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The Hispanic Market Isn't Only for Big Business
Tweet Share on Facebook March 30, 2007 CommentMy thoughts have been traveling south of the border (I'm bound for Argentina on vacation), and I'm not the only one. With 47 million Hispanics in the United States, many companies are anxious to court that growing market. By 2020, the number of Hispanics will reach 60 million, or 18 percent of the population, according to census estimates. And they've got money to spend.
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Nimble Small Businesses Can Dodge Trouble
Tweet Share on Facebook March 28, 2007 CommentThe storm clouds are gathering. Gas prices are rising, home sales are slowing, and consumers don't see good times ahead. The Conference Board said this week that its expectations index, measuring outlook over the next six months, slipped to 86.9 this month from 93.8. But ever-cheery small businesses are seeing the sunlight between the clouds.
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An Unlikely Entrepreneurial Inspiration
Tweet Share on Facebook March 23, 2007 CommentToilet paper seems like an odd inspiration for a company, but it's what started Tamara Monosoff on the path to becoming an entrepreneurial mom. Since then she's been busy teaching other moms about the path from idea to product. In May, Monosoff comes out with her second book about insights she's gleaned from other successful moms who have started their own companies. It's a business book at heart, says Monosoff, but she also wanted to inspire other moms to take the leap from babies to balance sheets.
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Rating the Best Workplace Democracies
Tweet Share on Facebook March 22, 2007 CommentDemocracy and business seem to operate in completely separate worlds. But that belief is a problem for the corporate world, says Traci Fenton, founder of WorldBlu. Her company studies democracy in the workplace and came up with a list of the most democratic businesses. Dominating the list were smaller companies with fewer than 1,000 employees. The smaller companies moved faster in returning the employee surveys, which measured how their workplaces fared in 10 categories, says Fenton, who started WorldBlu in 2003.
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Getting Small Firms to Think Green
Tweet Share on Facebook March 14, 2007 CommentWith big fish like Al Gore and General Electric tackling climate change, it seems there isn't much room in the debate for minnows. "Small business has never had a seat at the table, so they always get screwed," says Byron Kennard, founder of the Center for Small Business and the Environment. However, not only do small businesses consume about half the nation's commercial energy output, but they are also on the front lines of helping address the problem. In 2004, more than $1 billion of venture capital went to start-ups researching clean technology. So any new policies coming from climate-change politics will have a big impact on smaller companies. Still, none of the more than 50 climate-change bills making their way through Congress even address small businesses, Kennard says.
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Tips From Loews on Customer Service
Tweet Share on Facebook March 8, 2007 CommentIn his new book, Chocolates on the Pillow Aren't Enough, Jonathan Tisch shares what he's learned about getting customers to come back to a business. As CEO of Loews Hotels, he's had plenty of experience in dealing with finicky customers. But Tisch also relates examples from companies such as Best Buy, a children's hospital, and even a museum. He says that for small companies competing with retail giants, serving the customer is vital.
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Small Business Tops Poll on Trust
Tweet Share on Facebook March 6, 2007 CommentFrom corporate scandals to executive pay packages, big business hasn't exactly been basking in a golden glow. But it's just the opposite for small businesses, according to a Harris Interactive Poll of 1,013 U.S. adults. In the survey, which measures how much confidence people have in different institutions, small business topped the list. With 54 percent saying that small business inspired a great deal of trust, it was also the only institution this year that won majority approval. Meanwhile, only 17 percent and 16 percent, respectively, cited confidence in Wall Street and major companies. Congress came in last, behind law firms and the press, with 10 percent.
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Unions' House Victory May Be Fleeting
Tweet Share on Facebook March 2, 2007 CommentLoud banging by business groups wasn't enough to stall a measure that makes it easier for workers to unionize. The Employee Free Choice Act won approval by the Democratic-controlled House on Thursday. While the prospect of their workers unionizing seems to be far from the mind of most small-business owners, opponents of the bill often trotted out the little guy to help justify their position.
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Looking to India for New Ventures
Tweet Share on Facebook March 1, 2007 CommentThis week's jolt on global stock exchanges is a reminder of how events on the other side of the world can affect U.S. investors. Americans have looked abroad in recent years for new places to put their money. Not just day traders or mutual fund managers have bet on foreign markets. Venture capitalists also have gone abroad, and little foreign start-ups have gotten their share of the wealth, says Terri Forman of the Silicon Valley law firm Cooley Godward Kronish. Until 2000, venture capital generally looked only at domestic companies, she says. Then, as U.S. tech stocks tanked, they began to turn elsewhere, including India.
