Small Business Insider

by Raymond J. Keating and Karen Kerrigan- Just in case you doubted what antitrust laws and regulations are ultimately about in the end, consider that a small coalition of business groups, according to The Wall Street Journal, is calling on government to effectively dictate what lines of commerce Amazon.com is allowed to enter, as part […]

by Raymond J. Keating- Well, that didn’t take very long. Various politicians and special interests are back to attacking the pharmaceutical industry. Let’s quickly review the facts: First, a deadly, global pandemic breaks out. Second, as COVID-19 hits, spreads, and takes hundreds of thousands of lives in the U.S., far too many politicians stumble, bumble […]

REPRINTED with permission from the Alibaba Insights newsletter. by Karen Kerrigan- One of many things to celebrate during Women’s History Month is the seismic growth in women’s entrepreneurship that has made our global economy more vibrant and inclusive. Women are running or have started approximately 250 million small businesses across the world. In the U.S., women […]

by Rieva Lesonsky- Will a new surge in consumer optimism improve your business’s bottom line? Chain Store Age reports consumer sentiment is at its highest level in a year, as people anticipate the arrival of their COVID-19 stimulus checks and the increase in the number of Americans getting vaccinated. Richard Curtin, the chief economist, Surveys of Consumers, […]

By Karen Kerrigan– In recent posts on our Small Business Insider blog, Rieva Lesonsky’s Trendcast highlighted the exciting growth and various trends in e-commerce. The significant increase in e-shoppers age 65 and above and the upsurge in the “stay-at-home” category of goods and products being purchased online offer tremendous opportunities for small businesses and new […]

Small Business Insider by Raymond J. Keating- Congress has formed an antitrust posse to go after so-called “Big Tech.” And part of the justification – or at least what’s being stated – is to help out small businesses and innovation. But are small businesses and so-called “Big Tech” friends or foes? I explored this topic […]

Wellness Trends 2021 by Rieva Lesonsky – COVID-19 shifted the health priorities of many American adults, according to a report from Mintel. The research shows nearly half of adults have higher personal safety standards because of the coronavirus and 30% are more aware of their mental health needs. As a result, this year, consumers set new health-related […]

BY BARBARA WELTMAN “America” includes all of the Western Hemisphere, and North America is the United States, Canada, and Mexico. So “American made” is a nebulous term. There are some common phrases being used to encourage people and businesses in the United States to buy home-grown or products manufactured domestically. These include “Made in the […]

By Karen Kerrigan– Recently, the CEO of the country’s biggest wholesale mortgage lender surprised the industry by announcing that companies working with them would have to sign a letter stating that they would no longer work with two of the company’s competitors.  In a Facebook Live video, United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) CEO Mat Ishbia announced […]

by Rieva Lesonsky-  Even as Americans get ready to go back to work and school, consumers “continue to spend on categories that make their life at home more comfortable,” according to a report from The NPD Group. In the first six weeks of 2021, NPD says consumer spending on products like housewares, consumer electronics, and small […]