy. A line of credit can help your new consulting business survive —

Starting a consulting business is cheap. (Trust me — I wasn’t rich when I started consulting.)  In fact, a recent study shows that 17 percent of new business startups launch without any funds whatsoever. However, the Freelance UK article that reports on the study points out that being able to manage cash flow (or the

Craigslist consulting is the coolest consulting idea I’ve heard this week. (Expired link) Craigslist is an online community that’s well-known for free ads, including job ads. Many of the consultants I know have found work through Craigslist. As the site becomes better known and expands to more geographic areas, it seems natural for a Craigslist consulting

Become a computer consultant and escape the stress of your job. A survey by Skillsoft reveals 97% of IT workers feel traumatized by their jobs and four in five get tense when they even think about going to the office. Yikes. Sounds like a recipe for depression, anxiety, anger and more — and a good

The US Small Business Administration has a PDF report on small businesses by gender of the owners. If you’ve ever wondered how gender affects small business start-ups, this report will puts tons of information in your hands. It analyzes sole proprietorships by gender, then delves into "business size, owner’s marital status, 10 industrial classifications, six

Yesterday, I wrote about managing client behavior and noted that it makes sense to pick "best fit" clients at the start. It makes sense to identify good clients, so that you don’t get bogged down in client management issues. But how do you identify good clients? Good clients tend to: fit with your target market