Lose weight. Quit smoking. Floss. January’s the traditional time for making new years resolutions. But in addition to your personal goals, what do you want to achieve in 2016 for your small business? I have come up with a list of New Years Resolutions for Small Business, and since its 2016, it seems only natural that I have 16 of them:

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I know, I know. It is hard to start thinking about the New Year when we’re stuck in the middle of the hectic holidays. But with January 1 right around the corner, now is the perfect time to reflect on how to grow your business in 2016.

As a fellow small business owners and solopreneur, I know first-hand how tricky it can be to even find the time to think about business development. Some days we are so busy juggling our current client demands, big picture goals — publishing great thought leadership articles, going after a dream client — take a back seat to a ringing phone or email deluge.

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Those small business owners who want to take their company to the next level can get some help.

Peggy Cenova, regional director of the East Central Indiana Small Business Development Center, says she works with small business owners to help them achieve their goals.

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Fortunately, there is a better way. Here are 17 simple things to do sometime in 2016. They are all one-time events (although you can certainly repeat them as many times as you like). And each is a lot easier to accomplish than some hopefully-life-changing-but-in-the-end-never-accomplished New Years resolution.

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There is no shortage of predictions regarding where technology is headed in this bright and shiny New Year. Not all fortune tellers have the same perspective, however. Take the design and innovation consultancy Fjord (part of Accenture Interactive), for example. It tapped more than 750 of its experts in 19 studios around the world to amass its annual trends compilation.

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What is your best six word advice? Check out the slideshow below to get inspired.

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Lately I have been binge watching Shark Tank. If you are a small business owners you might be surprised what you can learn. The innovation out there is fairly impressive. I have been self-employed since 1989, and I am finding myself learning things....

These rules are keys to small business success. Ignore these rules at your peril: I have seen many new entrepreneurs fail because they ignored one or more of these business basics.

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Regardless of the size of the business, ultimate responsibility for success lies with the CEO. If you’re a small business owner, thats you. And the most critical CEO tasks that result in success or failure lie in the knowledge and practice of financial management fundamentals.

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With the economy in a recession, business growth is more necessary than ever in order for businesses to survive. Since most businesses are small businesses, it is important to understand the latest small business trends and then use those trends to grow. The current projections for small business is that they will continue to grow throughout 2016.

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Blood pressures are rising at many small businesses now that tax season is underway.

Although many owners hire accountants and attorneys to complete their income tax returns, taxes are a hassle. In a survey released last year by the advocacy group National Small Business Association, nearly 60 percent of the owners surveyed said the administrative burdens were the biggest problems posed by federal taxes. And 85 percent of the more than 675 owners said they relied on a professional to prepare their returns.

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Generally speaking, it allows small business owners to write off up to $500,000 worth of qualified expenses in the year they are made, up to $2 million, rather than amortizing them over a period of years. In addition to spurring immediate spending, which benefits the economy, the deduction theoretically frees up cash that business owners can use to grow their businesses.

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These founders embody the reasons so many Americans are drawn to entrepreneurship: passion, purpose, fulfillment, and financial success. This year they all shared with Inc. readers the secrets to how they did it.  

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Cash flow is a common concern among many small business owners, with many business models dependent on incoming cash flow at various, often unpredictable times a year versus a steady flow of income. Sound familiar to you, by chance? If you are among the thousands of businesses that are not sure when your next paycheck will come in, pay attention.

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If you are like most small business owners, you spend a lot of your time researching ways to save money. After all, running a business can quickly break the bank. There are office supplies to buy, employees to pay, and software to purchase and install, among many other things.

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Technology can be a powerful driver of business growth. There are seemingly endless areas where you can invest your time and effort.

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Earlier this month, Microsoft announced that more than 200 million devices (PCs, phones and tablets) were now running Windows 10. Many of those 200 million devices belong to business users, who upgraded to Windows 10 (in many cases for free).

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How can a small company make the most of LinkedIn?

The social network is an inescapable part of online life for working professionals. But much of the advice on how to leverage it is targeted at big names. Over and over, I see small businesses making mistakes on LinkedIn because they are patterning their strategies after approaches that work for larger companies with huge budgets, lots of brand awareness and extensive social-media systems.

With that in mind, here are tips on how small businesses can use LinkedIn.

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Starting a business is a bit like falling in love for the first time: it is exciting, exhilarating, and new. You want to savor each moment and be your very best every minute of every day.

After the adrenaline rush subsides, however, reality sets in and you may discover that not everything about running a business is so wonderful. There will be tasks you don’t like to do, activities you find stale and boring, technical difficulties to test your patience, and clients and vendors who might challenge you.

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Brainstorming ideas for a small business can be a fun yet frustrating experience. It requires a serious analysis of areas of expertise and interests, and consideration of where those areas intersect in such a way that can make a business viable.

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Enthusiasm—it can be both a blessing and a curse for new entrepreneurs. Passion for your business can fuel your success, but it can also drive you to operational and financial ruin if you do not take the time to think decisions through.

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Apps consume the majority of mobile media time, but local business apps struggle to compete for attention. Columnist Wesley Young looks at how SMBs can instead use space on the most popular apps to get in front of customers.

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Small businesses are hopeful about growth this year according to the new State of Small Business Report by software solutions provider, Wasp Barcode Technologies.

The study says 71 percent of small businesses expect revenue growth, although 50 percent of small business owners said hiring new employees would be the key challenge facing them this year. And 45 percent said that challenge would be increasing profit.

An earlier survey conducted by Yelp had similarly found small business owners optimistic about growth in 2016. According to that survey, the percentage of American small business owners expecting to see revenues grow, however, is higher (85 percent).

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For many businesses, getting paid is not the problem – it’s when. Lumpy cash flow is a stressful experience for business owners because the consequences can include delayed paychecks to employees, missed bill payments or stalled growth due to an inability to take on new clients. So, how can business owners avoid putting themselves at the mercy of clients and when those clients mail their checks?

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Check out the top 500 Franchise List

As with personal credit cards, business cards can be dangerous if you do not use them responsibly. High interest rates and fees can add up. But if your business needs a little leverage and you do not have more favorable options, a small-business credit card can be a valuable tool both to get your business up and running and to streamline your handling of operating expenses.

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Years of experience have taught me that running a small business is a challenge, especially when you are providing a service. Your expectations for success may not match your results, because simply providing excellent service within your field is not always enough. When I first started running my business, I naively assumed that because I was a master at my profession, my business would flourish. I failed to realize that my business skills were equally important and some of those lessons took hard tolls on me before I fully understood them.

Luckily, many of the lessons that I learned were due to mistakes that are actually quite easy to avoid. While learning these lessons won’t make you a business genius overnight, they will help you avoid rough spots that many small business owners encounter.

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Today, Alphabet, the parent company of Google, announces its fourth quarter 2015 earnings. But it is also going to do something different. The company plans to separately break out the results of its core businesses from its other bets. By doing this, the company opens itself up to some criticism about the investments that it makes in unproven, risky technologies – from driverless cars to Glass. But without those investments, Google would never be the kind of company that it is today.

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Imagine if you could become a millionaire. How great would it be to have the money you need to live the lifestyle you have always wanted? Now imagine if you could do this in your 20s?

Even if you think it sounds like a stretch, it is possible to become a millionaire at a young age. I became a millionaire by age 21. My second millionaire student who followed my program became a millionaire by the age of 23. The most impressive part? He did it all by trading penny stocks.

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Your body language is a fundamental part of who you are; chances are you do not even think about how you stand, sit, and move. You should, of course, because other people instinctively pick up the nonverbal signals you send.

Oddly enough, you also pick up on your own nonverbal signals. Gestures and postures make a dramatic impact on how you think, feel, and perform.

Want to use body language to be an even better you? Here are ten simple ways:

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Today, tens of thousands of people are considering starting a home based business, and for good reasons. On average, people can expect to have two and three careers during their work life. Those leaving one career often think about their second or third career move being to their own home. People who have been part of the traditional nine-to-five work force and are on the verge of retiring from that life are thinking of what to do next. The good news: Starting a homebased business is within the reach of almost anyone who wants to take a risk and work hard.

$1,500 or less to start up

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Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has become a fine science. Tweaking, changing, and measuring is all part of the ongoing optimization process. SEO truly is a process that requires constant monitoring and attention. In order for a website to perform well, its managers and webmasters must adapt their SEO techniques as the search engine algorithms change.

On Page Search Engine Optimization

A full half of small business owners see growth opportunities in the next six months, while 17 percent say they are already seeing that growth.

Only 33 percent say they see no immediately growth opportunities ahead. That’s according to the most recent survey by the National Small Business Association.

According to the National Small Business Associations 2015 economic report (PDF), nearly 75 percent of small business owners surveyed are confident in their businesses — the highest percentage recorded in the last four years. However, there was a relatively less positive outlook among the small business owners on the overall economy than even six months ago.

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The 2015 tax season is here. Tax planning is a critical part of a small business owners financial plan. The majority of small business owners ignore tax planning; yet good tax advice is a very valuable for a successful business. There are many tax planning strategies available to small business owners. Below are a just a few:

Lowering your tax rate to reduce the amount of taxable income
Taking advantage of available tax credits
Controlling the effects of the AMT (Alternative Minimum Tax)

I encourage business owners to work with a competent accountant or CPA on at least a quarterly basis to take full advantage of all the tax provisions that are available.

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With the positive effects of social media marketing becoming more and more apparent, most small businesses have started working on a social media marketing strategy.

One of the main aims of social media marketing is to stay relevant to your audience. This might be harder for small businesses as they have more to juggle, in terms of handling tasks. Social media tools and apps can help reduce the stress of multi-tasking and keep your social media activities consistent. Below are social media tools for small business to help make your life as a social media marketer easier.

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Much has changed since 1994 when the U.S. government implemented an initiative to spend at least 5% of its contracting dollars on women-owned businesses. Today, women-owned businesses in the U.S. account for approximately 9.4 million companies and generate more than $1.5 trillion in revenue nationwide. Although it has taken more than two decades to reach its goal, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has announced that small businesses  that are majority owned by women earned $17.8 billion in federal contracting dollars, which amounts to about 5% of the $400 billion budget for federal contracts.

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To trust or not to trust. That is a question small and medium-sized business owners often find themselves asking when it comes to relying on certain brands for day to day business operations and other needs.
Keeping their interests in mind, Alignable, a Boston-based platform for local businesses, has launched the SMB Trust Index. It measures companies based on an assigned Net Promoter Score, submitted by contributors on the Alignable platform.

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For initial, up-front investment or a low-cost monthly subscription fee, there are great tech products and services that can save you money in the long run on common business expenses. Here are a few tips for small businesses with fewer than 10 employees.

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Do you like to read good content online? I sure do. One of the key secrets to being successful in business is to be a voracious reader. I learn a great deal by reading individual and corporate blogs online. If you're like me, I bet you want to to know who provides the most valuable content at every stage of business ownership. I put together a list of 10 top small business blogs to follow to help you improve skills for running your small business. Remember, you must grow yourself to lead your business effectively.

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Many people who work a regular job dream of walking out of their cubicle and starting their own business. And every year, about 800,000 Americans do just that.

Dave Selden is one of them. His business grew out of his passion for beer — glass after glass of it. That is immediately clear when you take a look at a video on his website.

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Small businesses have traditionally had a hard time accessing extra capital — i.e. through small business loans — from banks, big and small. And economic realities and forecasts dictate, generally, just how generous these institutions are at any given time.

Still, small businesses aren’t exactly being choked off entirely from getting approved. And the market has been improving for small businesses seeking loans. But in order to get a lender to take a flyer on your small business, it is best not to make a rookie mistake on your way to getting that loan approval.

Below are some of the top small business loan mistakes you can make.

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Without further ado, then, here are some of my favorite Instagram ads, as well as some that I would have handled differently, and the lessons you can learn from them.

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Over 51% of businesses will fail in their first five years (U.S. Census data), and even 25-30% of venture-backed businesses fail.

If you want to innovate and put yourself out there, you have to accept that every entrepreneurial venture is a risk.

But how can you reduce that risk of failure for your next startup?

Often, it helps to turn to the experience of others, to learn what lessons we can from their failures, and cut the learning curve for ourselves. Even if you feel like you are reaching (or surpassing) your prime, it is never too late! Jeffrey Brotman, founder of Costco, didn't launch that successful company until he was into his forties.

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Everyone by now is well aware that IT networks are subject to various cyber threats, and small and medium size businesses (SMBs) must protect against them just as larger enterprises do. But these threats are not limited to the online world. SMBs also have to protect the IT equipment itself from physical dangers.

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After almost two decades, the federal government for the first time has been able to meet its goal of awarding five percent (worth $17.8 billion) of all contracts to women-owned small businesses.

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Things to Know About Your Brand New Facebook Page

It blinks, it cries, it drinks from a bottle. That is right, kids, your new Facebook Page can do everything other little dollies can, and even more.

Lets take the beginning of this song and do it nice. And easy.

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For any business to succeed, achieving product/market fit is a primary goal. But verifying that your product or service meets a strong market need and can stand up to competitors is certainly not an exact science, nor does it typically happen overnight. Building momentum in a market requires patience and comes with no guarantees as customers’ needs, regulatory landscapes, and competitive pressures change over time.

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There are 28 million small businesses in the country, and they provide most of Americas jobs and sales. According to the Small Business Administration, large companies have cut four million jobs since 1990, while small businesses have created eight million. Most small businesses want to become big businesses, so a new dog-walking service is probably not going to turn into the next Uber (though you never know! Dream big!).

Here are some of the top, best, most promising industries you might want to consider where businesses are growing. They are also ripe for disruption.

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According to a December survey of owners by the National Small Business Association, cybercriminals raked in an average of $32,000 from small business accounts.

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You know what they say about free advice: Sometimes, it is not worth the price.

But that does not apply to the folks at SCORE, who provide advice to startups and established businesses. Their advice is free and it often results in businesses that get off the ground and grow.

SCORE was originally known as the Service Corps of Retired Executives, a nonprofit organization partnered with the U.S. Small Business Administration and created in 1964 by President Lyndon Johnson.

Now, it is just known as SCORE.

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