There is growing concern among business owners that merchant account fees are too high. This concern becomes magnified every time Visa and MasterCard raise their interchange rates -- the rates Visa and MasterCard member issuing banks charge on credit card transactions, ultimately passed down to merchants. The article addresses the topic of ever-increasing credit card rates and whether Visa and MasterCard should cap their profit and limit it to a fixed percentage over the costs that they incur.

We all love the idea of being our own boss, setting our own working hours and answering to no-one but ourselves. However, many of us are afraid that we don't have what it takes to be a success. For most of us the fear of failure stops us from following our dreams but I can show you how to turn your dreams into a reality in just six easy steps.

Business grants are available for any worthwhile purposes to small business operators in the US. The secret of securing free government money lies in knowing where to apply and on what grounds. This article points you in the right direction...

If you are like everyone else then increasing fuel prices are probably affecting you personally. Yet if you are opening a dollar store there are others things to examine other than the personal impact that higher fuel prices put on you and your lifestyle. You also need to consider the impact that higher fuel prices are having or will have on your customers and your business.

Online work is as diverse as on site work. Online work is demanding because the owner needs to work alone, be a self-starter, and be able to handle a lot of text material on a screen. The ephemerality of the web is another issue - many websites seem to disappear as soon as they spring up, and Silliman suggests the need for archiving online work is a problem that needs to be resolved. A key issue with online work is keeping it fresh, and not letting people forget about the space because out of sight, out of mind.

Is it hard to deal with the public. I am the public and I also deal with the public on a daily basis.

Even professionals can say something they wish they didn't. It's even more important that executives and managers recognize the importance of what they say, how it may be interpreted and what to do if a mistake is made.

Is the 80/20 Rule an abstract economic principle or is it a model of human behavior that works the same way every time? A Five Thousand year old story provides the answer. Understanding this story and its lessons will assist any business owner to stay focused, on track and on vision.

A resume is something that advertises you in front of your future boss; think it as a tool that will enhance your qualities and professional appearance. It is very important to know how to create and use that good tool, what mistakes to avoid when creating one and how to make a good impression.

Many of you may have been exposed to the original online stock scheme where spammers will send out stock picks on penny stocks creating buzz that artificially drives up the price of these worthless stocks. As the price hits the daily high the spammers liquidate their own holdings and walk away with the profits leaving those buyers with the worthless stock. This old fraud scheme has been manipulated and redirected at users of public computers specifically hotel users.

A couple of weeks ago I attended an event planners Christmas function. The turnout was decent, there was no shortage of skewered prawns or celebratory cocktails and a good amount of effort had gone into the costumes worn by circulating serving staff.

Whenever you deal with other people in business, they will have one question on their mind: what's in it for them?

You can't teach someone persistence. People will become sufficiently persistent to succeed only when their desire for their goal exceeds the pain and discomfort they have to endure in order to reach it.

Here is a simple Joint Venture Success Formula that works really well for me.

Set aside one day out of the week to handle your invoices for your medical billing business. This way you do not risk the chance of sending out duplicates or not sending one out at all.

Small business owners often find it hard to break free of self-imposed limits regarding their business. But not leaving their comfort zones behind can often prove fatal to the business.

Electroplating is the process of coating an electrically conductive object with a layer of metal using electrical current. Generally this process is used to deposit an adherent surface layer of a metal to a substance lacking that property.

If you are starting a medical billing software company, you want to be very careful when hiring a support person. Some very special skills are required. What follows are some of the main ones.

The Canadian oil sands represent one of the most lucrative investment opportunities to oil and gas investors. With a reserve life of 35 – 50 years the oil sands will be a major source of crude oil for the years to come and will have a dramatic impact on crude oil prices. From an investor perspective it is valuable to know who the major players are in the Canadian Oil sands. Below are 4 of the major players in the Canadian oil sands.

Make your office the best it can be with the right furniture!

If your CEO knew that anyone could change or edit your existing services I'm sure he or she would be surprised. It pays to know the various protections that can ensure your company isn't put in jeopardy.

Business slow? Promotion efforts for your coaching practice or other service business not working as well as you hoped? With just an addition or two of proven marketing/promotion techniques, you can uplevel you business for its fullest success. Use this ten promotion how-to checklist.

Have you ever sat down at the kitchen table with the day’s mail and started sorting it into piles? • bills (you always recognize those first!), • “to read” pile (that’s always the tallest), • stuff to go in the wastebasket (but that’s on the other side of the room), • papers to discuss with your significant other (who isn’t there at the moment), and finally...Taming the Paper Tiger at Home