This week’s employee spotlight is on Nick Johnson. Nick is the user experience lead on our design team.  Ever wondered who designed our site? Well, that’s Nick and his team! They’ve designed everything from our website to our banner ads and even the user interface you all log into every day. Nick helps ensure that everything they create is easy to use, intuitive and of course nice to look at.

When you get sick, you go to a doctor. But when you get sick of how much it costs you to go to a doctor, where do you go?

There’s no doubt that affordable health care continues to be one of the major political and economic issues in this country for families and small businesses alike. Major changes are already afoot since the Affordable Care Act was signed in March of 2010, and after the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold this act last month, even bigger changes are set to take effect in 2014.

The changes and complexities can feel onerous and incredibly overwhelming, especially for some small businesses. However, they’re certainly worth looking into if you hope to get good coverage at an affordable price (and even save some!) for your employees.

On Saturday, August 18th from 2 AM to 6 AM EST we will be performing maintenance on our systems.  This maintenance will help ensure the continued reliability of our service and better prepare us for future growth.  As a customer, you can feel secure that we’re committed for the long-term and are doing everything we can to safeguard your business.

What does this mean for you?

During this maintenance window we will go into Update Mode. All of your calls and voicemails will be forwarded to the backup phone number and email address listed in your Update Mode settings.

Today, many freelancers, entrepreneurs, and start-up companies are building their businesses from their “home offices” — also known as their basement, kitchen table or garage.  However, being a small company doesn’t mean you have to stay cooped up in your home (or even the local coffee shop) until you can afford to pay office rent. Coworking spaces are a relatively new and innovative solution for those who want a professional workspace, without the high price tag.

Not familiar with coworking spaces? No worries. Smart furniture solutions company, Turnstone (a division of Steelcase), has been studying the coworking movement for a few years and put together a pretty sweet highlight video.

We spoke with coworking space owners all over the country to better understand how coworking benefits the up-and-coming entrepreneur.  It turns out coworking spaces do a lot more for you than keep your rent cheap while providing you with a professional appearance.

Profits happen when your income exceeds the cost of doing business, and profits suffer when those costs bloat into an unmanageable “monthly nut.” Though large cost-cutting projects can make dramatic changes, one of the best ways to increase small-business profits is to look at your variable expenses: cleaning supplies, electricity, gasoline…and your phone bill.

You can’t do business without a phone, but you might be surprised how inexpensive you can make the service.