MORE STORIES

• 10 things investors should know about buying a franchise

  The International Franchise Association says that investing in a franchise is a major undertaking -- one that involves not only money but possible lifestyle changes. Want to avoid the sleepless nights? Here are key items you need to consider before you buy a franchised business.
• 

  WORKPLACE

  Finding the perfect space for your business

  When first starting a small business, it may be imperative to set up shop from your living room. In time, however, most businesses will benefit from some added living space.
• 

  FOCUS ON SMALL BUSINESS

  Helping your small business grow

  There are many ways for a small business to expand. We explore four: Reaching out to the global marketplace, making the leap from a home office to more professional digs, franchising your business and becoming a franchisee.

• Editor's Note

  When it comes to small business -- the mainstay of our local economy -- we'd like to see the garden grow. But we know it requires a little nurturing, and that's why we've continued to expand our small business coverage.

• WORKPLACE

  Five reasons to graduate from a home office

  At some point, as a home business grows, so does the need for more employees and desks. When you outgrow your space, it's time to move out.

• Focus on Small Business

• ENTREPRENEURSHIP

  Miami-Dade students honored in business plan contest

  Eric Mund, a sophomore at John A. Ferguson Senior High, won first place in thefirst annual South Florida Youth Business Plan Competition held last week.

• PROCUREMENT

  200 small businesses attend summit

  Almost 200 small businesses rubbed elbows with 18 government agencies and private procurement officers last week at the second-annual Small Business Summit, sponsored by the Small Business Administration and the Veterans Administration.

• HURRICANE PREP

  Write your way to storm relief

  Small businesses in Miami-Dade and Broward counties have until June 23 to try to persuade Office Depot to give their establishments a hurricane makeover.

• Company markets its satellite dish covers

  When Tony Bello and Joseph Reid started marketing Dish Rags -- cloth covers that fit over 18-inch satellite TV dishes -- they were focused on tackling college football fans.

• Lack of hurricanes hurts generator business

  When Gary Urban started offering his no-hassle generator installation service last spring, Florida was all ears.

• Résumé certification site seeks revenue streams

  Anywhere from one quarter to one half of all résumés contain inaccuracies and outright lies, according to recent studies. What that means for a massive job site like Monster.com is that it is potentially sitting on millions of résumés that are more padded than a prom date.

• So you didn't win our contest, but your business succeeded anyway?

  Did you toil away for days trying to craft the perfect business plan to win this competition only to be completely ignored? Then you're in good company. Over the past nine years more than 1,000 people have competed in the Business Plan Challenge, but most never make it to the finals. Here's your chance to show us how myopic we were. If you competed in the past but didn't win and your idea turned into a successful business, we want to hear from you. Send us an e-mail (put "revenge" in subject line), letting us know the name of your company, what year you competed and what you are doing now: jwyss@MiamiHerald.com Illustration:

• Website business serves boomers abroad

  When the three cousins behind the Web portal Boomerscape.com conjured up the idea, their focus was on the growing wave of baby boomers planning to retire abroad in hot spots such as Belize, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic -- where beaches and pension checks stretch further.

• We're here to serve all you dreamers

  I can imagine few leaps of faith bigger than those attempted by the dreamers with a Big Idea for a business. To believe that people will want to pay for a product you've come up with, to max out the credit cards and mortgage the home to put it all on the line for that vision takes a heck of a lot of nerve.

• Nurturing Nicaragua

  A new, socially responsible form of microinvesting is being tested in Nicaragua.

• The Game Guy

  Eric Poses's company, All Things Equal, recently launched a board game called The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest. While the likes of PlayStation 3 and Tickle Me Elmo X-treme hog headlines and spark riots, Poses is hoping his brand of low-key, creative fun (no batteries required) will help his company claim a bigger chunk of the $22 billion toy market.

• Must I go to work?

  Each hurricane season workers have to juggle their jobs with preparing for a storm. But many have three big questions about work: Do I have to go? Will I be paid? What do I do with my kids? The Miami Herald spoke to a few local labor lawyers to get their input.

• Surveying the situation

  Businesses are finally starting to think more highly of Miami-Dade's K-12 educational system, saying local schools are no longer such a negative factor when recruiting new workers or companies to the area. The bad news: Rising insurance costs and worries about hurricanes are seen as not only increasingly important but also as factors that make doing business here much more difficult, according to an annual survey of local companies by the Beacon Council, Miami-Dade County's public/private economic development agency.

Previous