Small Business Inspirations: Henry Ford

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Ford introduced the Model T in 1908. He also developed the assembly line, leading to the creation of more than 15 million Model Ts and making cars affordable to most Americans.

Ford was the child of a farmer, and expected to follow in his father’s footsteps. Instead, he decided to develop his skills as a machinist and became an engineer. Ford surrounded himself with other inventive people and pursued his passion.

No one succeeds when they expect to fail. Thinking that you can build a business is the first step to making it happen.

Evie Smith is a modern-day example of willing her dreams to come true. After a serious injury, she realized her current corporate position wasn’t for her. She chose instead to start her own PR agency. Check out the rest of her story!

Best Human Resource Apps for Small Businesses

Best Human Resource Apps for Small Businesses

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What are the best human resource apps for small businesses?

Though human resource departments in big, multinational companies look a lot different than they do in a small business setting, both deal with similar issues on all levels of business.

And both could use some help from technology.

To help streamline processes and make your business a better place for you and your employees, here are 12 must-have human resource apps and how they can help your business.

For easier on-boarding.

With new hires, there’s always paperwork. But with WorkBright, you can cut out all the paper documents. The process is remarkably simple. New employees receive an email and a link that opens all on-boarding documents for them to read through and sign. This saves a lot of time on the first day.

Payroll made easy.

You don’t need to outsource your payroll to a third party. With Gusto, you get an easy-to-use interface that allows you to simplify payroll onboarding and also automates the process by calculating taxes, benefits and submitting payroll filings.

Schedule easier.

Coming up with a schedule can feel like an elaborate math problem. With Deputy, juggling who works where and when just got a lot easier. With spreadsheets, time clocks and a mobile-first approach, it also allows you to send out schedules to employees and to payroll with just one click.

Know your employees.

Whether in the hiring stage or 10 years into their careers, it’s important to have a way to measure how your employees are performing. PeopleFluent is an app that helps you track an employee’s development at your company. Career development, pay management and applicant tracking – all at your fingertips.

A healthy workplace is a happy workplace.

The app Nudjed is designed to make workplace wellness programs more effective. Employees create profiles, input information and through deep analytics, receive personalized health advice. It also allows you to track the progress of everyone in the program.

Manage with ease.

For projects small and large, every HR manager can benefit from DropTask, a visual project management app that clearly defines workflows and responsibilities while eliminating juggling and guessing.

For your to-do list.

Stop relying on all those scraps of paper! With features like due dates, reminders and the ability to assign tasks to others, Wunderlist will help you prioritize and follow through.

Because we can all be forgetful.

With payroll and insurance portals, benefits pages and any number of other secure sites they need access to, HR managers have a lot of passwords to remember. LastPass basically takes care of this by storing all your passwords in one place.

Keep track of those expenses.

Make receipts stapled to expense reports a thing of the past. Expensify is an Intuit app that makes it easy for employees to submit claims and for you to track spending and budget more effectively.

Learn from your employees.

Many small businesses conduct surveys every quarter to get a sense of morale and where the company is at. Peakon is an app that prompts employees with questions and gives HR managers real-time analytics based on the feedback. The genius in the app is its design, which helps get a 90 percent response rate.

The HR behemoth.

Namely is one of the most widely used, and most exhaustive, pieces of software available for a company’s HR needs. Its centralized platform can be easily customized and allows you to do everything from track time off and automate workflow to store documents and more. Oh, and you can do this all from their app as well.

All-in-one for the small players.

If Namely is widely used across the spectrum of businesses, Zenefits is the all-in-one choice for small-business owners. Its dashboard allows you to access and manage benefits, time tracking, payroll, compliance and more. The easy pricing system lets you select the features you want.

There are dozens of other options out there, but if you only looked at this list, you would surely find a few that could transform how you do HR.

5, Must-Read, Best Books for Small Business Owners

5 Best Books for Small Business Owners

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The Best Books Small Business Owners Need to Have in Their Library

The path from having an idea and a dream for a business to actualizing that vision is a rough, rocky road, with no shortage of learning opportunities. It’s safe to say that anyone who has been in business for a few years probably has enough material to write a book.

Many have actually done that.

One visit to your local bookstore and you’ll see there’s no shortage of books on how to start a business, tips for succeeding in business or personal accounts of what it’s like to successfully run your dream business.

Needless to say, you have a business to run and don’t have time to read every title on the shelf. That’s why we did the heavy lifting for you.

These are the five best books for small business owners, and somewhere in these pages, you’ll be sure to find advice that speaks to you.

1. To cultivate the right habits and mindset:

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Source: Amazon

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen R. Covey

Putting Covey’s classic work at the top of the list is a bit like putting Shakespeare at the top of the list of most famous authors.

It’s an obvious choice, and for good reason.

Everyone, from CEOs of Fortune 500 companies to small-business owners like yourself, can find something valuable in these pages.

Remember, making it as a small business owner involves having the right mindset and the right habits. Making these seven habits part of who you are is one of the best things you can do.

2. To become an effective leader:

The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership

Source: Amazon

The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You, by John C. Maxwell

Small business owners have ambition, drive and dedication; but many times, they lack leadership skills. That’s an elusive concept, “leadership,” but getting employees, vendors, partners and the many other pieces of that vast network to work for you is the secret sauce to success.

Reading Maxwell’s book is like having a personal leadership coach at your side. Along with the laws of leadership, he has dozens of stories to illustrate the principles you need to learn, as well as hands-on exercises and evaluation tools that will help everyone grow as a leader.

3. To make yourself an effective communicator:

Speak And Get Results

Source: Amazon

Speak and Get Results, by Sandy Linver

Many small business owners who have fled the corporate world know something about the drudgery of meetings. People go to meetings, present, talk, talk and then talk some more – but rarely get results.

Though it might be on a smaller scale, the same problem happens in small businesses as well.

Communication is key.

Linver’s engaging and systematic approach is a quintessential guide for anyone who wants to become a more effective communicator and turn their words into action. That is, anyone who is running a small business.

4. For financial considerations

Simple Numbers, Straight Talk, Big Profits

Source: Amazon

Simple Numbers, Straight Talk, Big Profits! 4 Keys to Unlock Your Business Potential, by Greg Crabtree

There are a lot of inspirational accounts of people risking it all – facing an uphill battle -and founding a great company. However, the financial details of these stories are usually left out.

Of all the exciting aspects of starting your own business, managing the financial side of things usually isn’t the part people look forward to. Nonetheless, even if you hated math in high school, you’ll have to reconcile yourself to this all-important aspect of owning your own business.

Crabtree’s extremely helpful book is the place to start.

This easy-to-follow, step-by-step guide demystifies the whirling world of numbers.  It gives you practical advice on how to lay a solid financial foundation for your business, including insights into creating optimal cash flow, what profit level to hit, labor and productivity and how to manage an owner’s salary.

5. To organize your business

Traction, Get a Grip on Your Business

Source: Amazon

Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business, by Gino Wickman

It’s a cliché to say we live in a rapidly changing world. For businesses big and small, keeping up and moving forward can be a continual challenge. The root of the problem is that organizations get caught up in small details, endless considerations and fail to implement the plans they need to drive profit and move forward.

Wickman’s Entrepreneurial Operations System (EOS) is a simple yet powerful system for organizing a company so that everyone, from leadership on down, stays focused, completes tasks and has the traction to move forward and grow.

There are thousands of other titles out there, but no matter what stage you’ve reached, these five books provide invaluable information and insight into what it takes to run a small business.

Want some more books for small business owners to add to your library?  Check out 5 Small Business Owners Share the Most Important Book They’ve Ever Read.

Employee Picks – Our Favorite Small Businesses

Employee Picks – Our Favorite Small Businesses

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Strategic Funding employees talk about their favorite small businesses

Our employees work to make small businesses succeed every day. So, it's only natural that they shop at them in their time off, too. This National Small Business Week, we want to highlight small businesses recommended by the people here at Strategic Funding.

Have you visited any of these businesses before? Have a favorite of your own? Comment below, we would love to hear about it!

Jacob's Pickles – New York, New York

“I go to Jacob's Pickles on the Upper West Side as much as possible! It's a great restaurant and located in an amazing neighborhood. The menu is impressive and the service is welcoming. It's a restaurant that's all about bringing good home cooked food with an electric, warm atmosphere.” – Cameron, Funding Team

Tia's Place – Jersey City, NJ


“I go to Tia's Place when I need to shop for clothes and accessories for an occasion. They usually have fun in-store events like free champagne and appetizers while you shop or giveaways. The customer service is always great!” – Beverly, Marketing Team

Acai of America – New York, NY

“Acai is a Brazilian staple super food. Acai of America imports the fruit from the Amazon and distributes it throughout the country. The company provides greater access to health and wellness.” – Meron, Funding Team

Ken Sanders Rare Books – Salt Lake City, UT

“Ken Sanders has a lot of vintage and hard to find books that I could look at all day. They also have a huge collection of old postcards from all over the country, which is my favorite part. The store is in a cute building downtown and also great for pictures!” – Jessie, Marketing Team

Charrito's – Weehawken, New Jersey

“Charrito's is a Mexican Traditional style restaurant and bar. When the weather is nice, the outdoor patio at their Weehawken location is open with gorgeous views of New York City. You can see the GWB all the way down to Freedom Tower. The service is always perfect and the food reminds me of grandma's cooking. They make the guacamole fresh right in front of you. It feels like you are at home while you're surrounded by your friends.” – Matthew, Renewal Funding Team

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