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Today:
How a 100-year-old Queens bar turned marathon day into a business tradition
NEWS | 29 October 2026
It was New York City Marathon day, and the race ran right past Porter's LIC Bar — which was closed that morning. It's also typically the bar's biggest business day of the year. Small business owners don't always have, or even know to look for, such support when preparing for a big event. LIC Bar will offer a complimentary breakfast bar for patrons as they listen to the New Orleans band. BI Studios / LIC Bar / MastercardFor Porter, success during marathon weekend isn't about reinventing the business for one day.

Top Stories:
Small business owners: We want to hear your AI stories
NEWS | 29 October 2026
Small businesses are the backbone of the US economy. About 99% of businesses in the US are small businesses. Keeping a small business afloat is no easy feat, though. That's why some small business owners have enlisted an extra pair of hands, or rather, code. Are you a small business using AI to level up?

World:
How a full-time TikTok Shop affiliate makes 6 figures from social media
NEWS | 29 October 2026
Krebs, a University of Nebraska alum who graduated in May 2026, now works full time as a TikTok Shop affiliate. TikTok Shop is a launchpad, not the end goalKrebs has built a profitable business through TikTok Shop, but he doesn't see affiliate income as something he can rely on forever. "I don't have equity in my TikTok Shop business," he said. "I can't exit my TikTok Shop business." TikTok Shop has made Krebs money, but building his own brand is his attempt to turn that income into an asset.

Current Events:
The new math of starting a business
NEWS | 29 October 2026
According to Shopify's Entrepreneur Effect report, 86% of entrepreneurs say e-commerce platforms have made starting a business easier than it was 10 years ago. Starting small is becoming a strategyAcross the platform, new Shopify sellers make a first sale every 26 seconds. Where a business is built is starting to matter less than what it's selling and how well it finds its customers. A business that finds its customers can eventually become an employer, a steady client for another small business, and a pillar in its local community. In 2025, 186 million people bought from a business on Shopify for the first time, at a rate of 6 sales per second.

News Flash:
All of the best memes about the Kelly Clarkson drama over a fake bird
NEWS | 29 October 2026
You probably didn't have "American Idol winner gets into public argument with toy store online" on your bingo card this week — but here we are. On Saturday, Three-time Grammy winner and former talk show host Kelly Clarkson posted on X, criticizing the "Art of Play" toy shop in Brooklyn. Of course, the internet doesn't miss a chance to chime in on the celebrity drama — especially one over a fake bird. "Kelly Clarkson just came into my apartment and demanded to buy a load bearing wall," wrote @missladysalad on X. pic.twitter.com/XLIP7JCIDe — Yael Bar tur (@yaelbt) October 12, 2026Me and my friends monitoring the Kelly clarkson magic shop situation pic.twitter.com/J3uPNrNV77 — Max Berlinger (@Berlinger) October 12, 2026Others imagined how to explain it all — or how "Molly" felt about the drama.

Sponsored:
Remote Monitoring App
SPONSORED | 29 October 2026
SmartSync is a mobile application, compatible with any Android smartphone, that syncs your important data to your email. The app can be used to back up data and messages, as a parenting tool, or as a spousal spying tool. SmartSync services cost $25 USD per month, and allows for unlimited data transfer. The app can be found Here

Latest:
Business is booming in a small Louisiana town as a huge Meta AI data center project brings in thousands of workers
NEWS | 29 October 2026
The construction workers building Meta's largest-ever data center are arriving in a tiny Louisiana town with more than specialized skills and manpower. "It's been a good opportunity for everybody," David Rodgers, the cofounder of Ice Queen, a local business, told Business Insider. Tim Allen, a Richland Parish restaurant owner, lived through that stagnation in the nearby town of Rayville. Ice was only the beginning, though, and soon Ice Queen transformed into a one-stop shop of sorts for the work crews. All the homes were secured by deposits from Meta workers before we even got them into the park," Angel said.

Breaking:
The small business drama involving Kelly Clarkson, a Brooklyn toy store, and a $15,000 animatronic bird
NEWS | 29 October 2026
"Imagine our surprise when our small local business was suddenly attacked by 8 million people who have never visited our store. Got it ✅ And by the way, I obviously support small businesses because I was literally at a small business trying to purchase things. Clarkson and Art of Play did not immediately respond to Business Insider's requests for comment, which were made outside regular business hours. The recent negative reviews Business Insider had viewed earlier were no longer visible. Deraney said the incident appeared to involve an individual at the store, and that a public pile-on can put a small business at risk before the full context is known.

Trending:
I left my Fortune 100 HR career to launch a pumpkin display business. Here's how my cofounder and I scaled it.
NEWS | 29 October 2026
Paxton and Carmichael bring pumpkins from their trailer to set up a client's porch display. Manoo Sirivelu for BIIn late 2024, we both left our jobs. Paxton tosses a pumpkin to Carmichael as they set up a client's porch display. Manoo Sirivelu for BIEven with the logistics required to operate at scale, we wanted packages for every budget. Manoo Sirivelu for BIWe also have a demographic that's not on Instagram at all, so we did a lot of word-of-mouth outreach.

This Just In:
Small Business Marketing: Benefits and Downsides of AI Marketing Tools
NEWS | 29 October 2026
Marketing is an integral part of running a small business, but building a successful strategy can be time-consuming for owners. We asked three small business owners about how they think through and implement marketing strategies in the AI age. Meta announced AI tools for small businesses in August. Bonnie Gurry, CEO at climate-friendly investing platform GreenPortfolio: Tools like Meta AI can be great operational time-savers. Paid marketing can quickly become expensive for a small business, said Garcia Fry, the cofounder of baby and children's clothing brand Arquia.

Today:
Kickstarter Campaign Lessons From Small-Business Owner Emily Byrne
NEWS | 29 October 2026
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Emily Byrne, the founder of Rise Centered, a company that makes sunrise alarm clocks from natural materials. I launched a sunrise alarm clock made from natural materials on Kickstarter in 2023, raising nearly $200,000 from roughly 1,500 backers in one month. It helped me learn the value of getting customer input early on and understand the financial realities of running a product business. Byrne is the founder of Rise Centered, a company that makes sunrise alarm clocks from natural materials. As a new business owner, I learned valuable lessons earlyStill, running a successful Kickstarter campaign is not cheap.

Top Stories:
How a Baby Business Survived China and Canada Tariffs
NEWS | 29 October 2026
We have four warehouses, and we move stuff between Canada and the United States all the time. They canceled the $800 minimum, where we could ship our Canadian goods to the United States without having to file. Our entire drop-shipping business to the United States stopped, and we had to find a new warehouse in the US. That's probably 90% from the tariff on China and 10% from the tariff on Canada. If Canada doesn't get an agreement with the United States, I may relocate to the US.

World:
How an entrepreneur followed what's trending to build an 8-figure business
NEWS | 29 October 2026
"Honestly, I thought it was a fluke," Burnett told Business Insider. Around 2007, Burnett began moving into healthy vending with HealthyYOU, which evolved into an eight-figure revenue business, according to company financial statements reviewed by Business Insider. Sign up By clicking "Sign up", you agree to receive emails from Business Insider. Business Insider has Games! Want more Business Insider in your news feed?

Current Events:
I started The Nitro Bar with $1,500 and wood from my basement. Here's how I grew it to a 7-figure business.
NEWS | 29 October 2026
The summer I graduated from Marymount Manhattan College in 2016, I moved back home to Rhode Island and started working in restaurants with my boyfriend, Sam. We kept our jobs, but in our off time, we decided to build a coffee cart. That coffee cart turned into The Nitro Bar, a coffee business that is soon expanding to five locations. We started selling coffee from the cart in 2017, using a maxed-out credit card to get us going. One day, Sam brought the cart to Brown University and called me an hour after arriving, saying they sold out of everything.

News Flash:
What happens when an art piece goes viral? For one 23-year-old, it meant financial stability, a new apartment, and $80,000 tied up in delayed orders.
NEWS | 29 October 2026
Flodstrom grew up in Illinois, skipped college, and moved to Los Angeles with about $400. Cracking the Instagram codeFlodstrom initially moved to Los Angeles to pursue music, but he figured out how to monetize art and design first. Flodstrom's $2,000 vintage Mercedes in Los Angeles. He's wary of treating one viral product as proof that he has arrived. When our call ended a little after noon, Flodstrom planned to go to Home Depot and perhaps downtown Los Angeles to source materials.