Now is the time to begin preparing for Black Friday and the sales boost it can provide. John Boitnott explains the value of clarifying content and marketing goals, getting organized and testing your technical infrastructure.

Social media platforms aren't going anywhere, but brands pursuing marketing success on these channels must keep certain fundamentals in mind. It's important to track your return on investment for ad spending, use retargeting to build familiarity and optimize your website, writes John Stevens.

Using real-world examples, Joyce Rosenberg outlines how small-business owners have found solutions to resolve conflicts and help their employees get along. Tactics range from forming a company soccer team to encouraging staffers to take personality tests.

Tax relief and other forms of assistance may help businesses affected by disasters such as Hurricane Florence. Attorney Barbara Weltman discusses five sources of relief, including tax extensions, disaster loans and deductions for insurance premiums.

Changes made in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act could be of interest to convenience store operators aiming to expand. Here is a look at several aspects of the law, including provisions related to writing off the cost of property.

In a move to expand its suite of hardware products for small-business owners, Square has launched a new payment terminal.

There were 2,685 closed business sales in the third quarter, almost 4% more than during the same period a year ago, BizBuySell.com reports. The median sales price, $249,000, represented a year-over-year increase of almost 11%.

Robin Burdette, who fondly remembers making chocolate with her grandmother and aunt during her childhood, is the founder of the Blue Ridge Fudge Lady in Pulaski, Va. Burdette works to empower others in the community by selling products from local entrepreneurs and teaching middle schoolers about running a business.

The new class of retail entrepreneurs looks and thinks a little differently than those before them. Using new data from NRF's 2018 Small Business Owners Survey, NRF Research Director Sam Berndt outlines four ways new retail business owners differ from their more-established peers. Read more.

Sixty-three percent of new retail business owners are either exclusively online or have an online presence. Source: NRF's 2018 Small Business Owners Survey.

American Sale has been in business in the Chicago area for 60 years and has nine locations that sell pools, spas and home recreation items, half of which are imported. Owner Bob Jones describes how tariffs increase costs at every stage of the supply chain and ultimately hurt the consumer. "If all the tariffs are enacted, all of our products are going to be affected," Jones said. Watch the video to learn more.