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TwitterIn the current economic climate, it’s not surprising that credit card purchases might be growing more slowly or declining. What’s interesting is that debit card transactions apparently continue to grow, and now outstrip credit card purchases for Visa Inc.On Thursday, April 30, The Wall Street Journal reported the following that should be noted by small business owners:• “On Wednesday, Visa Inc. reported that the total dollar volume of purchases made using its branded debit cards surpassed credit-card purchases for the first time during the last three months of 2008.
Archive for April, 2009
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New Small Business Sales Tactic:Giving it Away!
April 30th, 2009 
admin Times are hard and with sales down and customers not buying, how does one maintain the business relationship? This USA Today article describes how some small businesses are giving away goods and services to maintain customer loyalty. This is happening in Northeast Florida as well. Get the story here.
Small Business Pay in a Down Economy
April 29th, 2009 admin Think it’s easy to run a small business – especially in a tough economy? Think again.Consider an April 24 Wall Street Journal report titled “Entrepreneurs Cut Own Pay to Stay Afloat.” Two key points:• “A number of small-business owners have stopped paying themselves as they struggle to keep their companies afloat. It’s impossible to know just how many owners are affected. But in a sign of the breadth of the trend, 30% of 727 small-business owners and managers surveyed by American Express Co.’s small-business services division said recently that they were no longer taking a salary.
Insights On Business Plans For Small Business
April 29th, 2009 admin What are the primary goals of your business plan? You must answer this question before diving into a bunch of templates. Most templates are cookie cutters and may not achieve what you’re trying to do. Raising capital? Figuring out your business model? Researching the market and competition? You need to know who you are writing it for and why. If you have this figured out you’re ready to roll.
Report on the Economic Health of Small Business in Florida
April 28th, 2009 admin Article Written By Dr. Rick Harper, DirectorUniversity of West FloridaHAAS Center for Business Research and Economic Development Key Ingredients for Florida’s Economic Recovery Small businesses are responsible for the majority of job growthin the private sector—addressing the insurance and tax problems will allow them to grow and ensure Florida’s recovery. It’s again a pleasure to be asked to write about the economy for the Florida Small Business Development Center Network.
Britain’s Anti-Entrepreneur Tax Hike
April 28th, 2009 admin Just to show that bad economic policy is in no way limited to the United States right now, Great Britain’s Prime Minister Gordon Brown has announced that the nation’s highest marginal income tax rate will be hiked to 50 percent.That’s a 25 percent increase from the current top rate of 40 percent. The 50 percent rate would kick in at $220,000 in annual income.A Washington Post story on the issue reported two interesting points:• “[T]hose who will pay the higher tax argue that it is a significant deterrent for an entire generation of entrepreneurs who have grown up paying no more than 40 percent of their income in taxes.
Pushed Into the Waters of Entrepreneurship
April 27th, 2009 admin For many, entrepreneurship is part of the American Dream. They want to own and run their own business.Others – sometimes called reluctant entrepreneurs – get pushed into entrepreneurship. That is, they lose a job, and find that starting up and running their own business might be a better option than again working for someone else.In the current tough economy, it can be a difficult decision. Once laid off, does it make sense to try to find another job, when businesses overall are shedding employees, or should one take the plunge into the entrepreneurial waters during a time of economic uncertainty and worry.The April 27 New York Daily News ran a brief, but interesting piece on a few individuals choosing the small business ownership route, and served up some insights.
Atlanta Business Chronicle: SBA misses deadlines on
April 27th, 2009 admin We are hoping that there is relief in sight so that our clients at the UNF SBDC have better access to loans. The U.S. Small Business Administration is the smallest Federal agency in our government and this may well be a part of the problem. Another issue may be that the SBA’s team surrounding Administrator Karen Mills has only recently come on board.Atlanta Business Chronicle – by Kent Hoover Special to the Atlanta Business ChronicleThe Small Business Administration has implemented only two of the eight provisions thatwere included in the economic stimulus bill to boost lending to small firms.On March 16, the SBA eliminated fees on the agency’s 7(a) and 504 loans, and increased themaximum government guarantee on 7(a) loans from 85 percent to 90 percent.
