Small Business Trends Contributors

This seems to be the topic that is on everyone’s mind these days:  Are we in the early stages of an economic recovery and what will happen now?

Take a simple test:  What do YOU think?   The answer, I’ll bet was “I’m not sure.”  And if that’s right, then you are representative of the majority of America (and maybe a lot of other countries).

What do you do when you are uncertain?  You are cautious, right?  You watch your spending and keep it to the basics — the needs and wants that are modest, etc.  Well, there is your answer.  This recovery will evolve slowly, because there have been few recessions like this one — ever.  Because so many people, and companies (that are managed by people) are being cautious, spending will be cautious, reducing the likelihood of a fast, robust recovery.

Consumer spending is slowly coming up — but just a little.  That’s partly due to tax refunds and lower taxes due to investment losses; partly due to the “stimulus mentality;” and partly due to the moderate recovery of the stock market.  Corporate sales and earnings are still soft, and trailing last year.  They’ll beat last year come 4^th quarter because the 4Q last year was a disaster.

Corporate spending is also (want to guess?) slowly coming up –  just modest spending and just for the high-return or “absolutely necessary” items.

So what should you do now?  Keep being cautious.  It’s the only prudent thing to do.  But be on the lookout for opportunities.

I like a metaphor here to illustrate.  It is how surfers behave.  They work hard and paddle like crazy to get out just beyond where the surf is breaking.  Then they just “idle” out there, paddling around in place, making sure they are in position to catch the next big wave, but being cautious and choosy.  When they sense a big one coming, they paddle hard again to catch it at just the right point. read more

Let’s jump right to the question that every woman entrepreneur who’s thinking about starting up a business in today’s economy wants the answer to: “Should I start up now or wait six months?”

On one hand, you might be thinking that starting up your business in this economy would be a risk. On the other, you might be hearing buzz that the U.S. is beginning to come out of the recession, which would mean that starting up now would put you on the leading edge of post-recession confidence.

How do you decide what to do?

Regardless of when you start up your business - in a strong or weak economy - it’s important to be aware of the following 10 economic indicators and their forecast for the next six months.

10 Economic Indicators to Consider When Starting up Your Business

• Personal Income
  Personal income is down from where it was a year ago. However, it seems to be at the bottom and will increase slowly to the end of the year.
• Unemployment
  Unemployment is on the rise and will continue to be a concern, increasing from 9.4% today to nearly 11% by the end of the year.
• Outstanding Consumer Credit
  Credit card debt has been on the rise each month for several years. It reached its peak in January 2009, and then began a gradual decline. It has now reached a plateau and is not expected to alter significantly over the next six months.
• Housing Values
  The value of homes across the nation has, in general, seen a 15% decrease during the last year and a 32% decrease from the high in 2006.
• Inflation Rate
  Some good news is that the inflation rate has been stable and should not impact the economy adversely over the next six months. read more

One of the biggest threats to any small business is a disaster. And as fast as you can say business disaster, your business can go up in smoke. Most small business owners think a business disaster won’t happen to them so they never take the time to plan. But the statistics tell a different story.

According to the Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS), about one fourth of all businesses that close because of a disaster never reopen. That is a startling statistic.

Consider what happened a while back to a local family business in my city. A carpet store that had been in business for thirty long years burned to the ground. Gone were thousands of dollars worth of equipment and carpet, plus two smaller businesses that were housed in the same building. Luckily the owners had plenty of business insurance to cover their physical losses. But they lost their most important business asset - customer records - because of failed back up systems. They thought they did the right thing by backing up their computer systems every night. But they forgot to test whether the back up would work. And it didn’t. Rebuilding their customer base will be tough and the long-term revenue impact is hard to measure. But you can bet it will be tough for them.

With disasters like hurricanes, tornados, fires, floods and terrorism, to name a few, it’s critical for small companies like yours to have a disaster plan. read more

People sometimes use the terms “credit card” and “charge card” interchangeably. However, they are different animals, and their differences should be clearly understood by any business owner searching for new credit.

Let’s look at some key needs/features that a small business owner might desire when seeking credit, and see whether credit cards or charge cards are best able to meet those needs. There is almost always a trade-off, so think hard about your business requirements to determine which is right for you. (Note: Because American Express is by far the main issuer of charge cards, my commentary on those cards is based mainly on their practices.)

• Flexibility to Float Purchases — Small business owners often rely on credit cards to start a business, or to float purchases while waiting for receivables to make their (too slow) journey into the owner’s bank account. Credit cards allow you to pay as much as you want each month, or to pay very little if the funds aren’t available. Charge cards, on the other hand, force you to pay off your entire balance each month. Winner: credit cards.
• Forced Fiscal Restraint – With credit cards’ flexibility comes the possibility of racking up debt and paying high interest charges for the privilege. If you have a strong aversion to debt and may be tempted if allowed to revolve balances, the winner is: charge cards.
• Higher Credit Limits – Charge cards generally allow you to put more expenses on the card, either via higher credit limits or by waiving credit limits altogether. Why? Because you have to pay the balance off each month, so you are less of a risk. Credit cards, on the other hand, offer lower limits, because there is more of a chance that you’ll build up a balance that you will later have trouble paying. Winner: charge cards.
• Rewards – Charge card reward programs are usually much more generous than those of credit cards, from double points to more desirable reward partners to free companion airline tickets and hotel upgrades, to free memberships in “elite” travel programs from airlines, hotels and rental car companies. Credit card reward programs are usually less generous, and the trend is continuing in that direction. Winner: charge cards.
• Annual Fees – Charge cards almost always have an annual fee, while credit cards rarely do (though there are exceptions). If you want to avoid annual fees, choose: credit cards. read more
  

Increasingly, in this era of online communities and networks, consumers turn to the Internet for recommendations about products and services. For small businesses this means being online is a great way to get in front of and influence potential customers.

The upside of being on the Internet is how quickly you can reach people and expand your marketplace significantly. That is, however, also the downside. If you’re successful at getting attention of consumers online at some point you may become a target for negative attacks.

On the Web negative information can spread fast and can cost you thousands of dollars a day in lost business. Unlike traditional, offline media where it’s easier for people to forget the negative comments, thanks to search engines, this information becomes a permanent record. And, unless you do something, people will continue to find these negative results and base decisions on them.

Negative feedback is nothing new, and it happens everywhere. It is a problem on eBay, on blogs, forums, and on review sites. Rip Off Report is notorious for providing high visibility, negative information on businesses. In fact, the site ranks so well on Google that businesses write negative reviews about their competitors using their own keywords so they can get better rankings on the search engines.

So what happens when someone in your industry - a competitor - starts an online smear campaign against you or your business?

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That lone statement summarizes what seems to have become a familiar, if vague, recurring theme among many econo-pundits these days. If you try to pin any of them down on how, exactly, they think the economy is changing, you are likely to come away from the exercise empty handed.

There may be general consensus on the fact that the economy is changing but no one seems to know exactly how the economy is changing.

We have heard, variously, that content, customers and community are all king. I’ve heard some things about creating value, adding it, or even changing what ‘value’ actually means, although those discussions often skip the part where actual money changes hands because of a function business model that is rooted in reality.

Some of this stuff gets pretty esoteric and difficult to follow. It’s probably a good thing that most small business owners are too practical to pay any attention to all the hot air.

At the same time, if the economy really is changing — and I happen to agree that it is — then you need to be paying attention to what is changing and how it is changing and how that will, in turn, change the way you run your business. Not to mention the opportunities that always surface when there is upheaval, reversal, change.

So, while everybody else is trying to be profound about this, I think it’s time to return to basics.

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Recently, I did an informal survey of 250 women entrepreneurs asking them this question: “What’s the number one thing you do to boost your productivity?” 

Listed in David Letterman’s reverse “Top Ten” order, here are the top ten ways women entrepreneurs boost productivity:

10. Write out your to do list the night before.

Don’t wait until morning to make your list.  Write your list the night before. Allow the process to percolate while you sleep. Then, when you wake up, it’s as if you’ve had an eight-hour head start on your day. 

9. Prioritize your daily list using the “ABCD and E” method.

A = must do
B = should do
C = would be nice to do
D = delegate
E = eliminate 

8.  Wake up early and get off to a good start.

Wake up early to set the tone for your day. This allows you to get into the swing of things at an unhurried pace. Establish a morning routine that is of greatest benefit to you, not just to your family.

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Do you?

Wear that pink tie.  Color your hair purple.  Pursue the passion you love. Ask for the raise you deserve.  Start a business.

This is no time to be shy, because shy people blend in.  You want to live loud - take crazy, calculated risks and keep us guessing at what’s next!

When the title of this entry popped into my head, I searched for “Live Loud” on Google and Bing to see who may have been on to this before me.  Surprise, surprise. There are only two key listings and both have to do with music:  Live & Loud on Wikipedia and “Live and Loud,” a live album recorded by singer Ozzy Osbourne of Black Sabbath (one of my favorite groups, I might add) that was released on June 28, 1993.

To me, living loud is about you living your passion boldly without caring what others think while leaving an indelible mark on the world. It’s about your ability to take measured risks for the sake of fulfilling your goals.

Let’s examine five people who represent what living loud means:

1.  Former President George H. W. Bush.  “Don’t sit around drooling in a corner,” says George H. W. Bush, who decided to skydive again on his 85th birthday (He jumped on his 75th and 80th birthdays as well).  Here’s what living loud means to him:

“It feels good. There’s an exhilaration, especially when you start out of the plane. You feel exhilarated.  You get charged up, excited. That’s not easy to do at 85. . . and it sends a message all around the globe, just because you are an old guy, you don’t have to sit around drooling in a corner.”

And as former President Bush says in his video, “Do something.  Get out and enjoy life.” That pretty much sums up living loud.

2.  Danica Patrick. “I live for the moment and I own it.” Visit Danica’s website and the first thing you see is a sexy Danica holding her racecar helmet.  At the bottom it says, “Choose your experience.”   Racy enough?  You bet.  Living loud?  You double bet.  Click on normal screen and you are in for quite a ride:  Danica racing (first woman to win the Indy Japan 300), Danica posing for a “Got Milk?” ad, Danica modeling swimsuits for Sports Illustrated (on the Web) and Danica Twittering away @DanicaPatrick (I’ll let you find out!).

The living loud comes at you on all fronts, but particularly in the lyrics of the song that plays on her site:  “I live for the moment. . . ” read more