Ever since President Obama stepped into office, talks about the stimulus package have been going on. From the capitol to Wall Street to coffee shops – the stimulus package has been much talked about. Some people are all for it while there are those who think that it’s a waste of tax payers’ money.

On the part of small business owners, however, the stimulus package just might be what they need to tide them over till the economy gets back on its feet. MSNBC published a feature last week, stating how the stimulus can actually be put to good use by small business owners:

A meeting brought federal officials and local entrepreneurs together on Thursday to help small business owners navigate the stormy economy.

Representatives from the Small Business Administration and Rep. Lee Terry met with business owners to discuss ways to modify programs designed to help them. “Small business is our economy,” Terry said.

He said the stimulus package, which provided $730 million for the SBA, will help provide new loans to assist small businesses with meeting debt payments, will offer higher loan guarantees and reduce loan fees.

What does this mean to you? If you are a small business owner and you have been struggling – or you are looking at that possibility, then the knowledge that you can get new loans with lower fees would be more than welcome. In this time of difficulty, this opportunity is a refreshing one, with the conventional lenders and creditors being more conservative. Let’s see how this thing develops.

Some credit card companies have been known to be notorious when it comes to customer support even if they come form some of the biggest names in the financial industry. Good thing is, that there are several banks and institutions that offer similar products that may cater to your particular need for attention to finances. Most banks offer their products in conjunction with their card services and some have exceptional track records when it comes to customer service.
May it be for card assistance, replacement or other trivial inquiries, they go the extra mile for the customer. Credit card offers come with 0% balance transfers from your current card provider making it easy to manage your finances. Indispensable for business folks, these small but mighty financial products allow us to safely do business without the risk of theft. May it be through their web sites or counters, they’ll be glad to provide you with the information you need for such services. do be careful with them, for they are ideal targets for criminals and vigilance is always warranted with such a powerful financial tool.

Now might not be a good time to start a business in many people’s eyes but hey, things are looking up and in the next several months or so, we might actually witness change. More so, there are sectors which are still profitable and could use some new businesses. Here are some of the top industries you should consider when starting a new business, courtesy of INC.com.

Employment services
Today’s business environment is hyper-competitive and constantly in flux. To increase response time, companies have turned to temporary employees, in an effort to stay productive while managing overhead. This trend is projected to continue through 2012, pushing up the employment rate in this sector by 54%.

And guess where companies look to for temporary employees? Head hunters and other similar services!

Home health care
While employment in the health service industry is projected to grow 28% by 2012, employment in the specialized home health care industry is expected to be nearly twice that, or 54.5%. Each year, over 7.6 million people are provided with home health care services.

Thanks to science and medicine, people are living to a ripe old age more and more. This means, however, that more people are needed assistance at home. And that is where home health care comes into the picture.

Motion picture/video
Today, Americans and much of the world flip through over 200 channels of programming. The movie industry has grown in a similar fashion, with single movie houses getting consumed by 20-screen theatres with stadium seating. Such a massive amount of programming requires a commensurate supporting industry of production studios, distributors, advertisers and engineers, just to name a few. Over the next decade, the number of persons employed by the motion picture and video industry is expected to grow 31%.

This sector may require more long term thinking but hey, if you’re in it for the long run, you should consider this.

More ideas in the original article.

No I am not going nuts. I know that you must be thinking that hiring more people at this point in time is the last thing on your agenda. But if you think about it, if you have the money to take on more employees, this is the perfect time to do so. Let me explain why.

I am sure that you are aware that many companies are either laying off employees or closing shop. This means many things but the main thing that concerns you is this – there are a lot of talented and experienced people who are in the market for a job. These people used to have security in terms of their salary but are now out on the streets, looking for a source of income. Consequently, if you have the extra cash to spend, you might as well snap up these talented people who are hungry for jobs.

There is no doubt about it, there is a shortage of jobs and a surplus of manpower at the moment. The sad truth is that many people who are unemployed are reassessing their priorities when it comes to what jobs to take. This means that you, the employer, can find great people perhaps at a lower expense.

Another aspect which could be beneficial to both employee and employer is the flexibility of work relationship. Instead of hiring a full time employee, you might be able to work out a part-time position. These opportunities – and more – can actually open up for you in these hard times.

Now, more than ever, businesses are feeling the crunch of the times. It was so easy to be overly optimistic in December, when the year was ending. The rationale of many people was that, a new year brings new beginnings. Things can only get better, right?

But did you see Circuit City closing? How about Timberland? Not to mention many other smaller companies closing shop because of financial reasons.

This does not mean, however, that your business has to close as well. In fact, you can even bank on the economic troubles as part of your selling point. Instead of painting the prettiest picture you can come up with, you might want to stick closer to reality and use that picture to convince people to buy. When doing so, however, you should bear some things in mind.

One, do not lay it on too thick. Everyone knows how hard the times are but it does not mean that you should dig too deep to make a connection between “recession” and your business or product. If your business is related to the financial sector, then yes, you cannot avoid talking about the recession but let’s say you sell meat products – you really can’t go around using big words such as financial planning and relate it to what you sell. Don’t force it.

Two, find the right approach. This is to counterbalance the first point. Going back to the example above, the meat products store…instead of throwing around big financial terms, why not stick to something that your customers will understand? Something like value for their money? Make your sales pitch revolve around this idea and cash-strapped people will flock to your store.

Got any other sales/marketing ideas banking on economic woes? Why not share them with us?

Recession or not, the fact is that the turn of economic events has got a lot of business people running around, trying to keep their heads above water. It does not matter at what scale you are operating – the economic crunch is affecting everyone. Perhaps we can learn a lesson or two from the “big boys” of business. Inc. recently interviewed some executives about how the recession is affecting them and what they are doing to survive. Here is the most interesting answer to the question “Many companies are currently reorganizing, revising fees, or looking for ways to cut costs. What kind of changes is your company making to adjust to the economic climate?”

A few years ago, we redid our menu. So while you saw food prices growing at almost double-digit rates over the last few years, we actually lowered prices. In a tough economy, you can’t just raise prices, pass them on to the customers, and survive. You might be able to cover margins in the short term, but ultimately, you end up losing transactions and it’s not good for business. Our objective is to make sure that we keep prices down like we have so diligently in the past. – Kevin Reddy, CEO of Noodles & Co., a Broomfield, Colo.-based restaurant franchising company

This might not sound so attractive from the perspective of a business man as the margins will definitely lessen but as Reddy said, even if you do keep your prices and margins up, the bottom line is that you will lose customers if you do not try to keep prices as low as possible. It’s your choice – keep margins temporarily and lose customers in the long run or lose margins temporarily and keep your customers.

Put that way, the answer seems easy enough, doesn’t it?

We are experiencing a recession. No, there is no recession. We hear both statements – and other similar things – from everyone. One camp says things are fine. The other camp says that things couldn’t be worse. I guess it does not really matter what people say. What matters is what you are experiencing and if you are like many other small business owners, you just might be experiencing lean times.

If so, what is the best route to take? What is the best thing that you can do for your business during this time?

I am sure that you will get a wide variety of answers to this question but this is what I can tell you: The best thing that you can do for your business in times like these is to try and make it better!

You might want to expand but you might not have the funds to do so. You might want to give up but the potential is still looming over the horizon. In the meantime, while you wait for things to get better, you should utilize your time and improve what you can with what you have!

So how do you do this? Try following these simple steps:

1. Determine the areas for improvement.
2. Determine which areas you can actually afford to improve given your circumstances.
3. Set specific goals which are realizable.
4. Identify measurable ways by which you can monitor your progress.
5. Seek help – find people who can help you achieve your goals.

Here’s to a better business!

In these days of economic turmoil (no, the problems are not over yet), it is not surprising to hear of businesses, big and small, cutting back on their expenses. I was just talking to a friend who runs a big BPO operation based in Europe. Majority of his producing entities can be found in Asian countries. Despite the fact that he has already saved a considerable amount in moving his operations offshore, he is still very much worried by the economic situation.

I can just imagine the plight of small business owners. With the prices of most everything going up, they are also being forced to increase their prices and at the same time, cut back on costs. I read something about a lean business – that is, one that spends on only what is necessary to improve profitability.

However, the author notes that cutting back on costs should be examined thoroughly as there are some cut backs that may actually do more harm than good to your business. Rieva Lesonsky highlights some of these areas in her article.

Of the areas she took note of, I particularly liked two. These are little perks and marketing. This is what she has to say:

Don’t be a penny-wise and pound-foolish business owner. You may think you can trim the fat by eliminating the morning donuts or the company parties, but the money you save will quickly be replaced by lowered employee morale.

I think that nothing can match a good morale and work attitude. These things should be nurtured – the rewards are worth more.

With regard to marketing, this is what Lesonsky thinks:

I’m a big believer that recessions (or near-recessions) are actually a good time to increase your marketing budgets. While that might sound counterintuitive, it’s not. While most businesses are hunkering down, waiting for the good times to start rolling again, your marketing message will be heard more loudly in the vacuum. Trimming your marketing budget (whether that means creative or staff or both) will likely hurt, not help, your business.

I tend to agree with her. Take advantage of the times. Be more aggressive and gain the attention while your competitors are quiet.

Starting up a business – whether it be small, medium-sized, or big – will certainly take time and money. You know the old saying, “you need to spend money to make money.” If you are in the process of starting up your own business, you just might be worried about the costs involved. Do not let that get you down, however. There are many ways by which you can cut the costs to the bare minimum without sacrificing your business.

Why not consider operating from home?
For small business operations, home-based businesses are the rage today. Not only is it more convenient for you, it also keeps the operating costs down. One of the biggest overhead costs for businesses is the rent. If you run your small business from your home, then you get rid of this big expense.

Start an online business.
Take your home-based business one step further – why not go online and carry out your business operations online? How does this benefit you in terms of cost? You do not even need a large home to do this. You can practically live in a closet and have a virtual office from where you do marketing, sales, and everything in between.

Consider outsourcing.
Focusing on what you do best – the core of your business – is a very good idea. This way, you can throw all your energy and efforts into making money. Peripheral activities such as web site creation can be outsourced for a small price. Do not waste your time and effort – they translate to money – on things that you do not know much about.

Economic times are really starting to pull people down, don’t you think? What with the news that big companies like AIG and Lehmann declaring bankruptcy, people are starting to feel really apprehensive about what the future holds. If big companies like them are going under, what about the average person?

More so, our salaries are not really going up even as the prices of most everything continue to shoot up. Have you gone to the grocery store lately? Isn’t it that your money buys less than it used to do? Perhaps it is time to find an additional source of income?

If you are thinking about this – and if you are like many people, you probably are – then there is one thing that you should do before anything else. That is, you have to PLAN YOUR PLAN.

Any business, in order to succeed, has to undergo extensive planning. One has to have a clear plan as to how to achieve his goals. But even before you work on your planning, you have to sit down and think about how you will structure your plan. Entrepreneur magazine shares:

Believe it or not, part of planning your plan is planning what you’ll do with it. No, we haven’t gone crazy–at least not yet. A business plan can be used for several things, from monitoring your company’s progress toward goals to enticing key employees to join your firm. Deciding how you intend to use yours is an important part of preparing to write it.

Indeed, starting up your business is not to be taken lightly. You have to make sure that you have all your bases are covered in order to ensure success as much as possible.

In the next few weeks, let us look more into how to start up your own business.