Ascentium Capital Blog

For small to medium sized businesses, keeping your fingers on the pulse of the business is vitally important. This is especially true in this age of social networking where recommendations or negative comments can spread virally. The secret is in understanding customer sentiment and working toward continual customer satisfaction improvement. A customer survey is an effective way to get feedback that you can analyze and use to improve the customer experience. (Read More...)

In today’s high-tech world, small to medium size businesses (SMBs) are often facing the same challenges and opportunities as large enterprise-level companies, but without the same budget. So how do SMBs stay competitive in this environment? One of the major advancements that levels the playing field has been the rise of cloud computing and how it has facilitated the adoption of new technologies. (Read More...)

The hotel industry has been transforming, through tremendous in-room and on-property technology upgrades, to keep up with today's tech savvy consumer's requirements and expectations. That simple hotel room of our collective past with a television, phone, alarm clock and mini-fridge is becoming far more sophisticated and now kids might not rate the hotel on its pool, but rather the download speeds of the Wi-Fi. (Read More...)

When you are busy building a small to medium sized business (SMB), it's sometimes hard to see the forest through the trees. Your life can become a 24/7 never-ending cycle of work, billing, marketing, strategizing, and more work. Every now and then an idea or opportunity comes along and you need to take a look at your bank account and make a decision: Can or should I invest in this? How can I make it work? Should I just wait? Or can I take out a small business loan to accelerate my business? (Read More...)

What would you think of a 14-hour light bulb? Probably not much, but that was the length of time Thomas Edison's bulb lasted – which in 1879 equaled the duration of burning 30 candles. Today, lights are something you might not think much about – you flip on the lights when opening your business, and the last one out shuts them off. Some office buildings even leave "night lights" on; a certain level of lighting that is less than during work hours but doesn't plunge your business into total darkness. But did you know that energy used by lights alone can be 20-50% of your electric bill? Upgrading your business to light emitting diode (LED) lights can be a powerful savings tool that you shouldn't over look. (Read More...)

Is direct mail part of your annual marketing mix? If you answered no, you may want to reconsider. With so much in the media about social marketing campaigns, mobile coupons, and opt-in for multichannel marketing efforts, you may think direct mail marketing campaigns are disappearing like the dinosaurs. You would, however, be mistaken. Direct mail has adapted to the changes in technology and can give small to medium-sized business (SMB) marketers a cost-effective way to stay in front of prospects and clients while delivering measurable ROI. (Read More...)

If you know anyone who has been exposed to identity theft, you know how it can turn their world upside down. We rely so much on our identities to conduct business, make payments, apply for a job and a whole host of other every day activities. We cannot operate when our personal identity has been stolen. (Read More...)

Kris Zachary of Burns Towing shares her insightful examination of why working with a lender like Ascentium Capital has paid off for her and Burns Towing – and allowed her team to continue building on their customer loyalty by delivering great customer experiences. (Read More...)