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How to Become the Next Big Thing in Innovation

Disruptions are happening across industries overnight—which is good and bad news for those who want in on the action. Larry Downes, co-author of the new book Big Bang Disruption: Strategy in the Age of Devastating Innovation, offers his four stages of disruption for innovators and entrepreneurs alike.

Jake’s Wayback EVP: The More Americana, the Better

Jake’s Wayback Burgers is taking its nostalgic American theme overseas, with deals in 30 different countries inked for the next year alone. Executive Vice President Bill Chemero talks growth strategy and how his experience creating the Edible Arrangement concept has helped him grow as an entrepreneur.

HireVue Offering up Job Interviews on Demand

HireVue is giving employers back their time, and job applicants the opportunity to stand out in a sea of paper applications with its Talent Interaction Platform. The startup has raised $48 million in funding and hopes to double its growth in the next year.

‘Scaling Up’ Lessons from Google and Facebook

Even today’s business titans hit bumps along the road, and Robert Sutton has documented them in his new book, ‘Scaling Up Excellence,’ so that businesses of all sizes won’t make the same mistakes.

DigitalOcean Expanding at the Speed of the Cloud to Tune of $37.2M

DigitalOcean is expanding rapidly with 1,000 new users per day, and a new $37.2 million round of Series A funding from Andreessen-Horowitz. Here’s what’s ahead for the 'Goliath' poised to take on big-name cloud competitors like Rackspace and Amazon.

Small Business Urges Lawmakers to Get to Work

The National Small Business Association (NSBA) congratulates President Barack Obama and the returning and newly elected Members of Congress. NSBA also applauds the overall tone offered by President Obama and Governor Mitt Romney, as well as myriad other lawmakers, who called for the nation to come together, and for lawmakers to seek bipartisan consensus to address the many challenges ahead.

Business Owners Feeling More Optimistic About Growth, Warming to Tech

According to a recent survey from j2 Global, 76% of small business owners are feeling optimistic about their prospects for growth in 2012. Seventeen percent said they are feeling uncertain ahead of the November election, and less than 7% said they are not optimistic.

Small Business Owners to Vote with Money on Their Minds

Small business owners, an increasingly disgruntled sector of the electorate, will be casting their votes with pocketbook issues at top of mind in this fall's presidential election. They believe the economy is the No. 1 issue facing the nation today and that the Republican Party has the edge at positioning itself as the party most supportive of small business interests, a national survey shows.

Four Steps for Protecting Customer Data

Accepting credit and debit cards is a no-brainer for many small businesses. However, if you fail to safeguard the consumer information received with these transactions, you may end up facing major fines and losses.

Protecting Your Work Phone

Thankfully it won’t cost a small business owner much to protect their mobile phones and the ones employees are using.

When Employees Vent Online

There are no hard-and-fast rules when it comes to employees’ Facebook, Twitter, or Google+ use, but experts say small businesses would be remiss if they didn’t tell employees up front what their policies are on the use of such platforms, and what the ramifications may be if employees use their social networks to complain about their company, boss, or - worse - divulge insider company information. In fact, social expectations could even be integrated into employee training on issues such as sexual harassment.

Doing What You Love and Selling it

We’re highlighting small businesses from around the country as nominated by you, our readers. If your favorite small business is using Twitter to communicate with customers, let us know about it @fbsmallbiz with the hashtag #mysbc, and it may be featured as an upcoming Small Business of the Day.

How to Convert Unhappy Customers on the Internet

One of the major challenges of company-consumer relations is dealing with tough feedback. And with so many brands becoming increasingly engaged on social media channels, the chances of discovering nothing  but positive comments about your business are slim.

Don't Get Sued By Your No. 1 Employee

In the age of iPhones, tablets and ever-present technology, overtime is becoming harder to regulate. However, workers who are putting in extra time are increasingly taking their employers to court seeking payment for their longer hours and more demanding jobs.