Big target on small business - Now !

Small-business owners are sweating this summer — and it's not necessarily because of the weather.

Many worry that a form of nationalized health care could soon become law, and that this would cost jobs.

"I give my employees health insurance but I can't afford to meet the government mandates," one owner told the National Federation of Independent Business. "I will have to eliminate several employees to reduce my payroll expense."

(NFIB is a trade organization that helps businesses).

"I don't believe we'll be able to comply. We will have to eliminate pay increases and Christmas bonuses. Full-timers will be eliminated and all staff will be part-timers, and that will likely be insufficient," another added.

"In general, H.R.3200 will hurt my business due to increasing my costs. Ultimately that may mean letting people go. How is that helping the economy or small business?" wondered a third owner.

No wonder NFIB has come out in opposition to the "reforms" proposed in the House of Representatives.

Many politicians insist they can add a government-run "public option" health insurance plan on top of the trillions of dollars in obligations our federal government is already facing. But small business owners know better.

The government plans have a big problem: The extra taxation and spending would destroy many small businesses, the very foundation of the American economy.

Half of all private workers in the U.S. are employed in firms with fewer than 500 workers. These small firms have also created somewhere between 60 and 80 percent of all new jobs in the last decade.

But some politicians are willing to endanger that growth.

Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., chairs the crucial Ways and Means Committee. To pay for health-care "reform," he wants to slap a surtax on roughly 2 million tax filers.

Some 60 percent of these returns reflect money made by a small business or partnership.

While 400,000 of people affected by the surtax derive most of their adjusted gross income from a small business, these taxpayers already shell out one quarter of all income taxes. They represent our economic foundation.

The proposed extra tax would be on a sliding scale: 1 percent for joint filers with more than $350,000, 1.5 percent for joint filers with more than $500,000, and 5.4 percent for joint filers with more than $1 million in adjusted gross income.

In addition to higher taxes, the House health care bill would force small businesses with at least $250,000 in payroll to provide health insurance or pay a tax penalty up to 8 percent of payroll.

And as if the initial proposed tax rate wasn't high enough, there's every chance it could go up.

The House bill would empower the Office of Management and Budget to jack the tax rates up to 2 percent for those making $350,000 and 3 percent for those making less than $1 million, if bureaucrats decide that's necessary.

Businesses would have an even harder time preparing for the future, because they'll never be able to know when their taxes may increase or how high they'll eventually go. Few business owners would hire new workers under those conditions.

The national unemployment rate in July reached 9.4 percent, and of course we all want to bring that number down by creating as many jobs as possible, as quickly as possible.

To do so we need to shore up small businesses, not chip away at them with higher taxes and expensive mandates.

As summer winds down, Obamacare seems to be on life support.

Small-business owners have spoken. We ought to pull the plug, and start over again with an effective reform plan that won't hammer our nation's economy.

Business Activity Increases More Than Expected

Business activity in the United States rose more than forecast in August, adding to signs the economy is improving.

The Institute for Supply Management-Chicago said Monday that its business barometer increased to 50, the highest level since September 2008, from 43.4 in July. Fifty is the dividing line between contraction and expansion.

Automakers are likely to be at the epicenter of a rebound in manufacturing in coming months as assembly lines speed up after the government’s cash-for-clunkers plan left showrooms bare. Increasing demand from overseas and a record reduction in inventories mean that an increase in factory orders and production may last for much of the rest of the year.

It’s “a manufacturing-led recovery,” said Robert Stein, a senior economist at First Trust Advisors of Wheaton, Ill. “Much of this is probably related to the revival in auto production over the past month or so.”

Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News had forecast the index would rise to 48, according to the median of 53 projections. Estimates ranged from 46 to 52.5.

Economists watch the Chicago index for an early reading on the outlook for overall manufacturing, which makes up about 12 percent of the economy. The Institute for Supply Management is scheduled to release its August factory report on Tuesday. According to a Bloomberg survey, that measure will show expansion for the first time since January 2008.

The Chicago report’s orders gauge climbed to 52.5, the highest level in a year, from 48 in July, and the production index rose to 52.9, from 43.3.

The employment index increased to 38.7, from 35.3. A measure of prices paid for raw materials jumped to 50, from 35, while a gauge of delivery times increased to 54.6, from 49.6.

Source: NYTimes

Small Business : Starting a new small business now !

Well, last night I was checking examiner.com and I check and interesting article by Jim Fletecher, and I understand that how to get some more money and some tips that can help somebody...

The desire to own and operate a successful business is one that is familiar to most of us. We dream of the independence, wealth and fulfillment that our own businesses can provide. Our motivations are as varied as our ideas. Some of us need the money, some need to have something to fill our day, and some of us need to make our mark on the world. Whatever our motivation, desire is only the kindling for our bonfire; but, all fires start with a very small flame. From there, we must carefully build and tend to our fire until we either allow someone else to tend it or decide to douse it. The trouble is – many of us don’t know how to build a fire, and a good number of us don’t even know how to strike the match. Even worse, some of us just aren’t capable of the task. The good news is that, no matter which category we fit into, we can be successful with our businesses if we go about it correctly.

If there were one piece of advice I’d offer over any other, it would be to utilize every available resource to us, whether it be our friends and family or professional consultants. Recognizing our own shortcomings is important to our success. I also advocate the use of the resources available through the Small Business Administration. This wing of our government can provide us all with the necessary information to begin and operate a successful small business, and best of all, it's a free resource, paid for with our tax dollars.

A number of years ago, I attended my very first seminar aimed at helping the small business person get started. The most significant statistic shared with me in the opening presentation was an eye-opener, to say the very least. Many more small businesses fail than succeed. The numbers vary according to the sources, but they generally point out a sobering reality: it isn’t enough to have a great idea.

Commitment to the excellence of the idea and to the small business it supports makes the difference. Another way to say it is “survival of the fittest.” The reasons for failure or success are many and varied, but in almost every case, the successes are guided by actions that have their roots in commitment and tapping into the plethora of help available to us in our journey. In truth, most small businesses don’t create great wealth – but they do provide us with the opportunity to obtain wealth.

Wealth is typically the result of sacrifice and hard work. There is no magic formula that ensures we don’t work harder, faster or better in order to succeed. In fact, just the opposite holds true. Assuming that our idea is a good one, our success is directly proportionate to the level of commitment we apply to it. That commitment begins with the idea and is evident in everything we do. At this critical stage, our commitment is simply to decide whether our idea is one that has merit. The worst mistake we can make is to jump on the bandwagon without carefully thinking it through – a sanity check, if you will.

Let’s look at a very simple, but far from complete, sanity checklist:

a. Why do I believe my idea is great?
b. Why do I believe people will buy it?
c. Do I have (or can I make) the time it takes to do it right?
d. Do I have (or can I get) the resources to see it through?
e. Do I believe in it enough to make the sacrifices?
f. Am I willing and able to overcome setbacks?

Just looking at this short example should tell us something – there’s a lot of soul searching for us in this phase that requires our honesty with ourselves. We can’t lie to ourselves if we intend to succeed. Remember, the worst thing we can do is to fail ourselves by not being thorough in our sanity check; however, the second worst thing we can do is to let it drag on too long before we reach a conclusion. Momentum is very important to our business, and if we cannot make a decision in a reasonable time, we’ll sit in our think tank forever doing nothing - while someone else takes action. More opportunities are lost by lack of action than we know.

A true entrepreneur will be able to “go for it”; however, many of us don’t have one or more of these essential traits. It’s imperative that we recognize our own shortcomings and either change them or find a way to productively deal with them.

Great ideas are often left unrealized due to our own lack of commitment. As an example of tenacity, let’s look at Thomas Edison’s electric lamp. Most people think the electric light bulb was Edison’s idea, but they don’t know that his patent wasn’t for the light bulb. Inventors had successfully created light bulbs for almost 50 years prior to his patent; rather, his patent was for a filament that made the life of the bulb long enough to make it commercially viable. Edison’s labs began working on the project in 1878 and experienced thousands of failures before they succeeded. They viewed each failure as a success in how NOT to make a light bulb. It took two years for them to strike pay dirt, and they created a business with the success of their idea. It is this same commitment to our idea that is absolutely necessary. Perseverance is key.

Failures should not be perceived as setbacks; rather, they should be viewed as learning experiences that lead to our eventual success. Once we have confidence in our idea and our commitment to see it through, we’re ready to look outside ourselves to obtain more objective data that can help us to make the right choice for our business.