Recent Articles Published by Sabrina Parsons
How to Get the Most Out of a Sample Business Plan
The basic idea of a sample business plan makes perfect sense. If you haven’t done a business plan before, a sample plan gives you an instant idea of what you should include, how to structure it, even what to write. Here's how to get the most out of a sample business plan. Read more »
3 Good Reasons Why Nonprofits Need Better Budgets
Budgets are an important tool for nonprofits—both from a legal standpoint, and to keep investors and donors engaged and happy. Here's how to improve the budgeting process within your nonprofit. Read more »
How to Respond When You Don’t Know the Answer to an Investor’s Question
I’m often asked by entrepreneurs how to best present to investors, and how to deal with all of their questions. A big fear that most people have before they pitch to an investor is about getting a question they don’t have the answer to. They want to know how to deal with being unprepared in... Read more »
How to Become Your Own Boss in 2015 (Webinar Recap)
Are you unhappy with your current job? Have you always dreamed of being your own boss? Before you quit, you need to create a plan. I had the opportunity to speak with Melinda Emerson, the “SmallBizLady” and America’s #1 small business expert, who took the opportunity to share with us her proven, step-by-step method to... Read more »
How to Become Your Own Boss in 2015 [Free Webinar]
Are you unhappy with your soul-sapping job? Have you always wanted to be your own boss? Don’t just quit! You need to create a plan to fire your boss—first. In today’s business environment, small business owners have even less time to hit it big with their target customer. The key to success is not only... Read more »
How to Fine-tune Your Small Business Finances—from Funding to Growth [Free Webinar]
Obtaining funding continues to be the biggest barrier to starting a business, while ineffectively managing cash flow is what causes most small business owners to close their doors. If you’re an entrepreneur, then you’re familiar with the need to obtain funding to start your business. As a small business owner, perhaps what’s keeping you from growing... Read more »
#NotEqualYet: The Infographic
We’ve come a long way toward gender equality, in the workplace and elsewhere, but every day, there are still women feeling the negative effects of sexism in their lives. One of the arenas where change has been slow and large disparities still exist is the workplace. Especially for working moms in the United States, navigating... Read more »
#NotEqualYet: The Reality of Gender at Work
It’s easy to think we’ve achieved gender equality. Women, so iconic we know them by first name and initials—Oprah, Hillary, RBG—have shattered much of the glass ceiling. The floor is coated with shards, but there is still work to be done. Equality is not a world in which Hillary Clinton’s pantsuits receive more attention than... Read more »
How to Grow Your Business by Setting Goals [Webinar]
We all have goals for our business, but sometimes we forget how important it is to clearly define these goals. This is especially true when it comes to financial goal setting for small businesses, where often financial goals are only vaguely defined or based too heavily on assumptions. Many small business owners may keep a... Read more »
#TrackThis Episode 6: ROI of Conferences and Trade Shows
Welcome back to #TrackThis! Today, Matt Rissell, CEO of T Sheets Time Tracking, and I sat down to talk about tracking your ROI of attending conferences and trade shows. It’s an important question: Is it worth attending these events to get your name out there, or to have your people trained? It’s hard to know necessarily,... Read more »
The Basics of Small Business Loans [WEBINAR]
What do you need to know about small business loans before you apply? A lot! You have a lot of options, and there are a lot of variables in the equation that determines whether you’ll qualify for the loan you’re applying for (or whether that loan is even a good fit for you and your... Read more »
#TrackThis Episode 5: Tracking Sales Funnel Conversions in SaaS
Welcome to episode five of #TrackThis, my recurring webinar series with Matt Rissell, CEO of TSheets! This episode’s topic is something we at Palo Alto Software are constantly discussing, and that’s why I wanted to share it with you. If your company provides Software as a Service (or SaaS), then you’re probably familiar with how... Read more »
Think Like A Marketer, Sell Like a Superstar [WEBINAR]
John Jantsch is a marketing consultant, speaker and the best-selling author of Duct Tape Marketing, Duct Tape Selling, The Commitment Engine, and The Referral Engine. He is the creator of the Duct Tape Marketing System and Duct Tape Marketing Consulting Network that trains and licenses small business marketing consultants around the world. He is the... Read more »
#TrackThis Episode 4: How Do You Measure Happiness?
Welcome to episode four of #TrackThis, my recurring webinar series with Matt Rissell, CEO of TSheets! This episode’s topic is a big deal for my company, and that’s why I wanted to share it with you. Happy employees are more productive, and they’ll make your company better. Money spent on employee happiness is money well... Read more »
5 Critical Tips to Reduce Your Business Taxes This Year [WEBINAR]
Editor’s note: Since publication of this update, our Scoreboard feature has undergone a change, and we now call it the Dashboard. Tax season has come and gone, but the main takeaway from our recent webinar on tax planning for small businesses is that the key to saving money on your taxes is to think ahead... Read more »
#TrackThis Episode 3: The Lean Startup
Have you ever heard of the book The Lean Startup by Eric Ries? It’s an incredible guide to rethinking how you develop your business, whether you’re just starting out or launching a new product or into a new market. And usually, when people are talking about this book, they’re talking about it like it only... Read more »
#TrackThis Episode 2: Industry Benchmarks
You know you need to project a sales forecast, and create a budget, and then compare your actual revenue and expenses to what you guessed you’d make, and what you hoped you’d spend. But what about comparing your business’s performance to other, similar businesses, and how they did last month, or last year, or last quarter?... Read more »
Tip of the Week: Key Insight Into Crowdfunding
A lot of times people want to ask me about crowd funding. What is it? Is it legal? Read more »
10 Things Every Small Business Needs To Do
If you're looking to start a new small business, there are a lot of factors to consider. But boil it down, and you're left with just these ten things to focus on. Read more »
Marissa Meyer at Yahoo! Wages War on Flexibility
Last month, an internal HR Yahoo! email from the head of HR about Yahoo’s work at home policies and changes to that policy was leaked. Apparently Marissa Meyer is trying to whip the company back into shape and wants to reign in employees who have flexible working arrangements and work from home. Here is a... Read more »
