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| | Small Business News from 123Print |
| | Small Business News from 123Print > Starting a new business News > Small business optimism falls in December | | | | Small business optimism falls in December | By DEREK MCALLISTER
Posted: 1/12/2010 9:40:27 PM | Confidence among small business owners fell slightly last month despite improvements in the overall economy, according to a report released Tuesday.
The National Federation of Independent Businesses small business optimism index dropped 0.3 points in December, to 88.0. While 10 percent of small business owners increased employment during the month, 22 percent reduced employment.
"Continued weak sales and threatening domestic policies from Washington, have left small business owners with little to be optimistic about in the coming year," said NFIB chief economist William Dunkelberg.
Along with weak sales, a lack of access to credit may have been partly to blame for low small business optimism. Small firms with capital outlays remained at their record low of 44 percent. A net 15 percent of firms reported that loans were harder to get in December than in their last attempt.
Policymakers have honed in small business credit in recent months as unemployment remains high despite an overall return to economic growth. The Obama administration has called for greater government support for small business loans in order to get small firms hiring again.
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| | | | | | | | | | Related News | | | | Raising money to start a small business by starting a small business | By J.S. VANDERBERG
Posted: 3/10/2010 7:11:56 PM | One of the major obstacles for entrepreneurs in starting a business isn't a lack of ideas - it's a lack of money. Though some seek money from bank loans, venture capitalists or personal acquaintances, entreprenurial expert Rhonda Abrams suggests another source - sales.
Abrams recently wrote in USA Today about a technique sometimes called "bootstrapping" - autonomously pulling a business up to a platform of success. Though results may be uncertain, benefits are manifold.
Getting money through sales also has advantages that other means of financing lack, Abrams pointed out. Without investors, entrepreneurs don't have to worry about external forces controlling their business. The lack of monthly loan payments can keep overheads low.
Judging by the job market, many potential entrepreneurs may find this approach a valuable one, with the need to avoid the risks inherent to taking out a loan. Last year, Challenger, Gray & Christmas found that 8.6 percent of laid-off workers started a business, the New York Times reported... |
| | It's all in the timing, says entreprenurial expert | By EDWARD CAVANAUGH
Posted: 3/9/2010 5:50:43 PM | Starting a business takes dedication and ingenuity - that much is well-known. But one successful entrepreneur and market analyst claims that success often comes down to a more elusive, but not unmangeable factor - timing.
Venture Beat recently interviewed Jon Fisher, a "serial entrepreneur" and investor, as well as a faculty member at the University of San Francisco. He has made a name for himself through his uncanny ability to anticipate economic cycles. Venture Beat reports that he successfully predicted that the nation's unemployment rate would hit 9 percent in April of last year, and that March's unemployment would hover in the vicinity of 9 percent.
These numbers are important, Fisher told the website, because they form the foundation of an effective startup business strategy. Entreprenteurs should start businesses right after the economy bottoms out, build them up for the following years, and sell before the next downturn. Fisher adds that while last year was probably the best time during this cycle to start a business, opportunities still remain to catch a wave.
"I think right now as the wave is forming, or I should say stabilizing, it’s an excellent time to be starting a company," he told Venture Beat. He added that entrepreneurs should be careful to plan an exit strategy for 2011 or 2012.
The National Federation of Independent Business recently reported that the economy remains in a down phase before the gradual approach of recovery. "Gains will be painfully slow with timid consumer spending, especially in the service sector," said chief conomist Bill Dunkelberg... |
| | Creativity can lead to a profitable startup | By JEREMY ARMSTRONG
Posted: 3/5/2010 6:54:18 PM | | For some aspiring entrepreneurs, the most difficult part of starting a business can be figring out what kind of business to start. Renee and Don Martin, authors of the book The Risk Takers: 16 Women and Men Share Their Entrepreneurial Strategies for Success, recently wrote an article for the Huffington Post offering advice on this very issue. They propose three guiding principles for deciding what market to enter.... |
| | Startup Visa Act would offer green card to immigrant entrepreneurs | By DOUGLAS CHAN
Posted: 2/27/2010 12:46:38 AM | | With many American businesses struggling, a bill proposed by senators John Kerry and Richard Lugar would seek to encourage an up-and-coming sector of the American population to contribute to building the economy - immigrants... |
| | Starting a business with small startup capital | By THOMAS GRANT
Posted: 2/3/2010 8:30:02 PM | | According to the New York Times, a study by outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas found that 8.6 percent of laid-off workers started their own business last year... |
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