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The State of the Entrepreneur
This following clip is from an interview with Carl Shramm, CEO of The Kaufman Foundation, in which they are discussing the results of a recent poll done by The Kaufman Foundation of entrepreneurs.
The poll of entrepreneurs states that:
- 61% say the economy is on the wrong track
- Over 70% do not expect to create new jobs in 2010
- 85% think the U.S. is a great country in which to start a business
Right away they discuss the obvious contradiction made by these statistics that even though entrepreneurs believe the economy is on the wrong track and do not expect to create new jobs that it is a great country in which to start a business. I find this to be very interesting due to the nature of the questions themselves. When reading a poll like this, you have to ask yourself why. Why is it that these entrepreneurs answered the way they did?
Let’s look at the subject matter. The first two questions are about the economy and creating new jobs. What is the guiding force that drives the answers to these questions? The answer is money. More specifically, growth and income. Now that we’ve revealed the basis of these answers, not only does the media remind us daily of the poor state of the economy, but more importantly, it is reflected in our cash flow reports and profit and loss statements. Also, when growth is rare and flat or falling sales is reported as the status quo, it’s no wonder over 70% of entrepreneurs polled are not planning on creating new jobs.
But we have to remember that we, as entrepreneurs of small and new businesses are the life blood of our economy. It is up to us to raise the bar and bring growth back into the market. We’ve realized our potential, it’s right there in the poll, “85% of entrepreneurs think that the United States is a great country in which to start a business”.
There you have it. A large majority of entrepreneurs have their heads in the right place, we believe this market can provide the growth and profitability needed by new companies. We, as business owners, need to be diligent and stay informed so that we can learn from the failed businesses across the U.S. and use proven business practices, solid business planning, refined financial management, marketing development and strategic planning mixed with our knowledge and unique outlook to grow and strengthen our businesses and the economy as a whole along with it.
Carl Schramm says during this interview that, “Overall…we’re not seeing robust recovery [but] entrepreneurs are the key to [recovery] they are the people who create the jobs”. He also states that, “In the past seven recessions and recoveries that we’ve seen, it has been … the expansion of employment in brand new businesses. Businesses that are less than five years old, that have been critical in the recovery and the expansion [of the economy]“.
Remember looking at the facts can remind us of the huge potential for your business:
- Up to 80% of new hires come from small and new businesses
- Nearly all net job creation in the U.S. comes from firms less than 5 years old
- 50% of Fortune 500 companies were founded in a recession or bear market
- 600,00 new firms form in the U.S. every year; even during recessions
Read Carl Schramm’s entire State of the Entrepreneur Address and poll results here.
Tax Credit to Businesses for Creating Jobs
You’ve probably seen something similar to this in the headlines: Support Is Building for a Tax Credit to Help Hiring. Every time I see a headline like this, I find myself thinking, “Who exactly is doing the supporting”? At this point it seems like the answer to that question is, the politicians. While most politicians are voted in by the majority, it’s hard to know what the majority would really think about specific legislation like this. So, I would like to know what you think.
As business owners, do you think something like this would truly motivate you to hire additional employees?
As potential employees, do you think this is the best the government could do on your behalf to promote additional hiring?
Tell me what you think. Is this a good idea or a bad idea? Will it make any difference at all? Is it a long term solution or is it just one more meaningless tax incentive offering a short term solution with not enough real benefits on either side of wall?
Here is a short description of the story by The Slatest
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Momentum Grows for a Job-Creation Tax Credit
It’s a tool that was last tried in 1977, but now there seems to be growing support for awarding a tax credit to businesses that create new jobs. The measure was actually included in the stimulus package, but it was jettisoned before it was approved due to concerns that companies could exploit the system. Now, more politicians seem to believe that while a little abuse might be inevitable, it could still be a good, and relatively cheap, way to create jobs at a time when the unemployment rate is inching closer to 10 percent. When the same system was tried in the late 1970s, there were questions about whether the jobs that were created were permanent, and many doubted that the companies would have created the new jobs eventually without the credit. Now advocates of the system say that they can learn from the mistakes of three decades ago to make sure a job-creation tax credit has a bigger bang this time around. But, of course, it seems inevitable that the credit would help companies that would be hiring whether there’s a tax break or not. Whatever ends up happening, lawmakers need to either pass the measure quickly or drop it completely because companies might delay hiring if they think the tax break is in the pipeline.
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Read a full article on the subject at NYTIMES.COM. One important issue from the report is a description of the actual benefits that will be seen by businesses in one of the proposals currently being reviewed by the legislature:
Under the proposal from Mr. Bartik and Mr. Bishop, the credit in the first year would equal 15.3 percent of the cost of adding an employee. In the second year, it would fall to about 10.2 percent.
For example, hiring a worker might cost a small business $50,000 annually. But with the tax credit, the cost would fall to $42,350 in the first year, and then be $44,900 the next year. After that, the cost would return to $50,000.
The credit would apply only to the portion of an employee’s salary under $106,800. Lowering the cap further, however, could provide an even greater benefit to low-wage, unskilled workers.
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Social Media in the Work Place
Many business owners are hesitant to integrate the use of social media into the everyday operations of the work place and rightfully so. Think about it. One of managements’ top priority to their boss is to maximize productivity; and how could allowing your employees to skip around on online social media sites, making posts, possibly accomplish that?
That is the thinking of many business owners, small or large, but it seems that along with the times changing so are the minds of business executives. An article over at Mashable.com called, Execs and Social Media: Why they Love It, Why They Fear It, examines a recent survey that shows that even though many executives still have concerns about its usefulness, the majority are embracing this new marketing medium.
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Out of 438 management, marketing and human resources executives polled, 81% saw social media as being useful for both brand-building and enhancing customer or client relationships. Just under 70% see it as a valuable recruitment tool, 64% think social media is useful for customer service, and a lower sampling at 46% saw it as improving employee morale.
Asked how they actually used social media in the workplace, respondents listed brand-building as their top goal (82%), followed by networking (60%), and a long tail of other reasons including customer service, sharing project information, monitoring their competitors, prospecting for sales, research, and other.
Yet many executives still appear to have concerns about using social media in the workplace. Of those in the survey who reported not using social media, over one half listed the reason as not knowing enough about it.
Read the entire article at Mashable.com
Advertising: New Market, Fresh Ideas
For many business owners, advertising is like a second language, which is why marketing companies have been so successful in the past. But as things change, like the marketing budget for instance, so do businesses.
While change is a scary monster to some, it is unavoidable and must be faced or you may risk falling behind; and playing catch up isn’t a fun game to play in the business world.
Ok, let’s do it, let’s change! Right? But the key to making the right change lies within the minds of one group of people: Your Customers!
-What do they want? Why do they want it?
-What do they need? Why do they need it?
-How do they perceive your company?
-What do they think of your products and services?
-What do they think of your competition?
-How do they distinguish between you and your competition?
All of these things and more need to be considered when making the right changes in your company. In business, the need for change is controlled by the customer. In fact, it is demanded by the customer because they will take their business and money elsewhere if their needs can’t be met.
So, how do we tell our customers that we’ve heard their voices? Through advertising! You must promote your business in a way that highlights the best and brightest aspects of your company in order to keep customers coming back and bring new customers in.
There are many ways to advertise and multiple mediums through which to do so. You must research to figure out which form of advertising is best for your company; that will reach your customers, highlight your qualities and express your unique selling advantage in an efficient and effective way.
Click Here, Magazines Turn to New Strategies for Revenue, to read about advertising companies making changes in order to fit an always changing market.
E-Mail Marketing: “Newsletters”
This is a video from MSNBC aptly named “Dollars and Sense: The Perfect E-mail Newletter”. In it, Eric Groves the Senior VP at Constant Contact, a company that provides e-mail marketing solutions, talks about important things to keep in mind when starting or improving an e-mail marketing campaign using e-mail:
Each of the topics he focuses on are all great points to remember when creating a sucessful e-mail campaign:
Get your e-mail opened: Use catchy subject line to interest readers, keep in mind this goes to customers and contacts; tailor to them and nuture that relationship.
Have Great Content: Try to stay away from always selling; send something informative that will engage and educate readers. Stand out as an expert and be the first in the readers mind when they think about your services. This also makes them more likely to forward your e-mail to others.
Look Professional: Keep your e-mails looking good by giving them an organized look using pictures and text together in a smart looking professional template
Proof Read: Always have your newsletters proof read by someone who wasn’t involved in the creation process so that they can take an objective look at the content and make the necessary corrections.
This is all great advice to ingest when starting to use e-mail marketing or even if you’re just trying to re-boot your current newsletters and give them a new look to reach more customers.
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