The Benefits Of Having A Virtual Team

May 13, 2014 by

business (2)The integrated workforce experience page at Cisco tells us that the company sales force consists of 20,000 people in 87 countries, and keeping abreast of the new products, solutions and architectures is a critical task.  Although your company may have a smaller workforce than Cisco, the challenges and rewards of having a virtual workforce is indubitable.  Keeping your team engaged and collaborating with other team members may not be as easy as you would think.  The challenges of keeping your team members offering great customer service (if you are a service company) may not be easy to track if you do not have a good system in place. Training and engaging your virtual team is a must for your business and the rewards you can achieve with them can be beneficial for all parties.

Building an All-Star Virtual Team

Employers and managers are often skeptical when it comes to hiring virtual workers.

To build a virtual team of employees, trust and confidence factor into the hiring process. Indeed, some employers never meet candidates in person. Yet that employee is involved with building a company’s success; no wonder some managers are nervous when it comes to hiring virtual workers.

Apprehensive about hiring telecommuters? Consider current trends about virtual work environments: According to Forrester, nearly 34 million Americans are working from home and telecommuting is expected to rise 43 percent in the United States by 2016.

Virtual teams allow an employer to tap into some of the best talent available because recruiting is not restricted by geography. By opening up positions to candidates across the world, companies such as Upworthy, Buffer and Mozilla have experienced success with virtual teams, finding individuals who are truly passionate about what they do.

Smells like team spirit

A virtual workforce opens up access to a global talent pool, but needs special attention and a personal touch to build trust among members spread across geographies

The website that you use for online shopping or the aircraft that takes you places have most likely been built through the collaborative effort of teams dispersed across continents. Organizations are increasingly turning global to take advantage of diverse talent, achieve operational and cost effectiveness, and inculcate the ability to respond to market demands with swiftness to be able to thrive in a highly competitive environment.

Virtual teams are the order of the day and, this, of course, has been facilitated by the rapid advancement of technology which has helped transcend distance, time zones, cultures and organizational boundaries. Virtual teams embody a distinctive shade of group dynamics, along with their concomitant set of unique challenges. There are umpteen examples of teams that have outshone their collocated counterparts in terms of productivity and effectiveness, but there are plenty that have shrivelled and fallen apart. So what makes a virtual team tick?

Managing & Achieving Goals with a Virtual Team

Managing one or two remote workers can be difficult enough–never mind an entire team of virtual employees! Whether it’s for a short period of time or a long-term work situation, virtual teams are becoming a more common occurrence in the modern workplace. There are many benefits for both the team members and the employer, such as less time spent traveling to meetings and a reduced commute for employees. However, virtual work needs to be monitored closely to ensure quality and productivity. There are a number of available tools that make this task much easier.

1.  UberConference: UberConference is a hit among virtual workers and those who manage them. The rich interface is actually quite easy to use, and provides virtual workers with a number of tools and resources they need to easily complete a remote work assignment. This is a good option for those who need to participate in remote conference calls, as it allows workers to easily connect to and chat with others.

Filed Under: Ohio Business News Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Is Small Business Hiring Slowing Down?

May 5, 2014 by

business (10)A Washington Post article by J.D Harrison dated April 30th. talks about  how small business hiring has remain flat in April, and the belief that the projections of greater figures in the small business sector has fallen short. The news can lead one to wonder whether the rising costs of health care and the minimum wage increase has led small business owners to think about those issues first before hiring.

Read more about this topic by following the links below.

Small business weekly: Minimum wage, maximizing loans and expensive limes

A review of the biggest small business and startup stories from the past week, with a special focus on Washington.

SBA slammed: During a hearing last week, Democrats and Republicans on the House Small Business Committee ripped into the Small Business Administration for creating several new entre pre neur ship training programs that have not been approved by Congress while pulling back on some of its long-standing counseling programs. (OSB)

Nation’s job engine? While employers as a whole posted strong job gains last month, small businesses are still struggling to pick up the pace. Hiring by small companies was flat in April, according to the latest readings by ADP, while their share of the nation’s total job gains declined for the fourth consecutive month. (OSB)

Mimimum wage splits businesses: Senate Republicans last week blocked legislation from moving forward that would raise the federal minimum wage to $10.00 per hour. Some small business owners say the legislation would cripple their companies by driving up labor costs, while others strongly favor raising the floor on wages. (OSB)

Many Small Employers Face Rising Insurance Costs Under ACA

Size matters – when it comes to the impact of the Affordable Care Act on employers. For the next three days ideastream health reporter Sarah Jane Tribble will walk us through the differences. She starts the series today by going to a bar.

Paul Siperke is the co-owner of Fat Heads – a popular brew pub in North Olmstead. He has fewer than 50 full-time employees, so he’s classified under the Affordable Care Act as a small business.

He doesn’t have to provide health insurance to his employees. But that’s what he’s been doing despite some pretty crazy volatility in rates.

“They just seemed to keep going up every year.  One year we got a 38 percent increase, another year we got 11. One year we got 3,” Siperke says.”

This year, under the Affordable Care Act, he saw another hike – this one for about 20 percent.

“It just seems odd that we get such a drastic price increase when nothing has really changed with us as far as our employees and health issues,” he says.

Until now, if employees were healthy and claims were few, premium prices were relatively good. But, for a small business, if even one employee was in a car accident or was diagnosed with cancer, insurance costs could skyrocket the next year.

Advice for small businesses navigating Obamacare

Serving as a partner in a health care staffing and consulting firm, health insurance costs were the second largest expense only to employee salaries.

We maintained a commitment to providing health benefits to our team, but each year the cost would climb often by double digits, forcing tough decisions on whether to reduce benefits, increase employee shares or take a bite out of the bottom line.

As a business owner, the decision to offer health benefits is critically important particularly in light of the roll out of the Affordable Care Act.

Health benefits help companies recruit and retain talent in their workforce. A recent survey by Towers and Watson found that more than half of employees surveyed identified the health plan offered as a major reason to stay with their current employer.

Small business has traditionally been at a disadvantage providing these benefits facing higher premiums and administrative costs than large employers.

Much attention on the Affordable Care Act has been on the individual health care coverage options and the technical challenges with the exchange website. Depending on where you stand on the issue, the act has been a great success at enrolling millions of uninsured into coverage, or complete failure in both concept and implementation.

Filed Under: Ohio Business News Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

What Does Your Small Business Need?

April 30, 2014 by

business (8)It takes a different kind of person than the average Joe to start a business.  The demands and challenges a small business or a startup have are numerous, and the rewards sometimes are not as glorious as one imagined.  Small businesses in the state of Ohio in 2008 totaled 902,369 according to the SBA, and although there has been a shift in employment by the small business sector, the improvement in the economy will surely have a good impact in job creation in the state of Ohio.

Read more business news by following the links below.

Legal-Ease: Small business needs team of advisers

An owner’s intelligence or work ethic is not always dispositive of a small business’s (including a farm’s) success.

In fact, the “advisory team” for a small business can disproportionately affect that business’s success or failure. That advisory team consists of more than the attorney. There are five crucial “partners” for each entrepreneur: attorney, accountant, insurance agent, lender and financial adviser.

A good attorney will help a small business owner minimize liability and make the business practically workable. Very few attorneys can lawfully claim they are specialists because there are limited subject matters for which there is lawful certification as a legal “specialist.” However, some attorneys limit their practices to specified aspects of the law or have deeper passions for certain subject matters over others.

Ignore that Accounting Problem — At Your Own Risk

Show me an entrepreneur who says they’ve never encountered an accounting problem and I’ll show you a liar. That may sound a bit extreme, but the point is simple: from a lost invoice to overlooked write-offs to something perhaps more nerve-wracking (audit, anyone?), perfection in accounting is pretty much a myth. And that’s OK.

But just because perfection is a myth, it doesn’t mean that as you discover an accounting issue, you can shrug it off and chalk it up to the imperfect nature of the universe. Why not, you ask? Because accounting issues are like wounds: untreated, they fester. And they can get nasty — quickly.

Let’s say you do some car detailing and repair out of your garage. It’s a side gig — sort of. You quote jobs verbally and “invoice” the same. After all, you’ve only done work for friends and neighbors, although you have started gaining a few referrals to folks you didn’t previously know. When you collect payment, you prefer cash, but will take a check and deposit it into your personal checking account. You’re now pulling in a nice chunk of change each month from your “side gig.”

The 6 People Every Startup Needs

There’s no magic bullet for startup success, but your team can often make-or-break it, says entrepreneur Bernd Schoner.

Schoner, who has a Ph.D. from MIT and was co-founder of RFID technologies startup ThingMagic, sold his company to Trimble Navigation in 2010 for an undisclosed sum.

ThingMagic had an original team of five co-founders. But by the time the company was acquired, Schoner says only two were remaining – leading him to think more closely about team dynamics.

“There are certain roles that people assume in a typical tech company or startup that make sense and I think if you are careful about that, then your odds of success go up,” says Schoner. He is author of the upcoming book: ‘The Tech Entrepreneur’s Survival Guide.”

While some companies start out with just one or two employees, Schoner says there are six key personality types he believes make for a great team. Here is the recipe for his dream lineup:

No. 1: The prima donna genius
“I think it’s commonly accepted in a tech startup that you better have someone with technical knowledge,” says Schoner. “You want to have someone be able to lead the technical agenda of the team.”

No. 2: The leader
Typically the CEO, Schoner says it’s important to have one person calling the shots.

“For larger founder teams … It can get very tricky if there are five opinions and all have equal weight. Democracy is great, but not in a startup,” says Choner. “The leader or CEO doesn’t always need to be right, but if [he or she] is a leader figure that others can look up to, then that’s a good thing.”

Filed Under: Ohio Business News Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Reasons Never To Neglect Existing Customers While Pursuing New

April 24, 2014 by

business (10)There is a danger that lurks in the relentless pursuit of new customers. With performance measurement so often geared toward new customer acquisition, many, from the CEO to the individual relationship manager, might be tempted to shift focus from an existing book of business. This can even take place subconsciously. Rest assured, however, customers will ascertain the level of service that is being delivered. To keep from drifting away from stellar service and neglecting customers, here are some points to consider;

1) Remember the cost of acquisition. Of course, every customer you have comes with a cost, and many businesses have this defined down to the cent. It is helpful to think of the process of acquisition as well. How many introductions, meetings, lunches and proposals did it take to earn the customers’ business? What effort was put forth in the onboarding process? Contemplate this the next time you are tempted to skip that quarterly review or to decide that a thank you note really isn’t necessary.

2) In many industries, the best source of new business is your business. Think of your best customers. Would you like to have more of them? Would they recommend you and/or your company? Many would agree that the answer to that question will go a long way toward determining your ultimate level of success. Still, some struggle with asking for referrals. This could stem from a lack of confidence. Really, would you hesitate to ask for a referral when you are truly proud of the way you have taken care of a customer?

3) Finally, constantly remind yourself that your top 10 customer list is someone else’s top 10 prospect list. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that whatever good or service you are providing is simply not to be obtained elsewhere. This is rarely the case. Neglecting customers leaves the door open to your competitors, and you may not even realize it.

Your overall business will not grow unless you can obtain and retain customers. Keeping these principles in mind can help you do both.

Filed Under: coaching Tagged With: , , , , , ,

New Funds For Small Business In Ohio

April 22, 2014 by

business (3)The U.S Department of the Treasury announced Thursday that it will transfer $18.1 million to Ohio to help small business lending to companies and small business entrepreneurs.  These funds will provide Ohio small business owners the available resources to help create jobs thus improving the Ohio economy.

Read more about this by following the links below.

Ohio offers more money for small business loans, using once-controversial funds

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Ohio just got more than $18 million to loan to small businesses, which officials say should seed $180 million in private loans from banks.

The $18.17 million is being transferred from the U.S. Treasury Department to Ohio’s Development Services Agency, which will work with businesses and bankers to expand or start small companies that are deemed credit-worthy and promising but need help meeting collateral or other underwriting standards.

In some cases, this is because the value of their inventories or real estate declined during the economic downturn, creating a shortfall between their collateral and their financing needs. Bank rules require them to have more money on hand or more value before a loan can be issued.

The federal money, through the state’s Collateral Enhancement Program, can help make that up. It also will help businesses through related programs: the Ohio Capital Access Program and the Targeted Investment Program. The state previously received $12.4 million for these programs and stands to get $24.5 million more once the new amount is put to use, according to Treasury Department figures.

Fed transfers $18M to Ohio small business lending program

The U.S. Department of the Treasury on Thursday announced the transfer of more than $18.1 million to Ohio to support the state’s small business lending program.

Through the State Small Business Credit Initiative, the funds will support Ohio’s Collateral Enhancement Program, Ohio Capital Access Program and Targeted Investment Program.

Officials said Ohio will use the funds to leverage greater levels of private lending and investing in small businesses located in the state, often by partnering with local community banks.

“Ohio continues to leverage federal State Small Business Credit Initiative funds to attract new loans and investments to the state’s small businesses,” said Cliff Kellogg, director of the State Small Business Credit Initiative, in a statement.

“These funds are intended to continue the state’s partnership with local entrepreneurs and small business owners to provide new sources of capital, help create jobs, and improve the economy,” he said.

Playhouse Square seeks to fill empty retail spaces through small-business grant contest

New signs, including archways like the one pictured here, have popped up in downtown Cleveland’s Playhouse Square district during the past few weeks. As the theater district finishes a $16 million transformation of its public spaces, the Charter One Foundation and the Downtown Cleveland Alliance are running a grant contest to revive empty storefronts on East 14th Street and Euclid Avenue. (Marvin Fong, The Plain Dealer)

Small businesses seeking space in downtown Cleveland’s theater district will have a shot at $1,500 to $20,000 in grant funding through a program that has helped fill other empty storefronts in the city.

The Charter One Foundation and the Downtown Cleveland Alliance announced Monday that they’ve teamed up with Playhouse Square to launch a grant competition that ends May 16. The money, $20,000 in all, could help a handful of businesses or a single entrepreneur cover start-up costs such as rent, equipment and fixtures.

Playhouse Square is targeting the Hanna Building, the Hanna Building Annex and the Keith Building — two office buildings and a residential redevelopment where the upper floors are largely full but some street-level retail spaces sit vacant. The empty storefronts, on Euclid Avenue and East 14th Street, range from 420 square feet to 3,257 square feet.

 

 

Filed Under: Ohio Business News Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Small Business Lending And Other News

April 17, 2014 by

business (6)According to the United States Small business Administration $3.5 billion were invested in small businesses in 2013 alone.  Although the Small Business Administration does not provide the investment directly to businesses, it partners with private investors that manage the funds that finance small businesses.  One of the banks that is leading the way in providing loans to small businesses in Ohio is Huntington National Bank, with a 46% increase from last year.  For this and other news follow the links below for more information.

Huntington Bank on track to become nation’s largest small-business lender, but profits dip in first quarter

CLEVELAND, Ohio — After several years at No. 3, Huntington Bank is on track to become the No. 1 small-business lender in the United States.

Through the first six months of the federal fiscal year, Huntington has the greatest number of SBA loans. This is especially interesting because Huntington is the nation’s 33rd largest bank by assets and it does SBA loans only in the six states where it has branches: Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Indiana, West Virginia and Kentucky.

Huntington has catapulted to No. 1 because its SBA lending has increased by about 20 percent, while lending at other banks has fallen, Craig Street, head of SBA lending for Huntington, said in an interview.

In the Cleveland district, Huntington’s lending has soared even more, with a 46 percent boost. Huntington made 396 loans for $38.2 million in the six months ending March 31, 2013, and 580 loans for $54.7 million for the six months ending March 31, 2014.

Small Business Administration, AARP can help business owners older than 50

Are you older than 50 and looking for your next career? New research shows that one in four people ages 44 to 70 are interested in starting their own business or nonprofit in the next five to 10 years.

Did you know you aren’t alone? There are 76 million people older than 50 in the United States. That’s why the U.S. Small Business Administration and AARP are teaming up in April to host National Encore Entrepreneur Mentor Month.

Together we will provide events to help connect encore entrepreneurs with mentors, such as those from SBA’s network of Small Business Development Centers, Women’s Business Centers, and SCORE chapters who can help with strategies to grow an entrepreneur’s business.

We know that kind of training can be critical for the success of a small business. It can help folks bring their experience, knowledge and skills to a new venture, and that can create exciting new opportunities and jobs.

BigCommerce Increases Reach Into Small Business Commerce

BigCommerce is known for the big brands that are using it to get eCommerce sites up and running quickly. Clients include Gibson Guitar, YETI Coolers and many others.

But the company says that BigCommerce isn’t exclusively for major national brands. Small businesses can and should be taking advantage of what the eCommerce platform can offer.

In an interview with Small Business Trends, BigCommerce CPO Westley Stringfellow said:

“The reality is BigCommerce is built for business, large or small. Our vision is to power small business. Our role is to amplify the merchant.”

If your business is in the market for an eCommerce platform, BigCommerce appears to be a powerful option to consider. Having your own store online can help you to build your brand and break free from other services like eBay or Amazon.

Stringfellow says:

“It’s very clear that as we grow, merchants want to have their own presence. They want to grow their brand. It’s hard to do that on eBay.”

BigCommerce users have access to dozens of store design templates, many of them free, as well as hundreds of apps to help you manage your store. Many of these apps are also free.

Filed Under: Ohio Business News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

How To Keep Score For Your Business

April 10, 2014 by

business (4)Many small businesses – and small teams in large ones – work hard without working smart. More effort is exerted than necessary and the results are that the business is less efficient.

So how do we work smarter and more efficiently?

The answer to this is dashboarding. A dashboard is a tool many newer businesses are using as a means of charting the work they do and projecting future outcomes where applicable, such as in sales and the green energy sector.

Among the common programs to create a dashboard are Microsoft Excel and the Numbers app.

How to Create a Dashboard

Using a spreadsheet, the top rows should title the tab. Below that, the columns for important data need to be input. The rows on the left hand side that run from top to bottom will note the project, customer, or prospect.

Using a Dashboard to Track Sales

For sales professionals, the dashboard not only helps you stay on track, but also enhances your progress and increases your income. When you dashboard, you’ll not only have your customers’ information in one place, but you’ll also note important information such as:

  • When you called last
  • When you’ll call next
  • The reason for calling
  • Notable information

Additionally, many sales people like to note how many “points of contact” they’ve made so as to track just how many times they have to call someone to make a sale.

Secure Your Future With a Dashboard

David Katz was an intern with a green energy company in New York City when he was preparing to graduate from Columbia University. The position was only meant to last the summer, but during that time, Mr. Katz did a complete overhaul of the company’s energy measurement and billing methods via dashboard.

When the summer ended, the dashboard was deemed too valuable to lose, as was its master. Mr. Katz is now one of the top players at this company that may go public in the next five years.

If this wasn’t enough, the dashboard also added to the young man’s legacy. Those in his circle have replicated his actions and dubbed the process he enacted as “pulling a Katz!”

Filed Under: coaching Tagged With: , , , , ,

Taxes, Penalties And Your Business

April 9, 2014 by

business (9)The cost of starting a new business depends on the business model or the industry you are entering. A home based, consulting home business or free lance is much cheaper that opening offices some place, and buying office furniture, installing new phones, electric, insurance, etc. The cost of starting a home based business could be only a few thousand dollars, compared to the figures of the small business administration a few years back that estimated the opening of a new business as $30,000.  The cost associated with opening and running a small business is high, but there are many expenses that you may be able to postpone or even get by without worrying too much about it.  One of the expenses that you can absolutely not postpone is getting an accountant that will take care of the taxes and government filings your business needs to do to avoid penalties that you could incur otherwise.

Read more about this topic by following the links below.

Small Business Owners Have a $4.5 Billion Payroll Tax Problem

Every month, employers across the U.S. send money to the IRS to cover payroll taxes—levies drawn from employee pay to cover Social Security, Medicare, and unemployment insurance. Many botch the process. The IRS issued 6.8 million penalties totaling $4.5 billion related to these employment taxes for the year ending last September, according to recently published data from the IRS (PDF).

Those numbers are down from 2009, when the IRS issued 7.9 million penalties for $7.1 billion. The government doesn’t say what share of the fines were handed out to small businesses, but large employers are generally better equipped to stay current on ever-changing tax rules.

Why are businesses incurring enough in annual penalties to pay for a new Navy destroyer?

As companies get bigger or smaller and hire different types of employees, the rules they must follow can shift. Tax collectors often change rules on their own accord, meaning a business that paid payroll taxes on a monthly basis one year might be expected to pay every two weeks in the next. “There are so many little rules for a small business owner to stay on top of,” says David McKelvey, a New York-based partner at accounting firm Friedman.

McKelvey advises his clients, which generally have at least $1 million in annual sales, to outsource payroll services. Companies such as ADP (ADP) and Paychex (PAYX), to name two of the largest payroll firms, have the resources to stay current on tax rules and in many cases will guarantee customers against payment of IRS penalties, McKelvey says.

Small Businesses in Limbo Again on Tax Breaks

Small businesses are in limbo as they wait for Congress to make decisions that could save them a lot of money.

Bills in Congress would extend tax deductions widely used by small businesses making equipment or property purchases. One, known as the Section 179 deduction, has shrunk to a maximum $25,000 this year from $500,000 in 2013. Another, called bonus depreciation, expired at the end of last year.

The deductions are a big deal for small companies, saving them thousands or even millions of dollars on capital investments. But because Congress decides every year how big the deductions will be, owners can’t plan their equipment budgets until lawmakers vote. And in recent years, worried about the ballooning federal deficit, Congress has put off those votes, sometimes until late in the year.

The annual uncertainty hurts small businesses looking for a break when their combined federal and state tax rates run as high as 40 percent, says Doug Bekker, a certified public accountant with the firm BDO in Grand Rapids, Mich. They don’t know if they should make the purchase in the current year or defer it. And as the economy gets stronger and businesses are more profitable, they’re concerned about tax bills.

“If you talk to the typical small business out there, there’s a very high level of frustration,” Bekker says.

It’s getting cheaper to buy a small business in Baltimore

The cost of buying a small business in Baltimore has dropped by more than 11 percent during the last year, according to BizBuySell.com.

The website reports that the median asking price of  businesses for sale in Baltimore is $255,000, a $33,000 decline (11.6 percent) from the end of the first quarter in 2013.

Meanwhile, small businesses are generating more revenue than they were a year ago. BizBuySell reports business had median revenue of $496,654 during the first quarter, up from $480,000 during the first quarter last year.

BizBuySell compiled its numbers based on listing data from 248 businesses.

Filed Under: Ohio Business News Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Taxes, Hiring And The Minimun Wage In Ohio

April 5, 2014 by

business (7)It is the tax season and talk about taxes, penalties, tax cuts, minimum wage and hiring are the talk of the town.  For everyone that is still procrastinating about doing their taxes, I just want to remind you you ONLY have 10 DAYS left.   If you are not ready nor will be ready in ten days time, it is probably wise for you to file and extension to file later and avoid those pesky penalties the IRS will impose on you. For more news about what is happening in Ohio please follow the links below.

Push for $10.10 minimum wage would create winners, losers in Ohio

Amy Zickefoose’s husband works long, difficult hours with machines in Tennessee, hundreds of miles from their Mansfield home . For this dangerous work, he receives $11 an hour.

State and federal politicians have proposed raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour by 2016, but Zickefoose said fast-food employees shouldn’t be paid that much.

“I definitely don’t feel (they) should make almost as much as my husband,” said, Zickefoose, adding that she doesn’t believe an increase would help her family . “I know his boss wouldn’t give him another dollar.”

An increase in the minimum wage, which is $7.95 an hour in Ohio, would mean layoffs and potentially higher food prices, but also better-paid workers and potentially lower costs for social services. Whether that sounds like a great or horrible idea depends largely on where you fit into the workforce.

“From the employees’ perspective, a wage increase is always appreciated,” said Randy Davies, president and CEO of the Chillicothe-Ross Chamber of Commerce. “There are many aspects a small business owner  would have to adjust.”

The Congressional Budget Office estimated 500,000 workers, or 0.3 percent of the American workforce, would lose their jobs by 2016 if Congress raised the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour. However, another 16.5 million would see their wage increase, the report stated.

Faber: Tax cuts, regulatory reform has Ohio going in the ‘right direction’

LIMA — The leader of the state Senate claims Ohio is moving in the right direction, but that is not good enough and more work needs to be done.

Before Republican Gov. John Kasich took office, the state was losing 100,000 jobs per year for several years, Senate President Keith Faber, R-Celina, said. In the last three years, the state has seen private enterprise create 238,000 jobs, including 300 jobs at Ford Motor Co. Lima Engine Plant.

Under former Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland, Faber pointed out the state’s “rainy day” fund dropped to 89 cents and Kasich inherited a state budget that was $8.5 billion in debt. Today, the “rainy day” fund is approaching $1.5 billion and the budget is balanced.

“We are going in the right direction now,” Faber told about 100 people Friday during the Allen County Republican Party luncheon at the Elks. “Ohio is doing better, we are doing better, but better is still not good enough, because if we sit on our laurels than we should expect to go back to the bad old days of 2010, and 2009 and 2008.”

Survey: Ohio business owners hold off on hiring

More Ohio small and mid-size business owners are expecting higher sales and profits over the next six months compared to a year ago, according to new survey results released today by The PNC Financial Services Group Inc.

PNC Bank, Ohio’s fourth largest bank by deposits held, surveys business owners and customers twice a year, gauging sentiments about the economy.

On a less-positive note, the same Ohio business owners told PNC that even though business looks to be improving, it doesn’t mean they plan to hire more people.

“Ohio business owners are still very guarded,” said Mekael Teshome, PNC economist.

The outlook has brightened across the local, national and global economies, Teshome said. For example, six months ago the U.S. government was shutdown.

But small Ohio business owners — who do the majority of the hiring — are looking for more goods news before they risk the investment.

“I see this as indicating businesses are pretty much playing defense. There has been some volatility in Ohio’s economy. We hit a bit of a speed bump in the fourth quarter” from declines in government employment, Teshome said.

“I think that speed bump had something to do with firms taken a more precautionary approach,” he said.

“The other reason I think is the manufacturing rebound is really approaching a more mature, more advanced stage. I think there will be continued improvement in this sector, but not of the same magnitude we saw in 2012,” he said.

Filed Under: Ohio Business News Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

How To Spot Problem Employees Before Hiring Them

April 3, 2014 by

business (7)How to Spot Problem Employees Before Hiring Them

The whole hiring process requires careful thought and consideration. If an employer is not careful there are many things that can be overlooked in finding great employees. Upon viewing a prospect, the employer should view the initial application carefully to see if there is anything there that appears to be misleading or false. References and past employers should carefully be checked by giving them a call and asking a few unexpected questions and making certain that the past employer has a legitimate company. The past employer can be researched to see if they really exist.

If the application looks impressive, the next phase would be to give the person a call and let them know that their application was received and ask them why they feel they would be a good prospect for the job. It would be a good idea to tell them about the main job duties and ask them if they have experience in those areas. If the applicant is able to answer the questions in a convincing manner then this would be a great time to schedule an interview. If the person does not sound convincing they could be told that that there still needs to be time to view their application. This would be the perfect time to send them an email and thank them for their application and let them know why it was denied.

The interview is the final draw. First impressions mean everything. The applicant should be dressed for success suitable for the interview. Does the employer really express that they are interested in the company or in just getting paid to do a job? Some concerns may be health related problems that may cause this person not to be able to perform well on the job. The applicant should be able to work the hours needed and be able to be to work on time. Does the applicant answer in a way that he or she comprehends the questions asked? Does he or she communicate well and present themselves professionally? The answers to these questions could be red flags that help spot problem employees.

Filed Under: coaching Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
« Previous Page
Next Page »