2011 Healthcare Preview — It’s Uhhh-gly

If you’re excited about healthcare reform, you might want to slow down a little. Because in the short term, there’s going to be a lot of confusion as to how to implement it — or how to keep your small health plan from being subject to healthcare reform’s rules. For starters, a new study from PriceWaterhouseCoopers found premiums will likely go up 9 percent next year, on top of last year’s 15 percent hike .

Exports are Up — Here’s How to Get Your Share

In case you missed it, earlier this year the president announced the National Export Initiative, which has a goal of doubling U.S. exports in five years. Just four months later comes the initial report on the plan, which pumped billions into new funding and support staff trained to help businesses start or expand their export efforts — especially small businesses. Already, exports are up 17 percent. Here’s how your business can ride the export wave to increased sales:

Attention Ecommerce Sellers: Streamlined Sales Tax Is A’comin’

For more than a decade, online retailers have been able to make the case that they can’t be required to collect sales tax. With every state, city, and county making its own sales-tax rules, it’s just too complicated! Or was. After many years of effort, a streamlined sales tax bill has been introduced in Congress that aims to take the air out of that argument. The Main Street Fairness Act of 2010 would take a simplified sales tax scheme 23 states are currently participating in and make it a national norm. Presto, end of complexity in collecting sales tax. Pay up. Rep. Bill Delahunt (Dem-Mass.) introduced the bill. (Is it a coincidence that he’s already announced he’s not running for re-election?) Even if the federal bill doesn’t go anywhere, ten more states are already considering signing onto the simplified tax program, which sets down agreed-upon tax rates for scores of different merchandise categories. So the movement to collect online sales tax was picking up steam already with states hungry for revenue in the downturn. Some of the ecommerce giants have been aggressive in defending their right to not collect sales tax, even resisting efforts to get them to help states collect the sales tax from consumers (technically what’s supposed to be happening now, except it mostly isn’t).

Many Entrepreneurs Would Swap Ownership for a Job

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it’s been a bad week for business, no doubt about that. New jobless claims are on the rise –again. The stock market has dropped below 10,000–again. The national debt has climbed to its highest level since World War II, and pending home sales plunged a record 30 percent . And it’s only Thursday. On top of all this, a new survey shows that fully one-third of small-business owners say that–given the opportunity–they’d swap their business for a job working for someone else. As long as they were paid what they’re now making or more, these entrepreneurs said they’d drop everything, close up shop and take a job. Another 13 percent said they’d certainly consider selling for employment with someone else. This second-guessing of business ownership was revealed this week in The Discover Small Business Watch , a survey compiled each month by Rasmussen Reports LLC , an independent research firm. Conclusions are based on interviews conducted a with about 750 small-business owners, and it has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points. The small-business owners were also asked what it would take for them to sell their business. Forty-one percent said they’d never sell. Of the remaining 59 percent: 27 percent said they aren’t sure. 18 percent said they’d need to make money on what they’ve already invested. 11 percent said they’d be happy just to recover what they’ve put into their business. 3 percent would be willing to take a loss to get out of the business. The survey also reports that 40 percent of those responding to the survey said they’ve given some thought to modifying their business model or entering a new line of business. And half of those claim the recession has “severely” hurt their business, prompting those thoughts of change. In addition, the economic climate has seen more small-business owners experiencing temporary cash-flow issues in June–51 percent compared to 45 percent in May. These are the highest figures since January. The percentage of owners who say the economy is getting worse remained steady at about 51 percent. Forty-three percent of June’s respondents said business conditions are getting worse, down only one point from the 44 percent reported in May. On the other hand, 30 percent of those answering the June survey said economic conditions for their businesses are improving, a 2 percent increase over May’s figures. What about you? If you were offered a job working for someone who offered more money than what you currently make, would you take the job or continue to own your own business?

Original post:
Many Entrepreneurs Would Swap Ownership for a Job

Watch Out for SBA Loan Scammers

When it’s tough to get a bank loan, scammers pop out of the woodwork with offers to “help.” Recently, the Small Business Administration warned business owners about a spike in complaints they’ve received about SBA loan fraud . A particular target is apparently the SBA Express loan , which offers loans up to $350,000. Here’s what to watch out for if you’re considering an SBA loan: High fees charged for assisting you in filling out your SBA loan application A guarantee your loan will be approved (the SBA offers no such guarantees to anyone) Charges for services you didn’t request Requests for your bank account or social security number made over the phone Threats that you will be ineligible for SBA assistance if you don’t use the company’s services Inflated claims are made on your application that don’t accurately portray your finances There are legitimate companies out there that help companies package their SBA loans. They don’t employ any of the above practices. Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reports the Inspector General has convicted loan “agents” in cases involving more than $260 million in SBA loans. If you feel boggled by the SBA-loan application process, know that you can get free help at your local SBA office.

Want Swipe-Fee Relief? Now’s the Time to Make it Happen

If you’re a merchant tired of high debit- and credit-card fees, now’s your chance to make a difference. The financial-reform bill slowly wending its way through Congress is coming into the home stretch, and swipe-fee reform has made it through to the version now being reconciled by a joint Senate-House committee. The National Retail Federation is trying to put on a full-court press of lobbying by small business owners to keep the provision — known as the Durbin amendment — in the bill and try to eliminate an estimated $20 billion in merchant fees annually. So if you care about this issue, call your legislator immediately — the commitee intends to have the bill ready for a final vote June 24. Banks and major credit-card issuers have been making a mint off swipe fees for ages, even though the administrative effort required on their part for accepting an electronic card swipe is actually less than the work of clearing a check. Because Europe recently passed similar swipe-fee reform , if we don’t follow suit, the forecast is for even higher fees here as the financial-services firms look to make up their lost revenue from overseas. Without federal reform, merchants will have to rely on a patchwork of state laws limiting interchange fees, such as Vermont recently passed. The days when a merchant loses money if a customers wants to buy a pack of gum with a debit card could be drawing to a close here. If you’re in favor, time to speak out.

Read more from the original source:
Want Swipe-Fee Relief? Now’s the Time to Make it Happen

At Last, Something Barack Obama and Small Businesses Agree On: Clean Energy Stimulus

Small business owners may not think the White House has acted quickly or decisively enough to contain the Gulf of Mexico oil spill or to call oil giant BP to account for the disaster. But a large group of them are applauding President Barack Obama’s request for rapid Congressional action on new clean-energy initiatives that could create jobs and reduce our nation’s oil dependence. As usual, Obama’s call for a major initiative — this one to move our nation away from buying foreign oil — was short on details. But his insistence that America essentially get off its duff and get serious about alternative energy was applauded by the 5,000-member organization American Businesses for Clean Energy, which began a campaign to press for just such legislative action back in May.

New Study Shows What Makes Shoppers Buy Local

What makes shoppers shun the big national chains and shop on their town’s main street? A new study from online marketer WebVisible identified the top reasons folks choose to shop their local merchants, and it’s got useful information for any small business owner who aims to lure hometown customers. The survey Webvisible commissioned with market-research firm Synovate eNation asked 1,000 Americans, “What makes you choose to patronize a small, local, independent business over a larger chain?” The study gave seven possible reasons. The three top answers: I want to support my community The local merchant is more conveniently located The service is more personal No big surprises there, but each of these answers suggests ways small businesses can move to encourage sales. Taking these one at a time: The buy-local crowd. How are you connecting with customers who actively think about keeping dollars in their own communities when they shop? Ideas to get more on these customers’ radar include forming a buy-local promotion with other businesses, having a town-hall about the impact of shopping local, or sponsoring a screening of a movie such as the documentary, Walmart: The High Cost of Low Price . Do your marketing materials talk up your contributions to the community? Help customers connect the dots. Convenience . Lots of Main Street merchants think they’re conveniently located. But are they, really? I had a heartbreaking conversation recently with the owner of a great family-Italian restaurant that was closing in the community where I live, after about a year in business. This was an experienced restaurant operator — he owned two franchise pizza restaurants already — yet he couldn’t make a go of it with a restaurant that had earned local raves for some of the best pizza around.

Navigating the Healthcare Credit Mess

You may know one of the few items in the big healthcare reform bill that takes effect this year is a small-business credit for offering healthcare to employees. If you’ve delved into it, you know it’s based on a really complicated formula. Fortunately, there’s some new help out there for business owners trying to understand if they qualify, and if so, how much they could receive. Healthcare reform, officially known as the Affordable Health Care Act, provides a small-business tax credit of up to 35 percent of the cost of premiums for qualifying business. BUT — what you get depends on factors including how many full-time employees you have and how much those workers make. Your actual credit might be less than 35 percent. Confused? The IRS has stepped into the breach with new guidance to help you determine if you qualify. Their recently issued notice on the tax credit contains examples to help you tell if you qualify and how much you might get from the credit. Some basics for qualifying: You need fewer than 25 employees or the equivalent in part-timers. Average annual wages need to be under $50,000 per worker Your business pays at least 50 percent of the premiums for the workers The IRS notice will walk you through the process of calculating your full-time workers, making sure your health plan qualifies for the credit, and goes over how to calculate and claim your credit.

Fraud Watch: New Report Tells How Workers Rip You Off

How do employees steal from your business? A new report from the Association of Certified Fraud Executives counts the ways. And no surprise, small businesses are the most vulnerable to inside theft jobs. Big companies have formal whistleblower programs, they have trainings, they have multiple finance-department employees watching each other. Small businesses? They’ve usually got nothing in this department. The results can be catastrophic. The global survey found a typical company loses 5 percent of its annual revenue to fraud, which translates into $2.9 trillion in ripoffs. The median loss was $160,000 and nearly one-quarter of the frauds reported involved losses over $1 million. The scary part is how long a thieving employee usually goes on stealing before they’re caught — the median was 18 months to discovery. The most common way fraud was detected was a tip from another worker. So build those employer-employee relationships! Top industries victimized included banking, financial services and manufacturing. The vast majority of the fraudsters had clean criminal records, so those background checks apparently don’t help stop this type of crime. The good news: anti-fraud measures work to reduce losses. Among them — watch for red flags including living beyond their means (43 percent of perpetrators were in the study) or financial difficulties (36 percent). Instituting a fraud hotline workers can call anonymously was also shown to cut losses and shorten the time until a fraud is uncovered. Training in what constitutes fraud and how to spot it also helped reduce theft. Surprise audits turn out to be a powerful prevention tool. Done periodically, they create a climate where perpetrators worry they could be caught — so they don’t steal. Entrpreneurs work so hard to build their businesses — getting ripped off by an employee is like a stab in the heart. I think many business owners don’t focus more on fraud prevention because they just can’t believe it would happen to them. But it does.