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Special Dividends Being Issued in Anticipation of 2013 Tax Increases

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In anticipation of 2013 tax increases, Special dividends being issued by companies in 2012. 2013 Tax Increases: In addition to their regular quarterly dividend payments, many large corporations are also issuing special dividends this year. During the past several months, the number of companies issuing special dividends has increased 400 percent. Small investors are largely welcoming these special dividends because issuing them in 2012 means that they can avoid paying higher income taxes that … [Read more...]

Government Accountability Office Says Eliminate the Dollar Bill

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Finance expert Mike Periu writes about the Government Accountability Office Says replacing the dollar bill with a dollar coin could save the government millions. The Government Accountability Office (GAO), the audit, evaluation, and investigative arm of the United States Congress, has recently issued a recommendation to eliminate the dollar bill and replace it with a dollar coin. This would save the U.S. government about $147 million per year over 30 years. More importantly, many industries … [Read more...]

Military Aircraft MRO Market to Surpass $41 Billion Next Year

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Finance expert Mike Periu on the one area of military spending that will increase in the next decade, The Military Aircraft MRO Market. Many small businesses that serve as Department of Defense subcontractors would be adversely impacted if sequestration—the mandatory spending cuts that are part of the fiscal cliff—takes place. There is one segment of military spending, however, that is set to grow globally over the next decade—MRO for military aircraft. MRO stands for maintenance, repair and … [Read more...]

Opportunities for Small Businesses

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Finance expert Mike Periu on Opportunities for Small Businesses: receive mentoring and advice from larger companies. The Boston Beer Company, a $600 million brewer, has instituted a program where small businesses can receive mentoring and advice from employees to help them improve their chances of success. Staff from the company assist with marketing, financing, operations and other areas by providing one-on-one support tackling the problems that small-business owners face. In conjunction … [Read more...]

Four Tips for Maximizing Your Profits This Holiday Season

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Finance expert Mike Periu on how to prepare your business and maximizing your profits this holiday season. According to a recent study by Manta, many small-business owners are enjoying a cautious sense of optimism when it comes to holiday sales. If this does turn out to be a successful quarter—and so far the Thanksgiving holiday sales suggest it will be—it's important to get your business ready to maximize revenues and profits. Train your employees on providing good customer service. Don't … [Read more...]

Is Your Business Ready for Personalized Pricing?

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Retailers have access to technology that allows personalized pricing. Finance expert Mike Periu on the technology that helps retailers customize prices. Using a combination of historical purchasing data as well as purchased information about consumers, retailers can modify offers and pricing based on the specific preferences of each customer. Offering regular customers special discounts for their loyalty is a common example of this practice; however, combining these practices with data-mining … [Read more...]

lessons from small business failures

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Finance expert Mike Periu on how to learn valuable lessons from small business failures. It's far easier to find articles and videos about small business success than it is about failure. Many times, however, there are more valuable lessons to be learned from failure than from success. Small-business owners succeed in different ways but tend to fail for the same reasons. Identifying these reasons and dealing with them can improve your chances of success. Entrepreneurs, who have failed and … [Read more...]

Serial Entrepreneur Offers Advice for Attracting Investors

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Finance expert Mike Periu on Key ways for Attracting Investors on next business venture Attracting Investors: Serial entrepreneur Geoffrey Clapp advises business owners to "go do something". Many aspiring moguls spend so much time planning, that they never get around to actually doing something. When Clapp considers potential investments or advisory roles he looks for owners, who have actually done something—even if that "something" turned out to be a failure because the learning that takes … [Read more...]

Consumers Break Holiday Shopping Records

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Finance expert Mike Periu on Consumers Break Holiday Shopping Records. According to the National Retail Federation, this holiday weekend was a record breaker. 247 million consumers went shopping either online, in stores or a combination of the two. This is an increase from last year's 226 million shoppers. On Black Friday alone, 89 million people went shopping, an increase of 3 million people compared to 2011. On average, shoppers spent $423 over the weekend, $25 more than last year. Unlike … [Read more...]

Twitter Offers $1M in Free Advertising for Small Business Saturday

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Finance expert Mike Periu on Twitter's $1M in Free Advertising for Small Business Saturday. In support of Small Business Saturday, Twitter announced that they will be offering Free Advertising for 10,000 small businesses $100 each in free advertising credits on the new Twitter advertising platform. Small businesses can use the credits to send "promoted tweets" which reach a broader audience. They can also be used for "promoted accounts" which help small business Twitter accounts gain targeted … [Read more...]