The U.S. Small Business Administration’s National Small Business Week gets started today in Washington, D.C. On Friday, the Small Business Person of the year will be announced, but not before three days of festivities recognizing the nation’s top entrepreneurs. This year’s theme is “Empowering Entrepreneurs” That’s our slogan! While they may not have gotten the idea from us, we sure do think it is a powerful theme and a worthwhile mission. [Read more…]

The debenture rate for the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 504 loan product has dropped for the month of May. The 20 year debenture was at 5.9% in April; the 20 year debenture is now at 5.64%! The 10 year debenture is currently 4.59%, down from 4.89% in March. What does that mean for business owners? For a 20 year, $500,000 loan, a business owner could save well over $7,000 in interest over the life of the loan.

Small business owners will benefit from significant tax deductions in 2010 and 2011 thanks to the Small Business Jobs Act which was recently signed into law. One aspect of the new law that small business owners are keen on is Section 179, this part of the law pertains to business equipment tax deductions and amount of money available for deduction. Prior to the passage of the act, which is fully named The Small Business Jobs and Credit Act of 2010 (H.R. 5279), business owners were unsure of the status of Section 179. The benefits and deductions granted under this particular section were set to expire this year and there were not many indications that Section 179 would be extended or increased. Luckily for business owners, the popular section will be increased significantly and will go into effect for 2010 and 2011. [Read more…]

Arkansas Capital Corporation CEO Sam Walls discusses Small Business Jobs Act of 2010

(Footage courtesy of KATV-7, Little Rock)

Substantial SBA loan product enhancements will be available

The Arkansas Capital Corporation Group’s Chief Executive Officer C. Sam Walls on Friday highlighted enhancements to the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 which will have the greatest impact on Arkansas’s small business owners. “These enhancements are the most impactful I’ve seen in my 20 years of working with government guaranteed lending,” Walls said. “These tools are meaningful in their ability to assist and encourage business owners to grow their enterprises.” ACCG offers an alternative source of financing for small business; the Group partners with banks across Arkansas to provide the most attractive financing package available to small business owners. Highlights of the enhancements include: [Read more…]

A prepared business is a resilient business. That was the lesson learned this week at a daylong workshop teaching company owners how to plan for disasters. “The Verizon Preparedness Planning Summit: A Readiness Workshop for Small Businesses” drew about 100 representatives from small- and medium-sized businesses. Business owners discovered how susceptible their companies can be when disaster strikes, whether it takes the form of a flood, earthquake, tornado, fire or even terrorist activity. Verizon Wireless sponsored the event, held at the Holiday Inn University of Memphis, along with the Shelby County Office of Preparedness, the Greater Memphis Chamber and the Memphis Business Journal. [Read more…]

It’s Friday and I can’t think of a better day to take a more philosophical look at the way we do things and the reasons behind the way we do them. I was perusing Feedly this morning and came across an article by Dave Kashen entitled “The Entrepreneur’s “Not Enough” Trap—And How to Avoid It”. Kashen, who serves as a founder and leadership coach at one of San Francisco’s premier leadership and culture development firms, argues that there needs to be a shift in where inspiration for success comes from. Kashen states that entrepreneurs are driven by “not enough” syndrome which basically means they strive to succeed in order to satisfy this preconceived notion that they were never equal to their peers. This is common in many areas of life; athletes push themselves in this way.  However, unlike in athletics were achieving a time or winning a championship can help satisfy this feeling of lacking, entrepreneurs are building these great companies all the while wearing themselves out and at the end come back around to same feeling of “not enough”. They aren’t building the companies for self-fulfillment, but rather to impress someone else. [Read more…]

The New Year is here and it’s time to start that business you have always wanted to!  So from last week’s post, Secrets to Starting a Business, we know that it is going to take a lot of hard work to get started.  Remember – Pay Attention, Learn What to Do, Do the Work Now, Not Later. Now let’s say you are eager, ready and know you are in for a hard fight, but you don’t have a clue as to what kind of business you want to start.  Or perhaps you have a hobby or area of interest you’d like to pursue but no concrete ideas for products or services.  No worries, let’s talk about how you come up with your business idea.

What is Needed in Your Community?

According to Entrepreneur.com’s article Starting a Business: The Idea Phase focus on what you feel will work in your local area.  Even if this is a big national brand like Starbucks.  This is what Minneapolis based Caribou Coffee did.  They realized an alternative to Starbucks was needed that focused more on being a comfortable community place to hang out in their market and they now run the second largest gourmet coffeehouse chain in the country.

Look for Ways to Make Existing Products Better

“Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door” is a phrase attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson.  While this is actually a misquotation of Emerson, it has served as a leading metaphor for innovation and invention.  As you contemplate your business idea take a look at the world around you, sometimes a taking trip to your local Wal-Mart of other big box retailer and strolling through the isles can bring inspiration.  Look for products that make you think I could do that better.  Also, listen to what others tell you they are struggling with in their lives.

Test Your Hypothesis

Once you have identified one, two or a few ideas that you think might be viable businesses, it is time to test your hypothesis.  Build a storyboard, sketch or even a mock-up of your product and talk to people you know and get their opinion.  Identify who might be your target customers and suppliers and get their opinion.  An excellent model that can be utilized for this was born from the tech world is the Lean Startup.  Entrepreneur and author Eric Ries has designed a simplified process to speed up the process of identifying the viability of opportunities. The most important item to remember while contemplating business ideas is know that it can take a while to find the right one.