Business Discussions

Building a successful business is about more than great products, competitive pricing, or effective marketing. Some of the most important moments that shape customer trust happen behind the scenes through what experts call "invisible touchpoints." According to our Forbes article today, these are the small interactions customers experience that often go unnoticed by businesses but leave a lasting impression.   Invisible touchpoints can include how quickly emails are answered, how easy your website is to navigate, the clarity of your invoices, or how smoothly a customer issue is resolved. While these moments may seem minor, they often influence whether customers feel confident doing business with you again.   Customers remember how a business makes them feel throughout their journey. Consistency, reliability, and attention to detail help build trust over time. When every interaction reflects your company's values, customers are more likely to become loyal advocates for your brand.   This

Welcome friends! Thanks for stopping by the Business Discussion board. Today I'd like to share an article I came across on Inc.com that covers three ways to make your business newsletter more engaging. Here are a few key points...  Ask for feedback"To get a clearer idea about how you could improve, start by gathering impressions about the current format and content of your newsletter. Ask for feedback from groups like: Your team (especially those outside of the marketing department) Colleagues and peers Your own audience For the latter, a short survey should be enough to find out what readers enjoy and what they tend to skip." Reconsider your layout and format"Have you ever opened a long email and felt like closing it right away? Even great content can lose readers if the layout feels overwhelming or difficult to scan. To make your newsletter more inviting: Choose a font that’s comfortable to read Avoid overly long sentences and paragraphs Highlight key takeaways" Always edit AI-writte

Hello Community! Welcome to the Business Discussion board. I know many of you here are small business owners, and as a small business owner you may not have a ton of hands on deck. In fact, it may only be you - the solopreneur. If that sounds like you, here are a few tips on how to grow your business on your own.Be super strategicThere's a reason behind every action you take.Use timersTime is money! You likely have a heavy work load. Use timers to work on a certain project for an allotted amount of time and then move on to the next thing. Repeat until complete.AutomateApply technology, apps, different platforms to automate business tasks to make your life easier.PrioritizePrioritize projects, financials, customers, and so on. Tackle what needs to be taken first and check it off your list.You may be feeling like you're spread pretty thin trying to take care of your business as a one man/woman show. I hope these pointers help alleviate some of that. What are some tips you'd offer to othe

Good afternoon, Community! Have you ever used CAS? Client Advisory Services, otherwise known as CAS, allows you to estimate growth, margins, and pricing potential for your business in the most efficient way. This article posted on the QuickBooks Blog offers more info about using CAS and even provides a CAS Revenue Calculator. Let's take a look...   Making wavesCompliance work is becoming more automated and price-pressured, while clients increasingly expect proactive insights, not just reporting. That shift has made Client Advisory Services (CAS) the fastest-growing service line in the accounting profession, with firms projecting nearly 100% growth in CAS revenue over the next three years.The CAS revenue calculatorThis tool helps accounting firms model the potential revenue, profitability, and pricing impact of launching or scaling CAS. Whether you’re just starting to explore CAS or refining an existing CAS offering, the calculator lets you forecast how advisory could perform for

Hello out there, Community! I'm glad you're here. Today I'm sharing an article from inc.com the showcases an interview with Mark Cuban, from Shark Tank, where he tells us all about how to be an irreplaceable employee.First and foremost, Cuban says, "The greatest value you can offer a boss is to reduce their stress." Here's how: Take care of your mental health and well-being. "Mental health is a vast topic with many aspects to consider. However, leaders should focus on employees who prioritize their self-care for workplace application. These individuals structure their schedules to prioritize their well-being while maintaining high-performance levels. Run away from workplace drama. "Getting caught in the whirlwind of workplace drama will overload your attention and take your focus away from what is most important--your work! Time lost to workplace drama could be costing your business a lot of money." Practice emotional intelligence. "Emotional intelligence is not only an important pred

Welcome back to the QuickBooks Community. We’re happy you’re here. For today’s piece, we’ll be looking into value propositions and why they matter for growing businesses. Your value proposition is the reason customers choose your business over someone else’s. It explains what you do, who you help, and why your offer matters.A strong value proposition should answer three key questions:What problem do you solve?Who do you help?Why are you different?According to our article, the best value propositions are clear, specific, and customer-focused. Instead of using generic phrases like “great service,” focus on the actual results customers can expect.For example:“We help busy small business owners simplify bookkeeping with affordable cloud-based accounting solutions.”When creating your value proposition:Keep your messaging simpleFocus on customer pain pointsHighlight the value or outcomeShow what makes your business stand outYour value proposition can evolve as your business grows, so don’t b

Helllooo and welcome back to the Business Discussion page!  Quick question, if someone were to ask you, name 5 business pioneers could you list any? No worries if you cant!Over the next couple of week, we  will be exploring notable business pioneers who shaped the modern world. Each week, we’ll break down their journey, their impact on business, and the key lessons we can still apply today. Let's start with John D. Rockefeller.John D. Rockefeller is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in business history. He didn’t just build wealth, he helped define how modern corporations operate.Rockefeller was born in 1839 in New York and grew up in a modest household. From a young age, he was highly disciplined with money, carefully tracking his finances and focusing on efficiency and control.In 1870, he founded Standard Oil during a chaotic and competitive oil boom. Instead of focusing only on production, he focused on systems. He lowered costs, negotiated better tran

I have multiple locations with multiple salespeople. Each store has it's own salespeople and I want the salespeople to only have access to their assigned store. The issue is that the only role available to do so, somehow does not allow users to receive payments... Ideally the salespeople in each store would Create Estimate - Conver to Invoice - Receive Payment THAT'S ALL. Has someone found a loophole? Please help, thank you! 

As a small business owner you put so much into your business. A lot of that time is during regular business hours, and then even more once you go home for the day. You're committed to your success, but the day in and day out of it all can lead to exhaustion.   Here are a few tips to avoid getting burnout on your dream: Have a morning and night routine Plan "me time" Take plenty of breaks Get at least 7 (preferably 9) hours of good sleep each night Set clear boundaries Get outside Set healthy working hours Know when to slow down and rest I know this can be difficult when you have both goals and deadlines to reach, but if you're in it for the long haul remember it's a marathon, not a sprint. You have to take care of you so you can take care of your business. What are some helpful tips you practice to prevent burnout?

Fellow small business owners -curious if anyone else has run into this, and how you handled it.Quick background on me: I run a seasonal student storage business in Massachusetts. We've been with QuickBooks Payments for 14 years. Last year we processed about $1.72 million in card payments through Intuit. Long track record, clean payment history, no chargeback issues.Last May (2025), I noticed Intuit had quietly raised my processing rates heading into my peak season. I caught it on the statement, called support, and after some back-and-forth got the rates walked back. You can actually see it on my June 2025 statement where there are duplicate fee line items at both the old and new rates from the mid-month adjustment.This year I decided to be proactive. I got a written competitive quote from another payment processor that uses interchange-plus pricing — basically pass-through interchange plus a small processor margin instead of Intuit's flat-rate model. Their effective rate estimate for m

Hi there, welcome to the Business Discussion area of the Community. Today I'd like to share a few great ways to remain proactive in your business even during a slow period. As we know, slow periods are inevitable, so here are a few ways you can keep busy: Update your website or portfolio. It's always a nice touch when you visit a business website and everything is up to date and you can tell they're active. Repackage your products/services. Similar to the business website, keeping your packaging up to date is eye catching. Additionally, if you're a service based business "repackaging" may look like special offers or bundles. Refine your marketing strategy. Take a deep dive into what has and hasn't worked and make any necessary changes. Automate or delegate. Take some time to research business apps that can help you get tasks done quicker or hand over a few jobs to your trusted employees. Increase your SEO ranking. We've talked about the importance of Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

Hello ladies and gentlemen of the Community. I hope you've had a great day so far. Before you head out this evening, I'd like to share an article from the QuickBooks Blog that tells how small businesses are using AI to better manage their time. Let's dive in...     Scheduling The ability to define your availability Team calendar syncing Calendar management optimization Task management task prioritization auto-time blocking Project management Collaborate Assign tasks Set deadlines Track project progress Time tracking Productivity insights Data-driven decisions Workflow optimization Realistic goal-setting With these uses for AI you'll be able to free up more time to devote to other areas of your business. Check out the full article linked above for even more details. Take care folks!

Happy Friday ladies and gentlemen. Welcome back to another topic here in the Business Discussion space. Today I'm stopping by to share an article from Forbes.com that shares a few examples of great landing pages.What it isIf you're like me, you may be wondering, "What exactly is a landing page?" A landing page is a web page that persuades users to take a specific action. A visitor lands on a landing page when they click a header or link from search results, a home page, an email or an ad from social media. A landing page aims to capture leads, promote a product or service or encourage a specific action such as getting a quote, downloading a guide, signing up or making a purchase.Why it's importantYou need a landing page to introduce your brand and value to target customers by showing them how your offerings will benefit them. In addition, landing pages help you capture visitor information, provide a focused and optimized visitor experience and thus help improve your conversion rate.Tip

Have you heard the news? There's a new feature called Intuit Assist that acts as your personal assistant! Oh, what's that you say? - Tell you more? Sure thing! Let's take a look at this article from the QuickBooks Blog for more info..."Intuit Assist for QuickBooks, our new generative AI-powered financial assistant, now available in beta and rolling out more broadly in the coming months, is designed to help small business owners like you succeed. By surfacing powerful and relevant insights based on your business’s performance and your customers’ behavior, Intuit Assist will help guide you on the spot, enabling you to make informed business decisions."Let's break it down. There are four key ways Intuit Assist will help and support your business growth:Show MeA comprehensive view of where your business stands.Do it for MeAutomates tasks, like drafting invoice reminders and more, saving you time so you can focus on the big picture for your small business.Guide MeCreates a fully customized

Hello Community! Thanks for stopping by. Today I'm sharing an interesting article I read posted on forbes.com. This write-up discusses mental fitness being the next frontier of leadership. Let's take a look...Dr. Gareth Craze has spent his career at the intersection of behavioral science and leadership development. A psychosocial fitness coach, business school professor, and co-founder of Hard Mind Lab, a consultancy specializing in risk management and employee wellness in Australian heavy industry, Craze has coached leaders across industries on everything from workplace performance to executive resilience.Mental health has rightfully become a central focus in professional life, but mental fitness represents something altogether different—and potentially more transformative for how we think about leadership performance today."Imagine two leaders with identical experience, judgment, and values," he says. "One is consistently well-rested, physically active, and properly fueled. The other

Hi friends. Welcome back to the Business Discussion board. Today I have a bit of insight to help you be more productive. Let's talk about how to deal with task paralysis.What is task paralysis you ask? Also referred to as overwhelm freeze, task paralysis is when your mind sees your to-do list as a threat. When we encounter threats, we either fight, flight, or freeze. With a larger to-do list the threat may be recognized as potential failure or letting others down.Here are some tips to help you unfreeze and tackle your tasks: Acknowledge your negative emotions. Think of ways to add reward and accountability to your task. Do something to increase your dopamine like listening to music while you're working or eating a snack before you get started. Move your body for a little while before you get started to get your mind out of the frozen state. Work in a different area. Start small with something that feels the most doable. Don't wait until you have "more time" or it "feels right." Starti

Welcome to the "Talk About Your Business Page"! We're happy to have you here. I'd love to share a great article from the QuickBooks Firm of the Future site that covers data analytics and how it can fuel your small business and mid-market growth.     Before doing a deep dive into analytics, you need to be able to answer a few questions about your business to make sure you're on the right track to begin with: Are we focused on the right things? Is our quality where it needs to be? How are we doing financially? Where are our opportunities and challenges? Are our customers happy? Are our employees happy? Once you've answered those questions and are satisfied with your answer you can move onto the business analytics.One of the most important metrics to consider is the IRR, or Internal Return on Investment. This figure will tell you how attractive your business is to customers.Here are a few other metrics to take a look at: Unit economics - a method applied to analyze a company

Hello, Community! I hope you're doing well and ready for a great weekend. Before you leave for the day, I wanted to share an article from inc.com that talks about making your brand AI visible. Let's take a look at it...SEO (Search Engine Optimization) hasn’t disappeared, but AI visibility is now the new layer of discovery. Here are five strategies to make sure your brand shows up in AI‑generated answers.1. Write citation-ready content blocksYou want your content to be fact-dense and modular, meaning you’re prioritizing definitions and quick comparisons. Adding or converting to step-by-step guides and decision helpers gets your content noticed. You’re outlining how your audience can decide between their choices.2. Strengthen your entity signalsAI models need to understand who your brand is. Align your brand name consistently online by using similar descriptions and categories when highlighting products or services and founders. You can build an entity hub page with an about section disc

Hello Community! Welcome to the Business Discussion board. I know many of you here are small business owners, and as a small business owner you may not have a ton of hands on deck. In fact, it may only be you - the solopreneur. If that sounds like you, here are a few tips on how to grow your business on your own.Be super strategicThere's a reason behind every action you take.Use timersTime is money! You likely have a heavy work load. Use timers to work on a certain project for an allotted amount of time and then move on to the next thing. Repeat until complete.AutomateApply technology, apps, different platforms to automate business tasks to make your life easier.PrioritizePrioritize projects, financials, customers, and so on. Tackle what needs to be taken first and check it off your list.You may be feeling like you're spread pretty thin trying to take care of your business as a one man/woman show. I hope these pointers help alleviate some of that. What are some tips you'd offer to othe

Good afternoon, folks. I hope everyone is doing great. Today I'm stopping by to share a post from the QuickBooks Blog. This post shares info about NOPAT - what it is and how to calculate it. Let's dive in...   NOPATNOPAT stands for Net Operating Profit After Tax. This formula is used to measure a business’s theoretical income after all taxes, interest, and expenses have been withheld. It's an important figure to know because it shows how much a company could make if it didn’t have any debt, or unlevered free cash flow. Additionally, it is a great indicator of how well a company uses assets to generate profits for core operations.Operating ProfitOperating profit accounts for all gross profits earned through business operations before interest and taxes are deducted. Or to put it more simply, the amount left over after operating expenses get deducted from a business’s gross revenue.FormulasThere are two formulas to choose from when calculating NOPAT for your business. Your business

Greetings and salutations my friends. I hope this week has treated you well. Today I'd like to share an article from inc.com that discusses why businesses hit a "revenue ceiling" and what you should do if that happens. Let's find out...They Max Out Their Personal ReachWhat happens: The list of personal and professional contacts has come to an end. Customer acquisition takes a toll on their bank account because it's difficult to sell to someone you don't know.Why it happens: Often times, startups will lean solely on their own network instead of asking themselves a few make-or-break questions: Does this idea have legs and is the product any good? How much is the product worth? How should I market and sell it? Will customers adopt and use it? What to do: Remove sales data for people in your network and figure out why strangers are buying from you and build from that.They Exhaust Their Early AdoptersWhat happens: For every product that goes to market, a portion of that market w

Good afternoon! Welcome back to the Business Discussion board. Today we're facing a fear! Something that we do to ourselves that can limit growth, especially in a business ownership role. And that is limiting beliefs. Here's how to overcome them...     Change Your Relationship With FailureNot scoring the winning goal, not getting the promotion, going into debt, you get the idea of these few examples of what our structured ideas of failure looks like. Entrepreneurship forces you to re-arrange our relationship with failure. Rather than seeing it in the traditional sense, "failure" will look like: not being resourceful, being a poor leader, being too afraid to make mistakes, and not learning from those mistakes once they’re made. Remember, struggle is a necessary part of the process.Identity Your Largest Fear and Face ItSay your biggest fear is actually starting your business; what better way than to dive in head-first? Register your business name and tell 5 people close to you

Happy Friday! Before you leave the office today, I wanted to share an article with you from inc.com. This post offers simple phrases that can change how you do business for the better.We've all heard the saying, "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take." Although cliché, it's very true. The same can be said about asking for things that you need. You'll never get them if you don't ask.Three magic wordsThe writer explains a simple phrase they've learned to rely on in the business world - "Is it possible _____?" Fill in the blank for yourself and you may be pleasantly surprised at the answer you receive.Before you askAsking some pointed questions takes guts, there's not denying that. To be sure you have the best chance at a positive answer you need to nail down what your business needs. "Knowing your business strengths, priorities, and shortcomings is essential for pinpointing opportunities as they arise and making them a reality. All you need is the confidence to ask, "Is it possible?"

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen! I'm stopping by today to discuss one of my favorite topics for small business - social media. Here are a couple of pointers on what to post and the purpose behind it.  Reels are for - entertaining content; attracting new followers. Stories are for - building your community and making sales.Live videos are for - conversations and conversions.Posts are for - quotes, lists, and saveable/shareable content.These different types of ways to interact with your followers are available on many social media platforms as well; for example Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. When you truly utilize the power of social media, there is so much potential to be unlocked. What is your go to for interacting on socials? Which type of way to share seems to up your statistics? Let's chat about it in the comments.

I can imagine as a small business owner pricing can be difficult. Personally speaking, I have a little side hustle where I make and sell clay earrings. I do put a lot of time and effort into the pieces but potential customers are more concerned with the product itself. At the end of the day the goal is to sell. Here are a few pointers on how to take the emotion out of pricing.   Change your mindsetWhen pricing, don't come from a place of scarcity, come from a place of abundance.Work backwardsFigure how much you'd like to earn in a year and then work backwards.Take out emotionPretend your pricing items for a friend. It will feel less personal.Price the valueFocus on pricing the value of your product or service over the time taken.This may be a bit of a hot take on this topic. Should small businesses exclude emotion when it comes to pricing? Does it depend on the product or service? Let me know what you think!