One of the most successful business models is the franchise, but it didn't originate with McDonald's.

Sir Harold Evans describes the remarkable story of a beauty salon that allowed hundreds of women to own their own businesses.

Words of wisdom from a successful serial entrepreneur - Dr. Zee Aganovic - the founder of Hiconversion, a conversion rate optimization (CRO) software that lets both small and large internet retailers convert a higher percentage of existing web traffic to more leads and online sales.

You never know when a good elevator pitch may come in handy!

Healthy, profitable U.S. banks say they are ready, willing and able to rev up small-business lending.

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Advice from both sides of the venture capital table.

Venture capitalist Bill Draper offers some advice based on his 50+ years of experience in the hope that at least some entrepreneurs will take some of his prescriptions to heart and maybe make their avoidable mistakes less costly.

The U.S. Export-Import Bank announced a plan Thursday to spur exports by increasing small-business loans to $6 billion this year and $9 billion a year by 2015.

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Words of wisdom from Venture Capitalist Fred Wilson.

Square 1 Financial is one of several startup-friendly lenders that are trying to help small companies acquire venture capital in the hope that they'll continue to use the bank's services as they grow.

"We can help the startups with introductions to VCs that we know are relevant to them, their sector, their geography and their stage," says Gerald Brady, who directs the Accelerator Program at Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), the largest venture bank in the US.

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1. You'll never get laid off again.

2. You can stop asking your boss for a raise and give yourself one.

3. You can write off that new laptop, BlackBerry, iPad or printer.

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