small biz

Small business optimism up, salaries down in March

An optimistic outlook towards the economy prevailed among small business owners in March, according to a study by online payroll service SurePayroll. In the same time, salaries dropped 0.89 percent in one month. The survey was completed on March 30th and consisted of 234 respondents randomly selected from the 25,000 small businesses.

What's In a Name?

As a business owner, one of your first decisions is the name of your company/product/service. It is, after all, your corporate identity. There is nothing worse than being forced to change your name once you have begun doing business because of a cease and desist letter or an application refusal from the US Patent and Trademark Office. The first plan of action: do not get attached to your trademark until it is yours officially.

Here are a few best practices in finding that name:

Government to pump "a significant amount" of money into small business lending

CNN Money reports that the new administration will be concentrating on making lending to small business more attractive.

There was a 57% drop in the number of loans through the Small Business Administration's main lending program for the last three months of 2008, compared to the same period one year ago.

"The stimulus bill passed last month included $730 million for direct spending on small-business initiatives, including expanded financial support for the SBA's two key lending initiatives, the 7(a) and 504 programs. Under those programs, the SBA guarantees loans made by banks to small-business borrowers. If the business defaults, the SBA picks up the tab for the insured portion of the loan. (...)

Small Biz and the Stimulus

Part of the economic recovery bill, to be signed into a law by President Obama, will focus on increasing the number of small business loans that banks issue. A number of other measures in the recovery bill are also aimed directly at improving the small business environment.

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