Get a first-hand look as UK WOW Media owner Matt Lovett talks about the flexibility of QuickBooks Online and how it meets the needs of his clients across geographies and currencies:

Get a first-hand look as Ilana and Gonzalo Ben-Ari, founders of the Toronto-based company 21 Toys, explain how QuickBooks Online has helped them change education with toys:

Get a first-hand look into the positive impacts QuickBooks is making through personal stories shared by small business owners from Canada, the UK, India, Singapore, Australia and the Philippines.

Watch the first of four inspiring videos on how small business owners from various countries around the globe share how QuickBooks Online has made a lasting impact on their lives and their businesses. See for yourself how QuickBooks Online is giving business owners the time, clarity and confidence to succeed in their greatest passions.

And here is the full version:

“Each of us in one way or another has a blind spot in our lives,” said Rizzi, who taught school and directed educational programs in New York before losing his sight. “When I first came to be blind, I found that I was forever running into literal and virtual walls. They were dead ends that blocked my assimilation into the blind community and hindered my participation in mainstream society. Without my sight, not only did the world become invisible to me, but I learned how it felt to be unseen.”

Today is the second annual Global Accessibility Awareness Day. Ted Drake, an Intuit staff software accessibility engineer, says this day is an opportunity for each of us to experience our world with a different ability level.

At Intuit, teams across the company have been working hard to build accessible products for people like Rizzi. Here are a few of the changes made in the last year.

QuickBooks Desktop accessibility

Dixie Sanderson was an accountant for 15 years. She owned a strong bookkeeping business in Guilford, Conn., for independent contractors. This ended in May 2004 when a reaction to prescription medicine caused her to go blind. Sanderson was unable to continue working with QuickBooks; she had to dissolve her business and go on disability. The QuickBooks accessibility team began working this year to help her, and other blind accountants, go back to work.

Here’s more on Sanderson’s journey and a transcript.

Rizzi’s engineers at My Blind Spot are working with the QuickBooks team to make content available to screen reader users. The project also includes scripting for the popular JAWS screen reader to enhance usability. This project is moving rapidly and Sanderson is already able to navigate parts of QuickBooks 2013 as a beta tester.

Accessibility for banking customers

Recent legal activity in the banking industry has made accessibility a key focus. A growing number of  Intuit Financial Services customers are asking whether Intuit’s digital banking offerings are fully accessible and compliant with ADA regulations. IFS has worked diligently since 2012 to make their most frequently used online banking pages easy to use for people of all abilities. These include the home page, history page, bill pay and transfers pages.

The IFS mobile applications are built on platforms that have built-in accessibility tools. IFS teams are focused on ensuring the most frequently used tasks in mobile banking are also accessible and they continue to apply accessibility requirements as they enhance mobile functionality.

Mobile apps

• Weave, the task managing app, will be featured at the m-enabling conference  in Washington, D.C. in June. The presentation will cover how family members can use Weave to arrange schedules, shopping lists, budgets, and facilitate communication between care givers.
• GoPayment is currently the only accessible solution for mobile payments. GoPayment’s use of the Mophie card scanner for iPhone 4 bypasses the headphone jack needed for screen readers. The latest version of GoPayment allows users to read credit cards via the phone’s camera.

TurboTax

• The TurboTax team is working to create a new generation of the popular TurboTax Online product. The beta version works very well with screen readers and may be the first to achieve full accessibility compliance. This is especially important as H&R Block was recently sued for the inaccessibility of their online product.
• TurboTax added closed captioning to  more than 300 videos on YouTube. Closed captioning allows deaf people to experience the videos, and is helpful for those who speak English as a second language and for those who watch the clips with their audio turned off. Google can index the caption track for better search results.

In addition, Intuit’s Central Marketing team has also been making accessibility a key element of its redesign on sites including Intuit.com and other small business pages.

Learning, first hand

You can participate in Accessibility Day events being held around the world, online or at your desk:

1. Keyboard accessibility is critical for those with vision and physical disabilities. Find out how a website works without a mouse. Use a rubber band to make a fist around a pencil. Use the pencil tip to navigate your keyboard. The rubber band will force your hand into an uncomfortable position, which shows what it’s like to have arthritis or cerebral palsy.
2. Experience dyslexia: http://webaim.org/simulations/dyslexia
3. Turn off the sound on your computer and watch these videos on Intuit’s YouTube channels. It won’t take long before you appreciate TurboTax’s use of closed captions.

• Intuit Careers: http://www.youtube.com/user/intuitcareers
• QuickBooks: http://www.youtube.com/user/IntuitQuickBooks
• Intuit Small Business: http://www.youtube.com/user/IntuitSmallBusiness
• TurboTax: http://www.youtube.com/user/TurboTax

 Make a difference with your products today

• Caption one of your videos with Amara. The caption track can easily be added to YouTube.
• Screen readers speak many languages; define your site’s language to make the screen reader use the correct voice. This is as simple as adding lang=”en” to your site’s <html> tag [http://nimbupani.com/declaring-languages-in-html-5.html].
• Use Android’s Lint tool to detect accessibility errors on your mobile applications.
• The Worldspace automated testing tool was recently updated. Visit it today to download the latest version of the FireEyes browser extension.

Via HireSmartNow.com, small businesses will have access to:

• Video sessions from experts providing advice on hiring, firing and everything in between.
• Three months free of Intuit Online Payroll, from the No. 1 payroll provider with over one million small business customers.
• Step-by-step video tutorials to help small businesses get started on offerings.

Hear what small businesses just like you have learned about hiring smart and some sage advice from Bill Rancic and best-selling author Rhonda Abrams.

And later this month, we’ll profile the small business story of Chris Yamashita, owner and manager of Brown Chicken Brown Cow in Campbell, California. We’ll share Yamashita’s journey on starting and launching a restaurant.

In 2012, My New Red Shoes served 4,253 school-aged children in Santa Clara, San Mateo, San Francisco, and Alameda counties. Learn more about how you make a difference here.

Recently Jennifer Tanabe and I went to visit Jennifer Yeagley and Becca Moos from My New Red Shoes and interviewed them about their journey. And we captured the story for you to view. Enjoy!

To learn more about My New Red Shoes check out this article.

QuickBooks Benefits:
• Helps company grow exponentially with greater efficiency in the office.
• Reduces time spent entering financial data with automated imports.
• Provides analysis for strategizing on sales and marketing, such as forecasting.
• Enables multiple team players in various locations to work off the same file in multi-user function.
• Supports capability to export to Excel allows for financial analysis in parallel software programs.

When eco mom Sandra Harris saw how much trash was generated at lunchtime and the excessive amount of plastics used, she knew it was time to do something to solve this problem. She realized that lunch waste was a burden to our planet and a health threat to our children.

Plastics are made from petroleum – and they often contain unhealthy toxins like BPA and other chemicals. Four years later, this seed of an idea has grown into a thriving eco-friendly lunchware business managed by operations director Faryn Davis and several other team members.

ECOlunchbox® specializes in providing reusable stainless steel bento boxes, plastic-free food containers, artisan lunchbags, napkins and other waste-free lunch accessories.

With several part-time team members working both in-house as well as remotely, growing cloud technology and efficient Intuit software plays a big part in successfully managing the company while keeping overhead to a bare minimum.

Easy to Launch with QuickBooks

In order to bring Sandra’s vision from dream to reality, ECOlunchbox’s management team knew from the beginning it needed a user-friendly accounting system and its first choice was QuickBooks.

“QuickBooks is a very user-friendly application,” said Faryn Davis, who is the director of operations for ECOlunchbox. “I had learned to use the software assisting my mother in her small business while I was in high school.”

The company designs products at their headquarters in Lafayette, California in the San Francisco East Bay and works with artisan manufacturers in India and Thailand.

“Now that the business is growing, we keep track of all our customers, their payment status, vendor payments, manufacturers, and associated purchase orders in QuickBooks Pro,” she said. “It’s very user friendly for me to use as well as the owner who did not previously have experience with bookkeeping software systems.”

Green Company Tracks Greenbacks

Going green is obviously a top priority for a company like ECOlunchbox specializing in eco-friendly products. But managing the bottom line – green, like money! – is even more important in order for the company to optimize cash flow and maintain stock levels of their popular products.

It’s been hard for the boot-strapping company to keep up with demand its products, especially during back to school and other peak shopping periods. But with the tools available in QuickBooks, Faryn says managing the business has been a piece of cake.

“I use multiple reports in QuickBooks to forecast our production needs for the next 12 months,” she said. “The ‘Sales by Item’ report is the tool I use most to plan our orders.”

Faryn finds the electronic records in QuickBooks also makes calculations easier, especially for reviewing purchase orders.

“We email our purchase orders to our suppliers directly from Quickbooks,” she said. “It’s very easy to go through old ones to log payments applied, check when we’ll be receiving shipments and calculate lead manufacturing times on different products.”

A Flexible Management System

At one point, their number one seller, the ECOlunchbox > Three-in-One stainless steel bento box, was so popular that they had customers on a waiting list. Faryn used QuickBooks to make sure she could minimize their wait time and maximize organization.

“I can easily see in QuickBooks who ordered what first, that way I can make sure people are getting served on a first-come, first-served basis,” she explained. “I can hold on to items to make sure that people on backorder get them first while I continue to place orders for future shipments.”

If there are any changes in the orders that arrive, Faryn makes quick work of them by easily correcting errors.

“Our fulfillment center receives the goods, counts them, then lets me know if there were any discrepancies,” she said. “It’s very easy for me to go into QuickBooks and modify the purchase order to the correct amount if I need to. I never have to worry that our payments don’t match up to what we received.”

Automated Imports Save Time

For online sales, the small business relies on Yahoo Small Business Merchant to ensure a secure, user-friendly online shopping experience for their customers.

“Yahoo Merchant takes care of credit card processing, and holds our item information on our website,” she said. “We export all the order information into an Excel spreadsheet then import that spreadsheet into QuickBooks to update the sales information.”

The automatic import of information is a huge time saver for the company.

“All those items are automatically broken out by item number and customer names are merged with past orders, which makes my job so much easier,” she said. “If I had to go in and input every single order myself it would take me a week.”

More Strategy, Less Tedious Manual Labor

QuickBooks also helps Faryn analyze current sales patterns, so they know the best place to put future sales and marketing efforts.

“I created categories to track the different types of customers we have, whether they are wholesale, retail, e-tail, international, even type of store,” she said. “I check our Profit and Loss report and the Balance Sheet to see how many orders are coming in through each customer type.”

“We look at those to help us know where we should be putting our efforts next – maybe more direct-to-consumer, international e-tailers, or certain types of wholesalers. It’s really helped us as we develop our sales and marketing strategies,” she said. “I’m just so grateful we can depend on QuickBooks to grow with us every step of the way!”

My knives are sharp. Eerily sharp. Wicked sharp. I tilt my butcher knife to catch the light from the stove hood and watch the edge of the blade disappear into what looks like infinity.

Yes. These are some seriously sharp knives.

“Feeling my way toward infinity” is in fact what Eliot Smith calls his process of sharpening knives, a mindful and absorbing ritual that involves progressively finer sanding belts. As the self-annointed Patron Saint of Knives, it is Smith’s sacred duty to restore brilliance and function to the abused, the neglected, the dull and the lost.

Smith runs his knife-sharpening small business from his home in Vancouver, Wash. For a very reasonable fee, he makes kitchen knives, pocket knives, loppers, scissors or just about anything meant to separate anything from anything else sharp enough to do what it’s supposed to.

My awe and amazement of Smith’s metallic ministrations began before I even opened the paper-wrapped bundle I’d picked up from his secure lockers. The care with which Smith had taken to protect what he knew was fine work – and to protect my fingers – was evident. I peeled off the embossed seal, snipped the colorful raffia twine, and gently pulled on fresh green plastic wrap. The anticipation was killing me. Then they were before me, my beautiful kitchen tools.

I knew they were sharp by the supernatural glow along the edge. I could follow their renewed curves with my eye. Then I proceeded to scare the heck out of myself by test-shredding the slick paper they all came wrapped in. Wow!

At Intuit, we call these “moments of customer delight.” I was delighted. And thrilled, inspired, and grateful! What was it about this experience that made it so special?

Smith’s excellent service intersected with my values in ways that were meaningful to me. My parents taught my brother and I a healthy respect for tools and knives. They taught us to value attention to detail, visible results, a solid work ethic and quality workmanship. I watched Smith at work in a video well before I wrapped these extensions of myself in a dishtowel. As video Smith demonstrated his mastery and prepared a butcher knife for delivery, I thought, “This is a man who takes pride in his work. I want to do business with him.”

My instincts were correct. Once unwrapped, one blade whispered through mushrooms, another quickly reduced potatoes down to hash. I felt a tremor of anticipation as I pulled the big oak-handled French chef from its slot. It made quick work of one of the thickest, toughest carrots ever destined for a pot pie. It seemed a sin to return its flashing beauty to the dim interior of the wooden knife block.

Smith has just made my life easier, because these knives do some of my work for me. How can I, as an Intuit employee, contribute to the creation of tools as fine, sharp and simple as this for our small business customers? Smith and his wife have been using TurboTax for years. Now they are considering using QuickBooks for their business accounting. I want Smith to be as thrilled to use QuickBooks as I am to use the knives he sharpened for me.

Knowing what using these tools feels like –- joy! delight! -– is a powerful motivator. I will seek to find the intersection of need, value, and delight in my own day to day work.

Thank you, Patron Saint of Knives. I’m not just a fan on Facebook….I am now a believer.

Photos: Top: Patron Saint of Knives Eliot Smith uses a sanding belt to refresh a blade edge. Middle: Vintage knives restored to full function. Bottom: Smith creates the razor’s edge that razors are known for.

Things were looking pretty blue for Lesa Wallace: the economy had gone into recession, she was downsizing her once thriving handbag manufacturing business, and she no longer had the time to volunteer for a children’s charity she was very involved with, called CASA.

It was the ends from the leather bags that were sitting amongst a pile of leather scraps and buckles when she had her moment of inspiration. She would turn the scraps into stylish, quality leather bracelets, and donate 10 percent of sales to charity.

“The only real cost for the bracelets was labor, since we already had the material,” said Wallace. “I thought to myself, I can’t give my time anymore, but this is one important way I can give back to CASA. And, I can recycle high quality materials to do it.”

Buckling down to new business
Many of her traditional customers were shuttering their stores, and she needed a new channel for reaching buyers. “A friend suggested we sell directly to customers at farmers’ and artisan markets,” said Wallace. “I liked that idea right away and it gave me an opportunity to not just sell the bracelets at low cost but also talk about CASA and the work they do.”

Lesa pulled herself up by her bootstraps, designed and oversaw production for the bracelets, and brought them to market. They were an instant hit. “People loved them,” she says. “And they loved that we were giving a part of the proceeds to charity.”

Losing sales without credit cards
Without the ability to process credit cards, Lesa found that she was losing sales. “I was very limited without a mobile payment processor,” she said. “There’s a lot of foot traffic at these markets, but people don’t always carry cash.”

It was time for a mobile credit card payment processor. She researched about 10 different providers before settling on Intuit GoPayment. “I liked that we could have multiple users on one account with GoPayment,” she said. “That way we could have several salespeople working at different markets on the same account. This was a big advantage Intuit had over other processors.”

Lesa also relied on expert advice to make her decision. “I liked that GoPayment was rated very highly.”

Seamless setup for new payment system
With GoPayment, Lesa can accept credit card payments using an Apple iPad, iPhone or Android mobile phone. She also added a magnetic card reader that attaches to the smartphone, which let you process payments much faster. One salesperson uses their Android phone while she and another use their personal iPhones.

The setup for the new credit card payment method was a snap. “The packaging was very clear and concise,” she said. “All I had to do was download the app, plug it in, and I was ready to go. It was completely seamless.”

Increasing sales with GoPayment
Once she was able to accept credit cards, sales took off. “As soon as we got GoPayment, our sales grew about 30 to 40 percent,” she says. “And it’s continuing to grow, month after month.”

Lesa doesn’t worry anymore whether customers have cash on hand. “We definitely used to lose sales when we didn’t have GoPayment,” she said. Even if they say they’re going to an ATM, it’s just not the same as making the sale right then and there. GoPayment synchronizes all the payment information with QuickBooks back at the office. It makes it so simple.”

Growing the business in unexpected ways
The bracelets have not just been a hot selling item, they’ve also opened up new, unexpected opportunities.

“In the last few months, five different women have opened up new businesses with our bracelets,” she said. “They buy wholesale from us, set up a mobile payment processor themselves, sell the bracelets at their local markets, and donate a part of the proceeds to their local CASA branches. It’s opened up a whole new channel of business for us. And it’s given an opportunity to these women to earn extra income.”

Getting back to basics
For Lesa, GoPayment is an integral part of her new business model.

“We could not have achieved what we did without GoPayment,” she says. “It’s been so critical to our success.”

Lesa’s story is yet another example of turning what feels like the worst thing in the world into a fantastic new opportunity. And will she keep finding new and interesting ways to grow her company? You can bet your boots she will.

Mint will help financial institutions position themselves as trusted advisors by showing customers their entire financial picture in one place. The offering will provide free actionable advice on how to save money, deliver on-the-go tracking with mobile apps and enable a bank or credit union to suggest helpful products and services.

The tools that Mint users know and love, such as “Goals,” will also be available to end-users. Goals, which was introduced into Mint.com more than two-and-a-half years ago, has already helped users set aside $33 billion.

“By blending Mint with their digital banking home page, financial institutions can provide immediate, meaningful financial insights to their customers, help more people save money and further deepen banking relationships by recommending relevant financial products at the time when people are most interested,” said Greg Wright, vice president of product management at Intuit Financial Services.

More than 2,800 financial institutions already depend on Intuit Financial Services to provide financial management capabilities that can help increase their customer engagement. Innovations such as blending Mint with digital banking are part of Intuit’s commitment to helping even more consumers and businesses improve the way they manage their money through their financial institution.

Image: Screen shot of immediate savings page powered by Mint to be offered by financial institutions. Click to enlarge.

Image: The latest Intuit Employment and Revenue Index shows small businesses added 10,000 new jobs in March. Unfortunately, small businesses are lagging behind the rest of the economy. While overall employment has risen 4.5 percent in three years, small business employment has risen only 1.4 percent over the same period.

Small businesses want to grow and they want to hire people to help them grow. To do this, they need access to the financial resources that will allow them to hire new employees and help drive economic growth both in their communities and in our nation as a whole.

Unfortunately, too many small businesses today are facing increasing difficulty when it comes to accessing the capital they need:

• 43 percent of small business owners said that in their need for funding they have been unable to find resources – loans, credit cards or individual investors.
• 29 percent of small business owners reported that their loans and lines of credit have been substantially reduced over the last four years. And 1 in 10 had their lines of credit and or loan called in early by the funding source.
• Overall, 53 percent of businesses have been unable to grow their business or expand operations, including hiring, due to lack of capital and 32 percent have reduced their employee roles.

This needs to change. Small businesses play a vital role in creating jobs and growing the economy. It is incumbent on industry, government and financial institutions to find new and innovative ways to ensure that small businesses can access the capital they need.

At Intuit, we are piloting a new service called QuickBooks Financing, which will help small businesses obtain capital faster and at lower rates from lenders. The service also helps lenders make more informed risk decisions, increasing the potential for small businesses to obtain a loan quickly.

We know there is much more than can be done by us and others. I urge lenders to be innovative – look at other ways to verify a small business’s assets rather than what is just on its books. As the backbone of the economy, small businesses should not be excluded from receiving a loan, simply because there are not financial assets on the books. Get creative!

I am also interested in what you think about this important issue. In particular, I would love to hear your ideas on what is the one thing that banks, government, and industry could do differently in order to help small businesses today.

Let me know what you think in the comments and I promise I will bring the best of these ideas with me as Intuit engages with all of the key stakeholders on this important issue.

Cover photo: Melanie Stetson Freeman/The Christian Science Monitor via Getty Images

An article was previously written aboue Snap Payroll on the Intuit Network but I wanted to remind people just how important applications are for small businesses. Every day I speak to small business owners and they are always looking for new ways to improve their business and grow. This is just one of many applications that can help solve a problem that many owners experience.

Apple also published a video about Snap Payroll and other applications that numerous business owners can use. To view the video, click on Apple’s ‘iPhone in Business’ section.

So confident in the idea, Mariette, who refers to her husband as a “visionary,” advised Scott to chuck his job and start a company. “Just quit your job,” Mariette told Scott. “Let’s move to California, let’s take the kids, let’s go live the dream in Silicon Valley.” And that’s exactly what they did.

Within the next year Mariette and Scott moved their family to Los Altos and launched Vidtel, a cloud video conferencing service. “We took all the poker chips and went all in,” said Mariette. Five years later, the company is going strong. “We’ve never looked back,” she said.

Marriage is hard work, and so is running a business. Yet more and more couples are signing up to tackle both. There aren’t any recent numbers, but it’s estimated that married couples own more than 3 million businesses.

This includes, of course, the local mom-and-pop shops, but there are also some big-name companies in the crowd. Cisco, VMware and Flickr are just a few well-known firms that were founded by married couples.

Perks and Pitfalls

The perks of starting a business with a spouse are obvious. There’s likely no one you trust more than your spouse. And you understand and recognize each other’s skill sets. Married couple Julia and Kevin Hartz, co-founders of Eventbrite, an online ticketing platform, knew their strengths and divvied up responsibilities based on them. Julia focuses solely on people; Kevin oversees the executive staff. “It’ll allows you to work harmoniously and will help you get from Point A to Point B two times faster,” said Julia.

And then there are the personal perks. You can tell – not ask – the boss when you’re leaving work early to catch your child’s soccer game. Or, you can bring the kids to work with you, something the Hartzes do. “They are part of our journey, so they often come to the office or accompany us on business trips,” said Julia.

But along with these pluses come challenges, such as putting all your eggs in one basket. The Whartons went two years with no income. “It’s not for the fainthearted,” said Mariette. “You have to look at yourself before you start an adventure like this and make sure that you have an appetite for risk and uncertainty.”

Another downside: It’s way too easy to bring your work home – business chatter often takes place during breakfast and weekend downtime.

Where’s the Money?

But the biggest challenge many couples face is raising capital. While the Whartons and Hartzes didn’t have a problem, venture capitalists are reluctant to invest in a company run by a married team because the personal and emotional component is too risky. “When there’s a personal relationship on the management team, it complicates things some,” said Geoff Yang of venture capital firm Redpoint Ventures. “It’s definitely a yellow flag.”

 Yang says he has to think ahead: What if one spouse is asked to leave the company? Would the other one want to exit as well? Can the remaining spouse make rational decisions about the situation? “The relationship tends to trump their obligations as an employee or officer of a company.”

Yang says he’s invested in three companies – out of roughly 100 – founded by married couples. Only one failed, and Yang says it wasn’t because of the relationship.

Tips for Success

So is starting a business with a spouse an uphill battle? Maybe. But starting a business usually is, regardless of the relationships. And experts say it’s even more important for married entrepreneurs to follow the same ground rules as anyone else starting a business. Intuit Vice President Greg Wright, who oversees the personal finance website mint.com and small business offerings, provided suggestions for anyone starting a business – married or not:

• Agree on the level of financial risk. “Each partner will likely have a different tolerance for financial risk,” said Wright. “So decide upfront what you’re willing to risk to grow the business. And know where you draw the line.”
• Divide duties based on skill set. “Businesses are most successful when partners tackle the areas they know best,” said Wright. “Determine at the start who’s in charge of what, and plow forward.”
• Ask for outside help. “When married couples run a business, it can take over their lives,” said Wright. “So seek support from people who’ve been through this before. And seek support professionally, too. When it’s just the two of you talking about the business, it narrows your perspective.”
• Communicate. “You can’t let personal feelings affect the business,” said Wright. “So you need to have honest and open communication at all times.”

As for the Whartons, they’ve experienced more ups than downs, and say they’d absolutely do it again. “It’s addicting – we get a big charge out of it,” said Mariette. “But it’s for people who really have a clear passion and are willing to put a lot at stake.”

Hear more from the Whartons about their journey in starting a business together:

Photos: Top: Scott and Mariette Wharton, married couple who founded Vidtel, a cloud video conferencing service. Bottom: Geoff Yang of venture capital firm Redpoint Ventures.

Today, small businesses make up 87 percent of all U.S. employer firms, employing more than 19 million people across the country. For new and growing small businesses, becoming part of these statistics is a daunting task. We’ve heard from our customers that hiring a first employee is a defining moment for their business and they often don’t know where to start. Whether they are worried about finding the right person or having the right paperwork in place, they know their decisions will forever change the face of their business.

At Intuit, we believe that being armed with the right tools and know-how can help change people’s financial lives. That is why next month we are teaming up with LinkedIn to host a free “Hire Smart Small Business Event,” which will help small businesses make the right decisions when hiring workers. The event will allow them to hear from guest speakers like author and Apprentice winner Bill Rancic and award-winning author and USA Today columnist Rhonda Abrams. Small businesses can also receive personal consulting from experts including lawyers, accountants and HR specialists. Most importantly, attendees will be given the tools and resources they need to get started right away.

Hire Smart will be on Saturday, April 27 and there are options to attend in person or virtually.  I hope you, or a small business owner you know, will consider joining me and LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner to celebrate and support small businesses.

To learn more about the event, visit: www.HireSmartNow.com.

Randy Musterer, better known to sushi fans by his alias Sushi Randy, has built a huge following with his innovative signature sushi rolls and friendly personality. Inspired by American style sushi and Asian fusion influences, Sushi [Confidential] offers a unique dining experience through innovation, education and artistry for customers of all types.

Randy has trained at multiple sushi bars in Northern California, as well as working in the fishing industry off the coast of San Diego. And now he is bringing his passion and expertise to downtown Campbell, Calif.

Recently he spent some time on Intuit’s campus to share discuss innovation and meet other influencers from different industries. We were able to sit down with Randy at the event and discuss what goes through his mind while running a business.

It is rare to hear a business owner talk about the importance of innovation and how customers are valuable resources when growing a business. Having eaten at Sushi [Confidential] numerous times I can tell you that you are in for a treat when you visit. Not only are the rolls outstanding but the experience itself will leave you coming back for more.

Just ask Brigga D – or Aman Mangat to his Intuit colleagues – who transformed himself from sales consultant to budding rap star to help customers understand a looming payroll reporting change in the United Kingdom.

In April, a new government regulation known as Real Time Information, or RTI, will require all businesses with employees to report PAYE information in real time, every time an employee is paid, not just once a month as before.

The change has confused and worried many small businesses. But, QuickBooks Payroll 2013 software has them covered. The newly installed RTI Wizard helps all subscribers get ready, one step at a time. And to celebrate the fact that Intuit is on the side of small businesses, Mangat, aka Brigga D, dropped some beats.

In this short video, Brigga D used his rap skills to create lyrics that are gaining much deserved attention and helping promote QuickBooks Payroll in the U.K. And if you watch it all the way to the end, you’ll see Alex Lintner, president of the Global Business Division, drop some beats of his own. Word.

Back in June 2011, I wrote about a small business by the name of Grinds. The company, Grinds, was designed and developed in 2009 by Matt Canepa and Pat Pezet to provide an energy boost and healthy alternative to tobacco. Each can of Grinds contains 20 pouches of flavored coffee. The flavors are mint chocolate and mocha. Both are designed to deliver that jolt needed to get you going. Yes, you heard me right. Each pouch contains coffee grinds instead of tobacco.

Recently they were featured on an episode of Shark Tank. Check out the video:

At the end of the episode they were given an offer from venture capitalists Daymond John and Robert Herjavec of $75,000 and their expertise for 15% of the company. They accepted the offer and as a result the company is on fire. There is no doubt this company will be around for a long time and selling cans throughout the world. Congratulations to the Grinds team!

Read more about Grinds here.

To help customers like Sadie Waddington of Locally Grown Weddings, shown in the video above, Intuit introduced the QuickBooks Online for iPad application. The app was designed for small business owners who no longer want to be tied to a desk. It allows them to conduct business in the field instead of logging in extra hours each night reconciling and tracking the day’s accounting, receipts and other business tasks. In addition, the app makes full use of the iPad’s screen size to deliver a clean experience with analytics capabilities that offer small business owners more insight into their business.

Check out the video to see how Sadie uses the QuickBooks Online for iPad app to help streamline her accounting.

A bundle of joy often means a bundle of expenses. So we turned to the experts, moms and dads, to share their best money saving tips.

Who’s Eligible?

The EITC is for people who work, but have low wages. Anyone earning less than $50,000 should see if they qualify. In addition to reducing the amount of taxes owed, the EITC may also produce a tax refund. More than 27 million taxpayers received nearly $62 billion in earned income tax credits for the 2011 tax year.

“The EITC puts money back where it’s needed the most, in the hands of hardworking people,” said Bernie McKay, director of the American Tax & Financial Center at TurboTax. “We urge eligible taxpayers to claim this credit. Taxpayers of all income levels benefit when they are fully engaged in preparing their own returns and learn how to claim the credits and deductions they are entitled to, especially the EITC. It’s a cornerstone of financial empowerment.”

How to Find It

The EITC Finder, is a free smartphone app that makes determining eligibility easy. Created by Intuit Inc, the maker of TurboTax, it’s available in English and Spanish on the App Store, Android Market and Amazon AppStore. The finder asks a few simple questions, such as “Are you married or single?” and “How many children do you support?” to determine eligibility. If the individual qualifies for the EITC, the app estimates the possible state and federal refund.

The majority of taxpayers claiming the credit are eligible for free tax preparation.  Taxpayers can prepare and file their return online at no cost through the Free File program at www.irs.gov. TurboTax Freedom Edition is available to anyone with adjusted gross income of $31,000 or less or those on active military duty with adjusted gross income of $57,000 or less and those who qualify for the EITC. In addition, taxpayers who choose the TurboTax Freedom Edition can also prepare and file state returns in 23 states at no additional costs.

Melissa Tosetti, author of “Living the Savvy Life”, shares four easy tips to help you take control of your finances in 2013 and turn debt into wealth.

I recently read a story about a mobile food truck, Wingzza, that caught fire in North Carolina. Black Enterprise asked Intuit to give them a software makeover that made the journey a fast and enjoyable one.

The story was published in the December 2012 magazine and edited by Marcia Wade Talbert.

Check out the full story here.

1. Growth. Many small business owners are eager to add to that bottom line. And even in a difficult economy, it can be done. But it’s critical to first put pen to paper, says Chris Hylen, vice president and general manager of Intuit Payment Solutions. “Map out a plan for where you want your business to go in 2013 and how you plan to get there,” says Hylen. He suggests setting a revenue or customer goal.

That’s what Clare Schexnyder did. She’s the founder and CEO of Oh Baby! Fitness, which offers pre- and-postnatal exercise classes. Schexnyder’s company currently operates only in Georgia, but in 2013 she plans to expand to 25 states.

To accomplish that, Schexnyder has to avoid the costly franchise business model and traditional brick-and-mortar fitness studio. So she’s created partnerships with hospitals and health clubs, and runs her classes there. This keeps Schexnyder’s overhead low and her finances in check, which is critical for her to expand. “I operate this business on a cash basis,” says Schexnyder. “I don’t do loans; I pay my bills as soon as they hit my desk. I never operate in the red.”

While Schexnyder’s business plan may be unique to her industry, Intuit’s Hylen says every business owner can create a plan that gets them closer to their goal. “Know as much as possible about your industry, know your business in and out, and devise a plan that will help drive your business to success,” says Hylen.

2. Focus on Customers. While growing the business is a popular goal, small business owners realize they can’t do that without their customers. So it’s key to treat them well.

There are several ways to do that, and Pauline Lewis, of Oovoo Designs in New York City, found what works for her. Two-thirds of Lewis’ business is generated during the holiday season, but her customers know they’re valued all year long.

“The best time to engage with your customers in not when you want them to buy – it’s when they are relaxed and not even thinking about the holidays,” says Lewis. “I find that when I develop a rapport with potential customers early in the year, they are more likely to buy when the time comes because they have an underlying relationship with you that is not based on a transactional sale.”

Something else customers will surely appreciate: discounts. Intuit’s Hylen says to offer them when possible, only if it doesn’t cut too deeply into your bottom line. This is one tactic that Lawrence Franco, co-owner of Live Case Break, uses to stay ahead of the competition.

“Our goal is to continue to grow the business by providing top-notch service, constantly having the newest products in stock and offering breaks at a reasonable price point,” says Franco.

3. Technology. Many business owners are eager to stay on top of technology, especially social media – they view it as free advertising. But that mentality can get businesses into trouble, according to Guy Kawasaki, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist. Kawasaki says businesses that use Facebook and Twitter to self-promote can turn away customers. Instead, he urges businesses to establish themselves as experts in their industry, which builds trust with customers and eventually leads to sales.

“People will follow you for your content,” says Kawasaki. “And then they will pay attention to your promotion, and participate in your promotion, because you’ve earned the right by providing good content.”

UrbanSitter, an online babysitter service, follows these rules. Recently, UrbanSitter used Facebook to post parenting advice, homework tips and holiday craft ideas. They now have 10,000-plus followers, who post comments like, “Thank you, I needed that!” and “Words good for a mama’s soul!”

UrbanSitter rarely, if ever, touts its service, and CEO Lynn Perkins says that’s intentional. “When parents book sitters offline, their number one concern in trust,” says Perkins. “So we wanted to take that online, and develop a trust there.”

Following these resolutions can help grow a business and make 2013 a successful year. But remember – even small steps can make a big difference. So set resolutions that best suit your business.

Now collectors have another option–LiveCaseBreak.com provides case or box breaks of trading cards. A box or case break is where a customer can purchase only the cards of their team that comes out of a box or case of cards for a fraction of the cost of the entire case or box. All of the breaks they run are broadcast live and are also recorded for viewing at a later time.

LiveCaseBreak.com was founded in 2012 by owners Timothy J. Harmer and Lawrence A. Franco. With Tim being in New York and Larry in Florida, communications and customer service remain important.

Speaking as a customer myself, their service is outstanding. Both of them are responsible for making sure their customers are happy, and they always have the latest and greatest product available. No longer do collectors have to spend their hard-earned money to chase their favorite players or teams. Now they can just purchase their team for a fraction of the cost and keep everything from the product break.

Here is an example: you purchase the San Francisco Giants slot in a case of 2012 Topps Triple Threads. When they open the case, they will pull an assortment of cards from various teams spanning Major League Baseball. Everything that comes out of the case from the three teams you purchased belongs to you. For comparison’s sake, a case of 2012 Topps Triple Threads costs around $1,700 and the cost for the Giants slot would be around $100.

Now of course some teams are more desirable than others and carry different values. But these breaks allow collectors a great opportunity to continue collecting without going bankrupt.

Their breaks encompass every major sport along with various other products. A constantly evolving inventory, timely breaks, crystal clear broadcasts, lightning fast shipping and an unmatched level of customer service are what you will find at LiveCaseBreak.com. You can view some of their previous breaks at BlogTV.

And to make things even better they are using QuickBooks to run their accounting. One of the major reasons they use QuickBooks is because it saves them time, which allows them to focus their efforts on providing top-notch service and exciting product breaks that all their customers look forward to. As many card collectors can attest, buying boxes and hoping to pull “monster” cards that are valuable is a gamble. But LiveCaseBreak makes that gamble more affordable and enjoyable for budgets and collectors of all types.

For more information, please visit their Services section or visit the updated calendar to participate in a break.

Holiday specials alert: LiveCaseBreak will be having some Holiday promotions coming up. Be sure to follow them on Twitter and Facebook to find out how to participate.

Small businesses in the United States and Canada can submit their wishes at LoveOurLocalBusiness.com and then rally their fans to vote for their submissions. Intuit will fulfill one wish a day from Dec. 3 -21.

Surviving, Not Thriving
Based on an October 2012 Intuit Small Business Survey, 87 percent of small businesses said their businesses are either struggling to survive, or surviving but not growing. Forty-seven percent of respondents said a $5,000 infusion would significantly help or even save their businesses.

“Succeeding in trying economic times is a month-to-month struggle for our small business customers, but they’re a passionate and resilient group,” said Ken Wach, vice president of marketing for Intuit’s Small Business Group. “Small businesses not only drive national economic growth, they’re integral to defining local communities and shaping national culture. We value small businesses and support them to pursue their passions.”

Gifts That Keep on Giving
For small businesses, this holiday season isn’t looking cheerful. The Intuit survey found that:
• 23 percent rated winter as the most financially difficult time of year – more than any other season.
• 41 percent ranked “paying my bills” as their No. 1 concern that keeps them up at night about their businesses.
• 53 percent said believe the economy is slowly recovering but that their businesses are surviving, not growing.
• 34 percent agreed that the economy is poor, and their businesses are struggling to survive.

Amidst economic hardship, small businesses are resourceful:
• 35 percent said $5,000 would significantly help their businesses.
• 12 percent said $5,000 would save their businesses.

What would they buy with $5000 for their businesses?
• 27 percent would put it toward marketing.
• 16 percent would use it to cover operating costs, such as paying rent or a mortgage.
• 15 percent would spend it on technology, such as computers or software.

The new Love Our Local Business effort grows out of Intuit’s Love a Local Business program, which awarded approximately $1.2 million in grants and prizes to more than 100 U.S. small businesses since July 2009.

Love Our Local Business is part of Intuit’s larger, ongoing commitment to support the financial success of consumers and small businesses. In fiscal year 2012, Intuit’s product, in-kind and cash donations to charitable organizations and small business development programs totaled nearly $54 million.

Love Our Local Business Grant Details
Small businesses can submit their wishes in two easy steps. Details for entry, eligibility, rules and prizing are available at www.loveourlocalbusiness.com.

About the Intuit Small Business Survey
The Intuit Small Business Outlook Survey was compiled by Decipher Research for Intuit in October 2012, polling 201 American small business owners online.

• Let the cloud help keep your business running

If your business involves work that is mainly electronic or digital in nature, now is a good time to look into the so-called “cloud” solutions that can host everything from simple data files to actual interactive applications on the Internet. While big enterprise businesses perhaps benefit more from having their applications and data available to their worldwide workforces, even small businesses and individuals can get in on the cloud movement, often starting for free.

Simple storage services from providers like Box.com and Dropbox.com let you create virtual file folders on the company’s site, where you and your co-workers can access them from anywhere with an Internet connection. These systems do more than support mobile workers. They are also a cheap and easy backup and disaster-recovery solution, especially if your office servers are offline or you can’t get to the office. If you haven’t already, it’s also a good idea to make sure that all employees have some kind of alternate email address – such as a free Gmail or Yahoo account  in case work email goes down.

• Train employees in remote communications before disaster strikes

Working from home is a growing trend for many businesses, but small businesses may not have a dedicated IT staffer to help train employees on the nuances of remote communications. It’s best to learn now, and not when everyone is scrambling after a disaster.

Schedule training or even a regular remote meeting to get as many employees as possible up to speed on the various methods available for remote collaboration. New, cheap and easy systems such as Skype or Oovoo allow for multiple-person video conferences for free or low costs. Teaching everyone in your company how to set up webcams or to use the cameras in laptops could make post-disaster communication a lot easier. 

• Put a disaster plan in place, with set methods for establishing contact

When big disasters such as Hurricane Sandy hit, one of the hardest things facing most businesses is simple communications. When regular phone lines and cellular systems go down, and a power outage keeps workers off the Internet, a pre-disaster communications plan can go a long way toward keeping business processes flowing. It’s ok to keep copies of the plan online. And having paper copies – remember, no power – of how to contact managers, who will disseminate information, who needs to contact whom will help keep everyone on the same page. 

• Think simple and small when it comes to having power 

While telephone systems and Internet networks are typically pretty robust, the electrical grid is more exposed to the elements and more susceptible during major storms. Losing power may diminish many business activities, and having a small amount of battery or generator power can mean a lot to a small business. They can help charge cell phones or keep electrical equipment, such as computer servers or refrigerators, running until power is restored.

Diesel and gas generators may not work for many small businesses in office locations. Consider personal emergency equipment, such as portable battery-operated generators or even crank-powered emergency radios, most of which now come with USB connectivity to recharge cell phones. An office earthquake kit is a good idea even if you aren’t near a fault line. Simple survival items, such as candles, flashlights and food, may be worth their weight in gold if you have to spend an unscheduled night at the office. Camping headband flashlights are also a great idea to have around, since they free hands for other work.