 The attention of public has been concentrated for a while now on the ongoing debates on what the health care reform will bring. By now we are all familiar with the horrifying facts about the number of Americans without coverage, and the fact that almost 50% of 47 million currently uninsured are employed or dependent on small companies.
Small business, being the major job creator in the States, has a critical place in the health care reform debate. The utterly poor state the small businesses find themselves in when it comes to health care coverage is what’s causing them to constantly re-question the proposed reform. The main issue for all companies, and especially the small ones are raising health care costs which repeatedly lead to job losses in many industries. The fact that health care premiums have doubled in past nine years speaks for itself. Small businesses pay 18% more per employee than large companies for the same health insurance policies. The reason being they have a smaller risk pool and have to pay higher broker fees and administrative costs per employee. That is the main reason why only 49% of firms with less than 10 workers offer health coverage. The money spent on health care coverage could be spent on much needed investments, research and development, but instead the innovation that small business brings is standing frozen. The small percentage of small firms that do provide coverage are cornered to cut costs elsewhere which at the end keeps them from growing. Read more » Originally posted 2009-09-03 17:18:12. Republished by Blog Post Promoter By Marley If you purchase an energy-efficient product or renewable energy system for your home or for your office space, you may be eligible for a federal tax credit. This is the Energy Star, a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy. Energy Star is the program designed to help both businesses and individuals, which are interested in protecting environment, saving energy and ecology. A strategic approach to energy management can produce twice the savings — for the bottom line and the environment. Therefore, EPA’s ENERGY STAR partnership offers a proven energy management strategy that helps in measuring current energy performance, setting goals, tracking savings, and rewarding improvements. Read more » Neil Barofsky has submitted his quarterly report in regards to the TARP bailout program. He states “On the positive side, there are clear signs that aspects of the financial system are far more stable than they were at the height of the crisis in the fall of 2008,” according to a quarterly report to Congress submitted by the office of the Special Inspector General for the government’s $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program. The report, warned that the Obama administration’s and the Federal Reserve’s policies to support the mortgage market could in fact be creating another dangerous housing bubble. “Stated another way, even if TARP saved our financial system from driving off a cliff back in 2008, absent meaningful reform, we are still driving on the same winding mountain road, but this time in a faster car,” said the report. Read more » It is 2010 and after listening to this Youtube Online Video painful analysis of what is wrong with the State of the Union, yes our Union here in the USA Peter Schiff hits the nails all on the heads. I mean this guy is for small business, big business and everything in between. He so eloquently states that our government is quickly running us off of a cliff into a faster melt down economically. If Obama really cared about this country, if Obama was a leader he would do what Schiff suggests in everything he talks about, education, loans, spending etc. (too much to list here). If Obama or McCain or any one of our “selected leaders” were actually a leader they would hire Schiff as Secretary of the Treasury and start taking names and numbers on Wall St. Get rid of all of the cronies in Washington and put in smart high school seniors. They could do a better job. All of these experienced Wall St. guys are digging us in even deeper. Sorry for the rant be we need to mobilize the Small Business Leaders into action. When small businesses band together we would be in the 10’s of millions. Many call us the economic engine of the country, including the politicians, so if this is so when then does Washington BAIL OUT the big banks who don’t lend to small businesses? Maybe it is just me and the big banks are giving money away to small businesses, it is just I have not met a single one who was given a loan from the TARP money, have you? I did not actually listen to the State of the Union Speech but based on what I heard on the radio afterwords it was empty and hollow. So my real question is WHY? What is their end game? Grow government so that they are the biggest employer and we have a nanny state we can all become dependent upon? Here is a brief excerpt from my other blog that I grabbed a letter from a small business owner. He really sums it up well: 
“However, let me tell you some little tidbits of fact which might help you decide what is in your best interests. First, while it is easy to spew rhetoric that casts employers against employees, you have to understand that for every business owner there is a back story. This back story is often neglected and overshadowed by what you see and hear. Sure, you see me park my Mercedes outside. You’ve seen my big home at last years Christmas party. I’m sure; all these flashy icons of luxury conjure up some idealized thoughts about my life. However, what you don’t see is the back story. I started this company 28 years ago. At that time, I lived in a 300 square foot studio apartment for 3 years. My entire living apartment was converted into an office so I could put forth 100% effort into building a company, which by the way, would eventually employ you.” Small business owners will receive an additional tax break on their spending in an attempt to raise the level of business investment. It is expected that business investment will fall 2.5 per cent this financial year, and will not recover before 2010 or later. Instead of a 30 per cent tax break, business owners will be offered a 50 per cent tax deduction for spending on capital assets. This means that business owners can get an extra deduction on new capital assets (cars, computers, etc.) that cost over $ 1000. These items must be installed and ready for use by December 31, 2010. This benefit will be attainable for businesses that have less than $2 million turnover. The tax deductions will come at a cost of approximately $141 million to the government. Read more » Originally posted 2009-05-16 10:40:37. Republished by Blog Post Promoter By Jovana  According to experts, a home based accounting, bookkeeping and tax services are considered the best types of home based businesses.
Nowadays there is a high demand for reputable tax service in the States. The market is continuously growing as more and more people pay taxes each year. Tax service business is a very good choice among home based business opportunities. Over 65% of taxpayers pay a professional tax service to prepare their taxes for them. According to the Wall Street Journal, companies and individuals overpay their taxes and these amounts reach billions of dollars each year. By starting your own tax service business you can assist businesses in preparing their taxes and getting the refunds they deserve. Read more » By Jovana Looks like the situation for small businesses in the United States is going to improve. Last week the President Obama gave a speech at the Brookings Institution (a nonprofit public policy organization ), Washington D.C. He outlined that three main areas his administration is going to focus on to generate jobs are: small business, infrastructure and energy. “These are areas in which we can put Americans to work while putting our nation on a sturdier economic footing,” he said, “areas that will generate the greatest number of jobs while generating the greatest value for our economy.” Read more »  It has now been more than 18 months since the U.S. entered the age of recession and it is obvious that the economy is still caught in a downward spiral. Although we have seen our government make certain moves in the right direction, it seems that the country is stuck with a not so promising formula of going one step forward-two steps back. Not to be all that pessimistic, according to some surveys the “backbone of the economy” is regaining its confidence and a high percentage of small business owners are showing optimism towards the future. But before we see those brighter days, there is still a lot to struggle with in the present. As experts in the economy say, these specific times demand specific measures. It is the perfect time for people from every layer of society to get creative and push the country towards the wanted change. This should go all the way to the top management. Read more »
By Jovana The study from the National Federation of the Independent Business Research Fondation, sponsored by Wells Fargo, recently researched the issues that small business owners consider the most problematic in their work. No wonder, on the top is the problem with health insurance, but liability insurance as well. On the second place are the business costs, with emphasis on the tax cluster and worker’s compensation. Read more » By Jovana  The term Intellectual Property or the acronym IP means (and provides) protection for creations of the mind. More specifically, they grant the creators/owners exclusive rights to these creations.
IP is divided into two categories: artistic and industrial.
• Artistic Intellectual Property rights are protected by Copyrights. • Industrial Intellectual Property rights are protected by Patents and Trademarks. General opinion and first thought that comes to a mind when it’s about IP are artistic works, scientific patents and similar. That’s a big mistake. Your Intellectual Property are all information, resorts you have used and products of your work. We are talking about customer lists, business processes, publications, trademarks, etc during and after your employment with the company. These items are considered Intellectual Property and proprietary information. Read more » |  |
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