For a long time federal regulations have been known to help the big enterprise and not the small business owner. Regulations are costly for the small business owner, and to be compliant means to spend cash that they may not have, or borrowing cash that they may not get. The difficulties that the federal and local governments put the small business owner through means the big enterprises are able to capitalized in the small business owner closing their doors. For more news about this and other topics, follow the links below.
Small Business Loses Out On US Economic Development Incentives, As States Favor Large Companies
When Manhattan Running Co. decided to buy a building in the northeastern Kansas college town it has called home for seven years, the owners were confronted with a $120,000 renovation. It was hardly a small sum for a new business with just 10 employees, and included in the expense was about $20,000 to make the building wheelchair accessible and compliant with the federal Americans with Disabilities Actbuilding regulations.
“In a business like ours, we don’t get a lot of people in wheelchairs,” Manhattan Running co-founder Trey Vernon, a former Oklahoma State University runner, said. “We totally support ADA, but it can be difficult for a business of our size to cover the costs. Any kind of break on investments we’re forced to make would help.”
#SmallBizHowTo: How To Get Financing For Your Small Business
Getting financing, for many entrepreneurs, is about as much fun as going to the dentist. You’ll need to figure out what you need, get your financial paperwork in order, and be prepared for rejection. But it’s also crucial. After all, every business needs cash to grow – and one of the big reasons that entrepreneurs fail is lack of funds.
Last week, Forbes asked small business owners, entrepreneurs and those who had dreams of launching a new operation to tweet us questions about getting funding. We got questions from all over the world – from as far away as Abuja, the capitol of Nigeria. The main questions focused on the key inter-related issues of what to do first, how to get financing, how to know if you’re getting a good interest rate, and what to do if you have less-than-stellar credit. Others sent questions about specific industries, such as food. I’ll address four of these questions in detail below.
Women in Small Business: Cracking the Glass Ceiling
Recent headlines have celebrated the success of women chief executives at Facebook, IBM, General Motors and other corporate giants. But this misses a much bigger story: women-owned small businesses – already numbering nearly 10 million – are starting up at twice the rate of men-owned businesses, and they are succeeding despite an all too real glass ceiling. At the same time, women in Congress are leading the legislative fight to crack that glass ceiling and level the playing field for women-owned businesses.
As the lead Democrat on the Senate’s Small Business Committee, I’ve had countless conversations with businesswomen from across the US. They are proud to be successful business owners and job creators. But they tell disturbing stories of barriers confronting women entrepreneurs that aren’t encountered by their male counterparts. They face longer odds in getting access to credit and capital, winning government contracts, and accessing the business counseling they need to succeed.
