SMB Now Blog: The blog for small to medium sized business.

Wall Street Lends Small Businesses a Helping Hand

By Zack Duncan | Published: May 10, 2012

Wall StreetWe’ve all heard the horror stories of Wall Street, the stories about how the 1% don’t care about anybody but themselves and would rather see others suffer than lend a helping hand. However, that may not be as true as we all once thought as Wall Street marketers have started lending a helping hand to small business owners.

Wall Street giants like Chase, American Express and Goldman Sachs are slowly recovering from some rough times resulting from the recent housing crisis, though each of these companies has found time to extend the proverbial olive branch to small business owners across the country. For example, Chase just announced a $3 million program with LivingSocial that will allow consumers to vote on which small business will receive $250,000 in grants.

Chase has long aimed for small business owners to sell loans though, as Chase Business Card President Richard Quigley stated, “wanted to give grant money to help jump-start deserving businesses.” Quigley added, “We’re doing this now because small businesses are the engine of the U.S. economy.”

This move by Chase is similar to the one used by American Express’ Small Business Saturday event. This event drives cardholders to spend at Main Street small businesses on the Saturday after Thanksgiving and also creates incentives for the business owners to accept the card. In addition to Chase and American Express, Visa is also launching an Olympics campaign aimed at small businesses.

You may be wondering why small business are getting so much attention at the moment from these bigwigs and the reason is simply because there are so many more small businesses now than there used to be. According to Executive Director for Corporate Executive Board, “Through the past two recessions we saw a spike in the net new small businesses — companies are recognizing that.”

Chase is running a two-pronged small-business stimulus program, much like American Express’. Chase’s program is targeting consumers and small business owners with the hopes that this show of good faith will have a halo effect. “They’re both capitalizing on anti-big-business sentiment,” said Maycock.

Maycock added, “You can see ‘Shop Small’ working double duty, at once small business is grateful for driving business, but it also speaks to a shared value with consumers: ‘Let’s get behind the little guy.’” According to American Express Chief Marketer John Hayes, “Cardholders were able to help their downtown, which is what they all want to do.”

Goldman Sachs, which is considered to be the most reviled name on Wall Street, has even committed $500 million to help small businesses grow via things like scholarships, lending and philanthropic support to community development groups. Small businesses are what can turn this economic crisis around and it is good to see some of these bigger corporations getting behind them.

Source: Advertising Age – Small Businesses Get a Boost From Finance Bigwigs

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Small Business Expo to Help Small Business Owners with Government Contracting

By Zack Duncan | Published: March 21, 2012

small business signThe state departments of General Services and Public Welfare have decided to join forces with the City of Harrisburg and the Naval Supply Systems Command for the Second Annual Small Business Exposition. The expo is designed to help small business owners work through the procedures and processes required for government contracting.

The event is scheduled to run on March 28 from 8am to 4pm at the Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and will assist smaller businesses in their attempts to compete for government contracts. In addition to that, the event will explain local, state and federal processes for construction, procurement and certification, as well as where and how to identify contracting opportunities.

Sheri Phillips, the Secretary of the Department of General Services, along with Harrisburg Mayor Linda Thompson, Deputy Secretary for Administration for the Department of Public Welfare Karen Deklinski and Naval Supply Systems Command Vice Commander John Goodhart are all expected to start off the event. The event itself will feature over 50 government and private exhibitors on-site for networking and information on contracting needs.

In addition to that, information with regard to certification processes and procedures for construction, information technology and products/services contracting will also be covered during morning workshops. An afternoon panel will then discuss the different contracting opportunities available at the local, state and federal levels by industry. The day will conclude with a construction diversity session and time to visit exhibitors.

There will be on-site registration the day of the event from 7am to 8am, though advanced registration is highly encouraged. The last thing anybody wants is to show up the day of the show and not make it in time to register. All the information on registration fees and registration can be found here.

Source: Market Watch – March 28 Expo to Help Small Businesses Explore Contracting Opportunities

Power Point Projectors
Most business class projectors will do a good job displaying your PowerPoint presentation. If you have a small presentation group, a 2000 lumen LCD projector will be able to produce a nice and clear picture. For larger audiences you should consider a 5000 lumen LCD projector.
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SMB Discount Technology Program from HP and Waste Management

By John Beagle | Published: March 19, 2012

Waste Management services thousands of small and medium size businesses around North America – from mom and pop shops to regional chains across a variety of sectors – providing a variety of services like waste pickup, dumpsters and recycling and various additional services that are tailored to the specific needs of their business. The HP partnership is further incentive for SMBs to choose Waste Management to handle all of their environmental needs and yet another testament to how Waste Management is partnering with other companies to assist small businesses in this tough economy.

Details: HP and WM SMB Technology Discount Program

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Orbitz for Business Express Tailored for Small Businesses

By Zack Duncan | Published: March 7, 2012

Orbitz for Business logoOrbitz for Business, which is the corporate travel brand for Orbitz Worldwide, has just launched a new venture, Orbitz for Business Express. This new business was set up to offer savings, convenience and professional travel services to small businesses with travel needs. This also includes those small businesses currently without a managed travel program.

Orbitz Business Express empowers small businesses with a dedicated booking website, special rates and discounts, 24/7 assistance from Orbitz travel experts, detailed reports on company travel expenditures and full mobile access to travel searches, bookings and flight updates. What’s more is that you get all of this with absolutely no minimum transaction requirements.

Orbitz for Business Express was designed to bring managed travel solutions to companies with smaller travel budgets or unmanaged programs by offering a simple and quickly implemented program that enables growing companies to focus on expanding their business as opposed to planning travel.

Some of the benefits of Orbitz Business Express include a quick and easy booking tool, lower transaction fees, specially promoted business hotel rates and air discounts, access to a dedicated corporate call center for 24/7 support and corporate discounts negotiated exclusively by the Orbitz team.

Orbitz for Business Express takes it all a step further, though, by enabling companies to get the most out of their travel budget by providing vital insight reports that track costs across multiple travel categories. Traveler safety is enhanced by tracking tools that monitor your itineraries every step of the way.

According to President of Orbitz for Business Frank Petito, “With the launch of Orbitz for Business Express, we are uniquely equipped to support any size organization. Whether it’s a global Fortune 100 firm needing a robust Orbitz for Business solution or a startup that requires a streamlined approach through Orbitz for Business Express, our broad array of managed travel solutions can be tailored to meet every corporate travel need.”

Source: PR Newswire – Orbitz for Business Express Provides Managed Travel Solutions to Growing Companies

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Obama Proposes Corporate Tax Cuts, Small Businesses Not Buying It

By Zack Duncan | Published: February 22, 2012

tax cutsRecently, Obama proposed eliminating corporate tax loopholes and, in turn, using that money to cut the business tax rate from 35% to 28%. According to a statement from Obama, “The tax code is unnecessarily complicated and forces America’s small businesses to spend countless hours and dollars filing their taxes.” The only problem is that this plan to simplify the business tax code and cut rates is igniting outcries from small business groups.

The lower tax rate would only apply to businesses organized as C corps, which pay corporate income taxes. C corps make up less than 6% of business tax returns and the other businesses, which includes partnerships, sole proprietors, S corps and limited liability companies, have their business earnings flow through to owners’ personal income and are taxed at individual income tax rates.

If you eliminate tax breaks and fail to lower individual income tax rates, then you could, in essence, raise taxes on some small business owners according to President of the National Association of Small Businesses Todd McCracken. McCracken added, “The business deductions are relatively unified. A deduction’s a deduction, whether you’re a C corp or a sole proprietor, for the most part.”

The National Federation of Independent Businesses, which frequently goes against the Obama Administration and its plans, has panned the new proposal and said in a recent statement, “The focus should be on individual rate reform.” However, not every small business lobby agrees and some are even praising the plan and noting that a reform to the tax code will eliminate tons of loopholes that consistently leave small businesses paying an unfair share of taxes.

McCracken has stated that the plan itself isn’t very specific and that it looks like a mixed bag. McCracken says he favors reform that would deal with both individual tax code alongside corporate taxes. He also noted that chances of any major tax plan passing Congress this year are slim.

Source: Bloomberg Businessweek – Why Corporate Tax Cuts Won’t Help Small Businesses

Power Point Projectors
Most business class projectors will do a good job displaying your PowerPoint presentation. If you have a small presentation group, a 2000 lumen LCD projector will be able to produce a nice and clear picture. For larger audiences you should consider a 5000 lumen LCD projector.
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Small Business Owners Expected to Take Advantage of Health Care Reform

By Zack Duncan | Published: February 10, 2012

Health Care ReformHealth policy researchers have conducted new analysis and simulations have determined that only a select few employers will take advantage of certain rules that allow some small businesses to avoid pending health care reform measures. This will render the rules obsolete and will also minimize their impact on health insurance costs.

However, that could very well change should the rules be rewritten to extend the opt-out offer to a wider range of companies, according to the study by nonprofit policy research group RAND Corporation. Experts believe that if you allow more employers to keep their old plans then the government would drive the premiums up that are offered to small employers through health  insurance exchanges. In addition, they could also cut enrollment in those programs.

According to lead author of the study and Senior Economist for RAND Christine Eibner, “We found that keeping the rules as they are written, particularly the limitations on maintaining a grandfathered plan, will be essential to keeping premiums affordable in small business insurance exchanges.”

Starting in 2014, under the Affordable Care Act, laws that govern health insurance plans for owners of small businesses will no longer allow insurers to set premiums based on the gender, health status or claims history of the enrollee.  The goal is to disperse the financial risk of insuring unusually sick or high-cost individuals.

However, a lot of people fear that the plan will be undermined by small business owners with healthy workers who self-insure their firms or maintain grandfathered policies. These options are offered under the Affordable Care Act, which would allow them to bypass the new regulations.

If this starts to happen, then the government-sponsored exchanges would become disproportionately comprised of relatively unhealthy, expensive enrollees. This could very well make the premiums of small business owners extremely unaffordable.

RAND’s analysis, however, shows that small business owners will avoid self-insuring due to significant financial risk involved. Researchers also said that most small business owners won’t meet the required standards to be grandfathered in to existing health plans after 2014.

RAND also said that neither of these alternatives will have any real impact on exchange premiums, should the language in the Affordable Care Act stay the same. However, if regulations were more relaxed to allow more companies to keep their current plans, RAND believes that the cost of premiums offered to small business owners via health insurance exchanges would climb exponentially, possibly cutting enrollment in the plans by 50%.

Source: The Washington Post – Small business owners not expected to opt out of health care reform

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Small Businesses Eligible for Free Consultation from OSHA Professionals

By Zack Duncan | Published: January 25, 2012

OSHA logoIf you own your own business, then you are already well aware that you have a legal obligation to make sure your workplace is healthy and safe for your employees as well as your customers. And if you know that, you must also know that if you fail to meet these requirements, you could very well be cited and penalized by the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA).

However, you may not know that the OSHA regulations can be both unwieldy and costly, especially if you are a small business owner. When it comes to inspections by the OSHA and the improvements that undoubtedly follow, many small business owners have no idea where to begin. Fortunately, there are some programs designed to help, including a free on-site consultation provided by the OSHA itself. What could be more beneficial?

In 2010 OSHA’s program visited nearly 30,000 businesses where free consultants offered confidential, non-punitive advice to small business owners. The best thing about these consultations, as you have probably already noticed, is that if an OSHA finds that you are in fault of a guideline or code, you won’t be cited. The consultants are there to help you get everything in order. They will help identify problem areas, give you advice and even help establish management systems and train your employees.

But even though a consultant helps you out, this doesn’t mean you are off the hook; you may still have some work to do. After you get a detailed report from your consultant, you will be expected to fix the problems and make the necessary changes by an agreed upon date. Obviously,the overall goal of the plan is to help your small business become OSHA compliant.

Source: Reuters – OSHA Offers Free Consults to Small Businesses
FindLaw – OSHA Offers Free Consults to Small Businesses


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$410 Million in Small Business Loans Given Out in Missouri

By Zack Duncan | Published: January 11, 2012

Clint ZweifelMissouri, or at least its State Treasurer Clint Zweifel, is very generous with its small business owners as Zweifel stated that he awarded 1,400 low-interest loans to farmers and small businesses last year with the total amount of the loans equaling $410 million, a new record to say the least.

This number is up 40% from the $356 million in loans given out last year. 2010 was the first to set a record in loans since $356 million was given out back in 1992. The loans are made available through the Missouri Linked Deposit program. Farmers and small business owners from around Missouri saved an estimated $7.2 million in interest (nearly 30% on the cost of the loan) according to Zweifel.

In 2011 the St. Louis region, which encompasses St. Louis City and the counties of Crawford, Franklin, Jefferson, Lincoln, St. Charles, St. Louis, Warren and Washington, received over $99 million from 150 low-interest loans for farmers and small business owners according to a statement from Missouri State Treasurer’s Office spokesman John Galloway.

Nearly 130 loan providers with 350 different branches throughout the state offer loans through the program. Times are tough and it is definitely reassuring to see that so many people can get the help they need from their elected officials when they need it. If only the White House would take note.

Source: St. Louis Business Journal – Missouri awards $410 million in small-business loans

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Economy Benefiting Greatly from Small Businesses

By Zack Duncan | Published: December 28, 2011

small business economyIt’s no surprise that our economy is in rough shape. But one of the things that has helped keep our economy from completely hitting rock bottom is the role small businesses play in it. Over the past few years, small businesses have contributed a lot to the U.S. economy in a very positive way.

According to Rural and Agribusiness Enterprise Development Specialist for the North Dakota State University Extension Service Glenn Muske, “Small businesses have been noted as being the source of most new jobs and the core of economic growth. As the U.S. slowly moves out of the recent recessionary period, small businesses again are being looked to as drivers of future growth.”

The Kaufman Foundation, located in Kansas City, Missouri, just released new information regarding the vital role that small businesses are playing in the economy. The report specified that younger firms (ones that are only 1 to 5 years old) generated almost two-thirds of the job growth in 2007. What’s more, even though only 50% of the new firms last for 5+ years, the ones that did make it through generated 80% of the job growth.

The importance of small businesses to the economy is becoming more and more prevalent. Now, three-fourths of U.S. adults believe that a sustained economic recovery will require strong entrepreneurial and small business activity. Over half of the companies named in the Forbes Fortune 500 list in 2009 were started during the recession and new businesses continue to open every day. And even though growth slowed in 2010, nearly 500,000 new businesses opened every month.

Characteristics of these business owners differ, though the highest rate of business startups has been among people ages 55 to 64 with the slowest being among people ages 20 to 34. It is still impossible to determine the effects of the recession on these numbers though early indications are showing that more young people are starting jobs while older individuals are the leading creators of business startups.

According to Muske, “Many potential business owners hesitate starting a business for one of two reasons: They are afraid of failure or want outside financing. Regarding the failure aspect, many of today’s businesses were started by people who failed in earlier business attempts. And these owners will say that they have continued to make mistakes as the business grew. Not wanting to fail often is an indicator of not trying new things. Yet today’s rapidly changing world demands that the owner continually change his or her business model.”

Source: The Jamestown Sun – Small businesses playing big role in economy

Power Point Projectors
Most business class projectors will do a good job displaying your PowerPoint presentation. If you have a small presentation group, a 2000 lumen LCD projector will be able to produce a nice and clear picture. For larger audiences you should consider a 5000 lumen LCD projector.
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Small Business IT Needs Grow, Creating Expansion for CMIT Solutions

By Zack Duncan | Published: December 16, 2011

CMIT SolutionsBeing a franchised network of IT consultants to small businesses, CMIT Solutions is expecting to expand from 130 locations to 500 locations across the nation and from only having units in 32 states to all 50 states within the next couple of years. CMIT attributes the growth to the growing needs for IT in small businesses across the country.

According to President and CEO of CMIT Jeff Connally, “Research shows that more than eight of every ten small businesses handle their IT needs in-house. But as technology becomes more complex, with cloud computing and other web-based platforms, they’ll have to adapt by outsourcing their IT packages and CMIT Solutions is perfectly positioned to fill that market niche.”

CMIT Solutions estimates that within the next five years, 75% of the small businesses that handle their own IT in-house will have to pay for the type of managed IT services offered by CMIT Solutions. The company offers many IT services including the 24/7 monitoring and maintenance service CMIT Maintenance and the business continuity package CMIT Guardian.

Frank Picarello, CMIT COO and member of CompTIA’s executive board added, “That 82% that handles its IT in-house — it’s not that they want to do that. They’d much rather run their businesses than manage their IT needs, but most don’t think that they have world class alternatives. They’re looking for the kind of affordable consistent IT services that can help them stay competitive. You realize, ‘Wow, there’s an enormous opportunity here.’ The market is ripe for a franchise model like ours.”

The Computer Technology Industry Association gathered some data that identified 2 million small businesses in the United States that meet three key criteria: They earn at least $2 million a year, have been in business for at least two years, and are in industries that rely on IT. Of those, 82% handle their IT needs in-house.

In addition to that, the data discovered that of the nearly 18,000 U.S. vendors that provide managed IT services, no single company has more than a 1% market share. And finally, the data also discovered that small businesses estimated their technology expenses increased by 65% from 2008 to 2009 and an additional 24% from 2009 to 2010, with expenses projected to increase indefinitely.

Source: Market Watch – Growing Small Business IT Needs Create Massive Expansion for CMIT Solutions Franchise


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