small business

We got lots of reaction to our article about how changes in debit and credit card swipe fees may affect you. Swipe fees are the charges retailers pay when they allow you to use plastic. One question kept coming up: "Do I pay those fees when I use my debit card?" Regina Lewis explains.

The vast majority of American businesses are privately held, run by ordinary people with all the same worries the rest of us have. And if you're cutting back on personal spending at home, how likely are you to feel comfortable hiring at work?

Today's challenging job market has many recent college grads contemplating life as an entrepreneur. Some have dabbled in self-employment, but most will going into it essentially relying on instinct. So we asked some experienced entrepreneurs what every would-be small businessperson needs to know.

America is DIY Nation, but in certain financial situations, a do-it-yourself strategy can make a bad situation much worse, because in investing and money matters, most of us don't know what we don't know. Here are eight times in your life when the high stakes demand that you call in the experts.

Last week, I shared my top tax season secrets with you. I also emphasized that there's no one-size-fits-all approach to taxes. To give you a wide range of advice, I asked a number of tax professionals from all over the globe for their best tax tips for tax season. Here's what they had to say:

This week, President Obama announced that he's nominating Commerce Secretary Gary Locke as U.S. Ambassador to China. There are several short-list contenders to replace Locke at Commerce, but the question is: Who would best be able to help Obama double U.S. exports in the next five years?

Those "standard" agreements big businesses like to impose on small clients are one-sided deals intended to protect their interests while reducing or eliminating your legal rights altogether. Before you sign on the dotted line, consider this cautionary example.

One of the slickest things Apple ever did to lure consumers to its products was creating the Genius Bar and Apple Care, offering fast, face-to-face customer support. Now, Apple is taking the same approach to small-biz IT support with a service called Joint Venture.

The majority of jobs in the U.S. are created by small business, which are still reluctant to hire new workers. And while some of their reasons for holding back may mirror those of big businesses, local conditions like state taxes may loom larger in their decisions.

President Obama has set a goal for the nation -- doubling U.S. exports in the next five years -- and helping smaller businesses is a big part of his plan. But for advice from the trenches, we've interviewed five executives at global export leaders and gleaned 10 tips you can apply to your own company.