Small Business Center

My first thought while reading this book:

“Uh-oh, I’ve done that.  And that.  And that.  Oh – and I still do that.  Oops!”

It’s hard not to take personally the lessons learned in “37 What Were They Thinking Moments in Marketing,” by marketer Olalah Njenga.

Njenga sent me this book, offering 37 anecdotes of marketing mishaps that she experienced – and includes a disclaimer right up front that names, places and professions have been changed, and that the book isn’t intended to harm anyone’s reputation. Phew!

Did You Have a “What Were They Thinking Moment” Today?

Wondering if you’ve done anything worthy of being featured in the book?  Here are some mistakes folks made, and a few of Njenga’s thoughts:

• Wearing gym clothes to a business event – this is not the definition of business casual
• Crossing out all the information on a business card, and replacing it with all new information (the business owner had a few months to get new cards, and with the quick printing options available, this was very unprofessional)
• Trying to “pick someone’s brain” for free,  several times – it’s time to set up a paid consultation
• Bullying people in a waiting room for testimonials needed for a Website –self-explanatory
• Moving from new Twitter connection to pushy salesperson – be aware that social networking consists of creating relationships first, sales opportunities later

Some Skin in the Game

One of the chapters is titled “Skin in the Game,” and it’s an anecdote about how something went wrong because people weren’t fully committed, and didn’t have a vested interest in the outcome of an event.

In the spirit of fair play, I asked Njenga to put some “skin in the game,” and offer up to Small Business Trends readers her own “What Was She Thinking Moment.”  After all, even the best of us have these moments, right?

Njenga laughed, and readily complied.

Scene #37 ½

Olalah’s Deeply Personal “What Were You Thinking Moment”:

So You Call Yourself A Business Owner?

Like most business owners in the early stages of business, I was cash-strapped.  I had just finished a project for a client and was happy to hear that my payment would be ready immediately.  I arrived at the client’s office and she handed me a sealed white envelope with my name on it.  I happily shoved it in my purse and drove home to get a deposit ticket for my bank account.

I completed the deposit ticket and opened the sealed envelope.  The check was made payable to my company and not me personally.  In fact, it’s not fair to say made payable to my company because in fact I only had a registered DBA (doing business as).  It wasn’t an actual business.  I was a sole proprietor.

I called the client and explained that the check was made payable to my DBA and that I needed the check to be payable to me personally.  She said to come by her office in three days to pick up a replacement check.

Three days passed and as directed, I showed up at the client’s office.  She met me in the parking lot and smiled upon my arrival.  When I got out of the car she approached me quickly, smiled again, and handed me a sealed white envelope.  As I took it from her hand she said, “Olalah, if you’re going to be in business, then be a business.”

What Was I Thinking?

My bruised ego would hear those words echoing in my head for days after I finally cashed the client’s check.  Though I had been running my one-person company for nearly two years, the truth was, doing business under my name and social security number instead of doing business as a registered business in my state made a difference.  It made a difference in how checks were made payable.  It made a difference in how clients treated me.  Little did I realize, it was also making a difference in how I looked at myself.  The sobering words of “Olalah, if you’re going to be in business, then be a business,” catapulted me to the Secretary of State website where I learned what I needed in order to be considered a real business entity.

Taking money doesn’t make you a business.  The truth is, you’re not really a business unless other business professionals see you and treat you like a business.  It doesn’t matter if you are a business of one or 10 — if you are going to be in business, then be a business.

This was, in fact, the most powerful “What Was I Thinking” moment I’ve ever had.

What This Book is Really About

As someone who has been in the public relations business for years, I know that many things can make  a reputation, and just one slip-up can ruin a reputation. Is it fair?  No.  Is it true? Unfortunately, yes.

After reading this book, I realized that it’s impossible to have a business and not make mistakes.  The key take-away here is:  look at everything from your client’s point of view, and be aware of your actions at all times. And, of course, if you do realize that you made a mistake, apologize and make amends as quickly as possible.

There are staple office jokes. Graphs, meetings, computers… But one of my favorites is the good old In and Out tray.

There’s plenty to draw on here, usually showing one or both of the baskets overflowing with paperwork. But I often get bored with convention and challenge myself to come up with something unexpected in a standard scene.

The above cartoon took a good while to write (even though its wordless) and longer to draw just right, but I think you’ll agree that this guy might just be on to something.

Our daily roundup of today’s headlines about small businesses….  Tracking what people are talking about today in the world of small businesses and entrepreneurs.

Credit

• Jeff Cornwall. Current Small Business Problems Will Not be Solved Solely by Focusing on Lending, Says Report. The Entrepreneurial Mind
• Martha C. White. Obama Administration’s Small Business Loans: Will They Really Work? The Minnesota Independent
• Phyllis Furman. Loans Remain Tough for Small Business, Startups. NYDaily News
• Paul Davidson. Credit Unions Want Congress to Lift Limits on Small Business Lending — But There are Two Sides to That Story. USA Today

Healthcare

• Samuel Gregg. Why More Regulation Probably Won’t Save the Economy. National Review Online
• NFIB. Small Business Owners Want Less Political Drama Over Healthcare, More Solutions.  NFIB.com
• The Cato Institute. Why a Free Market Can Cure the Health Care Crisis. Healthcare.Cato.Org
• The Quincy Cove. Small Businesses Interviewed About High Insurance Costs. Quincycove.com

Hiring

• Intuit. Small Business Shows Signs of an Economic Rebound. Small Business Trends
• Scott Shane. But Hiring Has Not Bounced Back According to the Discover Small Business Watch.  Small Business Trends

Marketing

• Niccolinas Soto. Capitalizing on Social Media: A How-To Guide. Smallbiz Central
• John Janstch. Standing Out with — of All Things – Rockabilly.   Duct Tape Marketing
• Becky McCray. How to Track Your Daily Marketing Activity. Small Biz Survival
• Martin Lindeskog. A Great Big List of 100 Small Business Podcasts.  Small Business Trends Radio
  

Tech

• Steven Andrés. Big Fish or Small-Fry, Don’t Wind Up on a Hacker’s Hook. NetWorkWorldAsia.net
• Financial Web. Small Business Accounting Programs Can Create a Simpler Life. Internet Brands
• Hewlett Packard. Elite 7100 Small Business Desktop Increases Productivity. Small Business Trends

Operations

• Seth Godin. I Don’t Feel Like It. Inspiration for the Business Leader. Seth’s Blog
• U.S. government. Business.gov Collects 2010  Small-Business Tax Information in One Handy Place.  Business.gov

Startups

• Adam Toren. Too Much on Your Plate Can Kill Your Startup (and So Can 4 Other Things). YoungEntrepreneur.com
• Dharmesh Shah. The 10 Most Tempting Software Startup Categories. On Startups.

Tweet by phone.  Now that caught my interest.

Voice on the Go is a new service that allows you to record a message and it accurately transcribes it into an email, a text message (SMS), or a Facebook or Twitter update. I purchased the $5.99 monthly option for this review and found it to be a fast and smooth setup.  There are no long term contracts, and you can pay-per-month.

The benefit of speaking an email/SMS or any other written message is clear:  You’ll save loads of time and get more done.  Like me, you might be concerned about the accuracy of your voice to text. I’ve used other services and had terrible, embarrassing messages sent to my customers and prospects. Voice on the Go is different and extremely accurate. I spoke a bit slower, when testing it, to make sure, but after the first few I found myself speaking normally and getting equally good results. You also will avoid the incredibly dangerous temptation to text while driving.

The service also lets you listen to your emails. I find that most people today will leave a voicemail AND then send an email with more detail. If I can listen to my messages as well that adds to my daily productivity.

Voice on the Go can also be used to update your Facebook and Twitter accounts. Having in mind how many small business owners use Twitter and Facebook as a marketing tool to promote their business, this opportunity is worth trying. Voice on the Go can be used from any mobile, so even if your mobile is not a Blackberry or an iPod, you can still take advantage of the service.

My goal in all my reviews is to maintain some emotional detachment, to create a professional review, but man this sure is cool!!  I have to admit that I was impressed and like a little kid testing the SMS portion to my friends and family who have probably now blocked my account…

What I liked about Voice on the Go:

• I was up and running in five minutes of setup.
• It lets me send an email AND sends me the voice file in .wav format. That’s great for tracking what you really said and serving for those who might use it for notes and idea capture.
• It lets you call in from any phone, but if not from your cell, you simply have to put your cell phone number in to identify your account. Allowing me to use it from a landline or Skype was a big plus. Saves cell minutes.
• Facebook updates were just as easy to setup and quick to remove, if you wanted to delete the access from Voice on the Go or from the Edit Applications area of Facebook. I liked that it worked both ways.

What could use improving?

• I couldn’t get the incoming email portion to work out of the gate with Gmail, but it could have been my settings.
• Sending a tweet to a person directly like @smallbiztrends didn’t work, but regular status updates worked fine.
• Tiny downside: The updates to Twitter or Facebook are not instant as they are on the web, but that seems reasonable to me.  So, just give it a few minutes and be patient.

If you are on the road a lot and want to leave your computer off for a little while or don’t have time to find a wifi hotspot, this service is very useful. If you are addicted to social media, this is a good enabler when you can’t get to a keyboard. If you are simply tired of typing everything, then give this service a trial run, at $5.99 a month it is hard to beat.

Don’t miss out on these great upcoming events, especially the Small Business Summit on March 16th – which features an appearance by Anita Campbell, Founder of Small Business Trends. (Note that several events in this week’s list have upcoming early bird deadlines.)

This list of events, conferences and webinars for growing small businesses and entrepreneurs is brought to you twice a month as a community service by Small Business Trends and Smallbiztechnology.com.
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Facebook For Business
March 2, 2010, 8:00pm EST, Webinar

This 75 minute class will cover: How to use your profile for business, Joining groups, Emailing through facebook, Creating and monitoring a business page, and Social networking etiquette.

This web class is designed for you, the small business owner. If you are looking for ideas on how to market on the web or are just getting started, this 75 minute web class will give you the tools you need to understand and get you motivated about marketing on the web.

Think BIG Kansas City
March 3, 2010

Join us for one jam packed day of experts who have “been there, done that.” Experts who are willing to show you how they did it and how you can succeed as an entrepreneur.

Our rapid-fire presentation style will leave your brain overflowing with ideas – and you ready to take your next step. We’ll provide the Inspiration, Education and Motivation. You provide the Aspiration and Perspiration. No one ever said it was easy. Nothing worthwhile is ever easy. But if you are serious about 2010 and becoming more successful as an entrepreneur or starting up a new company, this conference is for you!

Using Technology to Operate your Business
March 4, 2010 6:00 PM — 8:00 PM, Queens, NY

Need Help Jump-starting your business? Don’t know what tools you need to run more efficiently? Not sure how to get started or what to spend your money on first? If so, this session is for you! Whether you are in the concept phase of your business or recently started a few years ago, this workshop will enable you to run your business more efficiently through the use of technology. In this session you will learn: – Different E-mail Systems – Pop accounts, iMap, Exchange, and Gmail – Software Applications – The different kinds that every business should have to manage their customers and money. – Decision Making Tools – Deciding what will work for you, your budget, and your future growth. Cost: $15 fee in advance, or $20 at the door. to register: email fmora@queensny.org or call (718) 263-0546 (There is no ability to register on the Institute site.)

The Five Factors of High Performing Sales Teams
March 4, 2010, 11:00am EST, Webinar

In this free 30 minute webinar you will discover the five factors that can impact a sales team’s performance. Though often overlooked in many companies, these factors, when measured and cultivated correctly, can make an immediate difference in areas such as increased revenue, market share and new market acquisitions.

Many business owners struggle with marketing simply because they don’t know how to put together a strong strategic marketing plan that builds and sustains their business. This bootcamp walks them step by step on creating a marketing plan and offers a consultative review of their individual plans.

BLAST Marketing Plan Bootcamp
March 4, 11, 18, 25, 8:30pm EST, Teleseminar

Many business owners struggle with marketing simply because they don’t know how to put together a strong strategic marketing plan that builds and sustains their business. This bootcamp walks them step by step on creating a marketing plan and offers a consultative review of their individual plans.

Turn Clicks into Conversations & Relationships
March 10, 2010, 10:00AM PT, Webinar

It takes more than a tweet to turn a follower into a customer, and a customer into loyal advocate. This webinar featuring Brent Leary will cover tools and techniques needed to turn content into conversations, conversations in the exchanges, and exchanges into long lasting customer relationships. Areas of focus will include tools for social listening, automating content creation and distribution, and steps for enhancing your customers’ experiences with your company by facilitating opportunities for them to connect with each other.

InfusionCon 2010
March 10-12, 2010, Montelucia Resort & Spa, Scottsdale, Arizona

InfusionCon 2010, which is completely free and open to Infusionsoft customers, is geared toward providing entrepreneurs and small business owners with proven marketing strategies to help them accelerate the growth of their business using Infusionsoft’s solution. This year’s event is expected to bring more than 1,000 entrepreneurs together for two full days of networking, keynote speeches from industry experts and informative workshops.

Keynote speakers for this year’s event include Harry Dent, a noted economist and founder of the a long term economic forecasting technique known as the Dent Method and best-selling author and small business expert John Assaraf. Long-time entrepreneur and Small Business Trends LLC CEO Anita Campbell will also be on hand to lead an InfusionCon session.

Updates can also be found by following the #infusioncon hashtag on Twitter.

GROWCO Grow Your Company Conference
March 14-16, 2010, Orlando, FL

In 2010, Inc.’s GROWCO Conference pulls together a dynamic program with a curriculum designed specifically for the nation’s rising entrepreneurial stars, including smaller organizations that want to make an appearance on the Inc. 5000 and Inc. 5000 honorees that want to break into the higher ranks of the list or repeat their success in years to come. High-profile growth experts teach seminars that will give attendees actionable information with which to develop or maintain their own growth initiative. Cost is $895.

Fifth Annual Small Business Summit
March 16, 2010, NYC

The Summit is for small business owners and entrepreneurs who want to meet the challenges of the new economy head-on and THRIVE in 2010. The theme this year is Business & Technology: Strategies for the New Economy.

We have some incredible speakers lined up for this year’s Summit, including Seth Godin, who will be talking about being indispensable to your customers. The Summit is always about generating great ideas from some of the best talent in the business world, but also about networking, making profitable connections and having fun.

New this year is the Small Business Strategy Award. One attendee will be recognized for entrepreneurial strategic excellence that has led to significant increased profits, expanded market and/or improved market position. Apply directly online.

Early bird registration (before March 1st) is $149 for the all day event.

Western Regional Business Matchmaking
March 16, 2010, Los Angeles, CA

The Business Matchmaking Western Regional Face-to-Face Event will be hosted at the Marriott Los Angeles Airport Hotel located in Los Angeles, CA on Tuesday, March 16, 2010. Participating firms will receive advance education and tools to prepare for face-to-face meetings with buyers from federal, state and local government agencies and major corporations.

* Individual business counseling and guidance provided by SCORE, SBDC and other resource partners
* Access to the Business Matchmaking System in advance of the event to be matched with participating procurement representatives and setting a schedule for appointments with buyers
* Face-to-Face meetings with procurement representatives of federal, state and local government agencies and major corporations
* Small business specific and topical workshops available throughout event day
* Exhibits and networking with regional small business resources including access to capital, SBA loans, insurance, federal qualification requirements, women and minority business tools, certification, etc.
* On-site Internet access and email capabilities provided at the HP Tech Center
* Access to representatives from private sector co-sponsors for information about their companies

E-3…Engage, Empower, Energize
March 18, 2010, Newark, NJ

A no charge full-day conference for experienced business women seeking to grow their businesses. Breakouts, individual consulting, “Pitch-it” contest, keynotes, etc. This will be at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center and will include breakfast and lunch. Sponsored by New Jersey Association of Women Business Owners’ Women’s Business Center.

How to Present Your Business Plan
March 18, 2010, Providence, RI

This interactive presentation will feature two veteran business developers who have worked with companies throughout New England on growth, turnaround, and acquisition strategies. This workshop is part of a series leading up to the Rhode Island Business Plan Competition starting in April 2010.

Astoundingly Simple Secrets to Making Social Media Work for You
March 23, 2010, Webinar

Can you really turn garden-variety online acquaintances into a supportive network who will help you spread a message or build a career? Do social media sites like Facebook and Twitter offer the opportunity to extend your brand and message or are they just a colossal time-suck?

Learn the ins and outs of social media, where it intersects with old-school marketing, and how you can use them in tandem to build your network, strengthen your personal brand, and spread the word about your business to the people who need to hear it. You will learn how to come up with your core marketing message, translate it into the language of social media, and evaluate which social networking sites will work best for you.

The Mobile Office with Ramon Ray: Productivity Anywhere!
March 24, 2010, 10:00AM PT, Webinar

Navigating the technology acronym soup of mobile technology can be daunting these days, not to mention expensive if you don’t make smart decisions around your technology and service choices. You will learn about mobile technology and how to simply safeguard your very important business information.

Social Reputation Management: Protecting and Strengthening Your Brand Across the Social Web
March 24, 2010, New York City

This conference that will share the best case studies on how communicators and marketers listen to conversations, monitor and comprehend what is being said, and engage through the social web. The case studies will be followed by moderated interactive roundtables. Use promo code SBT to receive a discounted rate of $155.

Brooklyn Business Expo 2010
March 24, 2010, Brooklyn, NY

The Brooklyn Business Expo 2010 will bring together the brightest business leaders from the most dynamic companies throughout Brooklyn and the adjoining counties.

The Brooklyn Business Expo 2010 provides an environment for businesses to enhance their relationships, research the market for the leading products and services, and learn about the latest best business practices. This will be the largest biz-to-biz expo in Brooklyn.

The Stimulus Package: Update 2010
March 24, 2010, Brooklyn, NY

This seminar, moderated by CNN contributor and president of Optimum Capital Management, Ryan Mack, is designed to show you how you can still benefit from stimulus funds. Panelists include Ann Kayman, CEO at New York Grant Company; Bruce Niswander, director of the Office of Innovation, Technology Transfer and Entrepreneurship at Polytechnic Institute of NYU; and Michael Williams, dean at the Graduate School of Business at Touro College who will discuss the following:

* The Stimulus Program: What’s the impact on the economy so far?
* How can I still benefit from the Stimulus bill?
* How will the government’s proposed three-year spending freeze effect small business and how can businesses plan now?
* What are smart, “hidden” ways that businesses can save more money in the “new” economy?

MarketingSherpa’s Email Marketing Essentials Workshop Training
Multi-City Tour

Theory works well in a classroom, but how does it translate in the real world? What makes MarketingSherpa’s Email Marketing Essentials Workshop unique is our trusted Case Study approach to learning. Using Case Studies and research as a basis, every tactic discussed during the course has been proven. This one-day workshop is based on MarketingSherpa’s Best Practices in Email Marketing Handbook. You’ll receive a FREE copy ($497 value) to be used as your textbook during the course that you can take back to your office for future reference. Use it as your on-the-job reference guide to build a ‘best in class’ email program that will meet and exceed your marketing goals. Register now to get $100 off regular price of $995.

March 25 , New York City
April 6, Philadelphia, PA
April 20, Washington, DC
May 11, Denver, CO
May 13, Seattle, WA
June 21, Chapel Hill, NC
June 25, Atlanta, GA
July 20, Minneapolis, MN
August 10, San Diego, CA
August 13, Phoenix, AZ

10 PAGE BUSINESS PLAN DESIGN WORKSHOP
April 16, 2010, New York City

This workshop enables leaders to prepare Complete, Convincing and Compelling business plans to obtain grants, VC and corporate finance, partners and customers for start ups, spin-outs and expansions. We leverage the ‘10 PAGE BUSINESS PLAN DESIGN FRAMEWORK’™ built on a proven track record of raising over $300 million of financing.

140 Characters Conference
April 20-21, 2010, New York City

The 140 Characters Conference: New York City (#140conf) provides a platform for the worldwide twitter community to: listen, connect, share and engage with each other, while collectively exploring the effects of the emerging real-time internet on business.

The format at the #140conf events is unique. Individual talks are 5 and 10 minutes, keynotes are 15 and 20 minutes and panel discussions are no more than 20 minutes. During the course of the two days more than 140 people will share the stage in about 70 sessions.
“Early Bird” registration of $100 ends on March 5th.

OSDBU Procurement Conference – Procurement Matchmaking
April 21, 2010, Chantilly, VA

The 20th Annual OSDBU Procurement Conference is a national conference fostering business partnerships between the Federal Government, its Prime Contractors, and small, minority, service-disabled veteran-owned, veteran-owned, HUBZone, and women-owned businesses. More info and registration here.

New Marketing Experience 2010
April 13, 2010, San Francisco, CA

Imagine a world where you can take your One Big Idea™ and tap over 100 other participating conference attendee and experts and each of their One Big Ideas. All in a structured, fast-paced and highly interactive one-day program under the direction of Chris Brogan and the team from New Marketing Labs.

Unlike other programs, this event will facilitate you working directly with your peers in a group of 15-20 professionals to explore in detail the topics covered in the program. In addition, each attendee will leave with one book from the conference with all of the big ideas from the attendees as well as the results of the deep dives on the topics discussed.

The 11th Annual Department of Energy Small Business Conference & Expo
May 10-12, 2010, Atlanta, GA

The Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, is proud to present The 11th Annual DOE Small Business Conference & Expo, at the Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, GA, May 10-12, 2010.

The event will feature plenaries, educational workshops, an Exhibit Hall with 200+ exhibitors/sponsors, as well as business matchmaking sessions. Over 1,600 attendees will represent all levels of federal, state, and local government agencies, the small business community, large/prime contractors, and many more!

Creative Freelancer Conference
June 5-6, 2010

The Creative Freelancer Conference is the first and only full-scale business conference for self-employed creative professionals. The goal? To help you maximize your freelance income by sharing best business practices and sage advice from seasoned solopreneurs who’ve learned through experience what works, and what doesn’t. The program is geared toward freelance graphic designers, copywriters, illustrators and photographers, as well as solo practitioners of interactive, interior and industrial design. Anyone who makes a living selling creative services on a freelance basis (or would like to) will benefit.

Early bird pricing through March 12.

To find more small business events, contests and awards, visit our Small Business Events Calendar.

If you are putting on a small business contest, award or competition, and want to get the word out to the community, please submit it through our Events & Contests Submission Form (We do not charge a fee to be included in this listing — it is completely free to list your event.) Only events of interest to small business people, freelancers and entrepreneurs will be considered and included.

February was a rather quiet month in the world of small business research. In fact, it’s been a pretty quiet year so far, which might just be a result of the fact that we’re only two months into it. I’m expecting things to begin to pick up next month. Meanwhile, let’s take a look at what the research tells us:

Really, It’s okay. We Don’t Bite.

The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) released a study of the small business financing situation this month, entitled Small Business Credit In a Deep Recession. This is a great study, as one expects from the NFIB. Here, they survey small business owners to find out more about the conditions of their businesses and their credit needs in 2009.

The credit situation was certainly poor, with the number of small business owners reporting that all their credit needs were met falling by about half. The big take-away here, though, is that the most immediate economic challenge fingered by small employers was not access to credit (which came in third). Their biggest headache is much more basic:  falling or declining sales.

Which means that all the contortions of the Obama Administration to get banks and other financial institutions to make loans to small business owners seems, from this survey, to be … um … misguided. Lesson #1 for policy makers: if you want to know what small business owners need, ask them.

No Surprises, But Validation is Always Nice

Here’s something you may have heard before: your customers will like you better (and be more open to your upselling attempts) if they think you’ll go to bat for them instead of fretting about your bottom line at their expense. That’s what Forrester Research said in the wake of the release of their 2010 customer advocacy rankings.

Consumer trust in banks and insurance companies is inching back up, according to this survey, but that’s not going to matter much to most small business owners. What does matter is the larger lesson here: customer trust matters, now more than ever.

Quotable quote from Forrester’s press release, from VP and Principal Analyst Bill Doyle:

“Each year, our data shows that customers who rate their firms high on customer advocacy are more likely to consider their firms for additional products. Customers who rate their firms low on customer advocacy are most likely to say they intend to switch firms in the next year.”

If you’re in the IT business, here’s another finding from Forrester that may interest you:  more than half of IT budgets in 2010 will be devoted to software upgrades rather than to new applications, according to their Enterprise And SMB Software Survey, North America And Europe, Q4 2009.

Getting specific to SMBs, 21% of them will upgrade finance and accounting software, 19% will upgrade customer relationship management software, and 18% will upgrade industry specific software.

Also, it turns out that software-as-a-service (SaaS) continues to drive the market and, in spite of the hype surrounding cloud computing and infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS), firms aren’t quite ready to open their wallets yet.

The moral of this story is that, until companies come out of cost-control mode, the latest gizmo is likely to sit on the shelf for another year.

It’s Been a Trial by Fire

And, finally, it’s been especially quiet over at the SBA Office of Advocacy, the primary repository of small business research in the federal government. Mostly, we saw housekeeping releases from them this month.

That said, if you’re interested in taking a quick look back over your shoulder at the trial by fire that you just passed through (which most people refer to as calendar year 2009), visit SBA Advocacy’s web site to download their Small Business Indicators: 4th Quarter 2009 (PDF). Once you have a gander at all that red ink, you’ll probably feel much better about how your business did last year.

And, if you want to keep up with how Advocacy is doing in enforcement of the Regulatory Flexibility Act and relevant other laws and executive orders, then you’ll also want to review their annual report on the same, Report on the Regulatory Flexibility Act, FY2009.

Upcoming

The third wave of the Small Business Success Index — a joint survey from Network Solutions and the University of Maryland — came out at the end of the month but I haven’t had the chance to review it.  I’ll cover it next month.

There’s a good news-bad news story about small business expansion plans in the some recent data from Discover Small Business Watch, a survey of a random sample of 750 small business owners with five or fewer employees. The good news is that things improved in January. The bad news is they got worse again in February, leaving us pretty far from where we were before the recession started and without any sort of trend towards improvement yet.

The figure below plots the answers of respondents to the monthly question about their business development spending plans since the survey began in August 2006. The blue line shows the percentage of owners planning to increase spending and the red line shows the percentage planning to decrease spending.

There was some improvement so far this year over the end of last year, but there’s still 22 percentage point gap between the fraction of owners that plan to decrease spending and the fraction that plan to increase it.

The situation with hiring plans is less clear. As the figure below shows, the share of small business owners who plan to hire jumped in January 2010 and showed a steady decrease in the fraction that plan to lay people off from August of last year through January of this year. But then things got worse again in February, with the percentage of businesses planning to hire dropping to 5 percent. As a result, we again have fewer owners planning to hire than planning to lay people off.

Moreover, we are far from the consistent pattern of more owners planning to hire than to lay off like was present from the survey’s initiation in August 2006 through August 2007. And just 5 percent of small business owners intending to add staff doesn’t bode well for improvement in the employment numbers in the small business sector any time soon.