Small Business
Current Legal Issues for Small Business Owners
It is common for small business owners to be unaware of current legal issues that may hit them… until they get into legal trouble. The problem is that legal trouble can cost you. It can even cost you your business. As many know and Business Week recently pointed out, court actions can actually demolish small businesses; especially the ones that did not prepare in advance.
Here are some legal issues that just about any small business needs to watch out for:
Employee Lawsuits
As more and more employees are hurting from layoffs because of the economy, you can bet that there will be some who will claim employee discrimination and wrongful termination. Lawrence Z.
Finance and Small Business: Your Guide to Grants
We have written about how bleak the economy looks for finance and small business. While there are definitely some dark clouds hovering over small business loan opportunities, there are some bright spots in terms of small business grants. Small business grants afford you the opportunity to grow your business with funding that you don’t have to pay back. It is typically given by the federal government, state governments, and by private corporations.
So what exactly do you need to do in order to make sure that your small business can get a grant? Keep reading for places to look for grants and for tips on how to land a grant that could help your small business.
Not For Hire: Small Business Unemployment on the Rise
With unemployment at a 26 year high at 10.2%, its no wonder that DC movers and shakers are starting to focus more attention on small business owners.
Statistics supplied by ADP (and reported by CNN) show that small businesses (businesses with less than 50 employees) cut 68,000 jobs this past November. A huge portion of the total 5.3 million jobs lost this year alone was due to the 2 million jobs lost in small business.
With challenges such as small business loans drying up, SBA subsidies running out, and other small business financial institutions going bankrupt, it will be harder to recover those lost jobs. In fact, large banks have axed close to $10 billion dollars in small business lending.
Treasury Dept. Holds Forum For Small Business
The Treasury Dept. held a forum on Thursday to address how the economy has affected small business. Specifically, the forum addressed how to help small businesses weather the bad economy. ABC News reports that an Obama administration focused on how to increase small business access to financing.
In fact, the press release about the forum from the Treasury Dept. details what Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner wanted to convey, stating: ”Small businesses, in particular, are still facing a very challenging credit environment.” This is very true with small business lenders like CIT Group and Advanta filing for bankruptcy in recent news. Geithner wanted to give small business owners some hope about how to get financing.
Advanta Bankruptcy May Hurt Small Business
Another blow to small businesses came in the form of Advanta’s bankruptcy filing this week. This news coupled with CIT’s bankruptcy means that getting credit lines and loans that small businesses need will just get harder and harder.
Advanta is a small business credit card lender. They filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this past Sunday CNN reports. Its lending arm called Advanta Bank Corp. was not including in this filing.
News of the Advanta bankruptcy is not surprising. It had stopped giving out new loans earlier this year. It has also seen a very sudden rise in defaults on the loans it had already given out to small businesses. Advanta had listed out its assets as valuing $363 million while its debts are $331 million.
Just this past September, Advanta had its defaults rise up to 24%. That
Healthcare Reform & Small Business: 3 Bills Explained
As we wrote about in a previous post, small business owners cite healthcare costs as a major hurdle faced by their business.
In a National Small Business Association press release, the President of the organization has stated that “The number of small-business owners who are able to provide health insurance to their employees has dropped from 67 percent in 1995 to 38 percent in 2008. NSBA members voted health care reform their number one priority for 111th Congress–addressing the failures of our health care system simply can not wait yet another year.”
Since healthcare reform is such a hot topic for small business owners, here are some key points of each of the proposed bills being discussed in Congress right now.
The key points (which are discussed in Forbes) will help you gain a deeper understanding of what each of the bills holds for you as a small business owner.
The House Democratic bill (Affordable Health Care for America Act)
Who’s covered? Ar Read all post…
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