Most of us have heard that in the workplace, women are paid less than men. But here’s a surprising corollary, courtesy of a recent study by Babson College: Female entrepreneurs actually pay themselves less than male entrepreneurs pay themselves.

Lately, I've seen a number of reports that seem to declare small-business lending has improved over the past year or so. From my perspective, the answer isn't always so clear. It's no secret that small businesses took a big hit during the recession, and that the path to recovery has been slow and arduous for most.

Getting and keeping customers is like any relationship. It takes courtship, commitment, and ongoing communication to keep the spark alive. Just like any relationship, your relationship with your customers has stages.

This is the story of how an entrepreneur used a shoe and a wine bottle to create one of the most successful videos in YouTube history and transform his small family-owned business.

The city that put the world on wheels also created the automated car wash industry 100 years ago. In 1914, Frank McCormick and J.W. Hinkle opened Automobile Laundry in Detroit, at 1221 Woodward near Gratiot. The Laundry was the first to bring Henry Ford’s moving assembly line technique to the car wash business. Car cleaning had largely been done individually before then.

Car Wash USA Express has opened its 13th Memphis area location and is planning to make a splash with its 14th that is currently being prepared. Car Wash USA is now renovating the 2.08-acre site and converting it into one of the company’s express exterior tunnels.

Ryan Easter, manager of Wiki Wiki Car Wash on Tyvola Road, said he has seen his business double since the snowstorm last week. He credited it to two factors: The salt on the road shows up as a "very noticeable" white residue on everyone’s cars, and people are aware of the damage salt can do to cars.

A closed-loop vehicle washing system designed for semi-permanent installations is being installed in the United States Embassy to Iraq in Baghdad. Launched by Riveer, a provider in engineered wash-water recovery systems, CamelRack filters and recycles wash-water for indefinite periods of time without intervention, separating dirt and oils, while freshening the water for reuse by injecting ozone.