Archives: January 2009

Small Banks: The Next Bust?

Posted by: Stacy Perman on January 30

In the midst of the banking industry’s meltdown, a number of community banks across the country have proven to be a bright spot in the otherwise doom and gloom that...

The Small Business Stimulus Conundrum

Posted by: John Tozzi on January 30

This morning I had a chat with Chas Roy-Chowdhury, head of taxation for the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, about the tax provisions for small business owners in the stimulus...

Scott Shane honored for research on entrepreneurship

Posted by: John Tozzi on January 29

Case Western economics professor Scott Shane has just been honored with the Global Award for Entrepreneurship Research. We spoke to Scott last year about his book, The Illusions of Entrepreneurship,...

The Stimulus and Small Business

Posted by: John Tozzi on January 28

I heard Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.) on the radio this morning talking about the stimulus bill the House will vote on today, and how it will affect small business and...

An Entrepreneur For the Ages

Posted by: Stacy Perman on January 27

Proving that you’re never too old to launch a startup, the Los Angeles Times reports on the remarkable story of 70-year-old entrepreneur C. Kumar N. Patel, the inventor of the...

America’s Best Social Entrepreneurs

Posted by: Stacy Perman on January 22

On January 13 we kicked off BusinessWeek’s inaugural search for the most promising social entrepreneurs in the U.S. We are looking for U.S.-based companies that aim to both turn a...

Misinformation and the CPSIA

Posted by: John Tozzi on January 15

There's some talk today about misinformation around the CPSIA after a TV interview that commission spokeswoman Julie Vallese did. (For those just joining us, CPSIA is a new product safety...

Track CPSIA news on the Business Exchange

Posted by: John Tozzi on January 14

For those of you trying to keep pace with all the news about the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, I just wanted to plug the new topic page we built...

An Indie Bookstore Celebrates its Centennial

Posted by: Stacy Perman on January 14

I recently wrote a piece examining the demise of independent bookstore and Berkeley, California institution Cody’s Books. It is not an underestimate to say that indies have had a tough...

Some answers (sort of) on the CPSIA

Posted by: John Tozzi on January 14

One of the biggest problems in the firestorm over the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act has been a lack of clarity from regulators. (Again, this is the new law intended...

Google trends on CPSIA: they care in Hong Kong too

Posted by: John Tozzi on January 13

I love to check Google Trends to gauge the interest in a moving news story. So I looked at CPSIA search terms, and the screen grab below gives you a...

Regulator warned that lead toy ban was not practical

Posted by: John Tozzi on January 13

I found this October 2007 article by the Times' Stephen Labaton while researching the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act. (That's the law that small producers of children's goods say threatens...

Small business owners have credit lines pulled

Posted by: John Tozzi on January 13

The National Small Business Association just released its year-end economic report, based on a member survey. One thing jumped out at me: 28 percent of business owners surveyed said...

Using social tools to fight the CPSIA

Posted by: John Tozzi on January 12

Thanks to those of you I've heard from in response to Friday's post on the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act. (This is the law that people who make hand made...

Small businesses say flaws in new product safety law will force them to shut

Posted by: John Tozzi on January 09

I just started looking into a story on the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, after a reader on Twitter alerted me to it a few days ago. The law is...

How an Email Sales Pitch Sparked a Story

Posted by: John Tozzi on January 09

Today we have a story about merchant cash advance providers, companies that offer small businesses cash up front in exchange for collecting a portion of their future credit card sales,...

The Amish Workforce and Small Business Part II

Posted by: Stacy Perman on January 08

In August, I blogged about what appeared to be a growing trend among small businesses: the use of Amish workers. As a result of a number of factors, among them:...

What Obama’s Proposed Tax Cuts Mean for Small Businesses

Posted by: Colleen Debaise on January 05

Here’s a welcome report for entrepreneurs this new year: President-elect Barack Obama’s massive stimulus plan is expected to include three key tax breaks for small-business owners. Details are still emerging,...

One retailer's holiday postmortem

Posted by: John Tozzi on January 05

Jeremy Shepherd, founder of PearlParadise.com, sends a note about how his holiday sales wrapped up. Throughout the season, the trend he saw was growing sales volume, but lower average amounts...