July 2008 - Posts
Should small business owners care what the Supreme Court does?
Yep.
Supposedly, 40 percent of the high court’s cases directly impact business owners.
There was a host of rulings during the 2007-2008 session that could impact entrepreneurs both positively and negatively -- everything from rulings on union organizing to taxes.
So how did things play out for all of you this session?
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Lawmakers have crossed the aisle in Congress to come up with a health care bill that won’t do a lot to alleviate the hell small businesses face when it comes to affording insurance, but at least it’s something.
Last week, House Small Business Committee Chairwoman Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY) and Rep. Joe Pitts (R-PA) joined forces to introduce a bill called The Small Business CHOICE (Cooperative for Healthcare Options to Improve Coverage for Employees) Act that aims to help make healthcare more affordable for entrepreneurs.
The bill encourages small business cooperatives to pool their buying power and potentially get better rates, and it also provides some tax incentives.
Will the bill be enough?
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Last week, I was a guest on "The Big Idea," a show on CNBC hosted by Donny Deutsch, and the topic of the day was whether a husband and wife should start a business together.
I was on hand to talk about why this is probably not a good idea for most couples out there.
My mom has a saying -- "never with your husband."
She came up with it after years of trying to run a business with my late father.
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Ideas are sticky things, especially if you come up with an idea while you're working for a company and then want to leave that company with that idea and compete with your former employer.
The recent hubbub over the popular Bratz doll line involving Mattel and a designer who used to work for the toy giant is a good example of what not to do if you're working for "The Man" and have dreams of going off on your own to start a business that's similar to your old boss' company. CONTINUED >>
The $6.50 Cuban sandwich sold at the three Pressed sandwich shops in Boston will likely be going up in price about 32 cents before the end of the month.
After several years of keeping prices steady, owner Andrew Pierce says inflationary pressures are squeezing his profits like a hot panini press, and he’s got to raise prices or his business will end up oozing out like melted cheese in an overloaded sandwich.
OK, I got a little carried away with the metaphor.
But the bottom line is that small businesses are being hammered by inflation.
Do you hear that, federal policymakers?
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I was amazed at the types of responses I got to my recent blog post on giving grants to flood victims.
Many readers were up in arms that the women quoted in the post suggested the government should give small business owners hurt by the floods a grant instead of a loan because so many of these entrepreneurs were already in debt.
One reader summed up how many of you were feeling:
"The flood is indeed a tragedy, and I will gladly donate money to help flood victims. However, why does being a flood victim entitle anyone (to) a grant from the government? The government is not the cause of the flood. Furthermore, these business leaders freely chose to establish their businesses in a flood zone. Instead of seeking handouts from the government, these business leaders should take care of themselves with more prudent business practices such as maintaining a realistic emergency (flood) fund, etc.
There are some valid points here but when our neighbors hit rock bottom, shouldn't we all come together?
Even the federal agency behind many of the loans is extending a tiny lifeline to these small business owners now.
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“I have quit feeling guilty that I’m a mom first.”
I recently read this line in Working Mother magazine while I was sitting in the pediatrician’s office waiting to have my son’s tonsils checked. Ah, guilt -- every working mom has it at one point or another. How do you quit it?
I had to cancel an important story interview to get my son to the doctor’s office, and I only started reading the magazine as a way to take my mind off a number of stressful thoughts: Would I make it back to my office in time to finish an article that was due? Would the doctor tell me my kid needed his tonsils out? Would dinner be ready by 6 p.m. when my father-in-law was coming over?
The source of the quote above was Sarah Stevens, the owner of a technology security business in Charlotte, N.C., and mother of four kids, ages 9 and under.
The article talked about how she sometimes attends meetings or work dinners with a baby in tow, and “I’ve had children spill on clients,” she says. “I never really find balance, but I’m comfortable with who I am and what I do.”
Turns out many mom entrepreneurs are having trouble staying on the business balance beam, according to a new survey.
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I got a call the other day from my mom updating me on the latest family drama.
My aunt and uncle are in a pitched battle over money with their two adult children, and it’s causing nothing but heartache for everyone involved.
There’s no real need to share the details with you all because this is a scenario that plays out often in many families. And the more money involved the uglier it gets.
Take the Mondavi family. At the very heart of this wine-making family was a riff between two brothers, Robert and Peter.
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Last week, a congressional panel brought together small business representatives to discuss the growing dominance of Google and Yahoo when it comes to web ads.
The two search engines, with Google clearly at the forefront, pretty much are the only real choices business owners have if they want to hawk their wares on the web.
Rep. Charlie Gonzalez, D-Texas, chairman of the subcommittee that held the hearing, questioned whether new laws are needed to make sure small firms don’t get pummeled in what is shaping up to be a Web advertising monopoly.
But after listening to the hearing on YouTube it seemed like none of the so-called small business representatives were that worried about the Google ad gorilla.
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