Top Small Business News Stories of 2009

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Instead of offering you the latest news in small business, this last Small Business News post of the year will be dedicated to the most entertaining, informative, shocking and inspirational small business news stories of 2009.  This list is compiled from blogs, websites, newspapers, magazines, etc. that all have one thing in common, small business.

Business Credit Cards’ Turn for the Worse

As the Consumer Credit Protection Act aimed to protect consumer credit card holders, credit card companies aimed to make up for soon to be lost money by cutting lines of credit, raising interest rates, and closing accounts of small business credit card holders.

This couldn’t have happened at a worse time.  Bank lending had already virtually come to a standstill and many small business owners were relying on business credit to keep their businesses alive.  Many small business owners were suddenly forced to make drastic decisions regarding their businesses.

Boosting Local Business

In August 2009, CNN Money ran a story titled “The People’s Stimulus Package.”  In this article, six small businesses that created their own “grassroots stimulus” efforts were profiled.  An entrepreneur that stood out of the pack was a pharmacy owner who handed out $16,000 in bonus money to his staff and told them to give 15% to charity and spend the rest locally.  He gave out the money in $2 bills, so they could actually see the money circulating throughout the community.

Small Business Reading

Inc. recently released its list of the best books for small business owner of 2009.  Below are five of the 14 books.

1. Getting to Plan B – by John Mullins and Randy Komisar
2. Outlier – By Malcolm Gladwell
3. Exploiting Chaos: 150 Ways to Spark Innovation During Times of Change – by Jeremy Gutsche
4. How the Mighty Fall and Why Some Companies Never Give in – by Jim Collins
5. Crush it! Why Now is the Time to Cash in on Your Passion – by Gary Vaynerchuck