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17 Sep 2010 21:44

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Biz: Most businesses wouldn’t get nicked by Bush tax-cut reversal

  • 3% of all businesses would be affected by rescinding the high-end of the Bush tax cuts
  • 8% of non-hobby businesses would be affected, say conservative groups
  • 750k the real number of businesses that would roughly be affected by the cuts source
  • » And a possibly positive side-effect: Studies have shown that increases in tax rates at the top end can lead to more small businesses starting up because of the tax breaks offered, boosting overall growth anyway.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Sep 2010 11:59

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Biz: Sometimes, Groupon can accidentally strangle small a business

  • The experience jaded me, and the interactions with the few bad Groupon customers we had jaded our staff. After all of this, I find myself not even willing to buy Groupons because I know how it could hurt a business.
  • Posie’s Cafe owner Jessie Burke • Explaining how her experience with Groupon greatly damaged her Portland, Oregon-based business. Her deal, which offered a $6 deal for a $13 item, only earned her $3 for each item sold, with the other $3 going to Groupon. There wasn’t a cap on how many people could use it, so hundreds of people used it over a six-month period. At one point, the deal strangled her business so badly that she had to put $8,000 of her own money in just to cover payroll. While she doesn’t blame Groupon for her experience (she’s way quicker to blame herself), the post has spread online like wildfire over the last couple of days because of the implications it has for one of online shopping’s brightest shining stars. Groupon’s response is pretty reasonable. She’s right to blame herself, but Groupon should’ve told her how to avoid such a situation. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

19 Jan 2010 22:03

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Biz: Yelp: The ruiner of dreams, small businesses and Diane Goodman

  • In the past, if someone was difficult, you could just tell them to leave. But you can’t do that anymore. You talk to someone, and a couple of minutes later, it’s on Yelp.
  • Small-business owner Diane Goodman • Regarding the minor total nightmare Yelp has become for her business. Goodman overreacted to a post on the site, contacted the poster, and the poster responded back by putting her messages in the Yelp review. The result turned into an altercation at the poster’s house. With its 8 million user-submitted reviews and 26 million views, a negative review can cause significant damage to a business. As well as Diane Goodman’s mental health. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

09 Dec 2009 09:58

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Biz, U.S.: The phrase “TARP” isn’t leaving our lives anytime soon

  • TARP is going nowhere, guys. Treasury secretary Timothy Geithner informed Congress this morning that the program, set to expire at the end of the year, will be extended until at least October. Which means that the bailouts won’t be going anywhere anytime soon, as a way to extend small-business credit. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Jul 2009 11:05

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Biz, Tech: Small businesses make out like bandits on the Twitter bandwagon

  • I would love to say that I just had a really good idea and strategy, but Twitter has been pretty essential to my success.
  • Curtis Kimball • The owner of a crème brûlée cart in San Francisco, on how Twitter has managed to build his side business into something that no longer requires him to keep his day job. He’s not alone. In fact, Mashable recently ran a neat little feature on how food cart owners have been using Twitter to stand out from the pack. But even beyond that, small businesses are using the site to market goods, find related businesses to partner with and talk directly to consumers. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 3 Comments • Permalink

21 Jul 2009 09:47

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Biz, U.S.: Small businesses feel a little shafted by Obama’s bailout plans

  • Most of the help has been in the form of supporting loans, but we’re not looking for loans right now. We’re not looking to heavily invest in equipment. We’re just trying to keep our doors open.
  • Kelli Glasser, president of Dayton, Oh.-based Exhibit Concepts • On the struggles she’s faced in trying to keep her small business alive during the recession. CIT Group’s near-collapse after the government chose not to bail them out left many small businesses in danger of being unable to leave their doors open. And while large companies get all the headlines, small companies still make up 99.7 of ALL employers in the U.S. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 Jul 2009 11:40

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Biz: CIT Group may get that bailout they were looking for

  • $3 billion in funds from investors to rescue the small-biz lender source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
 
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