Dashboard
A weekly roundup of small-business developments.
What?s affecting me, my clients and other small-business owners this week.
The Big Story: Feeling Better
Two surveys released last week say that small-business owners are feeling better than they?ve felt in more than three years and most have a positive outlook for growth and hiring. The skeptical speculator says the global economy gives no hint of recession in 2012. Some?bloggers see a bleak but improving economic outlook. But the chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab says it?s unlikely there will be a really strong recovery. Floyd Norris says United States and global growth is well below expectations. John Hussman says we?re still going into a recession and stocks could fall 25 percent. Rick Newman lists six things that could derail the economy. Some people think the United States is heading in the right direction.
The Economy: Payroll Taxes Again
Talks stall on extending the payroll tax cut. All measures of unemployment are falling. Manufacturers are stepping up their domestic investments. Corporate profits are not what they seem and insiders are selling heavily. Shopping malls across the country are experiencing near-record vacancy rates. Office-building construction is experiencing a severe drought. Amid a plunge in petroleum use worldwide, the United States finds itself the closest it has been in almost 20 years to achieving energy self-sufficiency. Yet gas prices are at record highs. The Federal Reserve chairman appeared before the Senate Budget committee and continued to defend the Fed?s efforts to control inflation and unemployment. Caroline Salas Gage reports that the numbers are proving Ben S. Bernanke?s critics wrong. As defense cuts loom, the president evaluates cheaper weaponry.
Your People: Skip the Meetings
Rather than wasting his time in business meetings, Furious Pete develops an amazing physique in only five hours. A study estimates that small companies have saved $17.6 billion annually by using mobile apps. Julie Rains offers team-building activities that work. Jane Shelton calculates how much home-office space an employee needs. An unexpected side effect of remote work is denser communities. The debate continues: do employees or their employers own Twitter followers?
Managing: A Meaningful Life
Warren Rutherford offers five ways to improve your attitude and commitment. Naomi Garnice explains how to be a go-to person. A brain test helps improve memory. Five early birds share their everyday productivity strategies. Annie Mueller offers a few tips for creative efficiency, including, ?Think in five- to 10-minute blocks?: ?It?s different than having hours of unbroken time, but that kind of luxury isn?t always possible.? Julien Smith writes a 5,000-word epic guide to getting what you want. Umair Haque explains how to create a meaningful life with meaningful work. This guy spent a year on a bike.
Red Tape Update: O.S.H.A. Rules
The ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Small Business, Nydia M. Vel?zquez, says of the Small Business Administration, ?In examining the current state of the S.B.A.?s loan management systems, there can be no doubt that modernization is desperately needed.? Robert Levin says the government is waging a secret war against small businesses. Employers must comply with new Occupational Safety and Health Administration rules. A partnership introduces a first-of-its-kind Web site to help California businesses navigate 2,409 pages of the health care law. A new bill aims to simplify 1099-K forms for small businesses. Some small-business owners say that big businesses and millionaires are not paying their fair share of taxes. But this guy says he paid 102 percent of his taxable income in 2010. A corporate tax break for buyers of computers, engines and other equipment is proving surprisingly popular. Bankers are having a tough time, but Matt Taibbi says Wall Street should stop whining.
Start-Up: Talk to Cisco
A press page generator hopes to help start-up companies introduce themselves to the media (and Will Ferrell introduces the Hornets and Bulls). Jessica Bruder reports on what Startup America has accomplished in its first year. That next great start-up is probably coming from a coffee shop (in fact billions of dollars were created in this one). A Kauffman Foundation study says that pending legislation could help start-ups raise more than $7.5 billion over the next 10 years. If you want to sell your start-up, you may want to talk to Cisco.
Ideas: Top 10 Scams
A miraculous NASA breakthrough could save millions of lives. A revolutionary large-wheeled robot is strong enough to tow a car and dexterous enough to open its trunk using the handle. Floating cities will be a reality within a decade. A new company tries to simplify event booking. Two entrepreneurs create a textbook case study of success. The Better Business Bureau unveils its top 10 scams of 2011, including: ?Some hotels are warning about a scam in which guests receive calls in the middle of the night purportedly from the desk clerk, who needs to verify your credit information. Of course, it isn?t the desk clerk.? A couple of companies are bringing down the price of solar. Susan Cain explains how to succeed as an introvert: ?Introverts have to find the places where they are comfortable stretching themselves and pushing themselves a little bit, while giving themselves the recharge time that they need.? Jack in the Box introduces bacon milkshakes.
Marketing: The Difference Between Good and Bad
Stephanie Miles suggests these seven hyper-local tools to increase business during off-peak times. Three social media video contests aimed at small businesses have scored big. Christopher Carfi explains the difference between good attention and bad attention. Is everybody following up with your customers but you? Jeff Haden offers negotiating tips, such as: ?Never provide an estimate when you don?t have enough information. Keep asking questions instead.?
Bosses of the Week
Meet the young entrepreneurs remaking New Orleans: Brittany, Jennifer, Michael and Kimberly. ?All of the bright, go-getting, 20-somethings ? are part of New Orleans?s post-Katrina explosion of entrepreneurialism and development, which has made the city a hub for socially minded millennials.?
Around the Country: A Purple Squirrel?
Only 13 of the top 100 metros have bounced back from recession. But restaurants are looking forward to another booming year. The Stevie Awards plans a three-day event about entrepreneurship in New York in June. Counties in the contiguous United States with a greater concentration of small, locally owned businesses have healthier populations than do those that rely on large companies with absentee owners. Kansas City is getting super-fast Internet, thanks to Google. A purple squirrel is found in Pennsylvania. A Brooklyn legal incubator is helping the New York tech scene. A growing community of New Jersey social entrepreneurs looks for ways to establish its legitimacy. Macy?s Win A Million competition enters another year. A popular Seattle start-up leaves some lessons as it shuts down. Two academics from Georgia start a national tour to help small businesses grow.
Around the World: A Blueprint for Russian Businesses
As a parody video promoting the London Olympics hits YouTube, the British Cabinet Office warns of possible Internet failures during the Olympics. Finnish start-ups are flourishing. A Swedish company introduces a giant touch screen. Nestl? introduces a coffee machine for small businesses in Europe. Global research and development spending is expected to increase in 2012. Private firms are assisting American businesses in dealing with foreign currency and communication issues in complex markets like China (where problems and babies are growing fast). Vladimir Putin sets out a blueprint for Russian small businesses (while at Odessa, the Black Sea emits frightening sounds). During a session of Parliament, Indian ministers were doing what?
Technology: The iPhone Dwarfs Microsoft
Symantec expands its back-up options for small businesses. Amazon is cutting its storage pricing. Yahoo unveils a new app search. The iPhone alone is now bigger than Microsoft?s entire business. Perhaps in response, Microsoft kills off an old friend and starts opening stores near Apple?s stores. The United States mobile app industry accounts for 500,000 jobs. Here?s a graphic showing how small businesses have journeyed into the cloud. So let?s look at 10 must-have cloud apps for small business and 20 apps and services that were important to one company?s start-up. Christopher Null compares six small-business Web hosting plans. Kurt Marko asks, which tablet fits your enterprise? Amazon considers bricks and mortar. Charging systems that send power from afar will soon be on sale.
The Week?s Bests
Place to Get Advice. Ryan Waggoner says to get your advice from the second best, not the best: ?Now, you want to become a great athlete and you can ask either of these guys for advice. You ask the first guy, right? Most of us would, but I wonder if that?s the wise move. Yes, the first guy will have good advice. ? But he can?t share with you the heart and soul of earning it. ? He can?t tell you about the dark nights of incompetence and wondering if you should just give up. He can?t tell you how to change. In other words, if you want to be faster or stronger, don?t ask the one who has always been the fastest or the strongest; they were probably born that way. Ask the one who has improved the most.?
Diet Advice. Christopher Nagy says that this year we should all eat like a caveman: ?A Paleolithic diet consists primarily of whole foods, animal protein ? preferably from grass-fed and wild-caught species ? fruits in limited amounts, nuts and good oils (olive, fish and coconut oil). ? The advantage of the Paleo diet is that it controls and diminishes the release of insulin. High insulin levels promote aging and play a large role in many of the chronic degenerative diseases of aging, such as cancer and Alzheimer?s.?
Reason to Go Back to Bed. Robert Gonzalez says there are 10 reasons to go back to bed, including, ?If you don?t, you?ll die?: ?Experiments in rats have shown that continuous sleep deprivation for upwards of two weeks inevitably leads to death; and outcomes are also fatal in rare cases where humans are literally unable to sleep.?
This Week?s Question: You probably know what digital cameras have done to Kodak, but do you know who invented the digital camera? You can find the answer here.
Gene Marks owns the Marks Group, a Bala Cynwyd, Pa., consulting firm that helps clients with customer relationship management. You can follow him on Twitter.
Source: http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/13/this-week-in-small-business-the-bacon-milkshake/
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