Got a pen handy? To best estimate your start-up costs, you'll need to make a list— and the more detailed the better.
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How to claim this otherwise hard-to-get health-care deduction.
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Credit scores are often touted as the make-it-or-break-it factor for business loans, but even entrepreneurs with high business credit scores may have trouble getting financing.
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For some business owners, creating a maternity or paternity policy isn't top of mind— until a staffer becomes pregnant.
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The debate over global warming isn't going away. Are you prepared for the next storm?
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A handful of cash-rich companies are consolidating power in the tech industry, using their wealth to expand into new businesses and making it harder for small competitors to break through.
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The U.S. Treasury Department is concerned the steady pace of bank failures could keep many small businesses from gaining access to new credit as the economy rebounds and companies seek to expand.
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Exporting may seem daunting, but it can open up a whole new market. Here's how to navigate the process.
The travails of two Michigan companies illustrate the tough choices their community bank must make.
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Scrambling to get your taxes in order? Don't miss these small-business write-offs.
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The former president of New York's small Park Avenue Bank was arrested on fraud charges, one of the first such cases involving a TARP recipient. The bank was shut Friday.
In the wake of Coca-Cola and PepsiCo's acquisitions of their biggest bottlers, some smaller bottlers are concerned about having to match price promotions.
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Not surprisingly, many VC-backed start-ups hail from Silicon Valley. But where's Boston or Seattle on this list?
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Entrepreneur Sarah Prevette was starting up RedWire. But then a heavyhitter began using the same name.
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Some employees are over-sharing on social-media sites, causing embarrassment and possible financial harm to small enterprises.
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Companies on this week's Next Big Thing list detail strategies for dealing with rapid expanision.
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Pacific Biosciences, which makes DNA-sequencing instruments, came out No. 1 in a ranking of the 50 venture-backed companies in the U.S. with the greatest potential.
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Whether you're starting a business from home or opening a large-scale operation, you'll need to decide on the best legal structure for your new company. Part three of a five-week series.
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Services like Facebook and Twitter have become a popular marketing tool for small firms, but new evidence suggests social media may not be as effective as hoped.
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Entrepreneur Debbie Meyer cleans up with kitchen gadgets – and leaves the $100 million mark in the dust.
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Caterpillar issued an 11th-hour salvo against the health plan, saying its Medicare adjustments and insurance mandates would increase the company's costs by $100 million in the first year.
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Starting a business is a lot like becoming a parent. Not only do you have to prepare for your start-up emotionally and financially, but you have to be committed to its constant needs until it's mature enough to hum along on its own. And even then (much like a child) it will always need you in some capacity, no matter how old it gets.
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Whether you're starting a business from home or opening a large-scale operation, you'll need to decide on the best legal structure for your new company. Part two of a five-week series.
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A number of technology companies on the Next Big Thing list aim to help businesses deal with data overload.
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Proposed legislation calls for the Small Business Administration to help small-business owners find willing lenders and, as a last resort, issue the loan directly.
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McDonald's executives have been trying to sell franchisees on the offer of $1 soft drinks in recent weeks at regional meetings.


Use this startup calculator to figure out the true costs of launching a company. How much do you think it will take to open your business?
From Palo Alto Software, the makers of Business Plan Pro
With inspiration from the Better Business Bureau
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Yelp, a popular Web service that allows users to rate local businesses, is in the hot seat to defend the way it sells online ads to local businesses.
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Was 2009 a banner year for your small business? Or did you struggle through? Whatever the case, there are ways to trim the tax bill.
![[300data]](http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OB-HU345_300dat_A_20100309143409.jpg)
A number of technology companies on the Next Big Thing list aim to help businesses deal with data overload.
The technology bubble popped a decade ago, but the venture-capital industry that helped finance the boom stayed largely intact. Now venture-capital firms are going through their own brutal culling.
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A useful tool for any growing company is the employee handbook, which can communicate your vision and help shield you in the event of lawsuits.
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Some small-business advocates criticized Obama's proposed health-care overhaul as imposing stiffer requirements on employers to provide insurance for workers while not doing enough to lower costs.
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The popular stimulus provisions reduced fees and offered a 90% guarantee to banks, which catalyzed SBA loan activity.
Visit our How-To Guide for Small Business to get tips from The Wall Street Journal's reporters and columnists on everything from "How to Pick a Credit Card for Your Business" to "How to Attract Talent to a Small Company."
The Wall Street Journal on Small Business
Insights for starting and running a small business. Tuesdays
THIS WEEK: Hear a discussion on why politicians in Washington are conflicted about a certain small business request; what some small business owners have done to punch back at the recession; and the good-news and bad-news about small firms learning to operate with fewer employees.
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