Inc. staff


How to Buy Radio Advertising on a Budget

Video may have killed the radio star, as the old pop song goes, but advertising on the AM and FM airwaves could be an affordable savior for small businesses.  Read story

5 Ways to Improve Quality

Whether you sell a product or a service, these five steps will help you ensure that you are constantly improving the way you do business--to the delight of y...  Read story

How to Deliver Great Customer Service

Follow these 10 tips, and your customers will be very, very happy.  Read story

Serial Entrepreneurs Share Their Words of Wisdom

We asked the serial entrepreneurs on our list to name the most important thing they had learned as entrepreneurs. Here are our favorites.  Read story

Reflections on a Wild Year in Business

Piloting a fast-growth business is never boring. But last year appears to have been particularly action packed. Thirteen entrepreneurs share their memories.  Read story

The High Fives: The Top 5 Minority- and Woman-Run Companies

A look at some of the most interesting people and places on the Inc. 500  Read story

America's Fastest-Growing Marketing Firm

WDFA Marketing, under the leadership of CEO Raj Prasad, has grown over 13,969 percent in just three years.  Read story

America's Fastest-Growing Call Center

Portland, Maine–based Listen Up Español, a call center for Spanish-speaking customers, is cashing in on the Latin population boom.  Read story

America's Fastest-Growing Computer Hardware Company

Maxlinear CEO Kishore Seendripu took bootstrapping to the next level by recruiting seven founders to work for free.  Read story

America's Fastest-Growing Construction Company

Direct Exteriors president Mike McAlpin devised an algorithm for where disasters will strike so he can be there to clean up the mess.  Read story

America's Fastest-Growing Consumer Products Company

With 8,094 percent growth in three years, the sudden success of wickless-candle company Scentsy saved its founders from bankruptcy.  Read story

America's Fastest-Growing Education Company

FortuneBuilders CEO Than Merrill shares his trade secrets in the A&E series Flip This House, on which he restores distressed properties.  Read story

America's Fastest-Growing Engineering Company

Appareo Systems grew 1,752 percent over three years designing and building electronic devices for the aviation industry.  Read story

America's Fastest-Growing Environmental Services Company

CleanScapes president Chris Martin took cleaning up the streets of Seattle very seriously, eventually landing a $36 million deal with the city.  Read story

America's Fastest-Growing Debt Collector

What recession? Debt Free Associates, which grew over 12,376 percent in three years, is one of a few companies that look forward to a downturn.  Read story

America's Fastest-Growing Food Company

Signature Foods carved out a niche by packaging frozen food for small, third-party manufacturers, earning $28 million in revenue in 2009.  Read story

America's Fastest-Growing Government Contractor

Growing 16,636 percent in three years, Luke & Associates staffs Army- and Air Force–base hospitals and clinics with doctors and nurses.  Read story

America's Fastest-Growing Health Company

With $8.7 million in revenue in 2009 and 9,307 percent three-year growth, Physicians’ Pharmaceutical helps doctors set up in-house pharmacies.  Read story

America's Fastest-Growing Human Resources Company

As CEO of Pursuit of Excellence, Marie Diaz coaches clients on leadership and organizational development.  Read story

America's Fastest Growing-Insurance Company

QuoteWizard, which grew 5,951 percent over three years, allows customers to shop around for insurance coverage.  Read story

America's Fastest-Growing IT Services Company

By selling unlimited online backup space for personal computers, Carbonite grew 11,208 percent in three years, earning $19.1 million in revenue.  Read story

America's Fastest-Growing Logistics Company

Coyote Logistics CEO Jeffrey Silver implemented backhauling to make his trucking company more efficient and productive.  Read story

America's Fastest-Growing Manufacturing Company

A devastating fire was hardly a setback for Intergroup International CEO Neil Gloger, whose company grew 1,285 percent in three years.  Read story

America's Fastest-Growing Media Company

Blurb CEO Eileen Gittins started her own publishing company, giving individuals the power to self-publish books.  Read story

America's Fastest-Growing Real Estate Company

Bootstrapping CEO Scott DeNeve survived when the housing bubble burst by cramming into a small office and keeping debts to zero.  Read story

America's Fastest-Growing Retailer

ModCloth, run by a husband-and-wife team, is a website that sells vintage clothing and drew in $15.6 million in 2009.  Read story

America's Fastest-Growing Security Company

LifeLock CEO Todd Davis gave out his Social Security number to demonstrate his confidence in his identity theft prevention company.  Read story

America's Fastest-Growing Software Company

Serial entrepreneur Andy Monin created Vendormate software to help health care facilities manage vendors; the company earned $10.7 million in 2009.  Read story

America's Fastest-Growing Telecom Company

Founder Ken Hood created ClearAccess to assist broadband service providers with managing customers and devices; the company grew 3,460 percent in the process.  Read story

America's Fastest-Growing Travel Company

Growing 1,055 percent in three years and earning $3.7 million in 2009, SaveOnResorts.com helps resorts sell time-shares for discounted rates.  Read story

How We Chose the 2010 Inc. 500|5000

The criteria and ranking method for this year’s list.  Read story

Reader Mail: September 2010

Stealing Tony Hsieh’s recipe for success.  Read story

How They Stack Up

Check out the hottest industries on the Inc. 500.  Read story

How to Get Customer Referrals

Word of mouth is a powerful tool for building your business -- and the right words are key to obtaining it.  Read story

How to Network to Increase Sales

Just as too many cooks can spoil the stew, too many contacts can spoil the schmoozing.  Read story

What You Can Learn from Joan Rivers

The recent documentary, A Piece of Work, about Joan River's life exposes her entrepreneurial spirit.  Read story

6 Tools for Monitoring Your Reputation

Services like Trackur, Viralheat, and Radian6 keep companies abreast of customer complaints.  Read story

10 Things to Do Before You Start Your Start-up

Is your great idea really good enough? Find out before you launch a company.  Read story

7 Ways to Socialize With Your Employees (and Not Get in Trouble)

Whether you need to foster teamwork, get a major project underway, or just show your team a fun time, there's a wholesome - but not utterly nerdy - way.  Read story

10 Ways to Support Your Best Customers

Every company is in the service industry, right? Expert pointers for how to best perform for your best accounts.  Read story