Posts Tagged ‘small business’

Small Business Unemployment on the Rise

February 28th, 2010

Small Business Unemployment on the Rise

With unemployment at a 26 year high at 10.2%, its no wonder that DC movers and shakers are starting to focus more attention on small business owners.

Statistics supplied by ADP (and reported by CNN) show that small businesses (businesses with less than 50 employees) cut 68,000 jobs in the last quarter of 2oo9. A huge portion of the total 5.3 million jobs lost this year alone was due to the 2 million jobs lost in small business.

With challenges such as small business loans drying up, SBA subsidies running out, and other small business financial institutions going bankrupt, it will be harder to recover those lost jobs. In fact, large banks have axed close to $10 billion dollars in small business lending. » Read more: Small Business Unemployment on the Rise

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Posted in Business, Finance, Politics

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Creating a Basic Budget for Your Small Business

February 16th, 2010

Basic Business Budget

One of the oldest sayings in business is that you have to spend money to make money. But you have to spend your money wisely. And that’s where budgeting comes into play.

A basic budget tries to anticipate your spending needs and forecasts your sales and other revenue. A budget helps you predict when money comes in and goes out so you can better manage your cash flow. It’s also useful when dealing with bankers on loans. In short, a budget is a useful road map to guide your business through the year.

A good basic budget can:

1. Forecast the timing and amounts of your spending
2. Set realistic goals for income and expenses
3. Give you a standard against which to measure performance
4. Help you control your expenses
5. Show you when you’re overspending so you can adjust

The three main elements of any business budget are sales revenues, expenditures and profits. To create your budget, you’ll need to anticipate a dollar amount for each elements. Existing businesses can look to past figures for guidance; new businesses must make an educated guess. » Read more: Creating a Basic Budget for Your Small Business

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President Proposes Strong Budget for Small Businesses

February 15th, 2010

Small Business Administration

Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship Chair Mary L. Landrieu, D-La. today praised the Small Business Administration (SBA) components of President Obama’s budget proposal. For the second year in a row, the President has proposed increasing funding for the SBA and its programs, taking decisive steps to rebuild the SBA after eight years of cuts. The request proposes to increase funding to the agency by $170 million from last year’s enacted level, to $994 million. This, along with new small business job-creating proposals the President outlined in his State of the Union address last week, show the Obama Administration’s strong support for small businesses.

“By requesting more money to help our small businesses succeed, President Obama’s budget proposal emphasizes that small business remains a top priority for the Administration and is central to the President’s efforts to create jobs,” Sen. Landrieu said.

“As part of his budget, the President again showed his support for increasing the caps on small business loans as a way to provide small businesses with immediate capital to grow and hire workers. This is a proposal I, along with Ranking Member Olympia Snowe, introduced last year. It has since gained even more bipartisan support and passed the Committee. It is my hope the proposal will be included in any job-creating measure introduced in the Senate. » Read more: President Proposes Strong Budget for Small Businesses

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Posted in Business, Politics

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Introducing our eBay Specialist Terance Henry

February 13th, 2010

eBay Certification

I try to provide as much experience and focused commentary on this blog as possible. While I know a lot about the Internet and business I am not the Jack of all trades. As such I always look to partner up with creative minds, experienced individuals and experts in their field. It is my pleasure to announce that Trance Henry, an education specialist for eBay will be our resident writer for all things eBay and online sales.

Mr. Henry is an accomplished eBay specialist and a successful business owner. He is also an instructor at John A. Logan Community College in Carterville Illinois and the number 2 eBay specialist in the state of Illinois. » Read more: Introducing our eBay Specialist Terance Henry

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How to start selling on ebay

February 12th, 2010

Make Money on eBay

For the last 9 years I’ve been ask how to sell successfully on eBay.  Ebay is the place where today, for example, 1.3 million people in the world make a living on the internet. VMEUXA3996NB

eBay continues to attract people who would like to make a portion of their living selling online. Of course, there’s a big difference be­tween making a buck and making a living, between a sometime-thing and a steady gig. I’ve been paid a few times to play the guitar—it doesn’t make me a professional musician.  There’s a lot that goes into making a living on eBay that some people need to think about first before becoming a seller. First you will need to determine just how serious you are about becoming an eBay seller, it takes a lot of time and research.  You will spend a lot of time taken pictures, answering emails & phone calls, as well as determining just how much your product is worth.  » Read more: How to start selling on ebay

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Can You Still Make a Living Selling on Amazon and eBay?

February 12th, 2010

Selling on online marketplaces like Amazon and eBay is getting more complicated. As Kelly K. Spors reports today in her small-business guide:
The sites are crowded with sellers, and new third-party marketplaces are cropping up all of the time. Plus, the rules change frequently. EBay angered many longtime sellers in recent years by restricting payment options, changing seller feedback procedures and promoting fixed-price items over its original auction-style listings. Amazon’s Marketplace stopped accepting new sellers in some product categories and requires pre-approval in others.

“Merely being listed on eBay or Amazon isn’t a sustainable business,” said Dennis Ceru, an entrepreneurship professor at Babson College in Wellesley, Mass. “There are a lot of people going down this path that are making little or no money.”
Is it still possible to make a living on eBay or the other sites? If so, what are the keys to succeeding? Please tell us about your experiences.

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8 Tips for starting a Home Small Business

February 8th, 2010

Concept of working from home sounds great with big benefits but one cannot ignore the fact that profit margins are slim in a home business. You need money to get it going… money that most of the people don’t have when they start a home business.

Sometimes, people new with their home business do not have an idea if they are really earning or loosing money and I assume that only in few cases a fellow home business owner is able to hire an accountant to calculate the Profit/Loss sheet.

Well, I bring you some tips that will help you discover tips to start your home business on a shoestring budget. These guidelines will certainly help your business get running with minimum expense.

Let’s check out how to get smart with your home business budget. » Read more: 8 Tips for starting a Home Small Business

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Posted in Business, Home & Real Estate

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