Cutting Edge Strategic Planning For Small Business Survival

STRATEGIC PLANNING

Large companies place resources and focus on strategic planning at least once a year. Small businesses seldom complete a strategic plan. Yet in every way, planning is just as important to a small business as to a large business.

While operating a small business successfully can be very rewarding, the typical small business does not have the staying power financially to weather a business downturn. Avoiding a business downturn requires that business managers not only attend to the day-to-day functions of the business but also have an eye on the horizon so that “bumps in the road” … Continue Reading

Powerful New Glenn Beck Video Alluding to Pending Collapse of the Dollar

Blog Editor’s Note: Glenn Beck is labeled a “conspiracy theorist.” However, you can rest assured no one presenting views this extreme on a regular basis could do so from a corporate media platform unless powerful interests want the public at large to get used to these kinds of ideas. So perhaps Beck’s corporate masters are “conspiracy theorists,” or at least pretending to be.

Beck is generally right on target with his key facts. However, he generally points the finger at the undefined “left” as the villain. Let’s just say the real villains are far more diversified than that. So put away … Continue Reading

$4.8 trillion – Interest on U.S. debt

Blog Editor’ Note: That’s nearly 5 million million dollars and nearly half the current Federal deficit, which continues to rise at an unprecedented rate. But don’t worry, analysts can still find individual pieces of data that sound optimistic.

Unless lawmakers make big changes, the interest Americans will have to pay to keep the country running over the next decade will reach unheard of levels.

By Jeanne Sahadi

(CNN Money) Here’s a new way to think about the U.S. government’s epic borrowing: More than half of the $9 trillion in debt that Uncle Sam … Continue Reading

Economists Opposing Federal Reserve Audit Have Undisclosed Fed Ties

Blog Editor’s Note: This piece delivers more exposure than the usual establishment press critique of the current controversy surrounding the Federal Reserve. However, the focus on key economists with Fed connections ignores the fact the identity of the private investors with controlling interests in the Federal Reserve is what they REALLY don’t want you to know. That’s why Fed supporters are open to a little more transparency they can control, but will put their full global financial weight in front of any attempt to conduct a full audit of the organization.

(This Huffington Post) As the debate over an audit of … Continue Reading

1 million stimulus jobs?

House panel investigates

By Richard Simon

(The Los Angeles Times) Reporting from Washington – Hundreds of new jobs in phantom congressional districts. Nearly 500 new teaching slots in a Chicago school district that employs only 290.

As the White House tries to show that its massive stimulus package has created or saved 1 million jobs, media outlets and critics have contended that some of the administration’s numbers are faulty.

On Thursday, a congressional committee tried to sort out the questions: Are the flawed data the result of Democratic spin meant to show that President Obama’s economic policies are working? Or are they … Continue Reading

CalChamber Goes to Court to Protect Businesses from Additional Wage-and-Hour Lawsuits

(The California Chamber of Commerce) The California Chamber of Commerce is urging the 9th Circuit Court of Appeal to reverse a district court ruling that could result in numerous more wage-and-hour lawsuits against California employers.

The CalChamber is arguing that the district court ruling fails to follow the plain language of the law and disregards the long-standing California requirement that exemption determinations be made based on an analysis of employees’ individual job duties.

The CalChamber has joined the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Employers Group in filing a friend-of-the-court brief in … Continue Reading

The Secret to Making Your Brand Truly Great

By Dan Huston

Although many business leaders are obsessed with the concept of branding, few really understand what it means to develop a successful brand. Here’s what it really takes.

(Biznik) How do you define your brand? Is it how you position yourself in the minds of stakeholders and the public in general? Is it shaped by what people think you do and how you do it? Is it determined by the design of your website, the quality of your marketing collateral or the success of your public relations efforts?

I just finished reading Gregg Lederman’s Achieve … Continue Reading

7 Simple Ways to Law-Proof Your Business

By Kurt Andrew Schlichter, Esq.

The article appeared in Business Insider Magazine’s first issue of 2009

While the economic downturn will increase most businesses’ exposure to legal problems, it can also be a good time to get your legal house in order. Companies and individuals in trouble often look to the law as a quick way to avoid debts or to collect on real or imagined claims that in good times would be put aside. But when things are slow, businesspeople have the chance to focus on legal matters they would otherwise … Continue Reading

Managing Your Business During Difficult Times

By Angela L.H. Sayers, CPA, MBA

This column ran in Business Insider Magazine’s first issue of 2009

The stock market is extremely volatile and our investment portfolios have plummeted. So how can we keep our businesses running profitably and riding through the recession without too much turmoil? Small business owners have to manage their companies much more effectively than large corporations on Wall Street regardless of the economic climate. After all, small businesses are going to pull our country out of the recession. Here are some points to help your business … Continue Reading

Efficient IT Planning is Key to Recession Survival

By David Whitehead

The financial crisis may not be the only thing putting a strain on your business. If your IT upgrades didn’t keep pace with your growth during the boom years, chances are expensive inefficiencies are starting to get noticed. Surviving a tough economy requires all of us to be as efficient as possible, which means it’s time to take a hard look at productivity problems created by poorly planned IT systems.
I have worked for several companies that allowed their IT to become grossly inefficient because systems were allowed … Continue Reading

The Real Estate Weather Report

By Ken Roberts

This article appeared in Business Insider Magazine’s second issue of 2009

If the real estate climate was reported like the weather, it might sound something like the following:
“Expect the stormfront in the South Bay real estate market to continue with cold temperatures, scattered showers, and occasional gale force winds in the middle class areas, gradually giving way to partial clearing and a warming trend for first-time buyers with the worst behind us for the high-end market.”
One of the barometers of the real estate climate is the number … Continue Reading

5 South Bay Organizations Upping the Eco Ante

By Brian Simon

This article appeared in Business Insider Magazine’s second issue of 2009

While entire nations must grapple with the harsh implications of “global warming” and how to address it, it will ultimately take cooperation on an individual grass roots community level to spread the message espoused by leading scientists to make a meaningful impact across the country. With that in mind, a number of South Bay-based businesses, agencies and cities have already made their mark on the green front. Here is an overview of a few notable contributors to the … Continue Reading