It is officially holiday season for businesses everywhere. Ever wonder why storefronts display Santa in September?

It seems business people don’t have the luxury of waiting until the last minute to get their holiday chores taken care of.

You’ve got to start now! Anxious shoppers are counting on you!

With the Hallmark holidays right around the corner, you’ve got to stock up on products, pre-order goods and work overtime.

After all, Christmas is coming and the goose is getting fat!

It is time to face the music and get busy. If ever there was a perfect opportunity to increase sales, this is it.

Ring in the New Year with extra cash in your pocket and more customers at your door.

Do whatever it takes to get the attention of frenzied shoppers. Make it fun for your customers and you!

A special event for children is a great way to get in the spirit of the holiday season. A sale on last year’s left-overs is another. Put on a costume for Halloween and turn your stockroom into a haunted house.

And remember to rally your employees and get them on board. Bringing everyone together is what this magical season is all about.

Spending your days in your pajamas: who wouldn’t love it?

Home businesses have many perks. This is one of them.

Others might be that you can create your own home office. No more being stuck in a tiny cubicle. Well, at least not the collapsible kind.

Your designated space at home might be as small or smaller than what you’d get in an office building, but that’s alright.

Be it a corner in the kitchen or a converted closet, your home office is yours all the same.

Another benefit of having a home office is that you can deduct utilities and rent depending on the square footage of your office space.

Be creative. Make managing your small business from home all you ever hoped it would be.

Items you’ll need: a desk, a phone, a computer, fax machine and Internet connection. Once the basics are taken care of, you can run wild.

Although, you may want to change out of your pajamas when the doorbell rings.

People say that Baby #2 is easier than Baby #1.

But, is Store #2 easier than Store #1?

If you are contemplating expanding your business (your family of consumers, as it could be called), you may soon realize that Baby #2 is just as difficult (and just as rewarding!) as Baby #1.

Sure, you know more this time around. You are going to hit the ground running, with eyes wide open.

And, yeah, the basics are already figured out. However, you’ve got a whole new set of obstacles to overcome.

More money, more employees, more checks to write, more orders to place…

And, much as Baby #2 often feels the pangs of jealousy, you’ve got to pay special attention to him (or her!).

Expanding your family will challenge and please you more than you might imagine. Just make sure you’ve got your ducks in a row. Make sure your blueprint includes planning for the unexpected.

As we all know, families can surprise us!

You’ve probaby been hearing a lot about business VoIP, which is a way to make phone calls through your Internet connection.

The anacronym bugs me, so I’ll just refer to it as what it really is: Voice over Internet Protocol.

Basically, it saves you lots of money on long distance phone calling. Usually, with a standard phone service, you pay a set rate for local calls and a minute-by-minute rate for long distance.

Well, with Voice over Internet Protocol, you pay just one rate for both. Plus, you can get rid of your phone bill altogether and just pay one bill for both internet and phone.

It used to be kind of a rudimentary system, but now that it’s gained so much popularity, there are lots of different plans from which to choose.

It’s an excellent alternative to conventional phone plans, and a wonderful addition to any business, whether small or large.

Say “goodbye” to paying more and say “good buy” to business VoIP.

Remember the huge Feng Shui craze a few years back?

Suddenly (and seemingly out of nowhere) people became interested in how they were utilizing their space.

Where you once might have configured your furniture based on necessity or logic, now you were placing your desk and bookshelves in relation to the earth’s harmony!

And if you didn’t…well, you were almost certain to fail!

The fact that the success of a business could depend on a room’s Chi - or energy - seemed foreign to some and completely believable to others.

Whether you subscribe to the concept of Feng Shui or not, there is no doubt that one’s personal (or in the case of your small business, public) space is sacred.

One must feel good in the space he or she occupies in order to achieve their goals. Your space must make sense not just to you, but to your customers.

Efficiency is important. Adequate lighting and spacious aisles that aren’t overcrowded or stuffy help, also. The right palette and decor contribute to a successful space. And this is just the beginning.

If you really want your stars aligned, researching Feng Shui might not be a bad idea. What have you got to lose?

Let’s face it: unless you are a mathematician, bookkeeping is a chore and a half.

Keeping all those numbers straight can turn your entire business into one big headache.

Having the right software can help you maintain your finances, balance your checkbook, pay bills and track your cash flow.

As an up and coming entrepreneur, you may not have the money yet to hire the appropriate staff to help you keep your books.

You may not have the time or the experience to do on your own, either.

Or, you may just be too smart to try and attempt the incredible task yourself! This is where that fancy machine you have set up in your office comes in handy.

Let your computer do the work. It is faster and more efficient than the average business person.

And with the perfect bookkeeping software, you will find you’ll learn more than you would on your own.

You’ve heard it before. Image is everything. Your reputation is what keeps you afloat.

What better way to build and maintain a positive reputation than by using the most powerful tool around? The Internet.

Today there are more ways than ever to plaster your face and your personal motto online.

Even if you have failed in the past, either professionally or personally, you can go into overdrive in attempt to recover your good reputation.

By using devices such as Facebook and MySpace, and by creating your very own websites and blogging communities, you can reinvent yourself in no time.

The more exposure you create for yourself, the more business opportunities will come your way.

It’s just that easy.

And it’s just that hard. It takes practice and perseverance.

Before you sell your product, you have to learn how to sell yourself!

Sometimes the two things you don’t think have any business being together end up making the perfect couple.

Some of the greatest businesses make opposites into ideal partnerships.

Just as people with different interests and ideas can create outstanding relationships, ideas themselves which may seem to clash at first can suddenly surprise you by how well they work together.

Have you ever seen a laundromat slash wine bar? How about a video store slash café?

At first glance, the concepts don’t seem to mesh. But think about it.

Customers can kill two birds with one stone, have a drink, relax and enjoy themselves.

And you - well you will make more money and be more successful!

Your creativity will pay off (literally) in the long run and your customer base will increase. So go ahead. Put the apples with the oranges. See what happens.