The Atlanta Business League fosters the growth, creation and development of successful business enterprises owned, operated and managed by African-Americans in metropolitan Atlanta.

Becoming an entrepreneur is not for everyone. In business, there are no guarantees. There is simply no way to eliminate all of the risks. It takes a special person with a strong commitment and specific skills to be successful as an entrepreneur. Are you ready to start your own business? Use the Readiness Assessment Guide to better understand how prepared you are.

That’s right – there are only two reasons success is out of reach. One is easy to fix. The other, not so much.

Creating a business model isn’t simply about completing your business plan or determining which products to pursue. It’s about mapping out how you will create ongoing value for your customers.

Are you thinking about starting a business of your own? Find information you need to succeed.

Invest Atlanta provides gap financing through various loan programs to small, minority and female-owned businesses to expand and/or relocate in the city of Atlanta. The purpose of these loans is to revitalize targeted commercial neighborhood areas, promote business development projects and stimulate job creation within the city.

Regions’ small business loans and line of credit products are tailored to your unique business need, such as:

• modernize, renovate and improve existing buildings
• purchase machinery, equipment or vehicles
• refinance existing debt
• fund working capital
• fund crop production
• finance new building construction

The cost of an employee is more than their salary. Hiring an employee often involves paying a portion of their social security, Medicare and unemployment taxes.

While every company says they want to improve their customer service experience, many businesses still fall short of customer expectations.

Customer experience is quickly overtaking price and product as the key brand differentiator. Make sure you’re not sabotaging customer experience.

Encourage customers to discover your brand, consider your offerings, and take action. Learn how Google’s solutions can help you connect with your customers.

Small businesses are finding success using social media to build and strengthen relationships with their customers. Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter are even catching up with email as an outreach tactic, according to a recent survey by customer communications provider Pitney Bowes and reported by eMarketer™.