Benefits of Online Banking for Small Business

In the age of the Internet, you can do almost anything online. You can watch movies, shop for clothes, purchase plane tickets, and even manage your business with a simple click and a few keystrokes.

The surge of online banking in recent years has been a boon for businesses, especially for start-ups and small to medium enterprises. While it hasn’t completely replaced traditional banking, more and more companies are seeing the advantages of online banking as an industry resource. Here’s why.



It’s more convenient. Online banking means fewer trips to the bank. Most business owners can benefit from more time spent on developing and implementing strategies, for example, than going to the bank to perform routine transactions.

Payment deposits, employee payrolls, money transfers – you no longer have to interrupt your work schedules for these simple processes. All you need is an Internet connection and a computer or your phone. What’s more, you don’t even have to wait for business hours to transact with your bank.

Easier account management and monitoring. Some businesses prefer to have multiple accounts to serve different purposes. One account could be dedicated for paying bills and service providers, while another could be for internal budgets like office supplies and employee incentives. With online banking, you can easily enroll these into one account where you can monitor all transactions. You can even backtrack your account activity and print out transaction histories for your company records.

5 Keys to a Successful Trade Show for Small Businesses

Small business success is rarely easy. It can be challenging to build your brand with limited resources, but one simple way to get increased exposure for your business is to attend trade shows.

An industry trade show provides many benefits: it helps you increase your customer base, build relationships with other small business owners, connect with vendors, and introduce your product line to the public.

Since trade shows can be expensive, as well as labor intensive, the trick to getting a great return on your investment is to prepare well ahead of time. You need a clear idea of how you plan to set up your table or your custom pop up tent and a good strategy on how to engage visitors when they visit.

Here are 5 suggestions on how to do well with trade shows:

1. Research the right shows for your company. You won’t be able to attend all the trade shows in your industry, so be selective about the ones that you do plan to attend. By doing your research for the year ahead, you’ll be able to benefit from the discounts that come from registering early. This could save your business hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars.
2. Develop a team to develop a plan of action. You need lots of ideas on what to do and to assign responsibilities to various leaders to make sure that you represent your business in the best possible way.
3. Create a budget for your trade shows. Think of trade shows as playing the long game: they will help you promote your business effectively in the fullness of time. In order to be able to afford to attend a few trade shows in the year, you will need to have a good idea of your expenses so that you can plan ahead.