Dashboard
A weekly roundup of small-business developments.
What’s affecting me, my clients and other small-business owners this week.
The Deficit: Lessons in Negotiating
A debt ceiling deal seems close, but a report says we could avoid default a few days longer. Budget cuts may close 3,652 post offices but Mark Hendricks asks whether it would matter to your business if the postman left town. While the Chinese, Japanese and plenty of other foreigners own substantial amounts, it’s really Americans who hold most of America’s debt — and the United States issues 59 percent of the world’s AAA sovereign debt! Research ties the size of our government to the size of our people. Once the debt crisis is over, we can look forward to another government shutdown fight. This pastor appreciates the finer things in life. Everyone asks why you can’t run the government like a business; Fred Paul wonders what it would be like if you had to run your business like the government. Mitchell York says the debt-ceiling talks reveal three important lessons in negotiating for entrepreneurs.
The Data: Are Consumers Crazy?
Gross domestic product numbers show a sputtering economy. New home sales fall more than expected. Home prices are bouncing along the bottom. Mortgage applications are at their lowest since February. A real estate investor explains that we are 40,000 properties away from recovery. Orders for durable goods (pdf) decline. The price of electric cars goes up. Gas prices go up. But for some products, prices have been falling. Truck tonnage jumped in June. Consumer confidence (pdf) rose (what are consumers thinking?!!!). Manufacturing production in Texas improved. And this chart from Russell Investments shows that most economic indicators are still within the norm. A recent review of job vacancy postings found that employers would prefer to hire only people who are currently employed or recently laid off.
The Economy: The Current Malaise
Respondents to the Kauffman Foundation’s third-quarter survey expect weak employment growth and higher annual deficits (pdf) ahead. David Leonhardt explains the current malaise. Rasmussen finds that 47 percent of Americans are eating out less often than six months ago. Maybe that’s because the price of dinner foods are up almost 5 percent. This I know: no one’s going to buy the world’s most expensive hot dog. Amazon’s sales soar. Expedia breaks a billion. Research In Motion is having problems.
Red Tape Update: A Whopper of an Idea
Small businesses want the debt deal to address corporate tax dodging. The Senate investigates the Small Business Administration. Each day, we work almost two hours to pay our taxes. A poll shows that small-business owners believe the new health care law will cause higher taxes. The Obama administration’s push to mend its relationship with business has gone cold. Mark Bittman says we should tax junk food. “Simply put: taxes would reduce consumption of unhealthful foods and generate billions of dollars annually.”
Marketing: No One Cares About My Products
David Meerman Scott says that the most difficult challenge companies must overcome in creating a viral hit is coming to the realization that the content usually can’t be about the product or service itself: “I define it as, No one cares about your products.” Google introduces AdWords Express for local businesses. Here are 10 reasons small-business owners should avoid making TV commercials.
Management: Is Our Cash Safe?
Avi Gilburt asks if our cash in the bank is safe? Facebook for Business has its debut and the company touts its small-business marketing capabilities. Some smart doctors are making house calls using video. Seth Godin says the unhappy theory of business ethics is this: “You have a fiduciary responsibility to maximize profit. Period. To do anything other than that is to cheat your investors.” A $100,000 salt and pepper shaker can teach us a few business lessons. An eBay seller starts a Casey Anthony bidding war.
Books: The One Book You Need to Own
For improving your business, Mark Shead likes “Anything You Want” by Derek Sivers. Mark Suster recommends the one book every entrepreneur and venture capitalist should own. I’m not sure how these products made it onto shelves.
Success Strategies 1: This Guy’s Having a Blast on Google+
Some small-business owners are capitalizing on the weak commercial real estate market. Chikodi Chima says that education is the next hot market. A study says that shopping on tablets is proving popular. Guy Kawasaki is having a blast on Google+. Wall Street investment bankers give their views on Netflix’s prospects. A new company wants to help business owners choose the best deal site for them. A 72-year-old retired Marine runs down and kills an armed man who robbed his business. LinkedIn introduces a universal résumé apply button. Here are the 10 best job titles ever.
Success Strategies 2: For Women
Justin Rivero explains how money-savvy women can save the economy: “From Wall Street to the West Bank, women are wired to make a significant difference.” Small businesses owned by women are faring better than small businesses owned by men, according to a new report. These 50 women are shaping Africa. Some women may plot a different strategy for success.
Around the States: Spanish in the West, Chinese in the East
Texas added the most jobs of any state this year. Michigan businesses are more upbeat about the economy. The Los Angeles Times’s Spanish-language newspaper hosts free financial seminars for small-business owners. The State University of New York is set to introduce a program teaching local business owners Chinese language and culture. Restaurants are the top employers in Manhattan. Government keeps growing in 35 states.
Around the World: A Couple of Brits Explore Wal-Mart
Despite American politicians’ pro-small-business rhetoric, the United States lags far behind most developed countries in the share of citizens employed by small businesses. A couple of Brits explore Wal-Mart. For the first time ever, developing countries as a group have been growing faster than industrial countries. A South African entrepreneur demonstrates how business and faith can work together. Check your TV listings for “The Office”… Afghanistan-style. India moves closer to allowing foreign firms into retail.
Finance: Big Retailers Are Lending Small Businesses Money
Steve King and Carolyn Ockels wonder if Office Depot, Google and Wal-Mart are disrupting small-business lending: “The customers targeted by Wal-Mart, Office Depot, Google and others are very small businesses, most with less than $1 million in revenue — a segment seen as unattractive by many financial institutions. But by ignoring this segment, financial institutions are providing an entry point for new competitors who may leverage this beachhead to become significant players in the financial services industry.” The Small Business Administration unveils a new venture capital fund. If you are a bank and still haven’t repaid government bailout money, Uncle Sam has a deal for you.
Technology: Billions of Smartphones
Mashable provides an infographic of Web and business tools that start-ups use most. According to a recent Hewlett-Packard survey 93 percent of companies have placed cost concerns over the best information technology solutions, leading 89 percent of those companies to experience I.T.-related problems. T.J. McCue lists eight top online backup services for small businesses. Annual smartphone sales could reach a billion by 2016. Inc. magazine suggests the best software for the front office. Jason Hiner says the future of I.T. will be reduced to three kinds of jobs. Rob Enderle suggests the best tablet for business. Google releases a cluster of improvements to its Docs and Sites and buys a facial recognition start-up. Tech Republic offers a free download of Google keyboard shortcuts. But Roger McNamee says, “Google is done.” Bob Cringely predicts “the fading of the entire social media category.”
The Week Ahead
How productive were we in July? We’ll get an answer from the Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing and non-manufacturing indexes, as well as from factory orders. We’ll also see how much consumers are earning and spending, particularly on cars. On Friday comes the big number: July’s unemployment rate.
This Week’s Bests
Marketing Tips for Start-Ups Brad McCarty offers 10 marketing tips for every start-up, including “Avoid Cliches Like The Plague: pivot, ground-breaking, magical, synergy … these are words that make me delete a press release on sight and you would be best served by avoiding them entirely. Even if you have pivoted into a ground-breaking photo-sharing application that uses synergistic analytics to seem magical, you should find another way to say it.”
Thoughts on Technology Nicholas Carr struggles with the benefits of technology: “You could argue that technology has improved life on earth because a lower percentage of people exist in a state of physical suffering today than used to. But one of the most important effects of technology has been to allow for an enormous increase in human population. And if you look at raw numbers, you might well find that more individuals exist in a state of physical suffering than did before.”
Small-Business Lesson From Amy Winehouse Tricia Fox says that Amy Winehouse’s untimely death is a wake-up call for small-business owners. “But whether you are a pop star, a plumber or a business consultant, the same rules still apply: you are the product. And if that’s the case, you are going to need to take really good care of yourself if you want your business to succeed.”
This Week’s Question Are you taking care of yourself? I’ll be taking care of myself on vacation next week. See you again on Aug. 15!
Gene Marks owns the Marks Group, a Bala Cynwyd, Pa., consulting firm that helps clients with customer relationship management. You can follow him on Twitter.
Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=ed6b6585cfe8bd406a795379476e374d
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