Business News For The Small Business Owner

August 17, 2016 by

64735957

It is perhaps the ability of a small business owner to keep optimism at high levels to be able to do what they do every single day.  There is no other people telling you what to do, or what jobs require top priority.    As a small business owner, the credit and blame stop with them.  There is no employee that works in a small business, that is not the responsibility of the owner.  The successes and the failures mean something else for them as well.  To be a small business owner is to be different.  To have the courage to do what many others wish to do, but are afraid to take the first step.  Read more about business news by following the links below.

Abrams: Small businesses have already won the gold

Small-business owners: If you’ve been watching the Olympics, you may be getting the wrong message. I’m here to tell you that you’re winners, even if you never get the business equivalent of an Olympic gold medal.

For the past week, I’ve been mesmerized watching swimmer Katie Ledecky breaking world records with ease. Usain Bolt running faster than any man on Earth, and smiling as he does it. Those amazing, fearless gymnasts, led by Simone Biles, risking life and limb.

But one aspect of Olympic coverage that frustrates me is when someone asks a silver- or bronze-medal winner if they’re disappointed because they didn’t win the gold.

Most of these fantastic athletes react the way American swimmer Nathan Adrian did when asked whether he was upset that he “only” got a bronze. He looked surprised, then, with an endearing grin, he reminded the correspondent that hey, he was at the Olympics and he won a medal. How great is that?

The Truth About Hiring Friends in Your Small Business

Hiring friends must be done with care to be successful.

Small business ideas are often mulled over by friends long before you take the plunge and say, “I’ve made the decision. I’m starting my own business.” Friends’ reactions may range from encouragement to total negativity, but there’s a good chance at least one friend might be interested in working for you or with you.

While mixing business with friendship can work out, many people choose to keep business separate from friendships. Business relationships gone sour can ruin relationships, and some people avoid this risk by starting out with a “no hiring friends” policy. Most people fall between the two extremes of wanting to hire friends and refusing to do so. With strict boundaries, it’s possible to successfully hire friends for your business.

Hiring a Friend Will Be Fine, Right?

Maybe? After deciding to start your own business, it’s intuitive that many people want friends on board to help build the business. And since close friends tend to be vocal supporters of your ideas, and may be willing to work long hours with little or no pay it makes the choice a quick solution.

Aetna ditching 70% of its ObamaCare business

Insurance giant Aetna won’t be offering coverage under ObamaCare next year in 11 of the 15 states it now serves — an announcement that instantly became an issue in the presidential race.

Aetna’s decision led Donald Trump to charge that President Obama’s health care reform was “imploding.”

“Aetna’s decision to leave the Affordable Care Act’s public marketplaces is the latest blow to this broken law that is slowly imploding under its regulatory red tape,” said Trump campaign deputy national policy director Dan Kowalski.

“Millions of Americans have lost their health coverage under this disastrous policy, eliminating their ability to choose their doctors. Thousands of businesses have been forced to cut employment or shutter their doors in response to Obama’s signature achievement,” he added.

The company had previously warned that it expected to lose more than $300 million this year on the 900,000 patients it covers under the Affordable Care Act.

Aetna said it is pulling out of ObamaCare markets in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Texas.

 

 

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

Is Your Company Culture Positive?

August 9, 2016 by

54640451Although a company’s culture is not a visual entity, it is a palpable entity that most employees can tell you exist in their place of work without pinpointing the exactness of it.  For a large company to succeed or a small business to be able to generate the sales they need, a positive, transparent working environment is always a positive asset to have, without investing too much in other training programs elsewhere.  Lines of communication between departments and employees should be an important asset owners and managers alike should strive to exploit for the benefit of the business.

Tax-Free Weekend Lifts Sales for Small Businesses

STATEWIDE — Shoppers across Texas enjoyed a tax-free weekend on clothing and school supplies. While many flocked to large chain stores, some small businesses also saw a boost.

“Definitely it’s working,” said  David Marrs, owner of Vagabond Vintage Clothing in San Marcos. “I don’t think it can compare to the outlet mall, but I think I saw my sales double yesterday.”

While the San Marcos outlets are always a big draw, shoppers saved 8.25 cents on every dollars of eligible purchases during the weekend no matter where they shopped. For some, it was the reason for a shopping spree. For others, a pleasant coincidence.

“I forgot that it was tax-free weekend,” said Matt Counts, a shopper at Vagabond.

“Until we didn’t pay tax!” laughed his wife Mandy Counts.

Business leaders say shopping at locally-owned stores is a move consumers can feel good about.

Highlight Company Culture to Attract Candidates with Passion

Recruiting motivated, purpose-driven candidates and matching them up to a job and company culture that matters to them will improve employee engagement and retention, according to recent research from LinkedIn.

The global network’s 2016 Global Talent Trends survey of over 33,000 professionals on LinkedIn revealed that those who see themselves staying at their current company for three or more years were more likely than others to be primarily motivated by a sense of purpose.

Forty-one percent of respondents said they couldn’t imagine being at their current company two years in the future, while 37 percent see themselves staying for three or more years. Of those who envision a longer future at their current organization, the largest percentage (39 percent) said they are motivated most by personal fulfillment and purpose and that they tend to accept a job because of a company’s culture, vision and products.

“Their primary motivation is using their work to advance a greater good, a higher cause, a mission they deem worthy of working toward,” said Esther Lee Cruz, global marketing manager at LinkedIn and a co-author of the survey’s report. Of the remaining 61 percent of respondents who intend to stay for three or more years at their current job, 35 percent indicated they are primarily driven by career status and compensation. Twenty-six percent did not indicate a primary motivator.

3 Telltale Signs of Toxic Company Culture – and What to Do About It

What is company culture? Look around you – company culture encompasses everything from your office layout, to the way you collaborate with peers and managers, to the costume contest held every Halloween. In today’s workplace landscape, culture has quickly moved from a “nice-to-have” to a “must have”. However, a recent study by Deloitte University Press reported that HR leaders consider culture and engagement their number one challenge.

So, how can your organizations create a strong company culture and avoid toxicity? It starts at the top. Leadership must vigilantly watch for warning signs and take proactive measures to ensure culture is protected.

Here are three warning signs of toxic company culture:

1. Knowledge Hoarding

Shared knowledge increases efficiency, improves employee performance, and fosters innovation. However, some individuals develop a “figure it out yourself” attitude instead of sharing tacit knowledge openly and willingly. They become territorial and lack the willingness to share their hard-earned skills and experience with colleagues. Some hoard information because they feed off of power and control. Others hoard knowledge because they believe sharing their knowledge with others will only make them disposable.

 

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

Small Business News For The Entrepreneur

August 3, 2016 by

59948705

It seems that after so many months of uncertainty about the US economy, reports are becoming more encouraging for the US. A  Deutsche Bank strategist writes that in the last past two weeks the US market has surprisingly jumped into positive territory for the first time in almost two years.

With more jobs in manufacturing and services, the result should be a positive economic growth for the small business owner as well.

To read more about this and other  stories, follow the links below.

How These Entrepreneurs Are Living the Startup Life 24/7

If you occasionally get nostalgic for college – missing its around-the-clock access to homework help and social outlets — or if you’re tired of the lonely business owner’s life, you may be captivated by the idea of living with a group of entrepreneurs. But could you take the constant stream of ideas, the high energy, the 24/7 lifestyle? To some, such as Chandler Bolt, this living situation is nothing short of a profitable dream come true.

Bolt, the founder of Self-Publishing School, has lived in San Diego for the last year with four other super smart and motivated online entrepreneurs. The goal in creating the living arrangement was to create an intentional community of likeminded business people intent on improving every level of their lives – from physical to financial.

“I thought, ‘Why not put five people in a house?’” Bolt, said. “I thrive best when there’s work going on around me – knowing there’s stuff always happening.”

12 tips for creating a must-read business blog

Business owners, bloggers and online marketers discuss what small businesses can do to drive traffic to their blogs, increase their page views and keep readers coming back for more.

Too often business owners start blogging in the hope that it will drive traffic to their business, only to quickly fall into the trap of posting stale or sales-heavy content that gets no or few views. Then they become frustrated and either blog less frequently or abandon their blog, wondering why they bothered.

1. Think about and write for your target audience. “Think about the audience you are trying to attract to your blog and share content that is relevant, interesting and valuable to that specific demographic,” says Arsineh Ghazarian, cofounder & CEO, Zveil.

July Small Business Job Growth Is Positive, Paychex CEO Mucci Tells CNBC

Paychex (PAYX) CEO Martin Mucci discussed the country’s July small business job growth, which slowed from last month, on CNBC today.

NEW YORK (TheStreet) — Paychex  (PAYX) CEO Martin Mucci explained the outsourcing solutions company’s somewhat weak July survey results on small business job growth, which were released Tuesday morning, with CNBC‘s Brian Sullivan on “Squawk Box.”

Small business job growth was down by 0.12% to 100.68 in July after increasing 0.21% to 100.81 in June, according to the Paychex IHS Small Business Jobs Index.
“It was just a small drop in July after a pretty good increase in June, so we’ve been a bit choppy this year on the overall index but year to date we’re up 0.3% so I think it’s still positive. It’s cautious but it’s still positive,” Mucci said.
Filed Under: Ohio Business News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Taxes, Insurance And The Small Business Owner

July 28, 2016 by

64002400

For any business that wants to attract talented employees, marketers agree they need to consider the perks associated with attracting and keeping employees that every business wants.  Health insurance and retirement accounts are the basic benefits that many of these businesses offer. Others include gyms on site and free lunches to their employees without blinking.  But many of these giants offer benefits that many small business owners cannot afford.  And although many employees are lured to the extra benefits they can get, others are happy to work for the small business owner, and be an intricate part of making the small business succeed.

For more about this and other topics, follow the links below.

Should Your Small Business Offer Health Insurance?

For a small business, helping employees sign up for Obamacare often is the best idea for them.

Health insurance is expensive—and getting more so all the time. Does it make more sense for a small company to provide coverage (with employees paying some of the premiums) or let them get a policy on their own through the Affordable Care Act?

Not long ago, it could be difficult and often very expensive for individuals to buy their ownhealth insurance, while the tax code gives an advantage to group insurance provided through the workplace. To keep employees happy and maintain a stable workforce, companies that could afford to offered group insurance.

Now Obamacare, as the law is known, has changed the calculus. Individuals these days can buy insurance with regulated benefits and premiums, and most are eligible for big subsidies. And while companies with the equivalent of at least 50 full-time employees must offer health insurance to those full-time workers or pay penalties, the ACA has no such requirement for smaller businesses.

The upshot is that in many cases, particularly when employees are relatively low-paid, both the company and its employees might be better off if workers buy their own insurance.

Small businesses looking forward to sales tax holiday

A “lackluster” summer for sales have small businesses looking forward to the upcoming sales tax holiday across the state, said Rosemary Elebash, Alabama director of the National Federation of Independent Businesses.

The holiday from sales tax on a host of items including clothing, computers, footwear and much, much more could provide a much-needed lift to many small stores and businesses, said Elebash.

“It’s been a lackluster summer for a lot of small businesses,” Elebash said. “The sales-tax holiday should help people get fired up and in the mood to spend,” added Elebash in a prepared statement from NFIB touting the holiday and its importance to small businesses.

The sales tax holiday begins Friday, Aug. 5 and runs through Sunday, Aug. 7.

The sales tax holiday comes after the latest FIB Small Business Optimism Index, released July 12, shows that small-business confidence improved by only a fraction of one percent in June.

 

Small Business Owners Put Everything They Have Into Their Businesses– Nearly Nine in 10 Say It’s All Worth It

SAN FRANCISCO, July 26, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — More than eight in 10 small business owners (82%) say they put everything they have into their business, according to the second annual Bank of the West Small Business Growth Survey, released today—and an overwhelming majority (86%) say that all they’ve sacrificed for their business has been worth it.

The survey, conducted online by Harris Poll among a national sample of 505 small business owners and an additional 207 California small business owners, delves into the journey of the small business owner, identifying the unique challenges they face and benefits of the job that drive them to persevere through hardships. The survey also spotlights California, and sheds light on unique advantages and challenges felt by women small business owners.

Additionally, this year’s index number (55) and results from the survey show that small businesses have experienced growth and are optimistic in the future of their businesses amid an uncertain economic and political climate. Further, 70 percent of companies surveyed were in growth mode – up from 64 percent last year. The index tracks four key indicators over the previous 12 months: profitability, revenue, investments, and reductions. On the scale of 0-100, a composite score of higher than 50 indicates growth and less than 50 signals decline.

 

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

Apps And Tips To Help Your Small Business

June 21, 2016 by

Customer Relationship Management business chart on a digital tab

There is always the dream for many people to have their own business and be their own boss.  You either will succeed on your terms or not.  A small business for many people is a scary idea that they better not contemplate.  But, if you are like the millions of entrepreneurs in the United States, you need to try, and it is never too late according to many small business owners.  The paperwork, and costs  associated with starting a small business have been declining over the years, making it more feasible for an individual to open shop.  For free advice and other related articles to starting your own business, follow the links below.

Facebook Messenger Is Actually Helping Small Businesses Boost Sales

According to the company’s director of small business.

Facebook has built its reputation on its ability to get granular. Because the social network knows so much about its 1.6 billion users, marketers can use the platform to target highly curated groups of people.

But small–business owners should think on an even more individual level, says Dan Levy, the company’s vice president of small business. He repeatedly sees companies missing out on a valuable, and inexpensive, tool: Messaging.

For better or for worse, over the last decade the phone call has gone the way of the Dodo. Millennials may have driven the trend, but by this point Gen Xers and even Baby Boomers would often rather text than talk. This extends to their interactions as consumers. “Small-business owners are telling me, ‘I’m getting more sales leads over Messenger than I get over the phone,’” Levy says.

Ken Crite: It’s never too soon to start small business

Small firms accounted for 64 percent of the net new jobs created between 1993 and 2011 (or 11.8 million of the 18.5 million net new jobs). Since the latest recession, from mid-2009 to 2011, small businesses have accounted for 67 percent of the net new jobs.

With this in mind, if the focus was on the development and/or expansion of small businesses, we should experience a more rapid rebuild of the economy.

When large corporations expand and create 50 new jobs, there are several hundred applications, leaving the majority of the applicants in the same situation that they were in prior to applying.

If half of the applicants decided to start their own small business and hired only one additional employee, the job creation and development increases dramatically.

10 Must-Have Apps for Your Small Business

Today, tablets and mobile phones are enabling every industry, every line of business and every employee to work in astounding new ways. This capacity is fueling a new generation of apps, delivering more power, more insight and more capability to businesses than ever before.

This is true for businesses of all sizes – both large and small. Leveraging the right kinds of apps can make for a cohesive business ecosystem valuable in increasing productivity, streamlining business processes, and instilling creativity overall. So where to start? This slideshow offers a look at some of the best types of apps for kicking your small business off the ground or to a higher level.

Mind Mapping

The practice of mind mapping goes beyond the brainstorming exercises you did in elementary school. When you’re beginning a business, it’s important to think through everything and being able to collect your thoughts in a flexible way, especially when you’re on the go, is valuable.

 

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

The State of Small Business Today

June 3, 2016 by

64002400

Many small businesses where the minimum wage has increased, are dealing with issues that they believed are detrimental to the growth of their companies.  Federal law regulation about overtime pay went into effect December 1, 2015, making this another issue to overcome.  As a small business owner, is 2016 a better or worse year for you?

To read more about this and other news, follow the links below.

What You Need to Know About the New Federal Overtime Rules 

Scheduled to go into effect Dec. 1, 2016, the new rule changes overtime regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act’s minimum wage and overtime protections. Previously, employees were excluded if they were salaried, earned at least $455 per week ($23,660 per year) or were in positions considered executive, administrative or professional. Now, those exemptions will be lifted and the pay threshold for overtime protections will be raised to $913 per week, or an annual salary of $47,476. That pay threshold will be updated once every three years, indexed to wage growth over time.A rule change announced May 18 by the U.S. Department of Labor (U.S. DOL) would expand overtime protections to an estimated 4.2 million workers, extending the rule to cover those making less than $47,476 per year and removing long-standing exemptions in the law. Business News Daily dug into the specifics of the new regulation and spoke with labor policy experts and human resources professionals about the anticipated effects of the change, for both employers and workers.

Paychex Sees Small Business Job Growth Dip in May

The pace of small business job growth dropped slightly in May after a strong start earlier in the year, according to a new report from the payroll giant Paychex.

The Paychex | IHS Small Business Jobs Index, which the company compiles with the research firm IHS, declined 0.18 percent in May, from 100.77 to 100.59. Nevertheless, the pace of small business employment growth has increased 0.22 percent since the beginning of 2016.

“It’s roughly flat compared to a year ago, but the pace of small business job growth slowed a bit in May after a pretty hot start in ’16,” said Paychex president and CEO Martin Mucci. “We had a good start, but it’s dropped off a little bit. We’ll see if it’s a trend or not, but at this point we still feel like we’ve got pretty good job growth in small business, despite a little slowdown in May.”

Instagram targets small business ad revenue

SAN FRANCISCO — In a major bid to ramp up advertising revenue, Instagram is rolling out new features for small- and medium-sized businesses including the ability to buy an ad within the mobile app.

“This is really the first time you can advertise like this within the app,” James Quarles, Instagram’s global head of business and brand development, told USA TODAY.

“We have millions of businesses, great community members, and today we want to help them to have the capability to be a business on Instagram, not just be an account,” he said.

 

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

Apps And Tools To Make Your Small Business Run Efficiently

April 28, 2016 by

Customer Relationship Management business chart on a digital tab

According to the Small business administration (SBA) small businesses in the United States have increased by 49% since the 1980s. and provide more than half the jobs in this country. And although small business owners employ many workers, their personal loads at work have increased. They do more than one job at any specific time, and their long hours seem to never be enough to catch up with the many things they have to accomplish daily.  If you find yourself in a similar situation, then this article might benefit you tremendously.  Read more by following the links below.

Top 10 mobile apps for business executives

Anyone with a smartphone or tablet knows that a good app can make life easier — and business executives are no exception. These are the top 10 consumer apps that business people turn to for day-to-day productivity.

Mobile apps for business executives

Apps make your life easier. You can place an order for nearly anything with the touch of a button, you can call a cab to your door or schedule an appointment all without talking to a live person. It seems only natural that as apps make our personal lives more efficient, they’re also making our business lives more productive and functional.

“Over the last five to 10 years we have seen enterprises move away from in-house apps to off-the-shelf or SaaS models. Many of these are consumer-grade services that are retrofitted to specific enterprise needs,” says Dan Rowinski, editor in chief of the Application Resource Center (ARC), publishers of the report and the editorial and research arm of app quality and testing company Applause.

4 Tools That Make Your Small Business Look Big

Being a small company has its benefits: You’re agile, able to change directions at a moment’s notice. You’ve got autonomy, as your business is independent of a giant conglomerate. No, you’re not attracting the same number of consumers as a household name business, but that doesn’t mean  you can’t look every bit as professional to the consumers you do reach. You can make your small business look big.

Build/Update your Website:

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) estimated last year that 50 percent of all small businesses still didn’t have a website. Without a presence on the web, your small business can easily go unnoticed by potential customers. Now the good news: It’s easier than ever to create a website, especially one that your customers can access from their mobile devices. More than 75 percent of mobile phone users access the internet through them, and the number will rise to nearly 86 percent by 2018. Google now favors sites which work well on mobile in its search results: You definitely want to be one of the top results when people go looking.

KANSAS CITY — A little over a month ago, Tony Spagnoli, an aspiring coffee roaster in Philadelphia, discovered his fledgling business had received $3,500 from Mondelez International, Inc. Specifically, the money came from Triscuit Maker Fund, a project launched with crowdfunding web site Indiegogo to support artisanal food makers. On March 23, the cracker brand invested $250,000 to help fund 55 food makers’ campaigns on Indiegogo. Ranging from microbrewers to food trucks to small farms, the businesses represent a diverse scope of backgrounds, products, size of organization and geographic location across the United States and Canada.

“The timing of the Triscuit Maker Fund was just impeccable,” Mr. Spagnoli told Food Business News. “I had reached the point where I needed new capital to do some training and buy additional equipment, and I was also in the process of changing the brand name, so I had to redo a lot of collateral and the web site.”

 

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

Ohio Small Business News

April 20, 2016 by

59350241

Last Oct. 2015 the Unemployment rate for the state of Ohio was a 4.7%, and since then it has been increasing slowly, but surely to a 5.1% as of last month. A small increase to be sure, but it does make you wonder whether there are better times to come for the state, or things are going to progressively get worse.  Small businesses in Ohio are not as optimistic as they were last year, and some are still wondering wether the minimum wage increase will have other ramifications for their businesses.  For more news bout Ohio, follow the links below.

The State of Small Business: Ohio

As part of our yearlong project “The State of Small Business,” Business News Daily plans to report on the small business environment in every state in America. In this installment, we asked a few of Ohio’s roughly 1 million small business owners about the challenges and opportunities of operating in their state. Here’s what they had to say.

Ohio’s economy has had its ups and downs over the years, experiencing decline long before the rest of the nation felt the effects of the financial crisis. In the years preceding the recession, Ohio’s manufacturing sector was hollowed out, contributing to a drop in per capita income and a drastic slowdown in growth. And while the unemployment rate has plummeted, the labor force has shed nearly 300,000 workers since its peak in late 2007, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. And as employment rises, so does the demand for skilled or experienced labor, and business owners find it progressively harder to hire the employees they need at the cost they want.

However, in 2008 — amid the recession — Ohio’s per capita income started to gain compared to the national average, and the U.S.’ seventh-largest economy has seen some bright spots. Despite a difficult decade — between 2004 and 2014, the compound annual growth rate of Ohio’s GDP was an anemic 0.3 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) — entrepreneurs in Ohio are seeing promise again. For small business owners in the Buckeye State, the sentiment is tepid optimism that a fledgling startup community and the return of manufacturing in the form of tech-focused companies will propel the economy forward in the years to come.

While small business owners acknowledge that there are some downsides to increasing wages for their entry-level workers, many of these business owners also find positives in doing so, new research finds.

Nearly 60 percent of small business owners said they favor raising the minimum wage, and the same percentage said they would likely vote for a state or national candidate who supports a minimum-wage increase, according to a study from Manta, a provider of products, services and educational resources for small businesses.

The results were released as both California and New York recently approved measures to gradually increase their minimum wages to $15 per hour.

The majority of small businesses surveyed are already paying their employees above what’s required. The research revealed that 40 percent of small business owners pay entry-level employees “far above” the required minimum wages in their areas of operation, while 38 percent pay “slightly above” the minimum wage. Just 14 percent are paying the state or local minimums, and only 9 percent are paying the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.

Small Business Confidence Hits New Two-Year Low

Small business confidence fell to a fresh two-year low in March amid persistent worries about sales and profits, the latest indication that economic growth braked sharply in the first quarter.

The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) said on Tuesday its small business optimism index dipped 0.3 point to a reading of 92.6 last month, the lowest since February 2014.

It has declined from a reading of 100 in December 2014 and has pushed further off its 42-year average of 98.

“A ‘chartist’ looking at the data historically might conclude that the index has clearly hit a top and is flashing a recession signal. The April survey will decide whether or not the alarm should be rung,” the NFIB said in statement.

The soft reading fits in with recent economic data on consumer and business spending as well as wholesale inventory investment that have suggested economic growth slowed sharply from the fourth quarter’s 1.4 percent annualized rate.

 

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

The State of Small Businesses Today

April 13, 2016 by

62227730

The small business outlook has declined this past March, and some believe that the 7.7 decline over the last year is an indication of a possible recession. Although some small businesses are blaming the increase in minimum wage the culprit for this less than bright outlook, the United States Department of Labor disagrees.

To read more about this topic follow the links below.

As Minimum Wage Marches Toward $15, Small Businesses Adapt

In the aftermath of California and New York becoming the first states to raise the statewide minimum wage to $15, some small businesses with hourly workers are rethinking how they can absorb the increase.

The owners of Dog Haus, a chain of about 20 franchise restaurants in the West, may have customers pick up their meals at the counters in two company-owned stores instead of using servers to carry food to tables. The Pasadena, California-based company is also looking at hiring more experienced workers who can shoulder more responsibilities than entry-level staffers who earn minimum wage. For example, a cashier might now take on some administrative tasks. That way, Dog Haus could hire fewer people.

“We’ve known this has been coming for a while, and we’ve been preparing for it,” co-owner Andre Vener says.

State minimum wages have been rising the past few years as pro-labor groups including unions call for higher pay for workers, especially those at fast-food restaurants. That’s forcing small businesses that are more vulnerable to labor cost increases than large companies to reassess their operations. Some are thinking of cutting staff, and others are raising prices.

NFIB: Small-Business Gauge Is Flashing Recession Warning

Optimism among small-business owners slipped 0.3 point in March to a two-year low of 92.6, and the 7.7-point decline in the index over the last 15 months is a flashing warning signal of a possible recession, the National Federation of Independent Business said.

April’s Index of Small Business Optimism could determine whether a recession alarm should be rung, according to William Dunkelberg, NFIB chief economist.

Regulations were small firms’ top concern, with 21% listing it as their primary worry, followed by 20% of respondents who cited taxes as their main worry.

New York and California are two states that have passed gradual raises of their minimum wage to $15 per hour — moves hailed by unions but criticized by small businesses.

Supporters of the wage hikes have targeted blue-chip companies such as McDonald’s (MCD) andWal-Mart (WMT), but opponents argue that the pay raises will hurt small firms and their workers more.

Small Business Owners In Ohio Cautious On Economy

Ohio’s small- and mid-sized business owners are turning more cautious about the economy, both locally and nationally, as they fret about the presidential campaign and the stock market, according to a PNC Bank survey.

The survey found that 41 percent of business owners are pessimistic about the U.S. economy, about the same as in the fall survey, but up from 31 percent last spring. When it comes to their local economy, 35 percent are pessimistic, up from 26 percent in the fall.

“There was definitely more pessimism about economic conditions,” said Mekael Teshome, a PNC economist. “But Ohio business owners’ sentiment about their own business is remarkably quite stable.”

Pittsburgh-based PNC conducted the survey from Jan. 21 through March 8. At the time, there were worries about the economy slowing or even slipping into a recession and the stock market was tumbling. Also, 61 percent said they were not satisfied that the presidential candidates were addressing the key issues for business.

 

 

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

CyberSecurity And Your Business

April 5, 2016 by

59350241

Billions of dollars are spend yearly in cyber security globally, and according to the most recent surveys, that amount is likely to reach $101 billion by the year 2018.

But, although billions of dollars are spend trying to secure the amount of information hackers or other people have access to, many cyber analysts believe that spending more in cyber security does not necessarily mean better security.

For more about this topic, follow the links below.

Mobile Messaging Apps: 8 Tips For Keeping Your Workplace Secure

The old struggles over BYOD have been replaced with application struggles, as employees use favorite mobile messaging apps for enterprise purposes. As with BYOD, pushing back isn’t the answer. Innovating forward is.

Using popular third-party messaging apps such as Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and Snapchat for business communication can introduce a level of discomfort for IT, as well as for your legal, corporate, and governance and compliance teams. In many ways, it’s like the early days of the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) movement; these days it’s all about Bring Your Own Apps.

“The issue of employees using personal social media accounts/networks, and their non-work personas, for business purposes is very real and it does impact IT, especially when considering that electronic communications should be retained for legal and regulatory purposes,” Mike Pagani, the chief evangelist at Smarsh, told InformationWeek in an interview.

Smarsh offers an archiving platform that supports social media, text messages, email, and other platforms so that they’re indexed, policy-checked, able to be supervised, and easily retrievable if they’re needed for auditing or litigation.

A reality check for security leaders on insider risk

Mike Tierny shares his insights on successfully implementing processes to combat insider risk by engaging the right people at the right time in the program.

“I trust the people in my company. I still monitor everyone.”

That statement came during the MISTI CISO Leadership Summit I lead on Sunday at InfoSecWorld. One of the security leaders made that comment during our session on trust. It got a lot of nods and even more discussion.

Just the week prior, I talked with Mike Tierney (LinkedIn, @mikejtierney) the COO of Veriato Inc. about the reality of insider threat and our need to engage others in the process. As COO, Mike is ultimately responsible for organizational security.  His insight on insider risk is forged by experience and his success implementing processes across the organization.

During our conversation, he talked about the leadership approach of engaging others in the process – before we have problems. He shared some things I hadn’t seen implemented before. Approaches that made sense.

Cybersecurity spending: more does not necessarily mean better

Cybersecurity is not something you can just buy, but something you should thoroughly build.

Last week, I had a great opportunity to explore the APAC cybersecurity market and meet many brilliant people during Black Hat Asia 2016. Singapore’s economic miracle made its cybersecurity market as attractive as the North American one, attracting the largest security vendors to the region.

Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) protection, Threat Intelligence, Enterprise Immune Systems, Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB), User and Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) – these are just a few of the offerings currently available on the cybersecurity market. I bet that many security industry professionals (including myself) hardly understand the real meaning of some of these terms, or to be more precise – the real difference between them and the generic terms existing for years. But this is a topic for a dedicated article, and in this piece we would rather concentrate on cybersecurity budgets and related challenges.

 

Filed Under: Ohio Business News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
« Previous Page
Next Page »