SmallBusinessExecutiveInforming, Inspiring and Connecting Businesses
Intellectual Property Drives U.S. Economic Growth: Commerce Dept.
Submitted by the U.S. Commerce Department WASHINGTON – The U.S. Commerce Department today released a comprehensive report entitled “Intellectual Property and the U.S. Economy: Industries in Focus,” which finds that intellectual property-intensive industries support at least 40 million jobs and contribute more than $5 trillion dollars – or 34.8 percent of – U.S. gross domestic product [...]
Business owners optimistic, but slow to hire
Submitted by SurePayroll Nationwide, SurePayroll Scorecard data shows hiring in March was down 0.2 percent from the prior month, but paycheck size remained flat. Despite this, optimism among small business owners was 70 percent, the first time optimism has reached 70 percent since May 2011. When small business owners were asked about their hiring plans moving forward in 2012, the SurePayroll’s [...]
Illinois lags in development of women-owned business — but why?
Illinois might be ranked fifth in the nation in number of women-owned businesses, but the state has some catching up to do in other measures of business development. The number of women-owned companies in Illinois totals 366,700, putting it ahead of most states but behind California, New York, Texas and Florida, according to a new report [...]
Women-owned businesses outpacing most in job, revenue growth: Amex report
The growth in the number (up 54 percent), employment (up 9 percent) and revenues (up 58 percent) of women-owned firms over the past 15 years exceeds the growth rates of all but the largest, publicly-traded firms. As of 2012, it is estimated that there are more than 8.3 million women-owned businesses in the United States, generating nearly $1.3 trillion in revenues and employing nearly 7.7 million people, according to the second annual “State of Women-Owned Businesses Report,” commissioned by American Express OPEN.
10 tips for overcoming obstacles
Immigrant entrepreneur Patrick Bet-David offers10 practical ways for entrepreneurs to keep going in the face of adversity.
Family Business Council migrates to DePaul
Submitted by the Chicago Family Business Council The Chicago Family Business Council will begin operating under the umbrella of DePaul University’s College of Commerce starting March 1, bringing its myriad programs and services to DePaul students, alumni and the local business community in the heart of the city’s Loop. The council helps family-owned and closely held [...]
Obama’s address short on small business
“NSBA had hoped that broad tax reform—and not just those taxes focusing primarily on large, multinational companies—would have been mentioned, given that the overwhelming majority of small business owners pay taxes at the individual income level.”
State of the Union addresses key small business concerns
“We’re also pleased the president focused on the need for small businesses to compete on a level playing field with big business. To thrive, small businesses need an economy that works for everybody.” — John Arensmeyer, Small Business Majority
Why companies want customer complaints — and how to handle them
By John Tschohl Guest columnist No matter how good you are at what you do, what business you’re in or where it’s located, you will at some point find yourself facing an irate customer. Maybe a product was flawed, a delivery was late or a charge was inaccurate. How you deal with that customer [...]
Five ways to focus on service
By John Tschohl Guest columnist If 2011 taught us anything, it’s that service is more important than ever. A small company must know that when it does less than customers expect, they perceive service to be bad. When the company does exactly what customers expect, service is good. And when a company does more than [...]
