Outside Voices: Small Business
-
7 New Rules for Small-Business Growth
Continue reading… 3 CommentsThe hardest growth in small business is the second bump, like a second wind—what we call emerging companies. It comes when you conquer the first long uphill climb, and then you pause. And, if you're not careful, you have trouble coming out of pause. Maybe we can call it malaise.
I had a good talk about this the other day with Lisa Nirell, founder of EnergizeGrowth ® and author of Energize Growth NOW, whom I've known since she and her husband moved up to Oregon from California three years ago. I'm sympathetic to that path, because I took it about 17 years ago, when I moved up to Oregon from Palo Alto.
In Lisa's case, her consulting firm focuses on finding that second wind for companies that made it to the top of the first hill and want to get the energy back. When we talked, she said her favorite readers are
"Leaders running growth companies who want to maintain a certain level of growth while also making a difference in the world. A holistic way of growing their business instead of growing at any cost."
When Lisa says "holistic," she's not talking about so-called touchy-feely business counseling. Her book is totally grounded in the real world. It's not a matter of magic formulas or complex frameworks.
-
How Many Small-Business Employees Are Out There?
Continue reading… 6 CommentsWith the debate around healthcare legislation heating up, a lot of attention is focused on the role small businesses play in the U.S. economy. I often read and hear that most Americans work for small businesses.
But it is interesting to note that not everyone agrees on what a small business is, how many there are, or how many people work for them.
According to the Census Bureau and the Small Business Administration, about 60 million Americans worked for small businesses in 2006. This is about 51 percent of the private, nonfarm U.S. workforce. They define small businesses as private firms having fewer than 500 employees.
-
No 'Anti-Obama Small-Business Bailout,' Please
Continue reading… 24 CommentsI've been getting surprisingly obnoxious unsolicited E-mails from somebody calling himself "America's business coach." He's calling an annoying offer of a free E-book his anti-Obama small-business bailout.
By the way, he's not who you might think. He's not Brian Tracy, or Barry Elms, or Thomas Winninger, or Lisa Bilal, or Maria Masala. His name doesn't turn up in the first few pages of any major Web search. I checked.
-
Small Businesses Not Seeing Impact of Stimulus Package
Continue reading… 5 CommentsAccording to a recent survey by Intuit Corp., the vast majority of small businesses have not benefited from the stimulus plan—nor do they expect to.
