OK, let me get this straight: The Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy reports that 27 million small businesses in the U.S. account for 50% of the Gross National Product and employ over 50% of the workforce, and Washington figures $30 billion in loan support and some tax credits will get things done.
What’s that, $1,100 per company? Wow, where do we sign up!
Our fearful leaders gave $50 billion to General Motors, and $185 billion to AIG. According to the Congressional Budget Office publication, The Budget & Economic Outlook: An Update August 2009, big business has been showered with more than $10 trillion (that’s a “T”) in funding and commitments, including: $1.3 trillion disbursed by the Federal Reserve, with another $2.8 trillion committed (including aid to AIG, Citigroup, Bank of America, Bear Stearns; $800 billion from the Treasury, with $3.6 trillion committed (including guarantees for Money Market Funds and TARP); and over $2.1 trillion committed by the FDIC (including increased depositor insurance and more Citigroup guarantees).
Um, does $30 billion to small business make a difference?
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama is to renew a push on Tuesday to persuade the U.S. Congress to approve a $30 billion plan to spur lending to small businesses and trigger job creation.
Small business owners must become literate about their company’s books without becoming accountants in order to deal with CPAs, keep on top of operations, and prevent fraud, says the co-founder of an accounting services firm.
I have spent the majority of my adult life investing my own and other people’s money in entrepreneurs. That’s why I know the U.S. has a serious problem on its hands.
Although the stock market has tentatively rebounded, funding for the one area in which America has a distinct competitive advantage–that is, new company formation–is in scary decline. That may be a familiar refrain by now, but that doesn’t make the ramifications any less real. Or less dangerous.
Lately it seems as if the term “business plan” has become synonymous with the entrepreneurship education initiatives that have sprung up on nearly every college campus and small business development center in the country.
Business plan competitions, business plan writing clinics, business planning software, business…
Not so fast, Martha Stewart.
OK, you’re special. You are talented and one of the best at what you do. But that doesn’t mean that you’re equipped to run your own business–even one within a field or industry you’ve been working in or following for years.
To wit: 627,200 new businesses opened in the U.S. in 2008–the same year 595,600 businesses shuttered and 43,546 filed for bankruptcy, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). Likewise, 30% of small businesses fail within the first two years and half close shop within five years, according to the SBA.
The fact of the matter is that far too many people launch their own companies for all the wrong reasons and without the tools it takes to succeed. Before handing in your notice and signing a lease on an office, it’s imperative you take a hard look at yourself in the salaried eye and ask yourself a few critical questions that could mean the difference between a fulfilling life as your own boss and speed-dialing a bankruptcy lawyer.
Small and growing companies are discovering lucrative new markets abroad. Developing countries are importing products, tech know-how and system support and offering franchising, licensing and distribution opportunities. If your company is expanding abroad, you need to know what you’re getting into.
Much work is involved in developing an executive compensation plan that keeps your company competitive, integrates short- and long-term goals, and contains performance measurement systems that tie back to compensation. Well-devised packages drive organizational goals and objectives and your top talent.
No growing company survives and prospers without some debt component on its balance sheet whether it’s a small loan from family or friends or a line of credit from a regional commercial lender.
An experienced small businessman, Thaine Fischer now enjoys helping others in the Leadership Roundtable organized through the Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce.