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From chocolate to real estate, small businesses are trying to create inflation game plans

Apr 12, 2022
Raise prices? Order more inventory, or less? Business owners describe how they're dealing with dramatic changes in market conditions.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

How could additional capital for banks in communities of color help local businesses?

Apr 7, 2022
The Treasury Department provided $9 billion to lenders in underserved communities, allowing them to expand and support entrepreneurs.
Toriano Fredericks, owner of Boricua Soul in Durham, North Carolina. It was difficult, but his restaurant was able to survive the pandemic and remain open.
Leoneda Inge/WUNC

Small businesses that provide services face a pricing dilemma

Mar 31, 2022
Customers are coming back to businesses like restaurants and day spas, but with costs going up, how much should businesses charge?
Restaurants, spas and other service businesses are adjusting their prices to cope with supply chain issues and inflation.
Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images

Muslim entrepreneur brings modest fashion to her Maine community

Mar 8, 2022
Israa Enan started her own clothing boutique to sell hijabs to meet the needs of a new generation of Muslim consumers.
In her hometown of Biddeford, Maine, Israa Enan holds up a hijab from her new clothing line, Muharah Collection.
Ari Snider

Paid family leave gaining traction, including among small businesses

Mar 3, 2022
Opposition to paid leave has often been rooted in the challenge it poses to businesses. That calculus is changing.
A child runs past signs at a paid leave rally in Brooklyn. A growing number of businesses have shown support for paid family leave during the pandemic.
Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for NYC for Paid Leave

Russian businesses in the U.S. face a tough road as the war escalates

Mar 3, 2022
"Because there’s Russian in the name, they think they’re supporting an evil, when we’re not," said one restaurant owner.
People walk by a Russian restaurant in Brooklyn. Russian restaurants in the U.S. have faced poor reviews and canceled reservations following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

For this flower company CEO, it’s not just about growth

Feb 23, 2022
After laying off more than 200 people, Christina Stembel hopes to cultivate a healthy company — not just a growing one.
Christina Stembel, CEO of the direct-to-consumer company Farmgirl Flowers, said inflation and Apple’s new privacy policy are forcing her to pass higher costs on to customers.
Courtesy Farmgirl Flowers/Anna-Alexia Basille

For public good, not for profit.

What did – and didn’t – the Paycheck Protection Program do for small businesses?

A recent working paper took a deep dive into where PPP funds ended up. Marketplace’s senior economics contributor Chris Farrell argues the results highlight a much bigger challenge for policymakers.
President Joe Biden (L) visits W.S. Jenks & Son, a hardware store that has benefited from a Paycheck Protection Program loan, in Washington, DC, on March 9, 2021.
Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images

For small businesses, this fourth COVID wave feels different

Jan 24, 2022
For one thing, more people are sick. For another, government aid has dried up.
As omicron forces many workers to stay home, small business owners are grappling with how to stay open without federal aid.
Maja Hitii/Getty Images

Outsider trading: A year after Brexit, how 5 small UK companies have fared

Jan 5, 2022
Small British exporters reflect on their first full year of doing business as non-EU members. How do they feel about Brexit now?
Scarves depict the British and European Union flags. Exporters in different industries have had varied experiences with the new conditions of cross-border trade.
John Thys/AFP via Getty Images