Categories: Links

Weekend Links: Independents Week; Senate Jobs Bill Highlights; IRS Paperwork

Posted by: Nick Leiber on July 02

To trumpet the economic benefits of buying from locally-owned shops, the advocacy group American Independent Business Alliance kicks off its seventh annual "Independents Week" in communities across the country, including...

Monday Links

Posted by: John Tozzi on May 24

Monday Links: A Lifeline for ShoreBank

Posted by: John Tozzi on May 17

Wall Street banks including Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Citi, JPMorgan Chase, and Morgan Stanley are in talks to help save ShoreBank, a pioneering community lender in Chicago facing closure...

Tuesday Links: PowerPoint Defenders

Posted by: Nick Leiber on May 11

Writing in his Harvard Business Review blog back in April, David Silverman argued that the main problem with PowerPoint is less about the software itself and more that users overload...

Wednesday Links

Posted by: John Tozzi on April 27

The White House is setting up two task forces to help steer more federal contracts to small businesses, especially those owned by veterans, Robert Brodsky reports in Government Executive. Business...

Monday Links: Missing Vowels

Posted by: John Tozzi on April 26

Sorry for the sparse posting lately. Tech startups, missing vowels, get ever stranger names, writes Patrick May of the San Jose Mercury News (h/t Entrepreneurship.org). Google adds local business listings...

Tuesday Links: Fading Manufacturing

Posted by: John Tozzi on March 23

A trade group says roughly 15% of tooling and machining companies closed doors last year, reports WSJ's Kris Maher. The industry wants federal loan aid and faster payments from customers...

Monday Links: After Health Reform

Posted by: John Tozzi on March 22

The House passed the Senate health reform bill Sunday night. Good explainer on what health reform means to businesses by Peter Grier in the Christian Science Monitor. More from Inc's...

Weekend Links: Take Back Your Time

Posted by: John Tozzi on March 19

Advice on how to keep your clients from taking over your personal time, by WebWorkerDaily's Meryl K. Evans. Accountant Bill Bischoff, writing in Smart Money/WSJ, explains the self-employed deduction for...

Wednesday Links: What Can You Start for $100?

Posted by: John Tozzi on March 17

Take a look at a sampling of bootstrap business ideas from Pamela Slim and Chris Guillebeau's $100 Business Forum. Umair Haque sizes up his (widely panned) SXSW interview with Twitter...

Tuesday Links: What To Measure

Posted by: John Tozzi on March 16

Seth Godin muses on the drive-by culture of the Web: "Just because you can measure eyeballs and pageviews doesn't mean you should." Expanding exports as much as the Obama administration...

Weekend Links: A New Web Apps Directory

Posted by: John Tozzi on March 12

The Small Business Web, a network of integrated apps from dozens of companies that play well together, just launched a directory, Simon Mackie reports at WebWorkerDaily. (My story from last...

Wednesday Links: Not Optimistic

Posted by: John Tozzi on March 10

Small business optimism is down, the NFIB's latest survey indicates, but the job openings subindex ticked up. More from Real Time Economics and The Economist. The Guardian's Bobbie Johnson tries...

Tuesday Links: Protecting Social Ventures

Posted by: John Tozzi on March 09

NPR's April Dembrosky examines efforts to create laws that protect social ventures from having to sell out values for shareholders' benefit. FDIC Chief Sheila Bair says banks that aren't lending...

Monday Links: Who Answers Your Phone?

Posted by: John Tozzi on March 08

The Boston Globe's Scott Kirsner explains why startups should have someone answering the phones and greeting visitors who walk in the door. (H/t VC Dispatch) Businesses continue to use microfinance...

Weekend Links: Avoiding Auditors, Fact-Checking the Banks

Posted by: John Tozzi on March 05

Five ways to cut your risk of a tax audit, by Susan Berson at Slate's BizBox. The AP's Rachel Beck scrutinizes banks' claims that they're expanding small business lending, and...

Tuesday Links: Seed Rounds Made Simple

Posted by: John Tozzi on March 02

Simplified legal documents aim to make seed stage investments easier, Pui-Wing Tam reports at VC Dispatch. (More from BW's Olga Kharif here.) WebWorkerDaily's Dawn Foster on the dark side of...

Monday Links: No Layoffs, Ever

Posted by: John Tozzi on March 01

The WSJ's Bob Tita reviews Spark, the story of Lincoln Electric Co., a Cleveland manufacturer employing 3,300 workers that has had a no-layoffs policy in place for most of the...

Wednesday Links: Scams, Lawsuits, and Advertising

Posted by: John Tozzi on February 24

Beware scams where would-be financiers want advance fees before delivering loans. Crains reporter Steve Garmhausen looks at frauds targeting small businesses. A Long Beach, Calif., veterinary hospital is suing Yelp,...

Tuesday Links: A Crowdfunding Failure

Posted by: John Tozzi on February 23

Crowdfunding site SellaBand, which I profiled in 2007, files bankruptcy, GigaOm's Mathew Ingram reports. (But beer fans haven't given up on the model...) Lots of buzz about fuel cell company...

Monday Links: Wired Farms; Healthy Eyes

Posted by: John Tozzi on February 22

Web services for small farms, via Springwise. For those who spend all day at screens, how to protect your eyes, by Celine Roque at Web Worker Daily. Tax lawyer Harvey...

Thursday Links: Cracking Down on the Independent Contractor Tax Dodge

Posted by: Nick Leiber on February 18

President Obama's proposed budget suggests tough times ahead for employers who misclassify independent contractors, Courtney Rubin reports on Inc. Has the Great Recession ended? Dane Stangler, writing on the Kauffman...

Wednesday Links: Not As Entrepreneurial As We Think

Posted by: John Tozzi on February 17

Our culture and educational system don't foster entrepreneurs, despite what we like to think, Chris Dixon writes. (H/t VC Dispatch) Entrepreneurs are designers, even if they don't realize it, says...

Tuesday Links: There Goes the Neighborhood

Posted by: John Tozzi on February 16

When entrepreneurs move their businesses into their homes, they sometimes clash with neighbors and local zoning regs, Jennifer Levitz reports in the WSJ. How to start a business without ruining...

Weekend Links: Mardi Gras Money

Posted by: John Tozzi on February 12

Tulane economists estimate that Mardi Gras spending tops $147 million in New Orleans, including $26 million on booze, CNNMoney's Sonya Stinson reports. Huntington Bank is expanding its small business lending...

Wednesday Links: What Your Lousy Meetings Really Cost

Posted by: John Tozzi on February 10

A new startup calculates what wasteful meetings cost your company, MG Siegler writes at TechCrunch. State and local budget crunches mean government contractors have to wait longer to get paid,...

Tuesday Links: Lifting Lending Caps; Haiti's Businesses

Posted by: John Tozzi on February 09

Credit unions want to lift limits on the amount of small business loans they can make, currently capped at 12.25% of assets, Binyamin Appelbaum reports in the Washington Post. NPR's...

Monday Links: Tips for Freelancers

Posted by: John Tozzi on February 08

Richard Greenwald, writing in the WSJ, outlines five keys to success for freelancers. Becky McCray of Small Business Survival offers four ways to distinguish your company from bigger competitors. L3Cs...

Weekend Links: Wal-Mart and Target to Create Smaller Stores

Posted by: Nick Leiber on February 05

Wal-Mart and Target told analysts they are creating smaller stores that could fit in the heart of densely packed cities where they have no presence, Nicole Maestri reports on Reuters....

Thursday Links: $6 Billion in Export Financing; Women Founders; Microfinance in Haiti

Posted by: Nick Leiber on February 04

Today Commerce Secretary Gary Locke pledged $6 billion a year in export financing for small businesses through the U.S. Export-Import Bank, Bloomberg's Mark Drajem reports. Vivek Wadhwa, writing over on...

Wednesday Links: How the SBA Works; Jobs Numbers; Made in Haiti

Posted by: Nick Leiber on February 03

Why doesn't the Small Business Administration lend directly to small businesses? Robb Mandelbaum, writing on the NYT You're the Boss blog, highlights President Obama's response to a business owner who...

Tuesday Links: Obama's $30 Billion Plan

Posted by: Nick Leiber on February 02

Bloomberg's Edwin Chen and Nicholas Johnston report on the latest version of Obama's plan to create a $30 billion fund to help community banks provide loans that will spur hiring...

Monday Links: Taxes; Lien Fees; the Six-Day Week

Posted by: Nick Leiber on February 01

The National Small Business Association says a tax credit for small businesses proposed in Obama's 2011 budget may not cover the set-up costs of a mandatory retirement savings plan, Bloomberg's...

Friday Links: Ethical Internet Marketing

Posted by: John Tozzi on January 29

Copyblogger's Sonia Simone writes about scorpions and frogs and the case for ethical Internet marketing (not an oxymoron). Pamela Slim advocates testing often, failing fast. What keeps you from doing...

Wednesday Links: Jobs Tax Credit; iPad for Business

Posted by: John Tozzi on January 27

Expect a jobs tax credit in the State of the Union tonight -- but structuring it properly may be tricky, Catherine Rampell reports at the NY Times. Business owner and...

Tuesday Links: How to Be Ubiquitous

Posted by: John Tozzi on January 26

Seth Godin bypasses mainstream media to promote book by being on every blog everywhere. To pay for rising health costs, business owners have only three levers they can pull, a...

Monday Links: Business Casual

Posted by: John Tozzi on January 25

Guidelines for dress codes, from Business.gov. Despite the troubles plaguing the ARC loan program, they work for business owners who get them. Catherine Clifford of CNNMoney talks to one entrepreneur...

Friday Links: Venture's Bad Year

Posted by: John Tozzi on January 22

First round venture investments for startups in 2009 dropped to the lowest level since the industry started tracking them in 1995, Claire Cain Miller reports in the NY Times. One...

Thursday Links: When To Cut Prices

Posted by: John Tozzi on January 21

Lower prices during a recovery, not a recession, Susan L. Reid writes at Small Business Trends. Caron Beesley explains tax changes that affect small business at Business.gov. Health care reform...

Wednesday Links: What Comic Sans Says About You

Posted by: John Tozzi on January 20

Seth Godin on the importance of typefaces. (Please read, comic sans users.) Planning helps reduce the stress of running a business, Colleen Debaise writes at the WSJ. The number of...

Friday Links: Risking Retirement Money

Posted by: John Tozzi on January 15

Entrepreneurs need to weigh the risks carefully before using retirement savings to fund a business, Eilene Zimmerman reports at CNNMoney. Health reform could give people who only keep corporate jobs...

Thursday Links: Your Banker Reads Your Tweets

Posted by: John Tozzi on January 14

Your status updates and other activity on social networks can affect your credit, Erica Sandberg reports at SFGate's City Brights blog. Fewer entrepreneurs are starting new businesses in wealthy countries,...

Wednesday Links: Counting Entrepreneurs

Posted by: John Tozzi on January 13

Planet Money explains how the self-employed are counted in unemployment statistics. Lisa Barone at Small Business Trends highlights two big problems with Google's local business listings -- including how competitors...

Tuesday Links: Global Edition

Posted by: John Tozzi on January 12

In Europe, where small businesses employ more of the labor force and depend more on banks for financing, difficult credit conditions are hampering recovery, the WSJ's Alessandra Galloni and Sebastian...

Monday Links: Turning Lights on in Detroit

Posted by: John Tozzi on January 11

Entrepreneurs are trying to revive parts of Detroit, including a small theater that got the city to turn the lights back on on an abandoned street, Susan Saulny reports in...

Friday Links: Office Babies; a Google Tax

Posted by: John Tozzi on January 08

USA Today Columnist Rhonda Abrams tries letting employees bring babies to the office. Ten trends for rural small businesses in the year ahead, by Becky McCray at Small Business Trends....

Thursday Links: A User-Friendly IRS?

Posted by: John Tozzi on January 07

A "streetwise MBA" program in Boston teaches small business owners fundamentals, Katie Zezima reports in the NY Times. Small businesses cut 25,000 jobs in December, according to ADP, but small...

Wednesday Links: A Look at 2010

Posted by: John Tozzi on January 06

Steve King spotlights 10 small business trends for the year ahead. Among them: The shift to contingent workforces, the rise of personal businesses, and the new local movement. Getting financing...

Monday Links: Bringing Home the Bacon

Posted by: John Tozzi on January 04

Entrepreneur Steve Blank parses the decision process between starting a scalable startup and a small business. (H/t VC Dispatch) Local businesses should pay attention Foursquare's marketing potential, John Jantsch writes...

Wednesday Links: Crossing State Lines

Posted by: John Tozzi on December 30

Tips on doing business in multiple states, via Becky McCray of Small Business Survival. Ian Mount at The New York Times looks at seven businesses that failed this year, and...

Tuesday Links: Bracing for 2010

Posted by: John Tozzi on December 29

California small business owners are bracing for another hard year, Cyndia Zwahlen writes in the LA Times. Struggling farmers are increasingly relying on SBA loans, Rick Barrett writes in the...

Monday Links: Farming Detroit

Posted by: John Tozzi on December 28

Holiday retail sales jumped 3.6% over last year (as measured by MasterCard Advisors' Spending Pulse), Bloomberg's Linda Sandler reports. One Michigan entrepreneur eyes farming Detroit's empty lots, P.J. Huffstutter reports...

Wednesday Links: Health Care Details, Lending Solutions

Posted by: John Tozzi on December 23

The NY Times's Robb Mandelbaum dives into the details of what the Senate health reform bill means for small businesses. Small business bankruptcies rose 81% in California and 44% nationwide...

Tuesday Links: What About Community Lenders?

Posted by: John Tozzi on December 22

Yves Smith at Naked Capitalism asks why the Obama administration hasn't followed through on assisting Community Development Financial Institutions and credit unions, which could spur small business lending, especially in...

Monday Links: Insurers Respond to Congress

Posted by: John Tozzi on December 21

Health insurers deny that they've raised premiums on small businesses in anticipation of reform. The NY Times's Reed Abelson posts Congress's questions and the industry's response at the paper's Prescriptions...

Friday Links

Posted by: John Tozzi on December 18

Steve King explains 10 trends in home-based businesses for 2010 at Small Business Trends. Pros and cons of business plan competitions, by Lora Kolodny at the NYT's Your the Boss....

Thursday Links: Christmas Trees; Taxes; The End of SEO

Posted by: John Tozzi on December 17

Lots of hat-tipping today... A California entrepreneur has found a niche business delivering live Christmas trees for rent and retrieving them at the end of the season, Jennifer Steinhauer reports...

Tuesday Links: Get Fit

Posted by: John Tozzi on December 15

Springwise features a new fitness gadget positioned as a way for employers to improve their workers' health. States have been missing their goals for allocating stimulus contracts to women- and...

Monday Links: Obama and the Bankers

Posted by: John Tozzi on December 14

Obama presses top bank execs to expand small business lending, the FT's Anna Fifield reports. Bank of America pledges to boost small business lending by $5 billion in 2010, Reuters...

Weekend Links: TARP, Taxes...Madams?

Posted by: John Tozzi on December 11

Yearend tax advice from Bill Bischoff in the WSJ. Slightly different tax advice: Even illegal business activity is subject to taxes. Kelly Phillips Erb (aka Taxgirl) explains. WaPo's David Cho...

Thursday Links: Born With It

Posted by: John Tozzi on December 10

Is entrepreneurship literally in the DNA? CNNMoney's Ian Mount reports on research, including Scott Shane's study on genetics and entrepreneurship. How to deal with slow payments from big clients, by...

Wednesday Links: Hobbypreneurs

Posted by: John Tozzi on December 09

Steve King of Small Business Labs just published a new Intuit Future of Small Business report on hobbypreneurs. The CS Monitor's Laurence Belsie examines Obama's small business proposals at the...

Tuesday Links: Startup Addictions

Posted by: John Tozzi on December 08

Working at a startup may be "slightly better than a coke habit" but can be similarly damaging for those who let it take over their lives, David Heinemeier Hansson writes...

Monday Links: Season's Greetings

Posted by: John Tozzi on December 07

A good run-down of the basics of commercial lending from Becky McCray at Small Biz Survival. Do your investors send you a holiday card? Scott Austin looks at one firm's...

Weekend Links: Good Efficiency, Bad Efficiency

Posted by: John Tozzi on December 04

Plenty to read over the weekend if you're so inclined: Can you get your utility company to help you reduce your utility bill? Kelly Spors explains incentives for becoming more...

Wednesday Links: Deliquencies Down, Pot Business Up

Posted by: John Tozzi on December 02

Many big banks "still don't have enough capital to adequately protect themselves against potential credit losses" by Standard & Poor's analysis, Aaron Elstein writes in Crain's New York. Delinquencies by...

Monday Links: Bagels, IPOs

Posted by: John Tozzi on November 30

[I'm going to work baked goods into the link roundup headline whenever I can...] The WSJ proves there's room for innovation everywhere with Barry Newman's page one look at efforts...

Wednesday Links: Cupcakes, Giving Thanks

Posted by: John Tozzi on November 25

The FDIC's Sheila Bair says banks need to lend, Paul Wiseman and Pallavi Gogoi (a former BWer) report in USA Today. How many cupcakes do you have to sell each...

Tuesday Links: Stimulus; Starving Artists

Posted by: John Tozzi on November 24

The SBA's $375 million in stimulus money to cut fees and boost loan guarantees is dry, reports Catherine Clifford of CNNMoney. Obama seeks $100 million to extend it, according to...

Thursday Links: Geithner Scolds Banks

Posted by: John Tozzi on November 19

Geithner calls on bailed-out banks to increase lending to small businesses, Meena Thiruvengadam writes in the WSJ. Small business owners should think twice before skimping on holiday gifts to clients,...

Wednesday Links: 1,200 Resumes; Health Care Woes

Posted by: John Tozzi on November 18

1,200 job applications for nine openings: How small firms handle hiring in today's job market, by the WSJ's Emily Maltby. Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) floats another small business loan program....

Tuesday Links: Robbery Up, Lending Down

Posted by: John Tozzi on November 17

Robbers and burglars are moving beyond traditional cash-heavy targets to hit professional offices, suggests Sarah Needleman in the WSJ. Small business lending from bailed out banks is down 4% or...

Monday Links: Global Entrepreneurs; Where B-Schools Fail

Posted by: John Tozzi on November 16

Global Entrepreneurship Week kicked off today. Follow Laurel Delaney for updates from the World Entrepreneurship Forum in Lyon, France. Jonathan Ortmans and Vivek Wadhwa explain in BW why it matters....

Friday Links: Survivors and Statistics

Posted by: John Tozzi on November 13

Not much happy news in today's link round up. Survivor bias distorts business advice and research, writes Jason Cohen at Building 43 (hat tips to Tim Berry and Steve King.)...

Late Links: Small Business Reading

Posted by: John Tozzi on November 12

I'm trying to get in the habit of pointing to some of the best small business reading from around the Web. I don't promise to post it daily, but I...