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Archive for the ‘women in business’ Category

Obama Ramping Up To Help Small Business In 2010

Sunday, January 10th, 2010

There are approximately 25.8 million businesses in the United States and over 99 percent of all employers are small businesses, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will help small businesses by cutting health care costs, improving access to capital and investing in innovation and development.

Lower Health Care Costs with a New Small Business Health Tax Credit: Barack Obama and Joe Biden understand that the skyrocketing cost of healthcare poses a serious competitive threat to America’s small businesses. Small businesses are the drivers of job growth in our economy, creating, on average, more than two thirds of net new jobs each year. Yet small business owners face unique challenges in providing health care to their employees, including higher administrative costs, lower bargaining power, greater price volatility and fewer pooling options. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will reduce the burden on small businesses in our economy by offering a new Small Business Health Tax Credit to help small businesses provide quality health care to their employees. The Obama Small Business Health Tax Credit will provide a refundable credit of up to 50 percent on premiums paid by small businesses on behalf of their employees.

Obama’s Small Business Health Tax Credit will work alongside other aspects of his health care plan to lower costs and improve competitiveness for America’s small businesses, including:

  • Access to a Low-cost National Health Exchange: The Obama health care plan will provide small businesses with new opportunities to buy low-cost, high quality health plans for their employees through a national exchange similar that will allow small businesses to get the same benefits of spreading risk and administrative costs over a large pool that larger businesses currently enjoy.
  • Reduced Volatility and Lower Costs by Reimbursing Catastrophic Costs: The Obama plan will reimburse employer health plans for a portion of the catastrophic costs they incur above a threshold if they guarantee such savings are used to reduce the cost of workers’ premiums. This reimbursement (often called reinsurance) is particularly important for small business plans, which can be overwhelmed by the costs of catastrophic expenditures for even a single employee.
  • Investment in Cost Reduction and Quality Improvement Strategies: The Obama plan will aggressively lower health costs by facilitating broad adoption of standards-based electronic health information systems, and other value-increasing innovations improving chronic care management, and increasing insurance market competition.

Provide Zero Capital Gains and Other Tax Relief for Small Businesses and Start-ups: Barack Obama believes that we need to reduce burdens on small business owners, many of whom are struggling to succeed as health care and energy costs continue to skyrocket. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will eliminate all capital gains taxes on small and start-up businesses to encourage innovation and job creation. Obama and Biden will support small business owners by providing a $500 “Making Work Pay” tax credit to almost every worker in America. Self-employed small business owners pay both the employee and the employer side of the payroll tax, and this measure will reduce the burdens of this double taxation.

Expand Loan Programs for Small Businesses: Access to capital is a top concern among small business owners. Barack Obama cosponsored the bipartisan Small Business Lending Reauthorization and Improvements Act. This bill expands the Small Business Administration’s loan and micro-loan programs which provide start-up and long-term financing that small firms cannot receive through normal channels. Obama and Biden will work to help more entrepreneurs get loans, expand the network of lenders, and simplify the loan approval process.

Support Innovation and High-Tech Job Creation: Barack Obama believes we need to double federalfunding for basic research, diversify energy sources, expand the deployment of broadband technology, and make the research and development tax credit permanent so that businesses can invest in innovation and create high-paying, secure jobs.

Create a National Network of Public-Private Business Incubators: Barack Obama and Joe Biden will support entrepreneurship and spur job growth by creating a national network of public-private business incubators. Business incubators facilitate the critical work of entrepreneurs in creating start-up companies. They offer help designing business plans, provide physical space, identify and address problems affecting all small businesses within a given community, and give advice on a wide range of business practices, including reducing overhead costs. Business incubators will engage the expertise and resources of local institutions of higher education and successful private sector businesses to help ensure that small businesses have both a strong plan and the resources for long-term success. Obama and Biden will invest $250 million per year to increase the number and size of incubators in disadvantaged communities throughout the country.

Invest in Women-Owned Small Businesses: Women are majority owners of more than 28 percent of U.S. businesses, but lead less than 4 percent of venture capital-backed firms. Women business owners are more likely than white male business owners to have their loan applications denied. Barack Obama and Joe Biden encourage investment in women-owned businesses, providing more support to women business owners and reducing discrimination in lending. To create greater opportunities for women business owners who would like to do business with the federal government, Obama and Biden will implement the Women Owned Business contracting program that was signed into law by President Bill Clinton, but has yet to be implemented by the Bush Administration.

Increasing Minority Access to Capital: Access to venture capital is critically important to the development of minority-owned businesses. Yet there has been a growing gap between the amounts of venture capital available to minority-owned small businesses compared to other small businesses. Less than 1 percent of the $250 billion in venture capital dollars invested annually nationwide has been directed to the country’s 4.4 million minority business owners. And in recent years, there has been a significant decline in the share of Small Business Investment Company financings that have gone to minority-owned and women-owned businesses. In order to increase their size, capacity, and ability to do business with the federal government, and to compete in the open market, minority firms need greater access to venture capital investment, as well as greater access to business loans. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will strengthen Small Business Administration programs that provide capital to minority-owned businesses, support outreach programs that help minority business owners apply for loans, and work to encourage the growth and capacity of minority firms.

Promote Small Business Ownership in the Communications Industry: Barack Obama joined Senator John Kerry (D-MA) in calling on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to immediately address the issues of minority, women and small business media ownership before taking up a second review of wider media ownership rules. Obama has continued that fight by urging the FCC to establish an independent panel on minority and small business media ownership. As president, Obama will support efforts to achieve diverse media ownership, particularly in an era of increased media concentration.

Support Local Businesses Affected by Hurricane Katrina: In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Barack Obama introduced the Hurricane Katrina Recovery Act to rebuild the Gulf Coast. This bill included language to increase the government-wide goal for procurement contracts awarded to small businesses owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals for recovery and reconstruction activities related to Hurricane Katrina. Obama also established a government-wide goal for procurement contracts awarded to local businesses in Katrina-affected areas of 30 percent of that total value for 2006 and 2007.

Provide Emergency Relief: Barack Obama supported legislation to provide emergency relief to small businesses affected by a significant increase in the price of heating oil, natural gas, propane, or kerosene. This bill authorized the Small Business Administration to make disaster loans to assist small businesses that have suffered or are likely to suffer substantial economic injury as the result of a significant increase in the price of heating fuel.

Support Rural Small Businesses: Barack Obama and Joe Biden will support entrepreneurship and spur job growth by establishing a small business and micro-enterprise initiative for rural America. The program will provide training and technical assistance for rural small business, and provide a 20 percent tax credit on up to $50,000 of investment in small owner-operated businesses. This initiative will put the full support of the nation’s economic policies behind rural entrepreneurship.

Promote Digital Inclusion: The lack of affordable, high-speed Internet access in rural, urban, and minority communities has created a digital divide between those who have access to the Internet and those who do not. This severely limits the growth potential of many urban and rural companies. Approximately only one-third of rural areas and half of urban areas have high-speed Internet at home or work. The areas affected by Hurricane Katrina have particularly suffered due to a lack of IT infrastructure. Barack Obama and Joe Biden believe we can get true broadband to every community in America through a combination of reform of the Universal Service Fund, better use of the nation’s wireless spectrum, promotion of next-generation technologies, and new tax and loan incentives. As a key step to achieving full broadband access, Obama believes the Federal Communications Commission should provide an accurate map of broadband availability using a true definition of broadband instead of the current 200 kbs standard and an assessment of obstacles to fuller broadband penetration.

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Lonny Magazine: Merging Innovation And Tradition

Friday, November 20th, 2009

We know that the print industry is suffering these days. Advertisers are pulling out of print and even with a devoted reader base, long-standing magazines like Blueprint, Domino, House & Garden and Vogue Living have folded.

In the December edition of Vanity Fair, former Domino magazine exec Patrick Cline and Michelle Adams combined their vision for a web based magazine that integrated ads into editorial content for Lonny Magazine, a word made from the fusion of London and New York.  Here, the web magazine mimics the reader experience of hard print, even the ability to flip pages. How many times have you jumped pages in a magazine to get to the editorial content?  Readers can mouse over articles or pictures of interest and can connect with a click to the retailer. See an idea you’d like to try in the editorial? Click on it to find out where you can get it.

Financing a new magazine was no easy feat given the status of the many big names that have folded. Lonny Magazine raised their money through the most traditional methods: their team worked for free, borrowed money from family, kept their day jobs and because they had no money for marketing, relied on the internet buzz generated by bloggers, facebook and twitter to spread the word of their launch.  Their first edition cost $11,000 to produce, 10K of photography, processing, and equipment was donated by friends and companies; 1K for various out of pocket expenses; even the car was borrowed from Adam’s parents. Now that’s what I call bootstrapping.

No calls or pleas for hundreds of thousands of dollars,  they got their noses to the grind stone and just ‘did it’, making their product, proving that it was feasible and profitable,  believe in their product, and paid their dues. Now they’re in Vanity Fair and in a much better position to receive financing than if they did nothing at all but brainstorm on a piece of paper.

Lonny’s next issue comes out in December, check them out at www.lonnymag.com.

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Women In Small Business- The New Leaders

Sunday, July 19th, 2009

Currently, women outpace men in new businesses about 2 to 3. Of this statistic, Latina women in particular are entering entrepreneurial ranks full speed ahead, outpacing every other demographic group.

With these key points in mind, why are women losing ground in the venture capital pool? Less than four percent of venture-backed companies are headed by women. That’s the lowest in ten years.

I’m going to repeat that again: Four. Percent.

Even more depressing is that it’s not looking much better for angel investors. Only ten percent of angel money goes to businesses headed by women. A little better, but not by much.

It’s not that the money wasn’t there at the time of these studies. On the contrary, there were billions in investment dollars available in new venture capital funds and new angel groups sitting around waiting to go out. The current status of these monies is probably a little less readily available which would depressingly make the above statistics shrink even more.

So how come women weren’t getting their fair share? What is keeping us from getting our turn at bat?

The simple answer is that venture capital and angel investment firms are run by men. Anyone who didn’t see that coming, raise your hand.

So the obvious question becomes, “what can we do about it?” It’s been this way since before suffrage and while there isn’t a magical solution, there are some real steps that women can take to make their companies a success.

Bootstrap the Company: Of the companies still standing, well over 90% them are still financed by the owners or “bootstrapped.” It doesn’t matter who’s running it whether it be male or female, this is still the best way to finance a company. If you can’t get it off the ground with your own money, then it won’t make sense to someone to join you in the endeavor to help grow the business. Hire a mentor/business coach with experience launching start-ups. The money saved in avoiding key mistakes alone would more than make up for the cost of such a service. Visit www.Ethos360.com to review their offerings

Incorporate: If you take your business seriously, others are more likely to do so too. Companies such as www.LegalZoom.com can offer up helpful solutions if you’re not sure how to incorporate your business.

Create a Strong Management Team: I usually advise people to look at what is missing from their own list of skills and experience. If you see something missing in your resume that can be filled by an advisor you know or a colleague looking to work with you, add them to your Management Team. A strong and diverse Management Team can show that not only are you staffed with professionals, but that you all bring something different to the table that is important for success. There’s a great website called www.PartnerUp.com that helps entrepreneurs such as you find these connections.

Build a Strong and Competent Business Plan: Remember that the business plan exists to outline the whole project, not just the numbers and the idea. The challenge to you as the entrepreneur is to present the whole package to a prospect and be able to defend every aspect. The idea and the numbers will always be what trip you up, but the management team and the strategies that you will use to meet your financial projections are just as important. Know the plan inside and out and be able to speak without looking at it as a reference.

Network, Network, Network: This will become your least favorite word to hear and say within the first year of start-up. It’s important to remember that you must do this action like your life depends on it since the continued success of your business may well depend on the contacts you manage to make.

Create a Clean and Commanding Presence on the Internet: Just becomes the dot.com bubble burst is no reason to dismiss the importance of a strong web presence. Companies, such as, www.GreenLeafImaging.com will help you define brand identity along with establish and manage your web presence. It has fast become the first place that the modern consumer goes to discover information about you. You not only need to build a strong and functional information page but also strive to keep your reputation clean on the internet. Message boards and blogs can just as easily decimate you as help you if you manage to incur the wrath of disgruntled clients.

Go Straight to the Corporations: Many large corporations have venture capital arms with the sole purpose of identifying and promoting technologies in their fields. Begin research and due diligence by exploring www.TheFunded.com. This might be a way to get in should you have a viable venture that may be company specific and can bypass the usual forms of financing to get off the ground. You may run the risk of losing certain rights to your idea, though, so be cautious.
Promote Your Business Before You Open: Depending on your venture, a little pre-publicity and buzz can bring the attention interested finance people in your area. Start that interest and then strive to maintain it by following through on what you’re promoting in the outset.

Don’t Shy Away from “Women’s Businesses”: Don’t get defensive about taking on a business that is considered a “women’s business”. Salons, patisseries, dress shops, etc. are all extremely viable business models run by women and for women. It’s admirable to want to do something different but if it’s not broken, then why not at least consider it?

We’re all looking down the barrel of the economic gun right now and it’s even harder today to get a business off of the ground, but don’t let that be what gets you discouraged about starting your business. Remember that we are women with just as much ability and drive as any man who goes and seeks capital or investment. This might just be our time to get ahead.

Food for thought: Did you know that about eighty percent of the venture capital funded businesses fail? Without a doubt, the businesses begun by women have a much better chance of success than that.

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Women – The Innovative Entrepreneurs

Wednesday, June 17th, 2009
More than one-third of entrepreneurs in the United States are women, and the growth in the number of woman-owned firms is more than double the rate of all U.S. firms. Stay-at-home moms are multi-tasking more than ever. In between childcare, cooking and cleaning, they are cranking out inventions that are making them millions. In America, women start 424 new enterprises every day that’s more than twice as many as men. These mothers of invention have nurtured their creative ideas outside the corporate box. Knowing how to stretch a dollar, these resourceful women started simple, by keeping costs down and production up!

Today, women entrepreneurs employ more people than the Fortune 500 combined. Throughout history there are many successful woman entrepreneur models such as Madame C. J. Walker (born Sarah Breedlove) listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the First Female African-American to become a Millionaire by her own achievements. Orphaned at the age of seven, Walker built a thriving beauty products business in the early 20th century, employing over 3,000 people. She was noted for working hard, honest business dealings and quality products led her to success.

According to a recent U.S. national poll, try to guess who was the most admired entrepreneur? Was it Bill Gates? Donald Trump? Nope — Oprah Winfrey stood out head and shoulders above the rest. The story of Oprah’s life success is truly inspiring as she overcame many challenges. Today, Oprah is admired as the most influential woman in the world.

Today, over 11-million creative woman entrepreneurs are using their ingenuity to fill niches on their own terms. The reasons women start their own company varies but research shows 46% want more control over their schedules, 23% were frustrated with the corporate environment, while 24% saw a niche and filled it. These successful woman entrepreneurs all share a common characteristic: they think outside the box.

The Small Business Administration’s Women-21.com or Ethos360.com both one-stop shop resources centers for woman entrepreneurs; the fastest growing group of business owners. An explanation for why women have emerged as an important entrepreneurial group and why they have moved beyond traditional sectors can be found in examinations of changes in women’s human capital-especially their educational access and occupational representation.

Several online social networks offer support for woman entrepreneurs of all backgrounds such as; MillionaireMoms.com, MomInventors.com, BlackEnterprise.com, Woman’sWork.com, BlackBusinessWomanOnline.com, and HomeBasedWorkingMom.com . Today, woman entrepreneurs are the first generation from the cross platform, device agnostic, multimedia world in which we live in. Now, they take cues from both to put a personal stamp on business. They don’t just tap the insight of other women entrepreneurs, but encourage networking and support their success.

Here’s some popular networking techniques used by woman entrepreneurs:

Keep It Small: Networking at the executive level is rarely done via big parties or industry mixers, regardless of gender. Woman entrepreneurs mainly connect through one-on-one meetings or small, exclusive dinners and get-togethers giving everybody a chance to relax. It fosters a great climate for brainstorming and meeting new executives.

Keep It Selective: One of the key elements to networking isn’t just how but who. It’s most advantageous to connect with like-minded individuals and coordinate dinners or drinks with an eye on synergy between attendees. It can also help guests feel more comfortable in sharing insight or contacts.

Keep It Consistent: They regularly make an effort to connect with fellow women in business to put heads together and conjure new ideas. It’s done via a variety of ways, from email, to cell texting to instant messaging to in-person meetings, but most importantly, it’s constant.

Keep It Focused: While gatherings are often in a social or relaxed environment, make no mistake – it’s all about business. Networking can be fun, but keep it productive as well.

The success of women entrepreneurs is a dynamic trend. Perhaps a hybrid of Baby Boomer work ethic, 70s freedom, and the great women in business boom of the 80s and 90s, they’re an inspiration of drive, ambition and an anything-is-possible mindset. What’s interesting is that it goes beyond the business world into every corner of their lives. They have rich social lives and good friends, husbands, great families, and live comfortably. They love style, looking good, support social change, and most of all, are happy.

Now it’s your turn to take the steps to achieving your dream and go for the gold waiting for you at the end of the finish line. For more information visit: www.ethos360.com

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