IRS Launches Online Tax Forum, Offering New Seminars and CE Credits | Small Biz Trends

November 6, 2026November 5, 2026 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

In the fast-paced world of small business, staying updated on the latest tax regulations and practices can feel like an overwhelming task. Fortunately, the IRS has rolled out an online resource designed to empower tax professionals with the knowledge they need, while also offering benefits tailored specifically to small business owners. The 2026 IRS Nationwide Tax Forum Online, unveiled by the Internal Revenue Service, provides access to a plethora of seminars aimed at enhancing proficiency in current tax laws, IRS procedures, and essential topics critical for the upcoming tax season.

Frank J. Bisignano, IRS Chief Executive Officer, emphasized the importance of tax professionals in bridging the gap between the IRS and taxpayers. “Tax professionals play a key role in the nation’s tax system by providing an important link between the Service and the taxpaying public, helping them understand their tax obligations,” he stated. This new initiative caters to those professionals by providing updated information crucial for effective tax planning and compliance.

Canva Announces Major Restructuring, Impacting Over 1,200 Employees | Small Biz Trends

November 6, 2026November 5, 2026 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

In a move that has significant implications for small businesses globally, Canva, the popular graphic design platform, announced substantial organizational changes that will see over 22% of its workforce, or 1,271 employees, impacted. As the company aims to adapt to shifting market dynamics and technological advancements, it’s essential for small business owners to understand how these changes could influence their operations and potential shifts in collaboration with Canva.

Canva’s decision is a reflection of broader challenges in the tech landscape. “Success in our first chapter doesn’t guarantee success in the next,” said Canva’s CEO Mel Perkins, emphasizing the need for adaptation amidst slower growth. This transition signals an effort to streamline operations for improved efficiency and creativity, which small business owners may find relevant as they navigate their own challenges in a competitive market.

Tips for More Productive Meetings | Business

November 5, 2026November 4, 2026 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Meetings take up a lot of time and contribute to the expanding workday. Learn how to make them more productive.

As a company grows, it’s common for the number of weekly meetings to increase. This may be done with the best of intentions because there are more employees, and company leaders want to ensure everyone is on the same page. There are team meetings to keep individual projects on track and company-wide meetings to communicate the bigger picture for the business. But when an employee’s workday is constantly broken up by meetings, it’s hard to get much else accomplished.

Constant meetings are a drain on company resources because they hurt workplace productivity. Fortunately, if you must attend a lot of meetings, there are ways you can make the most of that time.

Starting a Business: Everything to Do Before Opening | Business

November 5, 2026November 4, 2026 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

1. Develop a business idea.

Every successful business starts with an idea. Whether you have a clear vision or you’re still in the brainstorming phase, shaping that initial concept into something workable is an essential first step.

“Before diving into logistics, ensure your business idea solves a real problem or fulfills a market need,” advised Grzegorz Kowalski, founder and CEO of Tripoffice.com.

Kowalski advises getting feedback early from your intended target audience. Informal conversations, quick polls, or a small focus group can help you spot weak points and refine your idea before you invest too much time or money.

Spending time or money upfront can feel risky when you’re still testing an idea, but it’s often better to uncover potential issues early. “This will lay the foundation for every other step,” Kowalski said.

Xbox Cloud Gaming could soon let players use their smartphones as controllers on TVs | Digital Trends

November 4, 2026 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Xbox Cloud Gaming already lets you play console games on a compatible smart TV without owning an Xbox. But there’s still one piece of hardware you need to get started. A controller. Microsoft is now testing a way to get around that requirement, allowing players to use their Android phone or iPhone as a virtual gamepad. The game runs on the television, while your phone takes care of the controls.

The feature is part of two new Xbox Cloud Gaming previews, and there’s an interesting difference compared to what Sony offers with its PS5.

How does the phone controller work?

According to Xbox, the virtual gamepad works directly through your phone’s browser. There is no need to install a separate app, and some games will even get their own customized touch controls.

Motorola could be reviving the Moto One series with some serious hardware | Digital Trends

November 4, 2026 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Motorola has some rather ambitious hardware lined up with its upcoming Signature 27 flagship. A 12,000-nit Tandem OLED display, a 200-megapixel periscope camera, and plenty of other flagship-grade hardware. But it appears the company is also preparing another phone, and this one carries a name that hasn’t been seen in years.

A handset simply called the Moto One has surfaced in certification and benchmark databases. Going by the leaked details, Motorola could be giving its long-forgotten smartphone lineup a second shot, and the hardware is certainly looking promising.

B2B Growth Scorecard: Connecting Marketing Signals to Pipeline, Revenue, and Board Decisions | The Startup Magazine

November 3, 2026November 2, 2026 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Large B2B companies cannot manage growth through activity metrics alone. Impressions, clicks, downloads, and form submissions can indicate attention, but they do not explain whether marketing is helping create qualified opportunities, advance deals, or improve revenue quality. A scorecard should give leaders a shared view of how market activity turns into commercial progress.

That requires both connected execution and connected measurement. Because marketing strategy, analytics, content, campaigns, and digital marketing services should work as coordinated parts of one system, the path from audience awareness to pipeline qualification becomes visible and manageable. The most effective B2B growth scorecards reflect this integration. They measure not just what marketing does in isolation, but how marketing works with sales and revenue operations to move opportunities forward.

B2B measurement is difficult because buying decisions often involve multiple stakeholders, long evaluation periods, sales conversations, partners, and research that never appears in a tracking platform. The answer is not to abandon measurement. It is to build a reporting system that acknowledges those limits while still helping leaders make better decisions.

Good Agreements Describe Responsibilities Clearly | The Startup Magazine

November 3, 2026November 2, 2026 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Good agreements do more than list promises. They assign work, timing, authority, and consequences in a way that reduces guesswork later. That matters in the agreement drafting process, because many disputes are not really about bad intent. They start when two people think they agreed to the same outcome but never defined who was supposed to do what, when, and how clearly enough.

This is why responsibility language is often more important than price language. People tend to focus on dollars first because money feels concrete. But the real pressure points usually show up in the ordinary mechanics of performance. Who sends the draft? Who approves changes? Who pays a fee if a deadline slips? Who keeps records? Who gives notice, and how? Even a personal budgeting conversation can benefit from this mindset. A household trying to improve its financial health score is usually more successful when each person owns a specific task instead of vaguely agreeing to do better with money.

US midterms campaign set to be the most expensive ever recorded | BBC News

November 2, 2026November 2, 2026 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

The US midterms campaign is set to be the most expensive on record – with the total cost projected to reach nearly $12bn (£9bn), according to Open Secrets, an independent organisation that tracks campaign finance.

Most of the spending is driven by outside political groups – known as Super Political Action Committees (Super PACs) – pouring large sums of money into some key races ahead of election day on 3 November.

The top individual donor is billionaire businessman Elon Musk, who has spent almost half a billion dollars backing Republican candidates, particularly in Texas, where many of his companies are based.

BBC Verify has looked into the figures and where the money was spent.