SMB and Entrepreneur News and Tips

Savannah Selle
October 13, 2011

SMB and entrepreneur news and tips help inform the leaders of the future. The small business and entrepreneurship of tomorrow will create new jobs and new opportunities. Information is the key to building that future as effectively as possible.

Management

Companies are hiring-just not hiring you. With unemployment levels as high as they are, it is paradoxical that employers can not find employees to fill vacancies. This was known to be the case in many high tech job openings, but it is now being reported across almost all levels of employment. The main concern of companies is that applicants simply do not have the basic skills needed for the opening. It appears that our educational system and our training programs are not providing the skills required.

How to attract talent to a small company. How do you attract talent to a small business? Most likely you cant pay the high salary and offer the benefits that the large successful companies do. What you can do is to try to show the perspective employee the advantages of working for a small business and emphasize the success and potential of your business. You also should attempt to structure the job requirements and the pay and benefits package to try to meet his particular situation.

A 4-step approach to solving workplace conflict. Resolving conflict in the workplace can be very time-consuming for the owner of a small business. When you only have a small number of employees, this type of interruption can be very costly in terms of time management and productivity. This article presents a structured model for dealing with these situations in a hopefully efficient manner. The model emphasizes face to face meetings with disruptive employees and using outlined steps in resolving the conflict.

Human Resources

Starting a Teach for America for Entrepreneurs. It has been difficult for small business owners or entrepreneurs to attract the brightest or the best of college graduates. Now we are beginning to see the start of organizations that are working toward attracting college graduates. One such organization is Venture for America which is based on the very successful Teach for America.

Can retraining give the unemployed a second chance? The jury appears to still be out on the retraining of the unemployed. Among other factors that affect the outcome is that it has become somewhat of a political football. This article cites some examples of where retraining seems to have worked. One of the biggest hindrances is that some people have been unemployed so long that even with retraining the type of work available is totally unfamiliar to them. In addition many of the jobs that they are familiar with no longer exist, at least in this country. In theory retraining is a worthwhile undertaking but it still requires a lot of refining to make it really successful.

. Stephen Shapiro challenges some of the conventional wisdom that many small businesses use in attempting to foster new ideas. One of the main areas he disagrees with is the hiring of people that fit into the organization. By doing this you will not generate new ideas, but rather you need someone who rubs people the wrong way to insure you get divergent points of view.

Leadership

10 things only bad managers say. What type of boss do you work for? Does he frequently complement you on your work, or is he the type that finds fault and criticizes everything you do and every idea you have? The ten characteristics of a bad boss may be a good indication of whether youve entered the bad manager zone.

Small businesses: Building community through hiring. One of the advantages of owning your own small business is that in addition to being profitable and generating wealth, you have the opportunity to pursue social good. Many small business owners use their business to help improve their community or to give people a second chance. One such endeavor is to become involved in a group such as TRIO. These programs have some risks involved but the rewards to the community can be so satisfying.

Legal & Liability

The S Corp Versus The LLC. The S Corporation and the LLC (Limited Liability Company) are the two most common ways of setting up a small business. The two types have several key similarities. There are also quite a number of differences. Which type of entity you choose depends on the needs of your particular small business.

Small business insurance: More than general liability. To many small business owners, insurance is general liability insurance. While this is very good coverage to have, there are a number of other types of insurance that need to be considered to protect your business. The small business owner must evaluate which types of insurance are needed for his particular situation.

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