Small Business Entrepreneur blog

Does a Business Owner Still Need Personal Insurance?

2012-01-24T21:07:25Z

A lot of successful business owners rely on the sense of security that their huge profits give. They spend most of their time growing the business knowing that it will provide for the needs of their family but is this enough?

The rising cost of living can often propel the need for insurance to cover any unforeseen contingencies or losses. Increasing cost of living can imply that the average income required by an individual or a family unit is also increasing, thus escalating the need for Income protection insurance. This ensures that in the rare occurrence of the loss of income of the primary bread earner (due to illness or injury), the minimum income needed for the sustenance of the individual or the family continues to flow in.

In addition to income protection insurance, life insurance and health insurance, we have generally realised and accepted the need to insure material possessions as well. For this reason, it is very common for an individual to spend their hard-earned money to pay the premiums for home and contents, caravan, boat and car insurance.

Whenever we talk of Personal Insurance the first thing that often comes to our mind is Life Insurance. Life Insurance refers to the kind of policy which pays out a lump sum to the nominated beneficiary in the event of death or terminal illness of the policy holder. This sum of money can be critical for the financial security of the dependents of the policy holder.
Every individual during their lifetime tries to earn the maximum possible for themselves or their family and strives to provide the best material comforts that money can buy. A booming business is not an assurance of security for people you will leave behind, especially if none of them take an interest in taking over the company once you are gone.
We do not want to deprive our dependents of these material comforts even when we are not around and for this reason, adequate Life Insurance coverage becomes imperative.
There is no simple answer as to how much Life Insurance cover can be considered enough. Although the amount of Life Insurance cover required varies from one individual to another, the amount of debt that the individual has accrued in their lifetime is often be the basis to calculate the total Life Insurance cover required. To this, you can add the cost of education of dependent children, healthcare requirements and most importantly, an average estimate of monthly household expenses.

The following steps could prove useful in calculating your total life insurance requirement:
1.   Add up all personal assets, such as property (if any), shares, bonds, fixed deposits, savings and existing life insurance (if any). This summation is denoted as “A”.
2.   Add up all debts, such as home loan or mortgage, personal loan, car loan and credit card debt. This total is denoted as “L”.
3.   Add up approximate cost of education of your children, cost of marriage of your children, approximate funeral expenses and approximate estate expenses. This summation is denoted as “C”.
4.   Calculate a ballpark Insurance cover by the following simple formula->Total Insurance Cover = (L+C)-A

Another simple way of calculating how much life insurance is enough to ensure the future of your family is to total your average monthly household expenses for the last 12 months and multiply it with your remaining work life. Insurance cover = Yearly Household Expenses * Years till retirement.
Just as there is no simple answer to the question “how much insurance is enough”. Similarly, there is no standard answer to the question “how much will life insurance cost”. The premium payable for Life Insurance depends on a larger number of factors such as type of life insurance plan selected, amount of life insurance coverage applied for, age and sex of the policy holder, general health conditions and past medical history of the policyholder as well as your immediate family, choice of physical activities and hobbies, intention to or record of foreign travels, along with some other factors as well, which vary from one insurer to another.

Whatever life insurance policy you might choose, it could certainly help to support dependents into the future so keep growing your business and consider investing a portion of your earnings in the security of your loved ones.
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This guest post was created by Lynette Argent at Million Dollar Woman. Million Dollar Woman is an Australian insurance brand offering Life Insurance products designed to meet the unique needs of women.

What is Public Liability Insurance?

2012-02-01T12:36:55Z

It is a good idea for anyone who owns a business in the UK to ensure they take out Public Liability Insurance if any members of the public have access to your place of business. There are many available business products and public liability insurance falls under this heading. You can get a quote from many places that will be tailor made for your needs so it’s wise to shop around and make sure you are getting the best deal.

But what is public liability insurance?

Basically, it provides cover for your business against any claim made by a member of the public who have received injuries or damage to property – for example if they slip on a wet floor. It’s meant to compensate for loss of earnings, future loss of earnings or any damages awarded to the claimant. It will also cover your legal costs and the claimant’s legal costs should you be found at fault.

Claims can be made even as a result of an accident whether on your premises or outside of it – think of sales or construction site visits. Some clients and customers will require proof that you hold this insurance before they decide to work with you – local authorities in particular commonly ask whether you are covered so take this into consideration when deciding whether to take the plunge and buy.

Some everyday businesses that require this type of insurance are:

Shops
Office and Surgery
Restaurant and Pub
Sometimes even sports insurance is required!

The amount of cover you need will vary according to the type of business you’re running as well as other factors. Make sure you do your research – most small businesses will require about £1m of cover but in some circumstances you may be required to take out more. If you’re not sure what to look for, try comparison websites for the best quote.

Downsizing companies can save with storage units

2012-01-18T21:21:49Z

Relocating your business can be either an exciting or terrifying experience, but most business owners that have gone through it in the past will agree that it’s always an undesirable hassle. And it can be even more of a pain if your new place of business happens to be much smaller than what you’re used to. What if you can’t make your entire inventory fit? You could either get rid of the excess, or you could consider finding office furniture storage at a nearby self-storage facility. Here is some helpful advice to assist in your decision.

First of all, you can find inexpensive office furniture storage. If your business needs require you to find extra space to keep surplus inventory, a long term storage facility could be the affordable answer that’ll keep you from having to pay higher rent for adequate space. Depending on the facility you choose and its distance from your business, you could actually land a pretty sweet deal.

Second of all, you’ve also got to consider how much it’ll eventually cost you to replace that desk once you’ve moved to a bigger facility further down the line. Don’t be afraid to do the math. Storing a $1000 desk for $20 per month will only run you $240 a year, but throwing it away now is a guaranteed $1000 replacement bill later on. So weigh your options carefully before you start tossing furniture overboard. Once it’s gone, you can’t get it back.

Lastly, not every business owner stays in the same place forever, but often one of the contributing factors to staying in the same place for far too long is the high cost of moving your equipment and merchandise. By keeping it all at a central storage facility, you have the freedom to move your operation to a more visible or financially viable location.

It is also important to remember that most storage facilities include top of the line security systems that guarantee the well-being of your inventory.

Below are other items to consider storing that will help reduce office clutter:

Retail products and excess, non-perishable inventory
Seasonal office decorations
Office supplies, which provides a way to buy in bulk and save more money on this business expense
Computer hardware, including monitors, laptops, and keyboards
Oversized marketing materials, such as banners, trade show booths, and signage

Needless to say, there are restrictions that dictate what you can and can’t put into a storage facility, thus the type of business you’re in will greatly impact your ability to use a rental unit for inventory storage. Typical lists of things you can’t keep in self-storage include, but aren’t limited to: guns and ammunition, chemicals, and food.

When storing these types of items in a business storage unit, take pictures and maintain a running inventory of what is stored at the office to ensure nothing goes missing or to know when to reorder certain items. So next time you are considering moving, or throwing out extra office furniture, remember these tips and consider renting a self-storage unit instead.

This article was written by Matt Schexnayder. Matt is on the SpareFoot marketing team and writes for the SpareFoot blog. SpareFoot is the largest online marketplace for self-storage with more than 5,000 self-storage facilities listed nationwide. SpareFoot offers consumers the most complete comparison shopping experience in the storage industry and has been a big part of the national moving and storage industry for over 3 years.

Top 10 “money-making” tricks for the Yuletide season

2011-11-26T08:02:00Z

It is that time of the year once again. It is the time for singing, dancing, and merry-making with family and friends. Christmas parties can be found practically anywhere. A lot of effort goes into preparing these parties such as food, location, entertainment, games, raffles, etc. These festivities can generate a lot of potential income for those with the right ideas and target market. In the Philippines, people want to take every opportunity there is to make money even on the side. Here are some of the ideal business ideas you can consider this Christmas:

• Food Stalls

Ham, puto bumbong (purple, glutinous rice pastry seasoned with brown sugar, grated coconut, and grated cheese), and bibingka (flour and egg cake), and tsokolate (hot chocolate) are just some of the popular food products during the Christmas season. A popular tradition in the Philippines is the Simbang Gabi and Misa de Gallo. It is a series of nine masses that culminates on Christmas Eve. The food stalls selling the aforementioned food selections are widely patronized by the Catholic faithful.

• Food Catering

I mentioned earlier about the food for Christmas parties. The hosts of these parties don’t want to go through all the hassle of preparing the food so they will most likely look for venues for their party as well as call for a caterer to handle this.

• Food Retailing

As convenient as food catering services are, it is not easy on the wallet. These people would rather purchase food such as pastas, cookies, and cakes from established or home-based retailers and just setup their party setting on their own as a way of cutting costs.

• Photography and Videography

Party hosts would also like to document their parties. Professional photographers also cost a lot of money so some would most likely opt to look for freelance photographers for a lower price. This is a good start for photographers who have just entered the photography business.

• Personalized Gift Wrappers, Tags, Cards and Gift Wrapping Service

A lot of people want to give personal gifts that mean something to the recipients including the wrappers, tags, and cards that go along with it. The problem is that people usually don’t have the time to do all these for a lot of people. Even wrapping the gifts can be considered time-consuming. You can charge customers on a per item basis.

• Christmas Decorations

Christmas would never be complete without Christmas decorations. Christmas lights, Christmas trees, Christmas socks, and Santa Claus-related products are just some of the popular decorations you can sell. If you have the me

ans to do so, you can even design your own decorations. In the Philippines, Christmas parols (a five-point star shaped Christmas lantern made out of capiz shells) are very popular decorations.

• Christmas Giveaways

People with businesses, especially corporations, have a lot of employees to give Christmas bonuses too and that includes giveaways such as pens, notebooks, t-shirts, etc. As always, people would like to cut costs so they would most likely transact directly with a supplier and purchase in bulk orders.

• Money Lending

Christmas is truly a time for spending money. Most of the time they go over their budget and still need more money. If you have the cash to spare, you can loan money to other people at a minimal interest.

• Fireworks

What would Christmas, or New Year for that matter, be without fireworks? If you have the means, you can contact a supplier and ask how to become a retailer yourself.

• Cell phone loading business

In the Philippines, people send a lot of texts to their loved ones. It is natural to greet them and convey their messages for Christmas and New Year. With the servers of cellular network providers occasionally crashing especially during the eve of Christmas and New Year, you have an idea of just how much texts and calls are made. There is definitely a huge market and demand for cell phone load especially since most of the cellphone users in the Philippines have prepaid plans.

Wanting to take advantage of the numerous opportunities to earn money during the yuletide season is not bad. It is important, however, that you remain true to your principles and not practice unfair methods to cheat on consumers and your fellow competitors. More than just making money, remember that these businesses ideas exist to help people in their time of need so stay in tune with the spirit of Christmas.

Author bio:

Jessica Francisco is a cheerful 25-year-old with an odd sense of fun. The least of her broad range of hobbies include swimming, hiking and listening to the music of Michael Jackson. Jessica is also one of the editors of Luke C. Roxas.

Protecting mobile assets with vehicle tracking

2011-11-23T19:13:56Z

For companies that use vehicles as part of their operation, or even rely on them completely, managing the fleet can become a difficult task. Keeping up with the latest legislation can become a job in itself.

For companies looking to improve their efficiency when it comes to managing their fleet, vehicle tracking systems might be the answer, using GPS and cellular advancements to keep tabs on mobile assets 24 hours a day.

One of the main problems for companies that use vehicles a lot in day to day business is their inappropriate use. Often, the insurance policies that companies take out on vehicles don’t protect the car for any damage which occurred whilst the vehicle is being used for personal purposes, and as such any injuries incurred by the employee in question will result in a rejection from most insurance companies when it comes to making a claim.

When tight deadlines are part of a firms operating schedule, for example in the case of delivery companies, vehicle tracking can be integral in increasing customer/client happiness and staff efficiency. Routing systems can be easily devised and managed through the combination of GPS and cellular tracking, avoiding busy highways, particularly expensive toll roads and unforeseen road works that waste time and ultimately money.

Of course when people think of vehicle tracking, the prevention of theft is probably one of the first things that come to mind. As well as general trackers on the vehicle which can alert companies if their vehicles go off route – avoiding one of the main ways in which cargo is stolen; by being driven to chop shop before having significant amounts of ‘merchandise’ is dropped off – trailers can be fitted with transmitters on locks, so that the relevant parties are alerted if a stock area in a vehicle is opened.

If the vehicle itself is stolen, then obviously recovery is made very easy with the installation of a GPS tracker, and for vehicles that are carrying loads which are likely to be hijacked, then a scout vehicle can be used to check up on assets that have been stood still at an unauthorised location for too long, which also increases safety for the driver.

With all these advantages, vehicle trackers are fast becoming a necessity for modern companies which rely on their mobile assets to do business. It is now possible to prevent and solve crime relating to vehicles more easily, lower insurance premiums and fuel costs, and increase efficiency with the implementation of this one technology.

Companies require more confidence to purchase energy efficiency steps

2011-10-29T14:33:08Z

Reports have found that in excess of 50 % of the top 250 companies in britain have released energy efficiency measures at their building but many are concerned that the cost of setting up equipment to reduce their carbon emissions is too expensive.

Market research from Ernst and Young revealed that 71 per cent of the top businesses are preferring to purchase other areas instead of energy efficient equipment such as voltage optimisation units, as they are concerned about costs and the amount of time it may need to recover the money they’ve allocated to an investment.

Over half of businesses have already improved their energy efficiency but just 9 per cent have existing intends to make any extra changes.

Nearly all of the companies who replied said that a considerable rise in energy prices would make them look for ways of lowering their energy consumption and becoming more effective.

Even when your company can’t manage to install new products, there are still lots of energy saving ideas for companies of all sizes to help companies decrease their carbon footprint. Apolloenviro supply environmental consultancy services to aid businesses of any size cut their carbon emissions.

The government CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme makes it more essential than ever for businesses to find ways of becoming more efficient to prevent paying additional costs, so contact Apollo Enviro today to see what they are capable of doing for your business.

Consortium set up to fund renewable energy equipment in homes

2011-10-25T18:05:27Z

A number of leading companies in the banking, energy and building sectors have joined forces to set up a not-for-profit organisation to help fund the installation of renewable energy equipment.

The Green Deal Finance Company (GDFC) will provide cheap loans to both businesses and home owners who want to install renewable energy equipment, as part of the government’s Green Deal scheme.

It is hoped many people will install renewable energy equipment such as solar PV panels, ground source heat pumps and biomass boilers as part of the scheme to not only reduce their energy costs but to also help the government meet its targets on carbon emissions.

One of the rules of the scheme states that loan repayments must never exceed the savings on energy bills, so it is hoped that this will encourage people to take up the finance options available.

The Energy Secretary, Chris Huhne, said:

“New firms like the Green Deal Finance Company are testament to the attractiveness of the Green Deal framework and its potential to offer a better deal to consumers.”

The GDFC is made up of 16 members including energy companies such as British Gas and npower, banks such as HSBC and Lloyds and retail group Kingfisher who own B&Q. It is hoped that more companies and local authorities will become part of the group to make the funding as accessible as possible.

There are also a number of other government incentives available for home owners who install renewable energy sources including feed in tariffs as well as the Renewable Heat Incentive which is due to be launched in autumn 2012.

Replacing a boiler with a more environmentally friendly version, whether it’s a wood chip and log boiler or a wood pellet and log boiler can help you make significant savings on your heating bills, and as they use all your existing pipes, it is easy to install and can cost much less than you expect.

If you’re looking for advice on renewable energy then contact independent advisors Enerfina. They can recommend the ideal source for your home and have also negotiated special deals with suppliers to ensure that you get the best price possible for your renewable energy equipment”

How to Make Signage Work For You

2011-10-21T19:00:54Z

-Brandon Serna, on behalf of FASTSIGNS

When it comes to running a business, what are the most important things you need to be doing? If “attracting new customers” isn’t on your list, you definitely need to reconsider your business strategy!

Customers are the backbone of any industry. Without them, you’d quite literally be out of a job. But what can you do to bring new customers in every day?

Certainly you’ve tried many things already. You may have taken out ads in the newspaper, passed your business card to everyone you met, and relied on your clients spreading the word that you provide a good service. But that’s not enough; there is always the chance to grow your business, and the answer may be more obvious than you think:

Consider your signage.

First impressions are key, and, contrary to popular belief, they don’t start with your staff; they start with your storefront. It is vital that you have well-lit, legible, creative and appealing business signage, because if the customers aren’t coming into your store – or, worse, if you allow them to be drawn to your competitors – it won’t matter how polite, knowledgeable or well-trained your staff is.

Think about it. When you pull into the parking lot of any business, your eyes settle upon their sign. Whether you need business signage for your storefront, a medical building, a church or any other building, make sure you work closely with your sign company to come up with a design that is both creative and easy for your clients to read, understand and recognize. The possibilities in building signs are nearly limitless; you can choose any logo, lettering style or color, so be sure you’re working with an agency capable of producing the best and most effective possible combination.

Additionally, you may want to consider utilizing banners. Banners are fairly inexpensive, and they are a great way to attract attention to your company. They tend to be colorful and large, and they move in the wind, catching the eye of passing motorists. Again, work with an agency capable of designing your banner to be both attractive and easily readable. This particular variety of outdoor sign is often very effective, so make sure you get the most out of it.

Once you get your customers in the door you might think that your signage work is complete. Don’t get complacent though, because it’s not! Customers may still be turned off by your business if your floor plan isn’t easy to navigate. Using directional guidance signs will reduce or eliminate the possibility that your customers will get lost when looking for what they need. Remember, your layout makes sense to you, but it may not make sense to everyone, and a frustrated customer will not stick around for long.

Name directories are helpful in office buildings, as are clear number signs on each interior door. Determine your needs, and try to take a walk through your store with “fresh” eyes. If you didn’t know where everything was already, would you be able to find it? Ask a friend to walk through the store asking questions. Listen to your customers. Figure out what’s causing the most confusion, and post signs to eliminate it!

Remember, customers are the most important thing, and attracting and retaining them should be your top priorities. With a little bit of forethought and a good deal of guidance from a signage professional, you can make a great impression on your clients that will last a lifetime.

Manitoba Small Business Week 2011

2011-10-17T05:31:28Z

Small business and entrepreneurs add growth to our economy, and this week their contributions will be front and centre as Manitoba Small Business Week kicks off today, announced Shelly Glover, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance and Member of Parliament for Saint-Boniface, on behalf of the Honourable Lynne Yelich, Minister of State for Western Economic Diversification.

Small Business Week runs from October 16 – 22 and continues to celebrate the contributions of entrepreneurs to our country and province’s economic success during the official “Year of the Entrepreneur”. This year’s event theme, “Power Up Your Business. Invest. Innovate. Grow”, encourages entrepreneurs to attack challenges with renewed decisiveness, market awareness and creativity

“Our Government supports small business, and recognizes the significant role that entrepreneurs play in economic growth and job creation,” said Parliamentary Secretary Glover. “Small businesses are vital to our country’s economic prosperity and we are proud to be part of initiatives that help them grow and become more competitive.”

Small Business Week is an annual event promoting the success and growth of the small business community by providing business owners with unique opportunities to share their success stories, network, learn, and exchange innovative ideas.

“Small Business Week is a time to prepare for new challenges and opportunities,” said Michael Selci, Vice President, Financing and Consulting, Manitoba at BDC. “The success of small and medium-sized companies is vital to the province’s economy and BDC’s mission is to provide entrepreneurs in Manitoba with the support they need to succeed.”

Small and medium-sized businesses represent 97.5 per cent of all Canadian companies and employ the majority of workers across the country. A total of 97 per cent of the more than 102,000 small businesses in Manitoba have fewer than 50 employees, and over 90,000 people in Manitoba are self-employed.

Small Business Week is a national initiative sponsored by the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), in cooperation with the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and is locally supported by the Canada/Manitoba Business Service Centre. The Canada/Manitoba Business Service Centre (C/MBSC), a partnership between the Government of Canada and the Province of Manitoba, provides comprehensive business and trade information, training, and research to support new and existing entrepreneurs in Manitoba.

More information on Small Business Week activities in Manitoba is available at www.canadabusiness.mb.ca

When Promo Products Become Important for a Small Business

2011-10-13T05:51:28Z

Promotional products can be an effective way for a small business to establish a public identity. It’s called brand marketing, and the idea is to get consumers to accept a free gift and remember the caring company that gave it. Imprinted promotional items can be given out at trade shows, contests, company get-togethers, corporate meetings, sporting events, fundraisers — virtually anywhere a company brand can be circulated.

Promotional products can have everlasting power to establish a brand, but only if the items don’t end up in a trash barrel. Key chains, calendars, and other traditional giveaways are nice, but they aren’t likely to influence someone to replace the key chain or calendar they already have. A freebie is only considered important for a business if it is useful, imaginative, unique, or simply too cool to throw away. The solution is to think like a consumer.

Environmentally friendly promo products make an excellent marketing investment for a small business. Globally conscious giveaways are always noticed by consumers, who will not only accept your “green” promo items, they will look for ways to put them to good use for a long time. That can be some serious branding.

Water bottles and shopping totes are two good examples of eco-friendly promotional products, but a much sexier statement of green living is a Bamboo Flash Drive from rushIMPRINT. With its imprinted bamboo case and lightweight construction, this promotional product speaks to environmental concerns while also tackling modern technological issues. It’s just the kind of useful promo item that consumers will want to keep.

Imprinted apparel is another avenue for promotional products with staying power. For example, an upscale fitness center could give away the Chammyz Kimono Style Robe by rushIMPRINT. It’s an updated version of the traditional terry robe, but with a shorter length and kicky hood. The difference is, this kimono is more in keeping with today’s styles. That makes it more likely that the wearer will identify the imprinted company as trendy, and trendy is an image that any small business can leverage against the competition.

$3 Million to Accelerate Growth in Maine

2011-10-08T04:56:34Z

The Blackstone Charitable Foundation today announced the launch of Blackstone Accelerates Growth, a $3 million initiative that aims to help Maine transition to an innovative economy that supports sustained economic growth in years to come. With a goal of helping Maine companies add an additional 10,000 quality jobs over the next 10 years, this initiative will establish regional hubs of innovation and entrepreneurship which will serve as catalysts to propel new and existing businesses to greater levels of profitability and job growth. This grant is part of the Blackstone Charitable Foundation’s $50 million entrepreneurship initiative.

Blackstone Accelerates Growth has the potential, over a ten year period, to help Maine entrepreneurs create more than 10,000 sustainable and higher paying innovation jobs, a significant impact in a state of 1.3 million. The program expects to add an additional $664 million in new revenues to Maine’s economy over those ten years and have a significant indirect, multiplier effect in job creation and economic improvement. In the first three years, 250 companies will be served, and more than 400 students will be prepared for work with innovative companies in regional centers.

The grant to Maine is the most recent commitment in the Foundation’s 5-year Entrepreneurship Initiative announced in the spring of 2010. Influenced by the urgent need for job growth in the wake of the economic collapse, Blackstone changed its Foundation’s mission and committed $50 million to fostering entrepreneurship in places with high unemployment. The Foundation looks for innovative projects and catalytic ideas that can meaningfully contribute to the economic rebuilding of the nation.

Winding up pension schemes: who does it, and how?

2011-10-07T05:00:03Z

There comes a point in the lives of some pension schemes when due to unforeseen circumstances an employer decides that they can no longer contribute to the scheme. The most vital question is: who will be responsible for winding up the pension scheme and how will they bring it to a close? This depends on the reason for the pension’s demise.

If the employer halts their contributions because they cannot afford the payments or due to a merger which altered budgets, then it’s possible that the winding up will be carried out by the company’s usual trustees. If a company becomes insolvent, it’s normal that the regular trustees will also be joined by independent trustees, but the regular trustees will no longer make important decisions relating to the pension and instead remain in place to aid the smooth winding up of the pension scheme. The insolvency practitioner is bound by law to inform the Pensions Regulator when a scheme must be wound up. Independent trustees are often appointed by the Pensions Regulator; whether this is a person or, more often than not; a company, the appointed body must have no vested interest surrounding the giving and receipt of the final payments.

When winding up a pension scheme a trustee investigates the previous management of the assets of the scheme and assesses the value that would be available for the employees who are in this case the beneficiaries of the scheme. After this the trustees “realise the value” which essentially involves selling off the property that remains. It is also important that they invest the profits during the process by investing them in low risk ventures to curb potential losses.

The final pay out of the pension scheme to its beneficiaries is conducted according to the original plan to divide the profits between the members from when the trust was established.

The trustees’ are bound to abide by these guidelines, irrelevant of both the potentially disconcerting circumstances and the total value of the assets. Because of this it is common for some members to be paid before others, as they are considered a higher priority. This depends on their own participation in the scheme and their own standing contributions.

It is possible that additional payments can be given to the members irrelevant of the original specific trust constitution and these payments are taken into consideration by the trustees under statutes. These additional payments can be made by the Pension Protection Fund in cases in which employees contributed to pension schemes that eventually went up in smoke. This can be especially vital in situations where a scheme was severely underfunded and then reached insolvency.

Ill health pensions and survivor’s pensions are a good example of all this and are protected up to a percentage of the original policy’s value, meaning that the contributors’ investment is, to a certain degree, safe.

19-20 October 2011 – The Council of Smaller Enterprises’ (COSE) Small Business Conference in Cleveland

2011-10-06T05:12:46Z

The Council of Smaller Enterprises’ (COSE) Small Business Conference – one of the nation’s largest, most comprehensive education and networking events created solely for small business – is scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday, October 19 and October 20 at the I-X Center in Cleveland.

The conference includes 50 breakout workshops in the areas of sales, marketing, HR, money, social media, technology, as well as personal and professional development. Business owners can also benefit from a 75-plus exhibit business-to-business trade show, countless networking opportunities, interactive learning labs, and peer-to-peer roundtables on topics pertinent to small businesses.

Other exciting components of the 2011 Small Business Conference include the COSE Ten Under 10 Awards, recognizing the top ten Northeast Ohio businesses with less than ten employees, and four hands-on learning labs featuring topics such as social media, QuickBooks, and database management.

The Conference is free to the first attendee from a COSE member company. Additional representatives from the same company are invited to attend for only $75. The non-member price for the Conference is $499. Breakfasts, lunches and parking are free with registration.

For more information or to register, call (216) 592-2222 or visit www.cose.org/sbc.

Pennsylvania Receives $1.7 Million Federal Grant to Increase Small Business Exports

2011-10-04T05:23:08Z

The Department of Community and Economic Development received a $1.7 million State Trade and Export Promotion grant from the federal Small Business Administration (SBA) to increase export assistance to Pennsylvania’s small businesses.

“Providing small businesses with the tools they need to grow and create jobs in the state is a top priority of the governor and our agency,” DCED Secretary C. Alan Walker said. “Export assistance is a great resource for small businesses interested in selling their goods and services to new markets.”

The SBA’s State Trade and Export Promotion Grant (STEP) Pilot Grant Initiative provides grants to states for small business exporting assistance programs. The STEP Initiative works to increase the number of small businesses that are exporting, and boost the value of exports for those small firms already exporting.

Pennsylvania’s Center for Trade Development will provide funds to qualifying companies to participate in multiple international trade events and projects. Industry categories will focus on food, energy, medical and wood/building. Countries include Taiwan, UAE, Brazil, Canada, Israel, Japan, Chile, Germany, Korea, India, China and others. The STEP project will hold at least two virtual buyer events with the Commercial Service and Pennsylvania universities.

From 2005 to present, the Center for Trade Development directly generated over $2.1 billion in new export sales and supported over 14,200 jobs in the state. In the last fiscal year alone, the program generated over $526 million in new export sales for Pennsylvania companies, supporting more than 4,000 jobs.

The Center for Trade Development, housed within the Department of Community and Economic Development’s Office of International Business Development, helps Pennsylvania exporters expand their reach, capacity and capability to sell into new markets by providing clients with access to market research, partner search services, grants, and a full schedule of international trade shows and missions.

For more information about the Office of International Business Development or other economic development services, visit NewPA.com or call 1-866-466-3972.

Mobile broadband, how it can be a lifesaver for busy entrepreneurs

2011-09-30T19:33:53Z

When mobile phones became popular in the mid-1990s, every second business conversation was about how we ever lived without them beforehand. In a very real way, those conversations are now being replicated about mobile broadband – but what exactly are you missing out on if you’re not yet experiencing broadband on the move?

An end to downtime

Where the mobile let the busy entrepreneur stay connected by voice and text, mobile broadband takes that connection to the next level. Meetings, conferences and other trips are unavoidable, but they don’t have to make massive holes in your work schedule.

Of course, the laptop was always an essential anyway. You could load it up with work documents to keep you busy on the train, as well as taking advantage of hotel Wi-Fi at the other end to get you up to speed with your email. But now, mobile broadband adds a new level of interactivity to each trip.

Getting your phone online on the move

Things can still stay simple – and cheap – with your mobile too. All smartphones now connect simply and effectively to 3G networks for reasonable data transfer speeds, making checking email and even editing documents on the move a reality. Social networking and even video conferencing are also viable options, with front facing cameras now pretty much standard on smartphones.

Of course, this is the cheap option and you’re going to have to make a few shortcuts in terms of quality. Those small screens aren’t the best for Office based tasks, for example, while you’ll have a choice between an on-screen keyboard or a tiny QWERTY – not the best for a sustained typing session. However, for keeping in touch and making basic alterations, a smartphone deal with some data attached is the absolute minimum every entrepreneur should leave the office with.

Stepping up: tablets and laptops

If you really want to take your office on the road though, a laptop or tablet PC with mobile broadband is essential. A dongle can be picked up for free on mobile broadband contracts, while monthly data deals certainly won’t cost you an arm a leg – especially for the amount you’ll get out of it if you’re commuting regularly.

Tablets use the app systems common on smartphone, while laptops give you the full home computer experience. That said tablets and pads still; have the wow factor – great for client meetings – as well as being smaller, lighter and so more easily portable.

Either way, mobile Wi-Fi (or MiFi) is now another great option. It works just like your Wi-Fi at home or in the office, but out of a small portable device just a little bigger than a regular dongle that you can pop in your pocket and connect up to five devices at once. Even better, a MiFi dongle doesn’t stick out the side of your machine on the train!

The future now: hybrids

With the Motorola Atrix smartphone and Acer Eee Pad Transformer, the next generation of essential business technology is already with us. Both devices snap into a handy portable QWERTY keyboard, making an otherwise sub-optimum business device into a great option for working on more complex documents.

In the end though, as long as you’re connected to the net on the move you can stay in touch with your business – and more importantly, your clients and staff can keep you up to date with every aspect of your work. Without this, the chances are you’re going to be lagging behind the competition.

–

About the author: Chris Marling writes on behalf of Broadband Genie, the independent comparison site for mobile broadband, MiFi, free laptop deals and much more!

$25 million in loans to Help Small Businesses Immediately Grow and Create Jobs

2011-09-30T05:07:32Z

WSFS Financial Corporation (Nasdaq:WSFS), the parent company of WSFS Bank, today announced that it has created the WSFS Small Business Loans-for-Job Creation Program. Under this new program, through the end of 2011, WSFS Bank will make available a special pool of $25 million to qualified small businesses located throughout the marketplaces it serves.

“In supporting our mission to strengthen our communities, the WSFS Small Business Loans-for-Job Creation Program will provide loans to help small businesses grow immediately and help fuel the broader economy,” said Mark A. Turner, WSFS President and Chief Executive Officer. ”WSFS has been lending to businesses throughout this extended downturn,” continued Mr. Turner. ”We also know small businesses are the engine of job creation and they have been hit especially hard over the last several years. Creating this program allows us to do our part to support small businesses right here, right now.”

“WSFS has a long record of helping Delawareans access the credit they need to start and grow a business,” said Sen. Carper. “It’s been tough out there the past several years for small business owners to find affordable access to capital, and I’m proud that a Delaware community bank is helping to extend this much needed credit to Delaware small businesses. I applaud WSFS’s Small Business Loans-for-Job Creation Program, which is another step in the right direction to get our economy moving and help put Delawareans back to work.”

“This announcement from WSFS is exciting news for Delaware’s business community,” Sen. Coons said. ”The WSFS Small Business Loans-for-Job-Creation Program is a model for the type of institutional support that businesses need to grow and create jobs, and I’m optimistic that it will give Delaware’s economy a much-needed shot in the arm. This is how communities help get people back to work – by working together to help small businesses grow and create jobs. This program is win-win for Delaware.”

“Helping small businesses succeed is critical to creating jobs and strengthening the economy,” said Congressman Carney. ”I applaud WSFS Bank for developing the Small Business Loans-for-Job Creation Program and making resources available that will directly benefit small businesses in our community. This is exactly the type of support needed to grow the economy and help get Delawareans back to work.”

“Helping small businesses grow helps our economy,” said Governor Jack Markell. “Through this WSFS program, Delaware businesses looking to expand can purchase equipment, build resources and in some cases, create jobs, by taking advantage of these loans. This will give businesses some of the money they need to move forward.”

Creditworthy businesses with annual revenues up to $10 million that commit to using the funds for immediate investment (equipment investment, hiring of employees, etc.) will be eligible for loans up to $500,000 with no closing costs or other bank fees and at an attractive fixed rate. Business owners interested in the WSFS Small Business Loans-for-Job Creation Program can call Cheryl Rodriquez at 1-877-WSFSBIZ to learn more about this program.

MultiFunding Releases Its Annual Ranking of the Most Committed Small Business Administration Lenders

2011-10-24T17:56:27Z

In today’s lending environment, we hear horror stories about struggles that small business owners face in getting loans. Despite this tough environment, there are banks across the country that are doing an excellent job helping small business administrators and owners obtain loans through the Small Business Administration loan program.

“MultiFunding has released its first annual ranking of the most committed SBA lenders in order to honor and recognize the banks across the country who are aggressively helping small business owners through the SBA program,” said Ami Kassar, founder and CEO of MultiFunding. “These banks deserve all of our recognition and support for assisting the economy.”

The 127 lenders included in the ranking include FDIC insured banks that made a minimum of 50 SBA 7A loans in 2010. Then, in order to rank them their volume of approved SBA loans was divided by their deposits at the end of 2010.

MultiFunding’s Annual Ranking of Most Committed SBA Lenders

“The top 25 banks ranked in our study are helping small business owners in their communities live the American dream during tough economic times,” continued Kassar. “It is staggering how these banks are able to help small businesses in contrast to the largest banks in the country that are leveraging a fraction of their deposits to make SBA loans.”
These top 25 banks made $2.9 billion of SBA 7A loans in 2010, with their collective deposit base of $5.6 billion dollars. In contrast, the 25 largest banks in the country (ranked by deposits) made $3.6 billion of SBA loans with a collective deposit base of $5.7 trillion dollars.

Methodology

The study focuses on SBA 7A loans and does not include SBA 504 loans. SBA 7A loans are the vast majority of all loans made through the SBA program. In our study, deposit data is derived from the FDIC website www.fdic.gov. We use year-end deposit data to mark a calendar year. SBA loan data is obtained from www.colemanpublishing.com.

About MultiFunding

Based in the greater Philadelphia area, MultiFunding works with small business owners in more than 27 states to understand small business lending options, and to ultimately evaluate and secure the best loan alternatives for their businesses. For further information, please visit www.multifunding.com or view the small business blog at sligshotcafe.net.

American business owners continue to be optimistic

2011-09-27T19:17:22Z

The Sage Group, a leading provider of business management software and services to 6.3 million small and midsized businesses worldwide, today announced the results of its second international business outlook survey, Sage Business Index. The study, carried out by Populus on behalf of Sage, was conducted as part of a multi-country research program seeking the views and recommendations of businesses in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., France, Germany, Spain, Austria, South Africa, Malaysia and Singapore. Sage serves 3.2 million small and midsized businesses in North America.

The Sage Business Index indicated that American business owners continue to be optimistic about the prospects for their businesses despite their growing concern about the country’s economy as a whole. On a scale of 0-100, where 50 is neutral and values above 50 reflect optimism and those below 50 denote pessimism, business owners have a confidence index at 55 when asked about their business prospects in the next six months. Confidence in the U.S. economy as a whole, however, was more negative at 41.57, a drop from 50.75 when the first Sage Business Index was conducted in February 2011.

Findings showed that confidence differences exist based on the size of the business. Small businesses are the least confident about what the future will bring, and the level of confidence increases with the number of employees a company has.

The Sage Business Index survey reports are available at www.businessindex.sage.com

29th annual National Minority Enterprise Development (MED) Week Conference, Sept. 27-30, 2011, Washington, D.C

2011-09-24T19:36:16Z

MED Week celebrates the accomplishments of outstanding minority entrepreneurs and leaders and provides a platform for small and minority-owned businesses to learn about business growth strategies, receive premier training and networking opportunities.

The U.S. Small Business Administration and the Department of Commerce’s Minority Business Development Agency will bring minority business owners from around the country, government officials and corporate representatives, including corporate executives from Honda, General Motors, Chrysler, Northrop-Grumman, Raytheon and Lockheed Martin to participate in industry-specific workshops on increasing supplier diversity. The conference also will include sessions on high-speed rail construction projects, public utilities and green business.

SBA will present workshops on improving access to its lending and government contracting programs, and increasing business growth by using social media. SBA will also participate in a roundtable entitled “Doing Business with the Government.” There will be a business expo and tradeshow, business-to-business matchmaking sessions and a Small Business Town Hall to discuss the Small Business Jobs Act.

Speakers at MED Week 2011 will include Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to the President, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan, Acting Commerce Secretary Rebecca Blank, SBA Administrator Karen G. Mills, SBA Deputy Administrator Marie Johns and MBDA National Director David Hinson.

In addition to helping minority and small businesses expand their operations and establish a presence in the global marketplace, MED Week will help small businesses learn how to weather the current economic climate in the U.S. The MED Week conference will also distinguish the National Minority Small Business Person of the Year. Other award highlights include the SBA Administrator’s Leadership award and the 8(a) Graduate Firm of the Year award.

For additional information on MED Week activities, visit online at www.medweek.gov .

Is Facebook really efficient for small businesses?

2011-09-24T19:34:28Z

With everybody being more or less on Facebook nowadays I’ve seen a lot of small businesses creating a Facebook page. However, I’m not sure if having a Facebook page is really efficient for a small business, so I’ve tried to collect a few thoughts about this and let it be you to decide.

Why do small businesses use Facebook?

it’s a new and modern way to stay in touch with your customers. Instead sending a monthly newsletter, buying ads on newspapers or designing leaflets Facebook offers more frequent contact in a less invasive way.
it can generate “social traction”: it’s much easier to create hype on a new product or service
it helps branding. Online communities/forums/bulletin boards came in a distant second as most preferred networks for interaction with favorite brands, at just 9 percent. Blogs and Twitter tied for third at 4 percent. Consumers under 35 were the best represented age group of those who prefer to use Facebook; 56 percent of these people use it to interact with their favorite brands says this study on Social Media Network for Brand Interaction.
it can generate sales (it’s probably the most rapid time to market tool to announce special offers, new product lines or services)
the competition does it

In a survey of small business owners recently conducted by Pagemodo (http://pagemodo.com), the popular, do-it-yourself solution for making Facebook pages for business, 47 percent said that Facebook is driving traffic to their websites. 48 percent also indicated that having a Facebook page has increased their business’ sales. Haroon Mokhtarzada, CEO of Webs, Inc. – the parent company of Pagemodo.com — commented on the importance of Facebook business pages: “We live in a world that is increasingly driven by social media. There’s been significant growth in Facebook for businesses over the past six months. Small business owners in particular see Facebook – and a professional website – as easy-to-develop business tools that can capture new customers and help them interact with current ones.” An infographic of the survey can be seen here: http://www.pagemodo.com/blog/facebook-survey-2011/

However, the survey is a bit generic and doesn’t say what kind of businesses were included. So:

What types of small business use Facebook?

I believe that the results of using Facebook greatly differ depending on the type of small business you have. For example:

you have an online business (i.e. Web design) -> should have Facebook. If your customers are online, or looking to get online, then Facebook might be good even if you don’t get a lot of followers.
your customers use Web a lot (even if you are a typical offline business) -> should use Facebook. The first example that comes to my mind is pizza delivery in business areas. Most business people nowadays use web and need to eat. If they like your pizza, they might like your Facebook account to find out about your special deals
if you have a B2B business I believe Facebook pages are less likely to have a huge impact on your sales, but might help your branding. Interesting reading: 11 Facebook Marketing Tips and Tactics for B2B Marketers

But sometimes using Facebook doesn’t pay back because:

creating a Facebook page that brings fans that stay in touch with your business takes times and resources. As in everything else, it’s not working on the principle “build it and they will come”
having fans does not convert into sales or the efforts to attract customers via Facebook is expensive (by the way interesting read on how much a Facebook fan worth.
your targeted demographic doesn’t use Facebook in a constant way. Sure, to much everyone’s surprise Facebook means the internet for a lot of people, much like Yahoo did in the early days. People that never used Web before now use Facebook to stay in touch with family and friends. But this doesn’t really turn them in power users and might not buy from you at all being in a different than typical demographic. My recent experience showed that targeting older doctors with Facebook might not work.
your Facebook activity is kind of boring (you should read about this in why fans are unfollowing)

Huge Opportunities in Africa at 2011 U.S. Africa Business Summit

2011-09-23T14:05:30Z

The Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) will convene the 8^th Biennial U.S.-African Business Summit in Washington, D.C., Oct. 5-7, 2011. The Summit is the premier event for finding and building partnerships with more than 1,200 government and business leaders from the U.S. and Africa, as well as from Europe, Canada and Japan.

A packed three-day event, the Summit will include over 32 workshops and plenaries, a trade expo and “The Vault”, a match-making program connecting projects and entrepreneurs with sources of funding. These events will highlight Africa’s most promising sectors, including agribusiness, infrastructure, energy, health, power and security.

Featured speakers include Elizabeth Littlefield, President & CEO, Overseas Private Investment Corp (OPIC); Hanna Tetteh, Minister of Trade & Industry, Ghana; Joe Oteng-Adjei, Minister of Energy, Ghana; Hage Geingob, Minister of Trade & Industry, Namibia; Bart Nnaji, Minister of Power, Nigeria; Akin Adesina, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Nigeria; Erastus Mwencha, Deputy Chairperson, African Union Commission, and Susan Mboya, Group Director Eurasia & Africa, Coca Cola.

“The nations of Africa are experiencing one of the greatest booms in business in the history of the African continent, and the Summit showcases these investment opportunities,“ said Stephen Hayes, CCA’s President and CEO. “The future of Africa is tied to the level of investment going into Africa, the last great frontier in the world for new investment and development.”

Attendees can meet potential business partners and learn more about the Obama Administration’s policy on Africa as well as details on the continent’s important position in the global economy. Participants will have the opportunity to network with key African and U.S. private sector and government representatives, identify specific growth areas and hear detailed information about projects that are ripe for investment. Additionally, they will learn about the latest financing options and meet numerous high-ranking African ministers.

More info here: http://www.africacncl.org/

Extreme Entrepreneurship Tour Coming to California

2011-09-14T08:00:22Z

San Francisco Students Look to Entrepreneurship for Employment

SAN FRANCISCO – The Business & Entrepreneurship Center and Small Business Development Center are proud to bring The Extreme Entrepreneurship Tour to City College of San Francisco on September 21, 2011 as part of a four-week series of events at 16 Community Colleges throughout California. The tour, presented by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Campaign for Free Enterprise with lead funding from the Business & Entrepreneurship Center, exposes college students to the opportunities of entrepreneurship and to young people who have successfully launched their own companies.

Prospective entrepreneurs should be inspired, not intimidated, by the current economic climate, according to Michael Simmons, co-founder of the Extreme Entrepreneurship Tour. “More than half the companies on the 2009 Fortune 500 list were launched during a recession or bear market.” Simmons said, “Technology and globalization have made it very inexpensive to start a business. Now is the best time to become your own boss.”

Arel Moodie, co-owner of the Extreme Entrepreneurship Tour, agrees with Simmons that there is opportunity, and that opportunity can have a significant impact on the job market: “Today’s students can be critical forces in the next 10 years to help create the 20 million jobs we need in this decade.”

The Extreme Entrepreneurship Tour (EET) was created in 2006 to expose young people to entrepreneurship. In more than 200 events in 35 states, the tour features many of the country’s top young entrepreneurs who have developed or sold successful companies before the age of 30. “We believe students have the ingenuity, entrepreneurial spirit, and drive to create the innovative solutions needed to meet today’s challenges,” said Stan Anderson, Chairman of the Campaign for Free Enterprise. “EET is about leveraging the creativity of young people to be part of the solution in our effort to create jobs in America.”

“We believe strongly in strengthening the entrepreneurial spirit in California,” said Michael C. Roessler, Statewide Director, Business & Entrepreneurship Center Program. “Encouraging young people to engage in entrepreneurship as a legitimate career path is a logical first step.”

The Extreme Entrepreneurship California Tour schedule also includes:

Saddleback CollegeSeptember 12Mission Viejo, CA
East LA CollegeSeptember 13Monterey Park, CA
MiraCosta CollegeSeptember 16Oceanside, CA
Bakersfield CollegeSeptember 19Bakersfield, CA
Fresno City CollegeSeptember 20Fresno, CA
San Francisco City CollegeSeptember 21San Francisco, CA
Evergreen CollegeSeptember 22San Jose, CA
Monterrey Peninsula CollegeSeptember 23Monterey, CA
Columbia City CollegeSeptember 26Sonora, CA
Cosumnes River CollegeSeptember 28Sacramento, CA
Feather River CollegeSeptember 29Quincy, CA
Shasta College BECSeptember 30Redding, CA
Shasta College BECOctober 3Eureka, CA
Las Positas CollegeOctober 5Livermore, CA
Chabot CollegeOctober 6Hayward, CA
College of AlamedaOctober 7Oakland, CA

About the Campaign for Free Enterprise
The Campaign for Free Enterprise is the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s comprehensive, multi-year campaign to support free enterprise and entrepreneurship through national advertising; grassroots advocacy; citizen, community, and youth engagement; and research and ideas leadership

About the Business & Entrepreneurship Center (BEC) Program
The Business & Entrepreneurship Center (BEC) Program is part of the California Community Colleges Economic and Workforce Development program (CCCEWD). The CCCEWD invests in California’s economic growth and global competitiveness through industry-specific education, training and services that contribute to a highly skilled and productive workforce, and the capacity of businesses to make informed decisions that improve their profitability. For more information please visit BuildCalifornia.org

7 Simple SEO Tips for Small Business

2011-09-14T06:57:00Z

Many small businesses have already realized that it is advantageous to work hand-in-hand with online search providers to deliver better quality results. They accomplish this by utilizing search engine optimization tactics that help tell the online community who they are and what they so. This helps the major search engines determine when to deliver certain websites in search results. Search quality is improving every day thanks to major search engines like Google. Many factors go into determining where a website will rank in certain search results. What follows is a simple guide for small business owners who understand the importance of search engine optimization for their business. Content, keywords, and website speed are a few of the many factors to consider. Here are the seven that we feel the strongest about.

Lighten the Code

Make sure that your website’s code is not loaded down by unnecessary technical details. If it was built by a professional website designer, it will more than likely have a built-in hosted platform that is user friendly and will not contain excess code. However, if you or another nonprofessional designer created your website, you may need to take a second look. Oftentimes, nontraditional platforms that may not be search engine-friendly are used, so organize your folders and check your text and site map with a readability tool. Aggressively optimizing your HTML code can do wonders for your rankings. Refer to the W3 guidelines for designing websites that are search-engine friendly.

Utilize your Keywords

Create a list of natural keywords that would be a good match for your website. Take a few minutes to jot down all the words that naturally come to mind when you think about searching for your website if you were looking for it. Enlist the help of family and friends, ask them to do the same thing, and then examine the results. You will more than likely come across phrases that you had not thought of. Which words appear on both lists? Choose the words that overlap and chances are those are the keywords that other people are most likely to search for first.

Then do a query for each keyword that you’ve selected. If you already have an established website that appears in the first 15 pages, then you have successfully come up with a good list of keywords to use. If you have examined ten of your keywords and your website doesn’t show up, then you’ll need to create a different list of keywords.

Start with your Homepage

Make sure your homepage contains quality text with 2-3 high performing keywords. It is okay to get creative during this process, but the goal here is to have your website appear in the top ten pages of search results. So, you will need to include the top keywords that are most likely to appear when someone is searching for your website.

Creativity is a plus but make certain that you include the top three keywords on the home page or in the main page. Then track how each keyword performs, keep an eye on your rankings to determine which targeted keywords is more effective, success will be determined if you move up in the rankings. If you operate in a local area, using keywords that include your city may be advantageous as they are typically much easier to rank for.

Content is King… Always

Provide good content based on your top keywords. Optimize the content of your website by using the targeted keywords in a well-written article or blog post. Write about something that highlights each of the keywords. The objective is to improve the overall rankings of your website with concisely written content.

Maintaining a blog is important for any website. A blog will provide fresh content that can be optimized for search engines. More, fresh quality on your site gives your business an authoritative presence in your subject area.

Network Using Social Media

Search engine optimization and social media are slowly melding into the same beast. It’s obvious to search engines like Google that if a business has 1000 “Likes” on Facebook and 10,000 Twitter followers then they are obviously important players in their field.

Use social media to create links to your website. The easiest method of using social media networks like Facebook and Twitter to create links to your site is to write status updates, Tweets and blog posts that link back to your website and individual web pages within your website.
Search engines track Facebook and Twitter and include updates in their results. If it’s relevant, well-written and useful, the search engine will pick up on it.

Call in Favors

Don’t be afraid to ask for help from family and friends. Enlist the help of loved ones, associates, friends, acquaintances and co-workers to spread the word about your website. It’s a form of viral marketing that uses word-of-mouth advertising. Ask if you can post on their website with a reference and link to yours, or ask close friends and family to use one of your keywords as a highlighted link on their social media page.

Be careful and don’t abuse the relationship, make sure the link is relevant and is something that’s beneficial to them or their friends, readers, and subscribers.

Fast Data Center Connectivity for Faster Websites

Today, more and more homes and businesses have access to high speed internet. Speed of websites is definitely a part of the Google algorithm. High speed internet will play a larger role in providing search results for online users. Small businesses need websites and internet connectivity that is fast and always on. Nonstop online operations allow webmasters to keep fresh, original content online without any downtime for users. Businesses and home users rely on high speed internet for a connection they can count on. In the same way, search engines want to make sure they deliver search results to websites that are speedy and always running.

Bots and crawlers have begun to look at the load speed of individual websites. This information was posted on Google’s Official Webmaster Central Blog, and Matt Cutts wrote about the issue of speed in a blog post, entitled, “Google Incorporating Site Speed in Search Rankings.” Cutts is the head of Google’s Search Quality group. His article reveals how page speed is going to become an important factor in determining search engine rankings. Searchers want fast, accurate search results without having to wait endlessly for a page to load.

–
Blake Sanders is a tech writer at broadband comparison site Broadband Expert. With a specialization in high speed internet and wireless broadband, Blake writes on the latest industry news and information regarding internet.

Delinquent Debt on the Rise for Very Small and Largest Businesses

2011-08-25T06:06:09Z

Experian®, the leading global information services company, today announced findings from its recently redesigned Business Benchmark Report. Findings from the Q2 report showed that the amount of delinquent debt has increased significantly for the largest and smallest businesses. Very large businesses (those with more than 1,000 employees) had the greatest shift in percentage of dollars delinquent, going from 11.6 percent in June 2010 to 18.2 percent in June 2011, and very small businesses (those with one to four employees) had the greatest shift in percentage of dollars considered severely delinquent, going from 9.9 percent in June 2010 to 11.7 percent in June 2011.

Conversely, the Q2 report indicated that businesses with 100 to 249 employees have shown the greatest improvement in percentage of dollars delinquent and severely delinquent, reducing their debt by as much as 7.3 percent and 35.8 percent, respectively, year over year. The trend for Q2 mirrors this observation, showing that businesses with 100 to 249 employees have significantly decreased their delinquent and severely delinquent dollars by 5.4 percent and 20.2 percent, respectively.

Experian’s Business Benchmark Report provides a look at the health of U.S. businesses, focusing on key risk indicators such as commercial risk score,* days beyond terms (DBT) and percentage of delinquent debt. Experian recently redesigned the report to provide improved insights that will assist business-to-business professionals in better identifying potential risk and areas of opportunity.

Other findings from the Q2 Business Benchmark Report include the following:

Risk score

The average commercial risk score for June 2011 was 57.4, worsening by 1.4 percent when compared with June 2010. However, the Q2 trend showed that this metric has remained relatively flat in recent months.
Very large businesses have seen the greatest deterioration in commercial risk scores in a year-over-year comparison, decreasing by 13.2 percent. However, the Q2 trend showed a slight but steady improvement in commercial credit risk scores for very large businesses, rising by 2.2 percent.
In June 2011, the commercial risk scores for businesses in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions remained steady when compared with the previous year. All other regions showed deterioration in scores, with the Southeast region showing the greatest decrease in average score, worsening by 4.3 percent year over year.

DBT

U.S. businesses paid their bills an average of 6.8 days beyond contracted terms in June 2011, a 12.5 percent increase when compared with June 2010. However, according to the Q2 trend, businesses have shown relative stability, decreasing by only 0.6 percent.
All business sectors have shown an increase in slow payment in a year-over-year comparison. The largest increase in slow payment came from the Construction industry (17 percent) and Insurance industry (15.7 percent) when compared with June 2010. However, the Q2 trend showed that the Utilities, Insurance, Legal Services and Health Services sectors have improved their DBT by as much as 2.9 percent.
In June 2011, all regions showed deterioration in DBT, with Midwest businesses showing the greatest increase (23.9 percent) in slow payment compared with the previous year. However, all regions showed a relative stabilization in DBT in the Q2 trend, decreasing their slow payment by as much as 1.4 percent.

Percentage of dollars delinquent

The national average percentage of dollars delinquent and percentage of dollars considered severely delinquent increased by 7.1 percent and 3.7 percent, respectively, when compared with June 2010.
The Insurance sector showed the greatest decrease in percentage of dollars delinquent and severely delinquent, reducing its debt by 38.9 percent and 45.5 percent, respectively, year over year. The trend for Q2 2011 showed that Insurance continued to reduce its delinquent debt (by 7.5 percent) and severely delinquent debt (by 8.5 percent).
As of June 2011, Midwest, Southeast and Mid-Atlantic businesses have shown the greatest increase in percentage of dollars delinquent, increasing by as much as 15.9 percent when compared with the previous year. Businesses in the Northwest and the Midwest have shown the greatest increase in percentage of dollars considered severely delinquent, increasing by 35.6 percent and 18.2 percent, respectively, in the same time period. Conversely, businesses in the Southwest showed the greatest improvement in delinquent and severely delinquent dollars, reducing their debt by 16.9 percent and 24.9 percent, respectively, year over year.
The trend for Q2 2011 showed that the Mountain region has increased its delinquent debt (by 9.7 percent) and percentage of dollars severely delinquent (by 21.3 percent). Additionally, the Northwest has continued to increase its percentage of delinquent and severely delinquent debt, rising by 4.7 percent and 22.9 percent, respectively.

To download previous reports or to see a visual representation of this data and other information broken down by state in an interactive map, visit http://www.experian.com/business-benchmark-report.

About Experian’s Business Information Services

Experian’s Business Information Services partners with organizations to establish and strengthen customer relationships, enabling them to mitigate risk and improve profitability. The company’s business database provides comprehensive, third-party-verified information on U.S. companies of all sizes, with the industry’s most extensive data on the broad spectrum of small and midsize businesses. By leveraging state-of-the-art technology and superior data compilation techniques, Experian is able to provide market-leading tools, such as BusinessIQSM, that assist clients in processing new applications, managing customer relationships and collecting on delinquent accounts. For more information about Experian’s advanced business-to-business products and services, visit http://www.experian.com/b2b.

New Green Loan for Businesses

2011-08-23T03:51:04Z

To save money and improve operational efficiency, Minnesota businesses are thinking “green.” Community Reinvestment Fund, USA(CRF), a nonprofit organization that helps small businesses gain access to capital, has launched the Green Loan for Businesses; a pilot loan program for small businesses in Minnesota seeking to reduce energy costs and achieve their sustainability goals.

The program targets business owners who want to make significant energy-saving improvements to their business facilities, allowing them to finance real estate and equipment upgrades or improvements. Unlike other initiatives, which can involve complicated applications or reporting requirements, the pilot program is a simple solution for business owners who need between $50,000 and $300,000 for green investments.

To fund the program, CRF received a $500,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy and the Minnesota Department of Commerce through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA).

“Providing funding for energy financing and ‘green-dollar’ jobs strengthens Minnesota’s small businesses and gives them the resources to operate in an eco-friendly manner,” said Commissioner Mike Rothman of the Minnesota Department of Commerce, “and we are proud to work with CRF.”

“After more than 20 years of serving the capital needs of small businesses, CRF and its partners are uniquely suited to meet the growing demand for green building loans that will help spur development in communities throughout Minnesota,” said Frank Altman, president and chief executive officer of CRF.

For More Information

Visit www.crfusa.com/greenloan.

About CRF

CRF, a nonprofit organization and certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), is the nation’s leader in bringing capital to public and private, nonprofit community development lenders through the secondary market for community development loans. Formed in 1988, CRF has injected more than $1 billion into low-income and economically disadvantaged communities around the country to help stimulate job creation and economic development, provide affordable housing, and support community facilities. CRF is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minn. www.crfusa.com.