• Guest List -- Sunday, December 20

    2009 Wrap-up

    As 2009 comes to a close, we'll take a look back at what was a very difficult year for small business owners all over the country. The credit crisis made it difficult to secure a loan. Unemployment continued to rise. The new administration made fixing the economy a top priority, and President Obama pledged his support for small businesses by guaranteeing a higher percentage of SBA backed loans and urging Congress to increase the size of the loans. We'll also see how some entrepreneurs were forced to drastically alter their business models in order to survive in these difficult economic times.

    2010 Forecast

    Ken Yancey, CEO of SCORE, and William Dunkelberg, Chief Economist for the National Federation of Independent Business, discuss the economic outlook for 2010 and discuss the challenges small business owners will face in the new year. 

    Panelists

    --Rod Kurtz, Senior Editor for Inc. Magazine

    --Phil Town, investment advisor and author of "Rule #1: The Simple Strategy for Successful Investing in Only 15 Minutes a Week!"

    Learning from the Pros

    Over the past year, we've sat down with a number of CEO's to find out how they've guided their businesses to such great success. This week, we'll take a look back at some of their most interesting pieces of advice. We'll hear from Stew Leonard Jr., CEO of Stew Leonard's, Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, restaurateur Bobby Flay, iRobot CEO Colin Angle, Jake Burton, CEO of Burton Snowboards, Maxine Clark, CEO of Build-A-Bear, and Dylan Lauren, CEO of Dylan's Candy Bar.

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  • Guest List -- Sunday, December 13

    Despite the economic downturn, William Panzica's Buffalo, New York based restaurant The Chocolate Bar is thriving. In fact, the unique chocolate-themed restaurant is doing so well that Panzica is now franchising the business. We'll meet Joe Novak and his wife Tammy Gunya-Novak, Panzica's first franchisees, and find out how franchising has worked out for them in these difficult economic times.

    Panelists

    --Dave Anderson, President of Anderson's Learn To Lead and LearnToLead.com, an international sales and leadership training and consulting company

    --Jeffrey A. Carr, Executive Director of The NYU Stern Berkley Center for Entrepreneurial Studies

    --Matthew R. Shay, President of the International Franchise Association

    Dollars & Sense: Holiday Gifts

    The holidays are almost here, so what are you getting for your-hardworking staffers? Jaclyn Adler of RedEnvelope will show us some cool gifts to give to your staff.

    Elevator Pitch

    Lauren Bolin and Adam Sahaar pitch their company Urban Pirates, which provides adventure cruises around Baltimore's Inner Harbor in a 52-foot custom pirate ship. They are looking for capital to build their brand and expand into new cities.

  • Website of the week for the week of December 7

    Go4Funding.com connects entrepreneurs with potential investors. Registered users can create a profile, post information about their business, and describe how much funding they are looking for. Potential investors can then contact you if they are interested in your business.