Last week was National Small Business Week -- a yearly event honoring the accomplishments and contributions of small businesses.  While grand festivities were taking place in Washington DC, the average small business owner wasn’t in much of a mood to celebrate.  In fact, the National Federation of Independent Businesses Small Business Optimism Index dipped for the second month in a row, demonstrating small business owners are still concerned about their viability and the economy. 

As part of small business week, I had the opportunity to do a satellite media tour with Ink from Chase -- the business credit card  The topic was “How to Go From Small Start-up to Empowered Entrepreneur.”  As I was beamed across the country from one television station to another, I shared advice and tips to help small businesses grow in this difficult economy. 

While I discussed a variety of topics during the interview, I’ll highlight a few.
First, one of the biggest challenges small business owners face is time.  There simply aren’t enough hours in the day.  As an owner, you wear many different hats and you work longer and harder than you have ever worked in your life. As a result, you need to find ways in which you can be more productive and in turn, increase your profitability.

Technology is certainly helping small businesses work smarter, better and faster in a variety of ways.  Plus, technology really levels the playing field for small companies -- allowing them to compete effectively with the big guys.

But there are also simple adjustments a small business owner can make to increase productivity.  For example, I learned that most small businesses still write checks to pay their bills.  That is a huge time waster.  If business owners used a business credit card such as Ink from Chase they could save time so they could focus on building their business.

Also, I find many small businesses don’t pay close attention to their financial management -- until they are in trouble. Ink from Chase can help business owners manage their finances more professionally.  You can track your expenses, get customized reports, provide your employees with cards at no extra charge and put individualized spending limits on each.  Plus, the online reports coordinate with your accounting software system, streamlining your bookkeeping process. 

So if you aren’t utilizing a business credit, perhaps you should.  Ink from Chase is more than a charge card, it is a small business resource.