The restaurant itself is more geared towards an adult demographic, boasting a large bar and an “upscale casual” atmosphere. Not exactly a Chuck E. Cheese environment. Of course, if parents want to enjoy a nice dinner out with their kids, they should be able to do so. But they should also educate their kids on basic manners. One of the restaurant’s owner’s problems was that parents took offense when staff would ask them to quiet down their kids.

What is interesting in all of this is that the article on Msnbc also included a poll, asking readers if they agree with this type of “no kids” regulation. Only 3% voted that it was unfair, while 44% agreed with the ban, and 53% voted that it was OK depending on the place.

As a business owner, would you consider restricting entrance into your establishment  in order to preserve its atmosphere?

-Photo courtesy of Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

If you are reading this, it means you have survived the Apocalypse. As 99.9% of the country knows, radio preacher Harold Camping predicted that the Rapture would begin on Saturday, May 21^st. That was two days ago. How he got that date is still unclear, but somehow Camping assured his followers that the world would end on Saturday, and the universe would completely disappear by October 21^st of this year. His words? “I do not understand why nothing has happened.” Good news: We survived the rapture. Bad news: many robbed of their money by this charlatan.

• The Grimsvotn volcano in Iceland erupted, sending out ashes around the north of Europe. While this eruption wasn’t as disruptive as the one from Eyjafjallajokull in 2010, some flights were still cancelled. According to the Wall Street Journal, airline shares have dropped due to fears from this cloud of ash. Some of the affected airlines include Air France, KLM, and Lufthansa. Grimsvotn erupted on Saturday 21^st (the same date the world was supposed to end).

• Tornadoes continue to be a menace to the South and Midwest, with Missouri being stricken by a tornado that split the town of Joplin in half. The latest reports say that 100 people died during the natural disaster, while about 500 were injured. The damage was so large that the local hospital had to be completely evacuated.

• Former Head of the International Monetary Fund Dominique Strauss-Kahn was convicted of sexual assault to a hotel maid. Strauss-Kahn is now staying in temporary housing in Manhattan, where he is being monitored 24/7, according to ABC News. He was released from New York’s Rikers Island prison on a $1 million bail. BusinessWeek predicts that Strauss-Kahn’s fall from grace could be a hard blow for Europe,  one of the focal points of the former IMF Chief. He was working with several European leaders to conduct reforms that would take the European Union out of its economic crisis.

Hopefully the coming week will bring better news for small businesses and entrepreneurs.

*Photos courtesy of Chris Yarzab and

For starters, research from different sources shows that those who are their own bosses are happier. It also shows that entrepreneurs share a certain amount of qualities, including a higher sense of control and ambition. However, personality alone does not account for the creation of a new venture. There are different factors in play, including finding the right opportunity and the lack of any other economic resource.

We read through pages and pages of data and independent studies to see what moves people to start their own businesses, and to see who is more likely to venture on their own. Read the complete article here.

*Photo courtesy of HikingArtist.com

How New Health Care Plan Could Affect Your Business

According to an Inc.com report, “The healthcare reform…will bring drastic changes to the way small businesses buy and supply health insurance.”  Below are some key points from the report.

• By 2014, states must set up Small Business Health Options Programs, essentially purchasing pools where small businesses can club together to buy insurance.

-          Companies that outgrow the size limit will be grandfathered in.

• Companies with fewer than 50 workers won’t face penalties if they don’t offer insurance.
• Companies with 25 or fewer employees and a work force with an average pay of up to $40,000, can get tax credits to help buy insurance.
• Full credits will be available for the smallest firms with the lowest-paid workers (10 or fewer employees and average yearly wages of less than $25,000).
• Most of the provisions of the $940 billion legislation won’t kick in until 2014.

Employee Stock Ownership Plans Increase in Popularity

An Employee Stock Ownership Plan is a plan that allows employees to own stock in the company they work for.  According to BusinessWeek, this method has increased in popularity, mostly as a result of the recession. “ESOPs have become a more appealing way for owners to cash out their equity because the downturn has lowered what most companies would fetch in a merger or acquisition,” said Jude Anne Carluccio, a partner in the Minneapolis law office of Barnes & Thornburg and chairwoman of the firm’s ESOP Practice Group (BusinessWeek).

*There were 11,400 ESOPs in the U.S. in early 2009, up about 400 over 2008 and 800 over 2007 (National Center for Employee Ownership).

What’s Your News?

What’s new with your small business?  Feel free to leave a comment below.

The Latest on Unemployment

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released its Employment Situation Summary today.  Key points include:

• Unemployment rate remains at 9.7%
• Employment fell in construction and information, while temporary help services added jobs.
• Average hourly earnings increased by $0.03.

According to a Business Week report, the smallest businesses may be adding jobs.  “..data from payroll companies suggest that losses at the smallest businesses have stopped and those businesses are beginning to hire,” wrote John Tozzi.

*Have you hired new employees this year?

Tax Time

April 15 is the deadline for filing taxes and news related to taxes is abundant, from the governments’ cracking down on small business owners misclassifying workers as independent contractors, to tips on getting small business tax deductions and “loss carry back.”

What’s Your News?

What’s new with your small business?  Feel free to leave a comment below.

Entrepreneur recently featured an article on just this, providing brief profiles of three small business owners that made small to large investments (during a time when funds were low) that produced worth-while results in the future.

There are various ways that small business owners can make investments in their businesses.

Going Green

Going green is the act of making your business more environmentally friendly.  This can involve investing in energy efficient light bulbs, going paperless, installing displacement toilet dams and/or purchasing products such as IdeaPaint, Personal Energy Generator and the Power Mat, which help to reduce electricity usage and save paper and were featured in “Great Products for Small Business Owners.”

Merchant Cash Advance

The merchant cash advance can be a great investment for small business owners who have found it difficult to obtain business funds using traditional methods.  Many small business owners complain about the cost of the merchant cash advance.  However, the cost is only a minor issue when compared to the lucrative benefits that it can produce.  Small business owners can use their merchant cash advances however they choose, from expansion and advertising to renovating, purchasing equipment and keeping their businesses on their feet.

*How have you invested in your business?

Below is a list of upcoming events that can help you learn more about what it takes to develop and maintain a successful business.

What’s New, What’s Next?

A look at the hottest opportunities to start or grow a business in 2010 and beyond.

Seven Things You Absolutely Must Know to Get Publicity in Major Magazines and Newspapers

The title says it all.

GROWCO

Grow Your Company Conference

Specialty Retail Conference & Expo

The exhibition will provide the information about the retail businesses of America where attendees can gain latest information under one roof.

*Do you know of any informative business events taking place in your area, online or via telephone?  Let us know.

New Plans for Small Business Lending

President Obama has announced plans to increase the limit of the Small Business Administration’s express Loans.  The current limit for these loans is $350,000; Obama would like to increase this limit to $1 million.

The SBA Express program features “an accelerated turnaround time for SBA review.”  Through this program, responses to applications are given within 36 hours.

Unemployment Rate Falls Slightly

Today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its Employment Situation Summary for January, 2010.  This report features employment information, household survey data, establishment survey data, as well as changes to the employment situation text and tables, revisions to establishment survey data and adjustments to population estimates for the household survey.

Key Points

·         Unemployment rate fell from 10.0 to 9.7 percent.

·         Nonfarm payroll employment was “essentially unchanged.”

·         Employment fell in construction, transportation and warehousing.

·         Temporary help services and retail trade added jobs.

Is Social Media Affecting your Credit?

According to Miranda Marquit, a blogger for allbusiness.com, credit companies are beginning to look at your social media profiles to determine your credit worthiness.  “In their quest to identify creditworthy customers, some are tapping into the information you and your friends reveal in the virtual stratosphere,” wrote Erica Sandberg, for creditcards.com.  Read the full stories here and here.

Job Cuts

According to a report released by payroll-processing firm  Automatic Data Processing, small businesses cut 25,000 jobs in the month of December.  This is the 23^rd consecutive month of cuts for small businesses; however, it is the lowest number of jobs cut since July 2008.

Many small business owners are attempting to expand their businesses, which would require hiring more employees.  Unfortunately, bank lending has yet to rebound, leaving a significant amount of these small business owners without the funds they need to expand and preventing them from hiring additional employees.

Suggestion:

Small business owners searching for business funds to expand their businesses and hire additional employees should apply for a business cash advance. They can get up to $500,000 which can be used with no restrictions.  These funds could improve their businesses and potentially improve the economy, helping to lower unemployment.

Pay Increases

Based on the findings from individual surveys conducted by five different companies (Conference Board, Hewitt Associates, WorldatWork, Watson Wyatt Data Services and Mercer) salaries are poised to increase in 2010.

Each survey projected employee pay increases from 2.6% to 3.3%

Do you plan to increase your employees’ pay this year?

Current Small Business Bestsellers at Barnes & Noble

1.   E-Myth Revisited : Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do about It by Michael E. Gerber

2.       QuickBooks 2010 The Official Guide by Leslie Capachietti

3.       The Small Business Owner’s Manual: Everything You Need to Know to Start up and Run Your Business by Joe Kennedy

4.       Power of 2 : How to Make the Most of Your Partnerships at Work and in Life by Rodd Wagner

5.       Training Camp : What the Best Do Better Than Everyone Else by Jon Gordon

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