Entries for December 2006

Hiring and keeping new workers may be on many small companies' 2007 to-do list, but they may find that it's easier said than done. About 8 in 10 business owners said they couldn't even find qualified applicants to fill open jobs, according to a December survey by the National Federation of Independent Business.

Corrected on 1/11/07: An earlier version of this post incorrectly identified StoreVault's parent company.

When it comes to technology, start-ups have little wiggle room in their budgets for costly business services normally geared toward much larger players. But next year these often ignored small fry will get some attention. More companies, themselves tiny start-ups, are figuring out that while small businesses may not spend much per firm, there's a lot of them, and that can add up to big sales.

It's that time of year when calendars, cards, and candy fill up workplaces. That's why small-business owners need to be a bit more creative with their holiday gift giving to stand out among the crowd, says Alice Bredin, a small-business adviser at American Express. She says that despite being all too common, gifts are an important marketing move. Smaller companies have gotten the message, making room in their tight budgets for holiday presents. This year, such firms plan to spend an average of $1,065 on gifts for clients and customers–about the same as last year and up from $923 two years ago, according to an American Express survey. Top gifts included fun items such as restaurant and retail gift certificates and donations to charities on clients' behalf.

The Senate brought some holiday cheer this week to little residents of Whoville, passing new rules that force the Export-Import Bank to loosen its purse strings when it comes to small companies. If President Bush signs the bill reauthorizing the bank's charter, as expected, sledding through the export loan process will be a lot less bumpy for companies with fewer than 500 employees.

While many big companies are tapping into the small-business market, sometimes it makes more sense for the underdogs to stick together. That's the idea behind five-year-old Liberty Power, cofounded by David Hernandez after he left Enron in the wake of its collapse. At the energy giant, Hernandez got a front-row seat to see how large companies ignore little ones. Problems like lost invoices and bad customer service abounded, he says, as Enron paid more attention to large clients.