EDITED BY KIMBERLY WEISUL

Bureaucracy Buster

If you've tried to find info on U.S. government Web sites, you know that they can be impenetrable. Fortunately, an overhaul is under way for many sites. But entrepreneurs can already get easier access to information they need. At www.business.gov, launched in July, you'll find everything from shareware to regulations to financing tips--and you won't need a machete to find it.

TABLE: Net Effect

ONLINE SELLERS FACE HIGHER COSTS THAN TRADITIONAL STOREOWNERS

                                ONLINE  
                                STOREFRONT          TRADITIONAL

TRANSACTION COSTS               3.5% OF SALE        1.5% OF SALE

PERCENT OF TRANSACTIONS         0.93%               0.06%
THAT ARE FRAUDULENT             

WHO COVERS LOSSES               MERCHANT            CREDIT CARD 

FROM FRAUD                      ASSOCIATION

COST TO RESOLVE                 $40                 $10
A CHARGEBACK            

DATA: GARTNER GROUP

One Iota

Hands-On Managers?

79%

Percentage of Web execs ''not at all concerned'' with sexual harassment in the workplace

Degrees of Separation

Can entrepreneurship really be taught? The University of Arizona thinks so. It polled its Eller B-school alums to compare how graduates of the entrepreneurship program fared vs. those with a standard MBA. The E-grads were more often self-employed, had higher incomes, and were likelier to start businesses. Even entrepreneurship grads toiling at big companies earned more than other B-schoolers. Still, it could be that those who already had the right stuff chose to join the program. ''It's a chicken-egg problem,'' concedes researcher Alberta Charney.

TABLE: Out of the Ivory Tower

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA FINDS ITS ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROGRAM PRODUCES REAL-WORLD RESULTS

                                          ENTREPRENEURSHIP         OTHER
                                               GRADS           B-SCHOOL GRADS

AVERAGE ANNUAL INCOME                         $71,573             $56,500

PERCENTAGE WHO HAVE STARTED A BUSINESS         54%                 17%

PERCENTAGE WHO ARE SELF-EMPLOYED               27%                  9%

PERCENTAGE WHO OWN A HIGH-TECH COMPANY         23%                 15%

DATA: UNIV. OF ARIZONA, KAUFFMAN CENTER FOR ENTREPRENEURIAL LEADERSHIP

Bess, You Is My Guru Now

It's no longer politically correct to behead subordinates. But take some leadership advice from the top--tips from Queen Elizabeth I, adapted from Alan Axelrod's entertaining and astute book, Elizabeth I, CEO: Strategic Lessons from the Leader Who Built an Empire (Prentice Hall, $23).

Q: What is the basis for sound judgment?
A: Direct all thine actions by good advice and counsel.

Q: What makes a good adviser?
A: They will not be corrupted with any manner of gift, and they will be faithful; and without respect of your private will, they will give to you that counsel they think best.

Q: How do you motivate others?
A: I honor my honors by bestowing them sparingly. No prince's revenue be so great that they are able to satisfy the insatiable cupidity of men.

Where Plastic Isn't So Fantastic

If you're still not selling online, count your blessings. Web merchants pay twice as much in credit-card association fees as other retailers. Why? For starters, they suffer 10 times as much fraud, says Gartner Group. And fraud hits small businesses the hardest because the only online verification software they can get is designed for big companies, says Gartner's Avivah Litan. When a customer tries to buy something, these programs spit out a risk score on each transaction. But someone still needs to evaluate whether or not to let the sale go through--something big companies use custom software to do automatically. And if over 1% of your sales are consistently fraudulent, you can be slapped wtih fees up to $25,000 a month while the card company investigates. ''There's no easy answer,'' says Litan. Buyers like credit cards, but sellers are better off with alternative systems such as PayPal (www.paypal.com), an e-mail-based service from Internet bank X.com. The safest way? It's not pretty: Get paid with a check, and ship goods after it clears.

Maybe cash is king after all.

No Thanks, I'll Buy My Own

If skepticism really is healthy, we're in fine shape. Despite the hype about so-called application-service providers (ASPs)--which let you rent software and run it over the Net--small businesses aren't sure the new players are industrial-strength. Only 12% of even the tech-savviest small companies say they would use an ASP, found Cahners InStat Group.''That's a tiny little number,'' says Cahners' Kneko Burney. What's holding them back? Lousy Internet connections make entrepreneurs wary of running software online. ASPs have short track records (page F18). And most of that vintage shrink-wrapped software still works just fine.

CHART: People Power

Frontier Online

News and advice from our small-business Web site

Fee, Fie!
Two employees of the largest U.S. provider of manual day labor, Labor Ready Inc., are suing the company, claiming it unfairly charges workers to cash their paychecks. Labor Ready's 225,000 customers are mostly small businesses.

According to the lawsuit, employees who wish to be paid in cash rather than by check must use a cash machine in the lobby of their Labor Ready office. The machine charges $1 per transaction and keeps any change. The typical day voucher is less than $50, making the average fee of $1.50 equal to about 3% of a day's pay for workers who generally come from the poorest neighborhoods.

Labor Ready says the program's fees are lower than check-cashing companies, and that the fees offset costs of providing the service. But federal filings show the Big Board-traded company actually made a profit from the cash machines of about $4.8 million last year--some 20% of its net income.

Quicker SBA Loans
The Small Business Admininstration plans to enlarge its Community Express pilot program, which aims to streamline loan reviews for companies in low-income areas or those owned by minorities, women, or veterans. The program began with nine banks in 20 areas and will eventually include 500 lenders nationwide.

Community Express urges lenders to make loans they might not make on their own. It guarantees 80% of loan amounts under $100,000 and 75% of loan amounts over $100,000. The biggest loan under the program is $250,000.

Since Community Express' June, 1999 launch, its lenders have made 110 loans worth about $11.1 million. Minority-owned firms have gotten about two-thirds of the loans.

For the full stories, click Online Extras at smallbiz.businessweek.com

STORIES:

Bureaucracy Buster

TABLE: Net Effect

One Iota

Degrees of Separation

TABLE: Out of the Ivory Tower

Bess, You Is My Guru Now

Where Plastic Isn't So Fantastic

No Thanks, I'll Buy My Own

CHART: People Power

Frontier Online

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