Small Business Boomers

This is my last rant for 2007: You get what you put up with. Two examples:
EXAMPLE 1. I went to a movie theater with my son and daughter over the holidays. This was the first movie I had seen in a long time at the theater (my husband and I usually get Netflix movies). I sat down thinking I was going to see some previews, which doesn’t bother me, since I get to see what’s coming up. Instead I got TEN (and we counted!), yes, TEN COMMERCIALS. I was appalled. I …read more

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I talked with several people lately who not been able to find startup money from a bank without collateral. So they borrowed the money for the collateral. At over 11 % interest. Yikes!
I see several problems with this scenario. First, this new loan goes on your credit rating. Unless you have fantastic credit (above 750 probably), it will lower your credit score. Second, you will now have to pay back two business loans instead of one, that is, the loan you just took out for collateral and the second business loan from the …read more

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“A life without purpose is a languid, drifting thin; Every day we ought to review our purpose, saying to ourselves:  This day, let me make a sound beginning, for what we ahve hitherto done is naught.”                    Thomas A. Kempis
As we draw close to the end of the year, we all seem to find ourselves reflecting, thinking back, thinking ahead.  I like this quote because it isn’t just about New Year’s resolutions, but about looking at every day as a “sound beginning.”  What is a “sound beginning”?  Something to think about.  Let me know what you think.

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With Apple stock nearing $200 I thought I would relate my Apple shopping experience experience this holiday season.  The contrast between that experience and the one I had with Ticket-Master is illuminating.
I wanted to buy an iTunes gift card at my local Apple store.  First, there were 3 young guys waiting for me as I entered the store.  A little intimidating, but I was on a mission from my wife to purchase Christmas presents.  So, I charged in.  I explained what I wanted.  The clerk  was armed with a handheld device.  He grabbed an iTunes card from the rack, scanned the bar code, …read more

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You weren’t surprised, I’m sure. As small business owners, you and I are definitely concerned about paying for health care. The smaller the business, the less cash flow is available to pay for benefits.  And costs continue to rise with no end in sight.
A November survey by the National Association of Professional Employer Organizations (NAPEO) found that:

Health care costs increased more than 10 percent for over half of the small businesses surveyed.  About 40 percent of the businesses responding said the increase was about the same as last year. Small consolation there.
About 40 percent of companies said …read more

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As an electrical engineer by education I find over engineering to be one of the major sins of our age.  Hence, I rail against it.  Below is my most recent encounter with over engineering.  Please, feel free to pass along your experiences with engineers who make things because they can, not because they should.
I love Toyota automobiles.  I’ve had five and I try to keep them for at least 10 years.  The best thing about them is their service.  Outside of scheduled maintenance, I’ve never had to go to their service department.  That’s the best kind of service.
That being said, I’m …read more

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If you celebrate Christmas, we hope you are somewhere safe and warm, and that you are celebrating with loved ones, or at least talking with them.
If you don’t celebrate Christmas, we hope you have this time to enjoy some well-deserved rest. Stay away from those malls!
Jean and family

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Recently, the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council released its rating of the various states by what it measures as the best environment for small businesses and entrepreneurs.  http://money.cnn.com/2007/11/16/smbusiness/SBE_states_lists.fsb/index.htm  Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council’s Unfortunately the big criteria is low business taxes. 
The major criteria I would use is the mass of highly educated and trained people.  The critical mass of entrepreneurial thinking and the availability of high class talent is related to the people in a location not taxes.  As a matter of fact two of the states most successful in generating entrepreneurial businesses are list

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I’m on every no-call list I can think of, but that does not protect me from the solicitation phone calls from charities.  When I receive a begging phone call, my first rule is to hang up the phone.  Once I’ve determined that I’ve never heard of the organization, I don’t even listen to their canned pitch.  Why waste my time.
When I was in the telecommunications business, I thought about employing a very successful nation telemarketing company.  The tour of the facilities was enlightening.  A telemarketer began a conversation with a mark by announcing that he was from a certain state’s policeman’s …read more

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If you want to get in an argument with a journalist just tell them that every story, even straight news, has a point of view.  Boy, do they get indignant.  It’s just like you said that the emperor has no clothes.  I’m sorry, but it is still true. 
That said, there are at least 2 places you can get the all the information on a story and make up your own mind; the print editions of the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times.  You will note that I did not say the online editions.  Sometimes long stories in online editions …read more

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