Small Business
Articles
INSIDE DISH: Great Divide bridges Lockerbie past, present
Ralph's Great Divide has staked out an identity as a downtown survivor, making vital changes after its first proprietor's death and weathering a big downturn in sales during the recent recession.
Flexibility lets firms focus on products, not processes
Can small-business owners afford to loosen their control of employees’ schedules? Can they afford not to?
Local tech firm owner makes most of flexibility
About a year ago, Jon Arnold shuttered his technology firm’s office in Irvington, but not his company. He and his two employees now rely on technology to keep the company thriving as Arnold and his family spend a year traveling the country in a recreational vehicle.
What’s New: My Toy Garden
In this week’s startup profile, we meet Janet Pillsbury, who opened My Toy Garden in Carmel last month.
Bostech’s software aims to rein in lab-test costs
The company saw sales surge after introducing software in May that helps medical labs manage their disparate computer systems from a Web portal.
Venture for America aims to help startups
Modeled after the Teach for America program that trains recent college grads for two-year stints as educators, the initiative would put other graduates to work at fledgling companies.
Olympia Media Partners’ newspapers reaching more college campuses
IU grads add employees, revenue as they prepare to expand their company’s footprint to 45 schools.
Apple’s Jobs lived entrepreneurial dream
The director of IU’s Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation said Steve Jobs “epitomized the revolutionary genius that through hard work, determination and a maverick spirit, our world can be changed by one person.”
Jobs bill aims to give small business a boost
The American Jobs Act, which President Obama unveiled Sept. 8, includes several provisions intended to encourage small-business hiring. But would it really help?
INSIDE DISH: Avec Moi in midst of startup tests
Kris Parmelee pulled off a major career shift by switching from consultancy to the kitchen. But getting her home-cooking takeout startup, Avec Moi, off the ground has been tough.
What does Facebook tell your banker?
In addition to the expected factors like a potential borrower’s credit history and business plan, lenders increasingly are weighing intangibles such as moral character.
WOJTOWICZ: Character always counts—even in loan decisions
During these difficult times, small-business lenders are looking harder at intangibles—including a borrower’s character.
Big ambitions for small planning firm
Eden Collaborative, the three-man company Adam Thies founded in 2004, is working to revitalize St. Clair Place on Indianapolis’ east side, among other projects.
Is being your own boss overrated?
Freedom and flexibility are long-term goals for many entrepreneurs, but getting there is anything but easy.
Indianapolis tech companies seeded by big ’90s success
Money and experience have flowed to a number of firms from Software Artistry executives.
LEADING QUESTIONS: Design guru abides in rocky economy
Why does the owner of A2SO4 Architecture believe a 20 percent drop in billings is a victory? Just how cutthroat has the design field become? What's the significance of moving the firm into a church? Sanford Garner has answers.
IU launches $250K student biz-plan competition
A group of 10 investors created a $1.1 million fund to support $250,000 in annual prize money to Indiana University students in Bloomington who submit the best business plans for an Internet or software company.
Columbia Club nudges aside one foundation, forms second
The Columbia Club has formed a not-for-profit, the Columbia Club Historic Preservation Foundation, to preserve its 1924 building on Monument Circle. The 28-year-old Columbia Club Foundation already exists for the same purpose, and its fate is now unclear.
State Fair tragedy drives demand for crisis PR planning
Local agency heads said that sector of their business had grown even before the Aug. 13 stage collapse.