Here is this week’s news round-up for home business, micro business, sole-traders, freelancers, self-employed and any one who is interested in small business news from around the world.
- Entrepreneurs create their own recovery: Back in August, Federal Reserve officials suggested that the Great Recession was ending and the U.S. could expect “a gradual resumption of sustainable economic growth.” But even with stock market indexes and the bottom lines of large financial firms bouncing back, small businesses can expect a longer slog to economic health.
- The government’s fuzzy small biz math: In August the Small Business Administration released its annual scorecard tallying federal dollars awarded to small business contractors last year.
- Fed’s Loans Could Help Entrepreneurs: The U.S. Federal Reserve on Tuesday vowed to buy short-term debt in order to unlock the credit flow that business owners rely on for quick loans, but today it’s still not clear exactly when the relief will come or whether the move will indeed trickle down to the everyday entrepreneurs who need help the most
- Soaring medical costs strain small businesses: Cathy Jamieson and her husband struggle to maintain health insurance coverage for workers at their small plastics molding plant in Chula Vista.
- Overtime fines hit small business: Anyone can tell you it’s tough to run a business. Now it’s about to get tougher.The U.S. Department of Labor is cracking down on employee overtime violations, and business owners are going to start feeling the heat.
- Small Business Tax Strategies: Operate a small business in Canada and think you’re paying too much income tax? Reduce your income tax with these eight small business tax strategies.
- Retail Sales Tax: An outline of the process of charging, collecting, and remitting retail sales tax (RST) in Ontario, using the example of a small retail business. This provincial sales tax explanation also applies to small businesses in BC, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
- Small Business Week 2009 – Make It Yours: This is the thirtieth year that the Business Development Bank of Canada has organized Small Business Week, a tribute to Canadian small businesses.
- B.C. small business confidence surging: Signs are emerging that B.C. small business confidence is on the upswing. CFIB’s Business Barometer Index for B.C. is currently 65.8. Last month it was at 63.6.
- Consider the Tax Implications When You’re Selling a Business: A lot of business people I know see their small business as their retirement nest egg; eventually, they’ll sell their businesses, retire, and live off the proceeds.
- Qld Govt contracting plan risks 700 jobs: Both of the two proposed models to simplify the Queensland Government’s system for hiring IT contractors could lead to the loss of hundreds of jobs and a number of small business closures, according to a new report by analyst firm Longhaus.
- Small business fears more rises: JUST as things were looking up for small business owners such as Koula Zerefos, the RBA decided to start raising interest rates.
- Perth SMEs hit by credit card fraud: SMEs should take note of the recent wave of credit card “skimming” in WA, and keep watch on their credit cards to ensure they do not become victims of fraud,…
- Population mini-boom provides opportunities for SMEs: Australian businesses, particularly in the retail and construction industries, should take advantage of the country’s booming population by identifying key growth areas and offering services for…
- ACCC bans Australialink from sending scam invoices: The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has warned SMEs to “be careful” in their interactions with business listing directories, following a Federal Court ruling against online business…
- State aid rules must not force banks to abandon small businesses, says FPB: The FPB is urging the European Commission not to force the UK’s part-nationalised banks to abandon more than two million of their small-business customers.
- Some small businesses in the North East seeing growth but many worried about accessing finance: Almost one in ten small businesses in the North East are already experiencing an upturn in trade, according to a new survey.
- A freeze on new business regulations will create more than 300,000 jobs, says FSB: The Government must put a stop to all new business regulation and simplify red tape if it is to seriously tackle rising unemployment, the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) said.
- SFA calls for government loan scheme: The Small Firms Association (SFA) has today called for a government-backed loan scheme to help small business.
- A £5000m boost for small firms: Small businesses are to be given a £500m tax break under Tory plans to create 60,000 jobs
- National Identity Fraud Prevention Week: From today to October 18th is National Identity Fraud Prevention Week – so why should you care?
- Focus, Focus, Focus On Your Small Business Goal: One of the most destructive developments in any business is when a business, large or small, is loosing its business focus. The same is true if you as a small business owner fail to focus on your business goal(s).
- Green credentials of SaaS put to the test One of the main benefits we always stress about OnlineOfficeand on-demand software in general is how environmentally friendly it is. There was an excellent article recently at Software Advice where they conducted some tests to see if a SaaS solution would really have much effect on the amount of energy consumed. They used a medical practice for the purpose of this test and compared traditional record-keeping software stored on a local server with a cloud computing alternative hosted at a data centre.
- How to buy online business software for your small business?: When you start your business you’ll need to consider what software and which online services you need, i.e. online accounting software, web-hosting, online shop, business planning software, invoicing and much more. Before you do so you need to know what you are looking for.
- Why Your Accountant SHould Be Online: I don’t know if you have noticed, but business is getting faster and faster. Since the advent of the Internet and especially since the introduction of Web 2.0 technologies business processes have shifted a few gears up.
As always this list is not exhaustive, but I hope it will give you a little overview. — ST.
