Today’s roundup starts with news that Wall Street protestors are looking to startups for money and includes stories on how Tony Blair’s wife is helping entrepreneurs in developing countries and how VCs are excited about energy companies.
Wall Street protestors look to startups for funding
Regardless of where you stand in the political spectrum, I’m sure you’ll agree that the Wall Street protestors are an enterprising group. As Matthew DeLuca of Inc. magazine reports, Occupy Wall Street is working with a startup titled WePay to collect donations and Kickstarter to help launch its new publication: The Occupy Wall Street Journal. Never know—they might be calling you next.
Energy storage and efficiency startups resonate with VCs
Not sure what type of company to start? Consider diving into the world of energy storage or energy efficiency. ZDNet’s Heather Clancy writes that cleantech funding was strong in Q3 with $514 million invested in energy storage and $224 million allocated to energy storage. Time to put together a business plan.
Cherie Blair launches entrepreneur mentorship program
For all of you who want to help entrepreneurs in developing nations but don’t know where to start, here is your golden opportunity.Entrepreneur’s Colleen Debaise writes that Cherie Blair (wife of former Britain Prime Minister Tony Blair) is launching a program titled Mentoring Women in Business. The program will match businesspersons with female entrepreneurs in Africa, South Asia and the Middle East. Yay for addressing microfinance’s missing link (business scalability)!
Small business employment falls in September
Get ready for more bad news on the hiring front. As Reuters reports, employment at small businesses fell by 0.3 workers per firm in September—extending a decline of four straight months. The numbers come from a National Federation of Independent Businesses survey of 729 small businesses.
How to trim the fat and welcome your best customers
While it can be difficult to turn away a paying customer, Jeanne Rossomme writes on SCORE’s Small Business Blog that it can also be the best thing for your business. PITA (pain in the you-know-what) customers can suck the energy of out of your business and letting them go can free up your time to take on clients you love—those who pay well (and on time) and love your offering. So make a chart and rate your best and worst clients. An ‘aha’ moment awaits you.
Watch out: the most common SB Facebook mistakes
While it's great that you have a Facebook page for your business, you might want to heed common site-usage mistakes. As Justin Rondeau blogs on RAGAN’s PR Daily, faux pas include over-posting and not failing to post community rules. Hmm…might want to talk to your social media director about this.
