Here is this week’s news round-up for home business, micro business, sole-traders, freelancers, self-employed and any one who is interested in small business news from the United States:

• How ‘07 Changes Affect Small Business: Small-business owners take note: Changes in the tax code this year could add a few dollars to your coffers. But you could be in for colossal headaches if you’ve been sloppy in your record keeping.
• Shifting Careers: The Complications of more leisure time: Because there are so many of them, baby boomers are the most competitive generation we’ve ever seen, but as they retire, many will experience a kind of forced leisure.
• Isilon gets NASDAQ deadlines: The NASDAQ exchange has given Isilon Systems Inc. deadlines to submit materials and reports — required information that contributed to the company being found out of compliance with NASDAQ listing requirements.
• The American Small Business Coalition Signs 75 New Members Since beginning of the Year: Focused Vision of The American Small Business Coalition, To Become the Most Trusted Facilitator of High-Value Relationships to Government and Industry, Drives MembershipCredited by Members with Contributing to Their Receiving More than $1.6 Billion in Direct and Subcontract Awards from Government Agencies and Contractors.
• Small Business Roundtables with 2008 President Candidates at FOSE 2007: Democratic presidential candidate Mike Gravel to meet with small business owners to discuss issues and tour FOSE 2007 Small Business Pavilion.
• Small biz in city has big hopes: New Yorkers have big hopes for their small business ideas. That was clear Tuesday at the Daily News’ second Small Biz: Big Impact Conference, which featured speakers from the city’s business community and government, and drew a crowd of 500 attendees.
• New Postal Shipping Rates Set: For years, the U.S. Postal Service has wanted to offer volume discounts on shipping and premium mail services. Now, it is about to begin doing so. Beginning May 12, shippers using Express Mail, Priority Mail and certain parcel services will be able to…
• It’s Easy, and Expensive to Forget About Old Equipment: Controlling accumulated technology inventory is a problem for companies large and small.
• National Small Business Week to honor top entrepreneurs: The U.S. Small Business Administration will celebrate National Small Business Week April 21-25 in Washington, D.C., and New York City.
• Small business owners to weigh in on regulatory enforcementt: The Small Business Administration is giving business owners, community leaders and representatives of trade associations a chance to vent about government regulation.
• Birth of a Sales Tool: Linkedin Meets eBay: Serial entrepreneur Evan Sohn believes that sales is a broken trade. He’s’here to fix it, and he’s attempting to do it with an intuitive venture that’is an experiment in sales all its own.
• New program to help small business get federal R&D funds: The Tennessee Technology Development Corporation, the state’s lead organization for promoting technology-based economic development, has launched a program to help small businesses improve their potential for securing research and development funding from the federal government.
• Survey: Inflation worries plague small businesses: Most small business owners surveyed in February say their credit needs were being met, but many weren’t ready to invest in new equipment, despite the stimulus package passed by Congress Feb. 7.
• SBA offers disaster relief in seven counties: Small businesses in seven counties surrounding Sacramento are eligible to apply for low-interest disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration to help their recoveries from storms in January.

As always this list is not exhaustive, but I hope it will give you a little overview. — ST.

Here is this week’s round-up of technology news small business owners may find informative, useful or entertaining:

• Small firms to have greater access to public sector IT contracts – The Chancellor announced in this week’s Budget that 30% of their IT contracts will be given to SMEs over the next five years
• White paper vows to stimulate innovation – The UK Government also relaunched the Small Business Research Initiative this week to encourage SMEs to participate in technology-based research
• Ten Emerging Technologies for 2008 – Technology Review’s yearly pick of the most exciting technological developments to keep an eye on this year
• Tech’s Late Adopters Prefer the Tried and True – An article examining why many people refuse to switch to new technology or software until they are forced to
• FTP Hacking on the Rise – Hackers are now placing links in e-mails that could trick the less tech-savvy into downloading malware from FTP servers
• Barriers remain to small business technology adoption – A lack of IT knowledge is stopping SMEs from realising the potential of the software as a service options available to them
• Some Viruses Come Pre-Installed – Whether inadvertently or maliciously, a growing number of seemingly innocent devices may already have viruses when they are purchased
• Cheat Sheet: Google Android – The low-down on Google’s forthcoming free operating system for mobile phones
• Mobile tech gives small business a big boost – An explanation of the new mobile technology can actually help SMEs
• Apple sued over iTunes technology – A small company claims Apple stole their patented method of distributing online content
• Linux Foundation: We’d love to work with Microsoft – An interview with Jim Zemlin, executive director of the Linux Foundation, in which he expresses a desire to interoperate with Microsoft
• Cyber-attack launched from 10,000 web pages – McAfee have identified a huge number of web pages silently directing visitors to sites containing malware
• It’s Easy, and Expensive, to Forget About Old Equipment – Keeping inventory of your old technology could save you a lot of hassle and cost
• To Aim Ads, Web Is Keeping Closer Eye on You – With the advent of social networking, advertisers can gather more personal information than ever on people
• Ericsson predicts swift end for Wi-Fi hotspots – Ericsson believe that mobile broadband technology will very quickly make public Wi-Fi obselete
• Study: Digital universe and its impact bigger than we thought - The total amount of electronically stored data is expected to exceed 1.8 Zettabytes by 2011 - but how much of this information is useful and who are the people tasked with filtering and archiving it?
• MacBook Air confuses Airport security – A blogger missed his flight this week after airport security mistook his flash-based MacBook for a ‘device’ 
• BBQ-smoker-turned-‘Robocop’ chases off drug dealers – A man has taken the law into his own hands to build a homemade crime-fighting robot to protect his neighbourhood
• WinWeb - The UK accounting module now displays previous VAT returns. This is available on VAT and Tax : Tax Return page

Here is this week’s news round-up for home business, micro business, sole-traders, freelancers, self-employed and any one who is interested in small business news from the United Kingdom and Ireland:

• Darling plans Labour’s greenest budget yet: Chancellor under pressure from business leaders to cut corporation tax and scale back plans to tax non-domiciles
• Business tax levels ‘damaging Uk’: High taxes on business are damaging the UK economy, the Confederation of British Industry says.
• New small business working group must have real influence, insists FPB: The FPB is urging Prime Minister Gordon Brown to place a new small business working group at the heart of his enterprise policies.
• Small Talk: Imprint battle wide open as Hydrogen runs out of gas: The takeover saga of recruitment group Imprint was scheduled to end this Friday, when the company’s board was set to recommend a bid from rival Hydrogen at an extraordinary general meeting.
• FPB Questions claim that small firms are progressing: The FPB is responding to a government survey suggesting that small firms are progressing steadily by pointing to research that suggests otherwise.
• Government loses trust of small businesses: An overwhelming majority of small businesses have said that their confidence in the Government has diminished since the 2007 Budget
• FPB delivers budget warning following latest survey of small businesses: The FPB, a business support organisation that represents more than 25,000 small and medium-sized businesses in the UK, has issued a stark warning to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, ahead of the 2008 Budget.
• New Approach to business support on its way, say government: This week’s budget is likely to include the introduction of a new wide ranging policy aimed at improving the government’s much criticised small business support system.
• FSB welcomes Budget speech with no nasty surprises: The Federation of Small Businesses welcomed a Budget speech with few alarms and surprises for the UKs 4.5 million-strong small business community.
• FPB responds to 2008 budget speech: The FPB is responding to claims made in the 2008 Budget speech by Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Rt Hon Alistair Darling MP, that the UK is “one of the best places in the world in which to do business”. Research from the FPB suggests that most owners of small businesses disagree. In a recent ballot of members, part of the quarterly Referendum newsletter, 97% of respondents believed that recent tax changes have, in fact, made the UK a worse place in which to do business.
• Darling courts entrepreneurs with extra funding: Alistair Darling attempted to court entrepreneurs in his first budget as chancellor by announcing a series of new funding measures.
• Websites ‘do not update regularly’: Small businesses do not update their websites regularly - or, in some cases, at all - new research has revealed.
• Online visibility ‘key concern for SMBs’: Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are keen to address their online visibility, according to new research.
• Small Businesses: Entrepreneurs promised tax relief and less red tape: Measures aimed at boosting the UK’s small business sector and encouraging innovation were at the centre of the Budget, the Chancellor claimed.
• New limits on firms offering tax break on share options: Many employees of small businesses may lose their entitlement to tax relief under Budget provisions on the enterprise management incentive (EMI) scheme, despite an announcement from the Chancellor that he would make the initiative more generous.
• Revenue increases fines on self assessment tax returns: Taxpayers who mis-state their income on self-assessment tax returns will face much higher penalties following new measures introduced in the Budget, it emerged yesterday.
• 2008 Budget will do little for Scotland’s small firms, warns FPB: The FPB, which represents 25,000 smaller businesses across the UK, is warning that the 2008 Budget, announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Rt Hon Alistair Darling MP, will do little to support smaller firms in Scotland.
• Tax changes ‘will undermine plan to nurture innovation’: A government plan to aid the development of Britain’s hi-tech and innovative industries has been criticised as a “slap across the face” of industry after the Chancellor cut tax relief for start-up businesses.

As always this list is not exhaustive, but I hope it will give you a little overview. — ST.

The popularity of e-books is growing year-on-year. The advent of new technologies means that they can now be read on mobile phones and MP3 players, whereas before it was necessary to have access to a laptop or desktop computer. The small file size of most e-books allows users to carry around a virtual library on their handheld device. The cost to publish a book electronically is very small so this has now removed the barriers that may have prevented you publishing your work in the past.

Skills needed: If you are very knowledgeable in a certain field and able to write well then you have all the skills you need to start writing your own e-books. If you plan on simply becoming an e-book re-seller then no specialist skills are needed.   

Business environment and set-up cost: The market for an e-book re-seller is truly international because you can provide books in many different languages. The set-up cost varies depending on whether you will write your own books or simply sell them. The cost of writing and distributing is miniscule and relates mainly to the standard website costs. Re-selling books is more expensive because you will first need to buy the re-sell rights, therefore start-up costs may vary from a few hundred pounds to thousands depending on the range of books you will sell.

Marketing Techniques:  

• Place links to your website in online e-book directories, web-rings and cybermalls
• Set up an opt-in mailing list and RSS newsfeed to inform customers of new titles added to your database
• Submit your site to search engines and consider joining popular pay-per-click schemes
• Find out the surfing habits of the target audience (e-book buyers) and pay for banner advertisements at or become linked to the places they visit
• Use viral marketing tactics to get your customers to recommend e-books to their friends
• Use OnlineOffice to set up web-site, blog and online shop to promote your business online

Complimentary business ideas: If your website becomes successful then additional income could be generated through e-book authors buying advertising on it.

Notes: You could become a reseller affiliate for large websites and not even need to host the books on your own website.

Online examples & resources: 

• Ebook Publishing Tools – links to the tools and resources you may need to sell e-books  
• Tom’s eTextReader – an excellent free way of viewing text files as e-books
• Ebooks.com – a large e-book retailer

Here is this week’s news round-up for home business, micro business, sole-traders, freelancers, self-employed and any one who is interested in small business news from India:

• India telecom firms face uphill task in IPTV drive: Indian telecom firms, seeking to increase revenue, face hurdles of high costs, low broadband usage and slow speeds.
• India adds six million GSM Mobile phone users in Feb: New Delhi: According to industry body Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) India ha…
• Knowledge Service for business transformation: Infosys BPO is focusing on the depth of its Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) services, says Joydeep Mukherjee, Vice President and Head of Knowledge Services, Infosys BPO, in an interview with Dow Jones. Joydeep believes that Infosys BPO is an industry leader due to its knowledge-focus and investments in technology and manpower. Infosys’ KPO practice provides solutions in the areas of analytics, financial planning and analysis, digital publishing, legal process outsourcing and research. It also offers services in retail and banking and capital markets.
• Claim LTA tax benefit this year, save more: If you are planning to put off your claim on the tax rebate on leave travel assistance (LTA) for next year or the year after, think again.
• HP launches three new imprint Notebooks: New Delhi: Hewlett-Packard, the leading Consumer Notebook vendor in India, unveiled three new…
• SatNav unveils laptop navigation: SatNav Technologies, a Hyderabad-headquartered IT products company, has added laptop and desktop navigation to its widest range of GPS products.
• infosys seeks to enhance women power: Infosys Technologies is gifting its ‘potential women staff’ a two-day, one-night tour, stay and fun package on its campuses across India.

As always this list is not exhaustive, but I hope it will give you a little overview. — ST.

This is the first of a series of weekly posts focusing on some of the key issues that a small business startup faces.

One of the first things that you will wish to do once you have decided what your business will specialise in (see Small Business Ideas if you are struggling for inspiration) is to decide what it will be called.

Things to remember:   

• If you are struggling to come up with a name it might be helpful to use a mind-mapping tool like Freemind
• Try to come up with names that will be descriptive of the service you offer or are unique and catchy in some way. However, it is possible that a vague name with no relation to your business activities will only serve to confuse your potential customers
• Bear in mind that your business name will form the basis of your corporate image and will be the focus of many of your marketing activities. The name should not be so specific that it restricts organisational changes you may need to make in the future relating to products or strategy
• Investigate the names of the businesses that will be your future competition. You may be inspired to come up with a name that is similar but differentiates you in some way
• Be aware of the legal issues that surround naming a business. Some words may be illegal or infringe copyright so you will want to avoid using them in your business name
• Ask your friends, family and potential clients about the name you are considering as their opinions will be a useful gauge of how much they like that it and what message it conveys to them. You may wish to go further than this and conduct full market testing on the name
• If you going to be trading internationally, check whether your name has a different meaning in other languages or cultures in order to avoid offence or misunderstandings
• Check to see if the domain names relating to your favourite choices are already taken. It is important that you have a website address that is easy for your customers to remember. If your name is complex to spell you may wish to register the most common misspellings also
• Try designing some logo’s using your favourite name to see if you would be happy with how it looks
• When you make your final decision to register and possibly trademark your business name it is probably best to trust your own intuition as to which one is the most appropriate. It may help you to imagine your business being reported on in the press and how you would feel if you saw it in a headline

Here is this week’s news round-up for home business, micro business, sole-traders, freelancers, self-employed and any one who is interested in small business news from Australia and New Zealand:

• Cost Rica aims to be the first carbon-neutral country in world: … to commit to carbon neutrality, joining Norway, New Zealand, Iceland, and Costa Rica. Though the small … for Costa Rica. According to Dobles, greener business practices will ultimately lead to a greener …
• Business failures down by 36pc: Fewer New Zealand businesses are failing than three years ago, with the youngest companies showing the biggest improvement in survival rates. A review of 100,000 business records by credit reporting agency Dun and Bradstreet shows…
• Return of the tax break: Michael Cullen once said Labour was “philosophically opposed” to tax cuts. However, the Government’s pruning of the company tax rate from 33c to 30c shows it is taking a slightly more pragmatic approach to business tax. The company…
• Wozniak trashes iPhone and MacBook Air: Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has slammed the iPhone and the new MacBook Air as poorly designed..
• Companies looking after their world: New Zealand businesses are spending more time and money considering the effect of their activities on the environment and the communities in which they operate. “Stakeholder reporting”, or sustainable development reporting, is…
• Commission to stay out of mobile roaming prices: The Commerce Commission is recommending prices for mobile roaming not be regulated. Roaming allows subscribers of one mobile network to use their mobile telephone handset on a different mobile network to make and receive calls.
• Work laws stop companies expanding: WORK Choices and employment laws are the second largest hindrance to a company’s expansion, a new survey shows.
• Unions wants wage support from Rudd: TRADE unions are hoping the Federal Government backs their claim for a $26 a week hike in the minimum wage, despite calls from Prime Minister Kevin Rudd for wage restraint.
• Skill shortages biggest business hindrance: CONTRARY to what the former Coalition Government led people to believe, Work Choices and employment laws are the second largest hindrance to a company’s expansion, a new survey shows.
• Women do it differently: IT IS in the regional areas of Australia where women are taking up the challenge of starting and operating their own businesses, research shows.

As always this list is not exhaustive, but I hope it will give you a little overview. — ST.

I have been reading about Ray Kroc the founder of McDonald’s, these stories can tell about figures like that can tell you a lot about the way business does work.

He was fifty-two years old when he found that funny shaped hamburger stand in San Bernardino in California. At fifty-two and suffering from diabetes he found his business idea that would transform the way we look at fast food. He was not a young entrepreneur or grey suited corporate type, no he had been a salesman for most of his live. He had also earned his living with playing music in bars, in short things were not always easy.

But now at fifty-two, when our society has decided you no longer represent prime employee material, Ray Kroc knew the best part of his live was still ahead of him. Ray’s life teaches us many lessons for our private and professional lives. Not only is his live a lesson in perseverance, as it is often the case, perseverance is something that just happens out of necessity, but about the fact that it is never to late to make your mark or find your niche and change your life.

You need to keep an open mind and understand challenges as opportunities - read Ray’s story and see this mindset in action, it is utterly compelling. — ST.

Have you ever noticed these little or big signs in businesses and offices reading something like:

Our staff has the right to work in an abuse free environment.

Have you ever noticed that in those establishments the customer service is especially bad and rude? The way bigger business or civil servants deal with customers is to provide an often appalling customer service and when you complain, you are told you are being abusive. This has happened to me with “the worlds favorite airline”, when talking to utility companies and other organisations during the years.

While it is often the customer who gets abused, the abusers just claim to be the abused and avoid the real issues this way. Often management of these organisations hide behind layers of employees who can not solve the problems, which are often systemic in those businesses. Another sign of bad customer service are over loaded call centers, continuos broken promises and no call backs.

This is probably the biggest advantage a small business could have, provide a first class customer service and charge for it. It is true that we live in times when price is king, but I believe the tide is slowly turning towards organisations who offer a good and friendly service. Differentiating yourself with your customer service is one of the best ways to build a good business.

If you are looking for business ideas and get annoyed about customer service issues in your daily live thing about how you could do this better and you probably found a way to earn a good living. — ST.

This business is ideal for someone who has worked in the corporate world or the media for a number of years and understands the importance of image within it. You can use your knowledge to work with clients on a one-to-one basis to address image issues like aesthetics, wardrobe and even posture. Establishing a professional looking portfolio website to showcase your previous work will be the main way in which you will attract customers.   

Skills needed: Experience is the key to success in this industry. If you have knowledge of cosmetics and fashion consulting it will help tremendously. Basic web skills will be needed to maintain a website and good communication skills will be essential in order to convince your clients that you really know what you are doing! 

Business Environment and Set-up Cost: The needs of each client will be different and they will likely require one-on-one consultation, so the majority of your customers will be based in the local region. Your main starting costs will be related to getting the website launched. There will be extra cost involved if you do not already own the computer hardware. Overall, the absolute maximum it should cost you is £2000. 

Marketing Techniques: 

• Become a regular contributor at local online forums, mailing lists and chat rooms about health and beauty to spread awareness of your services.

• Place testimonials (and the photographic evidence!) on your website as these can often be very effective.

• Get creative and blog about the life-changing effects of image consultants. Send your articles to industry websites as they may use it

• Set up a mutual referral network with local salons and fashion boutiques

• Use OnlineOffice to set up web-site, blog and online shop to promote your business online

Complimentary business idea: As a sideline, arrange with a distributor to re-sell beauty products to your clients. Also use banner advertising as an extra revenue stream. 

Notes: Ensure that your advice is tailor-made to each individual and that it is job specific so that they can actually use it to advance their career. Do not over-charge for your services. 

Online Examples: 

• Babet Style Consultancy - an example of the services you could offer.
• Your Best Image - an image consultancy specifically focussed on helping women to improve their career
• Association of Image Consultants International - the authority on everything related to image consulting

For more small business ideas see my category Business Ideas.