business

17 Things Small Business Owners Need to Know

By Rieva Lesonsky

 

1—Understanding Shopping Cart Abandonment

Want to reclaim the customers who have abandoned their shopping carts? Campaigner explains how to do just that in the infographic below.

 

2— Shop Small/Small Business Saturday

American Express recently revealed its lineup of community programs for the 9th annual Small Business Saturday, which takes place November 24. Small Business Saturday encourages people to shop at independently-owned businesses online and at storefronts across the country.

Lin-Manuel Miranda is all for small
This year, Lin-Manuel Miranda (pictured above), American Express Global Brand Ambassador and creator of hit Broadway musical Hamilton, is joining in to help bring awareness to the Shop Small movement and expand its presence in Puerto Rico.

“When you Shop Small, you are backing the small businesses that strengthen and diversify our communities,” says Elizabeth Rutledge, Chief Marketing Officer at American Express.

“Communities like mine, Washington Heights in New York City, are made special and unique by small businesses. I’ve stayed in my community because neighbors are family, commercial strips are vibrant with bakeries, restaurants serve food as if your grandmother made it, and bodegas are stocked with what you need,” says Miranda.

American Express is expanding its Small Business Saturday support to Puerto Rico this year, as local businesses continue to get back on their feet after last year’s storms.

Small Business Saturday specials

  • On Small Business Saturday, Etsy sellers will host pop-up markets in San Francisco, Austin, D.C., and Boston, as destinations to shop locally crafted, one-of-a-kind items this holiday season. Visit Etsy.com to find details on local Etsy seller markets near you.
  • The Wing, a network of coworking and community spaces designed for women, will host Shop Small Stations at women-owned businesses in NYC, San Francisco and D.C. Shoppers can kick off their day at the Shop Small Stations with fun amenities, treats and special Shop Small maps of curated local businesses. More information is available here.
  • Record Store Day will celebrate independent record stores with four limited-edition vinyl releases from Kid Doe, (Particle Kid + John Doe), Ben FoldsTony Bennett + Diana Krall and Ingrid Michaelson. The special edition releases will hit shelves at record stores across the country on Small Business Saturday.
  • Indies First, the national campaign by the American Booksellers Association (ABA) supporting independent bookstores on Small Business Saturday, will once again mark the day by showing love for independent bookstores. American Express has teamed up with ABA and Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing around the initiative #IndiesGiveBack. The initiative will provide 20,000 special edition copies of Reynolds’ book, Ghost, to participating independent booksellers to give to young readers in underserved communities on or around Small Business Saturday.
  • More than 6,700 small business owners, individuals, and community organizations have already pledged to be Neighborhood Champions this year, committing to host events and activities to rally their communities on Small Business Saturday. Shop Small enthusiasts can show their love for small businesses in their communities by getting out with family and friends to attend Neighborhood Champion events. Click here to find Neighborhood Champions near you.

Join the movement on social media by using the hashtags #ShopSmall and #SmallBizSat. You can also RSVP on the Small Business Saturday Facebook page to Shop Small this Nov. 24 and receive reminders.

 

3—How People Use Social Media

Consumers increased their use of social media—especially YouTube and Instagram—this year, compared to 2017, according to a new survey from The Manifest, a business news and how-to website.

Nearly two-thirds of social media users report they use YouTube (63%) and Instagram (61%) more in 2018 than 2017, compared to 52% who say they use Facebook more this year.

Facebook remains the most-used channel: 82% of people use Facebook at least once a week, compared to 75% who use YouTube and 53% who use Instagram.

Daily use of social media is now the norm: Social media is part of most people’s everyday lives: 86% use it daily, and 72% use it multiple times per day.

People use mobile apps and computer web browsers to access social media: People access social media via various methods, including mobile, computer and tablet apps in addition to web browsers and smartwatches. The most popular methods are via mobile apps (67%) and computer web browsers (57%).

More women than men use social media: 75% of women use social media multiple times per day, compared to 64% of men. “The amount of content out there on the internet and on social entertain women more than they would men,” says Joseph Rothstein, account manager at Social Media 55. This is attributed to the greater appeal social media has to women and their interests.

 

4—Optimism Reigns

Business owners are extremely optimistic about their futures, but with such a tight labor market, hiring challenges could limit the growth of their business. And with more small business owners (SBOs) looking to hire than a year ago, retaining employees is more important than ever. All this according to the latest Capital One Small Business Growth Index.

More businesses plan to hire, but are challenged by the skills gap and competition from bigger businesses.

  • 33% of small business owners plan to hire in the next six months, up from 25% in 2017
  • 38% say their biggest competition when hiring and retaining employees is bigger businesses who can offer more robust benefits packages
  • The skills gap is the top factor impacting SBOs’ ability to hire (34%), followed by competition from other businesses (30%), financial resources (30%) and the tight labor market (28%).
  • Of the SBOs who plan to hire, 69% will hire full-time employees, 44% will hire part-timers, and 21% will hire contractors or freelancers.

As employee attrition increases, small business owners are focused on retention and revisiting their benefits offerings.

  • 6% of SBOs have experienced an increase in voluntary attrition in the past 6 months
  • 90% with 2 or more employees offer benefits of some kind
    • The most offered benefit is employee training (67%)
    • 57% offer paid time off
    • 47% offer flexible work hours/work from home
  • 68% of SBOs who offer benefits are confident their packaged are competitive
  • 15% have changed their benefits packages to be more competitive; 9% have plans to change them

 

5—The History and Evolution of SEO

Want to know more about SEO? Check out the infographic below from Bubblegum Search We created an interactive timeline, showing the history & evolution of SEO, offering an in-depth introduction to digital marketing and SEO. It could interest your readers or help your clients understand more about SEO.

The Evolution of SEO

by Bubblegum Search

6—Update on the New, 20% Deduction for Small Business Owners

Guest post by Mike D’Avolio, Senior Tax Analyst, Intuit

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, signed into law on Dec. 22, 2017, provided sweeping tax changes, especially for small business owners. In preparation for Tax Year 2018, one of the most notable updates for tax professionals and small businesses to be aware of is the new 20% deduction for small businesses and self-employed workers.

Beginning in Tax Year 2018, pass-through income from sole proprietors (Schedule C on Form 1040), limited liability companies, partnerships and S corporations will be able to claim this write-off. The qualified business income deduction allows small business owners to keep more earnings tax-free and helps curb high tax rates and the 15.3% self-employment tax. Small businesses qualifying for the 20% tax deduction could see their effective marginal tax rate reduced to 29.6%.

There are several rules and computations surrounding this deduction, including a phase-out of the deduction for high-income earners (over $157,500 for single filers and $315,000 for joint filers). On August 8, 2018, the IRS released proposed regulations or guidance around this lucrative measure, and there were several notable updates.

Highlights of proposed regulations

Qualified trade or business: Under the regulations, businesses must meet the Section 162 “trade or business” standard to qualify for the new deduction. This means the taxpayer’s involvement in the enterprise needs to be continuous and regular rather than being just sporadic. Also, the taxpayer’s primary purpose of being involved in the venture must be earning income or profit. These standards are based on the facts and circumstances of the taxpayer and apply to rental activities, as well. Consequently, the guidance provides more clarity around the level of business required to qualify for the 20% deduction.

Specified service trade or business: For people in certain professional service industries, such as health, law, consulting, athletics and financial, the 20% deduction would begin to be phased (or reduced) out for those who earn more than $315,000 (for couples) and $157,500 (for singles). The deduction is fully phased out when income reaches $415,000 (for couples) and $207,500 (for singles).

A specified service trade or business (SSTB) includes a trade or business involving the performance of services in the fields of health, law, accounting, actuarial science, performing arts, consulting, athletics, financial services, investing and investment management, trading, dealing in certain assets or any trade or business where the principal asset is the reputation or skill of one or more of its employees. Specified service trades or businesses do not include engineering and architecture services.

  • The updated guidance provides more clarity around which professions are considered SSTBs and subject to the limitation and which professions are not.For example in the field of law, lawyers, paralegals, legal arbitrators and mediators are included. However, services that do not require skills unique to the field of law, such as printing services, delivery services and stenography services are excluded.
  • The regulations have also added a de minimis exception: if a trade or business has gross receipts of $25 million or less for the year, it will not be treated as a SSTB if less than 10% of gross receipts are from one of the disqualified fields. When gross receipts exceed $25 million, a 5% variable is substituted in for this exception. The guidance allows businesses with a minimal amount of income from a classified service to not be subject to the limitation.
  • Prior to the regulations being issued, practitioners contemplated stripping out the portion of non-SSTB income into another business (i.e. “cracking”) to maximize the deduction. The regulations attempt to stop this practice to some extent by imposing the following rule: an SSTB includes any trade or business that provides 80% or more of its property or services to an SSTB, if the two businesses share 50% or more common ownership.

Employees becoming independent contractors: The qualified business income deduction does not include wage income from employees, because the taxpayer is not engaged in a trade or business. On the other hand, independent contractors who are self-employed are allowed to claim the new deduction. The already existing rules around classifying workers as employees versus independent contractors will apply here too.

In addition, if an employee all of a sudden becomes an independent contractor even though he or she performs substantially the same services to the former employer, there is a presumption that the person is still an employee for Section 199A (qualified business income deduction) purposes. Consequently, this new guidance prevents an employee from converting to an independent contractor in an attempt to claim the 20% deduction on the income.

Aggregation of commonly controlled businesses: The qualified business income deduction establishes that the deduction is determined on a business by business basis. However, the regulations allow taxpayers to aggregate businesses in computing the deduction when the same person or group, directly or indirectly owns 50% or more of each business. None of the businesses are allowed to be a specified service business and other requirements must be met to qualify. Aggregation is an elective procedure and is done at the owner level, which allows some of the owners to aggregate activities while other owners don’t have to. Overall, it may be beneficial for owners of multiple businesses to aggregate them for purposes of computing the 20% deduction.

Other areas addressed by the regulations

  • Reasonable compensation and guaranteed payments
  • Treatment of losses

New this year, is TurboTax Live: self-employed business can connect live via one-way video to a CPA or EA to get their tax questions answered. The Tax Expert can even review, sign and file your tax return. QuickBooks Self-Employed is included for year-round expense tracking, mileage tracking and receipt capture to make next year’s taxes simple. Self-employed taxpayers can also input their 2017 information in the TurboTax TaxCaster app and get a side-by-side review to see how the new tax reform law impacts their 2018 taxes.

Whether you’re an Uber or Lyft Driver or freelance blogger, TurboTax can help with TurboTax Self-Employed, which delivers integrated tax preparation, expense tracking, and all the necessary tools to help small businesses and self-employed.

 

7—Kid Entrepreneurs

Nearly 7% of entrepreneurs started their first business before they were 10 and about 26% say their parents helped them with their business plans—a move crucial to raising a successful entrepreneur, according to Mark Cuban and Shaan Patel’s new book, How Any Kid Can Start a Business. And that support continues into adulthood—55% of entrepreneurs admit to moving back in with their parents.

In How Any Kid Can Start a Business, Cuban and Patel use active learning, interviews, and business templates to teach kids ages 7 to 11 how to start real, profitable businesses. Encouraging readers to look beyond the lemonade stand, the duo provides advice to parents to help spark their child’s entrepreneurial spirit before their teenage years, and help them earn some extra money as well.

FreshBooks recently studied entrepreneurs and found:

  • Oldest children are the most likely to become entrepreneurs: 34% of entrepreneurs are eldest children, compared to 27% of middle children and 29% of youngest children.
  • 53% say they moving a lot as kids make them comfortable with instability: 78% of entrepreneurs moved at least once or twice as children and roughly 38% moved three or more times. About 14% were truly nomadic, having moved 5 times or more.

The most common ways entrepreneurs described themselves as children

  • Nerdy (49%) or Cool (51%)
  • Outgoing (42%) or Shy (58%)
  • Insecure (53%) or Confident (47%)
  • Social (64%) or Independent (36%)
  • Careful (67%) or Risk Taker (33%)

 

8—Top SMB Issues

Bill.com recently released the results of a survey analyzing the sentiment of SMBs across the country. They surveyed members of the Bill.com Business Payments Network (typically early tech adopters) and found 78% of them are concerned about tax policy and how it will affect their businesses.

After taxes, regulation policies most concern today’s SMBs  

  • 68% find potential upcoming changes in Federal regulations and 65% in state regulations concerning
  • 64% are worried about how potential healthcare policy changes might affect their businesses
  • Local regulations (59%); immigration policies (45%); and tariff policies (42%) are also worrying them

Consumer confidence carries the most weight to SMBs

  • Of all the economic indicators, SMBs care most about Consumer Confidence—46% say it’s their #1 most important economic indicator that impacts their business.
  • Unemployment and interest rates trail with 13% of SMBs rating these factors as most important, followed by inflation (11%), stock market performance (11%) and the value of the U.S. dollar (10%).

Current positive SMB business outlook is projected to continue

  • 66% of SMBs  say they’re better off financially vs. a year ago and 41% predict overall U.S. business conditions will continue to improve in the coming year.
  • 66% say now is a good time to make business-related growth investments. Over 63% say now is a good time to add permanent employees to their staff and 74% say it’s now a good time to add non-permanent contractors to their team.

 

9— Help Americares

This holiday season, Capterra, an online resource for business software buyers, is collaborating with Americares, a nonprofit provider of medical aid across the globe. Capterra will donate $10 to Americares for every review published on its site through the Americares landing page. 

Capterra is asking individuals to support this worthy cause by posting a review on Capterra’s website. These reviews help businesses choose the best software solutions for their organization, but during this campaign, they will also enable Americares to help communities prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters. The initiative is effective now through February 1, 2019.

Additionally, Capterra is teaming up with Americares to provide 1,000 hygiene kits for those affected by disasters. Capterra and Americares will assemble the kits on Giving Tuesday, November 27.

 

10—Why the Fintech Bubble Hasn’t Burst

Guest post by Lauren Ruef, Lauren is a Research Analyst at Nvoicepay

Alarmists are busy drawing parallels to fintech and the dot-com bust of 2000. But here’s why fintech has immeasurably more sticking power than the investment craze over internet-based companies.

Quick to talk. Slow to act. It’s a symptom of most innovations that come to the financial services industry, and there’s good reason for that. Financial services, a sector that’s ripe for change, has long favored tradition. Banks have gone unchallenged for over a century in the marketplace.

But with the generational shift from Gen X to nearly 85 million Millennials, a new digital imperative is emerging. The widespread use of mobile has all but erased the need to visit a physical bank branch. The cost of computing has decreased drastically, representative in that two iPhone 6s contain more memory than the International Space station. And sentiments toward centralized power in banking is met with distrust at a higher degree than ever before. Fintechs are edging in on low-margin business product offerings like payments with faster solutions and an eye toward the future user.

Fintech’s spotlight moment: It goes without saying that fintech is having its moment. Research firm The McKinsey Global Institute has tracked upwards of 2,000 fintech startups in this space, and estimates as many as 12,000 exist. The 2018 World Economic Forum at Davos discussed fintech at length in a panel of experts titled: “The Future of Fintech.”

There is no doubt among innovators that the change fintech provides is enduring. But with nervous investors watching Bitcoin’s volatility, it’s important to make the distinction of what makes fintech different from the dot-com.

[At the height of the boom] dot-com businesses operated in the market like a sugar high. Basic cash flow principles flew out the window as many companies skimped on proving their ideas actually had market potential. Speculative valuations led many investors to follow the buzz instead of looking at a balance sheet or profitability. And while it is true that the internet has immense power to displace brick and mortar businesses, the momentum was shortsighted. This caused a good number of dot-com businesses to run out of cash shy of the goal, rightfully spooking investors.

Fintech moves into “adulthood”: The difference in the fintech movement is twofold: 1. A growing distrust of traditional financial establishments, thanks to the housing market crisis of 2008; 2. Fintech’s unique symbiotic relationship with incumbent banks.

While the dot-com wave was tech’s early failure, fintech’s approach is more timely and measured. The market sector has matured with fintech services that deliver better technology and services to the customer alongside banks as a trusted repository of funds.

Building customer loyalty: Fintech’s current challenge is to draw customers. Banks have always focused on the customer relationship and have enjoyed an assumed level trust that has gone unchecked for centuries.

But with the turnover from Gen X to millennials, many of the younger generation are less likely to go with a traditional bank than before. According to a 2016 Gallup poll, America’s confidence in banks hasn’t shown signs of improvement since the 2007 recession, lingering around 30%.

Unlike traditional banks, fintechs have an approach that creates sticking power through lean operational principles. While banks have clunky legacy technology to deal with, fintechs can afford to serve customers at a lower cost due to better technology. Fintech’s focus on niche market segments means there are huge opportunities to outfit far-flung populations with digital solutions as is the case with the underbanked.

Clearing the regulatory bar: Playing nice with regulators will put fintechs into a winning stride. This is again where the dot-com bust missed the mark. Forging ahead into the future without a game plan instead of forecasting the requirements for legitimate businesses has its price. Fintechs in the U.S. expect the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency will pass a special charter that will allow them to do business under slightly different terms as banks, but with a measure of prudent oversight. Things like compliance, security of customer data, and anti-money laundering efforts will boost companies on the fringe of the disruption onto centerstage. As with most things and especially fintech, there are no shortcuts.

Disrupting the banking industry is no small feat, but for those who make it out the other side, there are big rewards. The untapped opportunity made possible through technology is vast, but entrants strategic in their approach and operational standards will outlast the others. As with most disruptions, fintech is expected to persist, despite naysayers, although it may not transfuse the market with change as rapidly as some expect. There’s a reason they call it the “slow march” toward progress, but it doesn’t negate the fact that change is coming.

 

11—University for Accountants

Expensify recently launched ExpensifyApproved! University, a premier training and certification program for accountants. The curriculum includes courses on Expensify terminology, account setup, client onboarding, and corporate card management. Every ExpensifyApproved! University graduate becomes a certified member of the industry-leading ExpensifyApproved! Partner Program with access to Expensify discounts, expedited support, marketing opportunities, and more.

“ExpensifyApproved! University helps accountants master Expensify so they can become even better advisors to their clients,” says Matt Donaldson, Head of Accounting and CPA Partnerships at Expensify. “We’ve packed the program with a mix of essential knowledge and helpful, time-saving tips that benefit every Expensify use case from basic to advanced. Whether you’re a part-time accountant with one client or a partner at a top 100 firm, ExpensifyApproved! University is your go-to guide to everything Expensify.”

Graduates of ExpensifyApproved! University join 35% of the top 100 U.S. accounting firms in the ExpensifyApproved! Partner Program, which provides exclusive member benefits and once-in-a-lifetime networking opportunities such as Expensicon.

You can learn more about the ExpensifyApproved! Partner Program here.

 

Cool Tools

12—Smarter Ways to Do Business

Intuit introduced product innovations at its 5th annual QuickBooks Connect®, designed to give 3.4 million online customers advantages through machine learning, artificial intelligence (AI) and data innovation.

“It used to be that working for yourself meant that the odds of success were stacked against you. With these innovations, QuickBooks provides an advantage to every single customer on our platform,” says Alex Chriss, Senior Vice President, Small Business and Self-Employed Group at Intuit. “By combining the power of our network with AI and machine learning, we are harnessing the data of many to help each and every one of our customers, tipping the odds of success in their favor.”

Smart money

Cash flow is the lifeblood of success; however, more than 60% of small businesses and the self-employed struggle everyday with managing money. New QuickBooks features help small businesses get access to more money when they need it, and keep more money in their pockets longer. Here’s quick look at what’s new:

  • Next-Day Funding. QuickBooks helps small businesses get access to their money sooner with invoices enabled for next day payment. With QuickBooks Payments, merchants will receive the benefit of next-day funding for both their credit card and Automatic Clearing House (ACH), so money gets into their accounts the next business day as compared to two to three days for credit cards and more than five days for ACH.
  • Progress Invoicing. Waiting until the end of a long project to get paid can be hard on cash flow. With Progress Invoicing, small businesses can now bill customers for ongoing projects and get paid incrementally as they complete stages of a job.
  • QuickBooks Capital Loans and Credit Score. Leveraging the power of data, 60% of small businesses previously denied a loan are now able to secure the funding they need to survive. Since last year,QuickBooks Capital has funded $140M in cumulative loans to qualified small businesses. Also available are new lending limits and access to a business’ credit score to help small businesses gain a better understanding of their cash flow.
  • Same-Day Payroll. Same-Day Payroll allows all QuickBooks Payrollcustomers to hang onto their money up to payday if payroll is complete by 10 am local time vs. having money pulled out of their bank account up to 14 days in advance. As a result, small businesses hold onto an average of $9,000 more per month. Additionally, QuickBooks Payroll is now available as a standalone offering for those small businesses who may not need or use QuickBooks accounting.
  • Seamless Contractor Payments. Getting workers paid is often one of the biggest pain points for small businesses. Direct Deposit is an easier way to pay and manage 1099 contractors. It’s part of the QuickBooks Online Payroll offering. Launching soon, QuickBooks will offer a full W-9 self-setup with e-signature, making the process even more seamless and efficient for 1099 contractors and their small business partners.

Smart decisions

Every day small business owners and the self-employed must make decisions about business. Too often, they are making these decisions for the first time or without the right information. Based on AI, QuickBooks has seen millions of similar decisions across its ecosystem, helping provide insights to help businesses be smarter. Here’s what’s new:

  • QuickBooks Online Advanced. Intuit is addressing the needs of the 1.5 million mid-market customers (10-100 employees) with the new scalable cloud-based product,QuickBooks Online Advanced. Intuit added smart reporting powered by Fathom. This new feature helps customers transform their data into dynamic reports, allowing them to track their business results.
  • QuickBooks Sales Tax. Small businesses spend 20-30 hours a month calculating sales tax. Compliance is complicated with more than 60,000 tax laws across the U.S.—not to mention rates changing based on where one lives, what they sell, and where they ship. QuickBooks automatically is calculating the exact amount of tax needed to collect.

Smart Connections

No business exists without its people. QuickBooks helps small businesses connect to the right partner at the right time. What’s new:

  • Developer App Ecosystem. More than 600 apps are now available on the QuickBooks App Store, enabling small businesses to create a personalized, tailored experience to meet their specific needs. The Intuit Developer Group announced new and improved integrations with leading companies such as ADP, PayPal, and Square.
  • QuickBooks Online Accountant (QBOA) Functionality. Intuit unveiled several program and product enhancements designed to help accounting professionals grow their skills, expand their practices and better meet the needs of their small business clients. A new training portal is now available through the QuickBooks ProAdvisor® Programthat gives ProAdvisors access to a wider variety of QuickBooks and specialized education to enhance their accounting and bookkeeping expertise.

 

13—Ringing Up Sales

Need help ringing up all those sales on Small Business Saturday? Casio has just introduced  new cash registers designed for SMBs. The new PCR-T540 and PCR-T2500 are equipped with Bluetooth connectivity to Android/iOS smart phones/tablets and a variety of support tools to keep tabs in real-time reporting and manage efficiency via the cloud. The new cash registers also offer:

  • The ability to view sales remotely in order to evaluate and make instant operation decisions
  • A convenient dashboard on the CASIO CONNECT App which offers a quick snapshot of sales, number of transactions, and a calendar of daily historical sales, while a graph shows the daily sales for the day, last week, month or year.
  • A built-in Electronic Journal to see the cash register operation record and sales report.

 

14—Making Paying Bills A Breeze

Paying bills is every entrepreneur’s least favorite chore—it requires balancing when bills are due, flexing memory muscles when it comes to remembering passwords and signing in and out of different billing sites. Mastercard Bill Pay Exchange, a new digital solution will make it easier for consumers to view, manage and pay telecom, utility, rent, credit card, mortgage and other personal bills without having to set up accounts with different billers or remember multiple passwords and dates for payments each month.

Offered through banks and credit unions, this technology enables consumers to use their mobile banking app to easily set up all billers, receive notifications when a bill is due, see bill details, and manage multiple bills in one place including specifying when and how much to pay.

Find out what Mastercard Bill Pay Exchange does here. Mastercard will begin product integration and testing of Bill Pay Exchange with partners in 2019 with commercial availability the same year.

 

Black Friday Deals


15—Dell

Dell.com is offering some of their lowest prices of the year, with up to 50% off, on a wide variety of Dell and Alienware PCs, monitors, electronics and accessories. Early access to starts today, November 12th. And they’re offering extended returns on purchases made starting today up until December 25th.

Here’s a small sampling of what’s on sale:

Top consumer PC deals: www.Dell.com/blackfriday and www.Dell.com/cybermonday.

Top Alienware and gaming deals: www.Dell.com/Gamingwww.Dell.com/blackfriday & www.Dell.com/cybermonday.

Top electronics & accessories deals: www.Dell.com/blackfriday and www.Dell.com/cybermonday

Top small business deals: www.Dell.com/sbblackfriday and www.Dell.com/sbcybermonday

Dell’s hottest picks include: 

  • XPS 13 Rose Gold Laptop: Stunning Inside and Out. The smallest and most powerful 13.3 -inch in its class with up to 19 and ½ hours battery life, perfect for all of your holiday travels. $899.99
  • Alienware m15 Gaming Laptop: Smaller, thinner, lighter, the m15 is optimized for mobility and is the best solution for gamers-on-the-go this holiday season. $1,379
  • Alienware Wireless Elite Gaming Headset: Truly immersive audio with virtual 7.1 Surround at 2.4GHz Wireless provides rich and expansive soundscapes. $229.99
  • G5 15 Gaming Laptop: Get your game on this holiday with powerful graphics, stunning visuals and latest technology. $999.99 
  • Inspiron Chromebook 14 2-in-1: 14-inch 2-in-1 with up to 10 hours of battery life and a sleek aluminum exterior and the speed, simplicity and security of Chrome. $599.99 
  • Inspiron 14 5000 2-in-1 (5482): The best of Dell Cinema with CinemaColor, CinemaSound and CinemaStream create an optimized Netflix viewing experience to catch all your favorite holiday movies. $599.99

Perks

Customers can join Dell Advantage Loyalty Rewards now to get early access to Black Friday doorbusters starting Wednesday, November 14th, as well as free expedited delivery on almost everything. You will also get 3% back in rewards on all eligible purchases or up to 6% back in rewards when you finance your purchases.

Through Dell Reconnect, you can drop off your old tech, of any brand and in any condition, at more than 2,000 Goodwill® locations across the U.S. for free and responsible recycling. All proceeds go directly to Goodwill, helping disadvantaged or disabled members of the local community with job training and technology skills through Dell-sponsored programs.

 

16—WordPress Themes

The team behind popular WordPress products like the Astra theme, Convert Pro, Schema Pro, the Ultimate Addons for Beaver Builder, Elementor and many more is offering up to a 30% discount on all the products across the Brainstorm Force store. Check out the list of products they’re offering discounts on. Use coupon code: BLACKFRIDAY2018.

The offer is active from Tuesday, November 20th to Wednesday November 28th.

 

17—Microsoft

Take a sneak peek at the deals from the Microsoft store.

Small business stock photo by Gustavo Frazao/Shutterstock