Watch: Powering small business

Washington Post Live will look at tools and resources that can help small business owners

Swing state small business owners leaning heavily toward one candidate

(Carolyn Kaster, Charles Dharapak / AP)

In what are expected to be the most hotly contested states, small business owners are keeping a close eye on each of the candidates’ positions on health care, taxes and regulations.

Small business news

Vaccine researcher is small business person of the year

Vaccine researcher is small business person of the year

Victoria Tifft of Ohio’s Clinical Research Management Inc. takes the top SBA prize.

Georgetown duo become award-winning research entrepreneurs

Georgetown duo become award-winning research entrepreneurs

After years of studying and lecturing at Georgetown, the pair were ready to get their “hands a little dirty.”

A marriage of teaching and entrepreneurship

Interactive Achievement provides online testing software to help educators analyze and track student performance on state benchmarks.

An accidental CEO comes out on top

An accidental CEO comes out on top

Janet Amirault recovered from a stroke to become one of the top business owners in Maryland.

How can we best hire qualified immigrant workers?

How can we best hire qualified immigrant workers?

Congress is considering a measure calling for every employer to use the federal government’s E-Verify system to check the citizenship status of all applicants and staff. So what would that mean for small firms?

Closed for business: The least friendly states toward small companies

Closed for business: The least friendly states toward small companies

California and New York churn out plenty of technology start-ups, but they apparently aren’t so welcoming to mom-and-pop shops.

Rising gas prices crippling small firms on many levels, from many angles

Rising gas prices crippling small firms on many levels, from many angles

During a hearing in the House, a pair of small business owners explained how increasing fuel prices are hammering their bottom lines.

New firms see less trouble making sales but more trouble securing payments

New firms see less trouble making sales but more trouble securing payments

Slow sales are still the most oft-cited challenge, but there’s a new thorn in the side of young businesses.

New grant program: How would your small business use $250,000?

New grant program: How would your small business use $250,000?

Living Social and Chase have teamed up to offer $250,000 grants to each of up to a dozen small firms across the country.

For start-ups, patents can be a gold rush

For start-ups, patents can be a gold rush

Start-ups are wising up to the value that patents confer on young companies, especially in light of a rule switch that will favor the first one to the patent office.

Social media tips from entrepreneurs

What should employees be allowed to post on personal networks?

An employee works on a computer at the new headquarters of Facebook in Menlo Park, California in this January 11, 2012 file photo. The world's largest online social network is expected to tap public markets for $10 billion in the coming months in an offering that will value the company at up to $100 billion, according to sources familiar with the planned IPO. REUTERS/Robert Galbraith/Files (UNITED STATES - Tags: MEDIA BUSINESS SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY)

Should workers be limited in what they can say online?

How can a business effectively use playlists for branding?

A webpage displaying Spotify Ltd.'s Spotify music site is seen on a computer monitor in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Thursday, July 14, 2011. Spotify Ltd., the European online music service, is now available in the U.S. by invitation and through subscription and will vie with Oakland, California-based Pandora Media Inc. for listeners.   Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

Businesses can leverage Vimeo, Spotify and other channels to connect with customers.

What’s the best digital platform for hosting events?

What’s the best way to get people in the same room, in real life?

Social media tips from entrepreneurs

A screen shot of the Google Plus social network is shown in this publicity photo released to Reuters June 28, 2011. Google Inc, frustrated by a string of failed attempts to crack social networking, designed the service to tie together all of its online properties, laying the foundation for a full-fledged social network.  REUTERS/Google/Handout   (UNITED STATES - Tags: SCI TECH BUSINESS) NO SALES. NO ARCHIVES. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

Google+ hangouts: Are they worth it?

Google’s social network has a long way to go before it has the same following as Facebook, but it does offer services like “hangouts,” or 10-way video chats. How can a business use hangouts to connect with customers?

A Twitter page is displayed on a laptop computer in Los Angeles October 13, 2009. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni

Should I participate in Twitter chats?

Some communities on Twitter have started holding regular “chats” by tweeting at each other using hash tags. But are these e-meetings useful?

This screen shot taken Friday, Feb. 24, 2012, shows a page of women's products from Pinterest.com.  A virtual pinboard or scrapbook, the site allows users to collect and organize favorite images and ideas. (AP Photo/Pinterest)

What should a business do on Pinterest?

The picture-posting social network is adding users at an astounding pace — how can businesses capi­tal­ize on the boom?

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‘On’ May 23: Senate bill takes aim at STEM shortage, generic drugmakers fight legal loophole

Our daily blend of news, trends and tips created specifically with small businesses in mind.

Inside Small Businesses

Start-up advice: How to gain immediate traction before and after launch

Start-up advice: How to gain immediate traction before and after launch

Usually, people couldn’t care less about your products’ features. What they care about is your company’s story.

Act, learn, build: Lessons small business owners should take from serial entrepreneurs

Act, learn, build: Lessons small business owners should take from serial entrepreneurs

Business owners often manage their companies under the notion that the future will closely resemble the past. It’s time to ditch that logic.

Small business advice: Time to take an innovation vacation?

Small business advice: Time to take an innovation vacation?

Now and then, you have to step away from the action and take a big-picture look at the direction of your business.

How to use social media monitoring to keep tabs on your competition

How to use social media monitoring to keep tabs on your competition

Companies sometimes divulge information on their social networking pages that provide insights into their priorities.

The perks and perils of telecommuting

The perks and perils of telecommuting

How to ensure employees actually work when they work from home

Ensuring energy efficiency in your social media efforts

Ensuring energy efficiency in your social media efforts

Small business owners don’t necessarily have to work any harder when it comes to social media – they just have to work smarter.

Marketing starts with a conversation with your team, not your customers

Marketing starts with a conversation with your team, not your customers

Eventually, you have to reach outside the office. But an internal audit should be the first step when building a brand.

Copying your competition is a popular brand strategy — but it can backfire

Copying your competition is a popular brand strategy — but it can backfire

Burger King’s copy-cat strategy could harm more brands than its own, highlighting an important branding lesson to business owners everywhere.

How to be business partners with your spouse

How to be business partners with your spouse

Many married couples often fall into a few common pitfalls when they go into business together, such as having mis-matched goals

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Photo by Sarah Shah

Thomas Heath

Beneficial lessons

Nomoya Tinch Malcolm, a program director at Junior Achievement, helps young adults learn how to handle money.

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Thomas Heath

Photo by Sarah Shah