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SBO Finance, Development & Operations

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Small business ownership and operations are an integral part of wealth development. Many of today's largest, most profitable businesses started as a small business, often a family business, and most remain family-owned and operated enterprises. They include Walmart, Ford Motor Company, Mars, and Berkshire Hathaway, which owns CORT, a brand this portfolio shows I've written content for.

Here you'll find the solutions-oriented editorial content targeting small business audiences that I've written for major brands, like American Express. These stories help SBOs finance, develop, and operate their businesses. 

Many are data-driven and deeply researched. Most feature expert interviews. These stories show I understand your small business client's issues and help them solve them expertly. I can offer you my solutions, whether you're a social finance CDFI or a wealth management firm that works with social impact investors who are entrepreneurs.

Contact me if your recognized, respected financial brand needs stories like these to reach your SMB owner audiences. We can discuss how this research-based, expert-driven storytelling fits into your current editorial content strategy or how you can adapt your editorial content strategy to reach your objectives in today's AI-fueled marketplace.

Client Testimonial:

"My manager and I have always been really happy with your work and your ideas!"
     —An American Express Business Class Managing Editor

American Express

Navigating Accounts Receivable for Building Success

Business owners can't manage what they can't measure. In small-business finance, this adage can be especially true when managing your accounts receivable. Effective management of accounts receivable means knowing where your cash flow is coming from and keeping careful track of who owes your business money. That can require a strategic approach to regularly collecting what your business is owed, which can be crucial for achieving financial success in business. Here's how to develop one that can lead to sustained prosperity for your small business.
American Express

Succession Planning for Your Multigenerational Family Business

Succession planning is not a onetime event, like many small-business owners think it is. It's a long game that can require a focused plan to execute over a period of years, perhaps decades. In a multigenerational family business, especially with different branches in the family, this can be complex. There can be multiple considerations and many people to involve, from other family members to various professionals. Your aim is to have the process well-documented to minimize complications when it’s time to execute the plan. Here's how.
American Express

Positive Cash Flow: Strategies to Help Generate It

Maintaining healthy cash flow is essential for small-business success, since it helps you verify the correct amount of money flowing into and out of your business. The cash-flow definition is the measure of the money coming in and going out of your business over a specific period. It tracks the cash receipts and cash payments for your company. It's important you calculate this correctly and maintain a positive balance on your cash-flow statement. Here's how to generate, maintain, and measure your business cash flow.
American Express

The Three Sources of Cash Flow for a Business

Business owners typically can't manage what they can't measure. Better cash-flow management can start with examining three primary sources: operations, investing, and financing. These three sources align with the main sections in a company's cash-flow statement, an essential document for understanding a business's financial health. What are they and how do you generate them? (This story is part of a major SEO refresh Amex is doing, and for which I'm writing multiple stories using my business finance, research skills, and SEO expertise.)
American Express

How Optimizing Your Time and Space Can Unlock New Dimensions For Growth

Disorganization can overwhelm many small-business owners, and they rarely know how to overcome the problem, leading to a cluttered mind and substantially reduced productivity. To help potentially unlock new dimensions for profitability and long-term success, consider looking at your space and time management practices. Organizing your calendar, your inbox, your office space, and your company culture may help lead to a more productive, profitable company. Three experts tell you how.
American Express

How to Determine the Amount You Need When Getting a Business Loan

A common question business owners have about getting business loan financing is “what is a reasonable amount to ask for a business loan?” Answering this question requires understanding the challenges associated with getting a business loan. When you’re borrowing money for your business, it’s not just about securing funds. It's about strategically aligning your business’s financial needs with your business's growth trajectory and operational demands. Here's how to do that.
American Express

Unifying Your Multigenerational Family Business for Long-Term Success

This is an area where I have intense interest and experience. I pitched this story to American Express, along with another on the subject, and both got accepted. Here's a summary:

Working together as a family can be intense, especially when traditionalists, baby boomers, Gen X, millennials, and Gen Z all work in a business. Family relationships in any context can be trying and being in business together may complicate things further. Here's how to manage those relationships and develop family unity to successful manage your family business for long-term success.
American Express

How Operating in Your Zone of Genius Could Lead to Higher Profitability

Not only can operating in your Zone of Genius lead to more profitability, but it can also mean more fulfillment and less exhaustion. Functioning in your Zone of Genius can improve your mental health and business and personal relationships, too. That's because your Zone of Genius is the talent or area of native knowledge that comes to you, so naturally, you perform it effortlessly and, usually, happily for hours at a time. Here's how to learn yours and operate in it—or them, since you might have more than one. (Image: Ketut Subiyanto on Pexels)
American Express

The Importance of Mental Health for Small-Business Owners

In 2022, Incfile, a business services provider, surveyed over 2,000 business owners, consultants, and freelancers across 13 industries and found that 20% of small-business owners are experiencing poor mental health. The survey also found nearly 65% of small-business owners have experienced anxiety and over 50% suffered from depression. This story provides SBOs guidance on how to address their own mental health challenges and those experienced by employees.
American Express

Financial Wellness for Your Small Business: What It Is and How to Create It

If you’re like most small-business owners, you may have gone into business because you’re passionate about the product or service you sell, and how it helps your target customer. While you may want to generate the highest revenue possible, you may prioritize excellence in serving your customers over managing business finances optimally. But generating the highest revenue doesn't always mean you're experiencing financial wellness in your business. Here's what small business financial wellness truly is and how to create it for your enterprise. [Note: This is an example of "pillar content," a piece that broadly overviews a subject creating a story to which multiple supporting pieces connect. I covered the other topics written for this new section on American Express Small Business on financial wellness for small business generally, and other writers produced specific content on those topics that link back to this "content pillar." It required an extensive understanding of small business financial concepts to write this piece, which I have. I can produce similar content for your organization.]
American Express

A Balancing Act: Cash Flow Management | 100 for 100

A high volume of sales may make you feel profitable, but that’s not the same as having strong cash flow. After all, you can appear profitable at certain times, but be in the red in others. It’s only by proactively balancing how you manage your cash flow—revenue, expenditures and profits—that you have cash to maintain business operations consistently. That allows you to take advantage of opportunities to invest in expansion efforts. Here's how to manage your cash flow in a balanced way for small business growth.
Small Business Ahead: The Hartford

How to Get a Small Business Grant | Small Business Startup Grants

Have you been thinking you want to start a business? So much planning goes into following your dream, and we know it can be a struggle to finance its startup and daily operations. We also know that finding funding opportunities for your enterprise can be harder during a global pandemic.

You may not be eligible for small business loans. But you may be qualified for grants. Here's how to learn if you are.
PayPal

A simple breakdown to the working capital formula

If you want to know how well you're really operating your business, you'll need to know your business's working capital, also known as net working capital. It's a moment of truth for your company's financial health—telling you the difference between what you owe and what your business owns. Plus, it's one of the most important numbers lenders often rely on to decide if your company is worth financing.

We've broken it down to make it super simple to compute.