May 10th, 2008
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The U.S. trade deficit narrowed sharply in March as demand for imports fell by the largest amount since the last recession was ending.
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Microsoft has invested several million more dollars into an incentive program it recently unveiled for small businesses, hoping to make it easier for customers in that market to run their businesses using Microsoft products.
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Instead of a financial penalty, they represent a potential financial reward. If salespeople leave the company prematurely, they lose their chance to reap the reward.
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As states create a patchwork of laws, manufacturers and consumer groups debate who should pay for the cost of recycling toxic electronics.
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Learning programs are moving out of HR and into the hands of managers, who are matching skills being taught to specific company objectives.
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Regulators are ready to restrict online tracking of Web surfing, threatening to derail breakneck speed of Internet ad growth.
May 9th, 2008
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Does the perfect boss actually exist? If so, what does he or she do that makes them perfect?
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To get prepared for any economic downturn, it is best to think in terms of getting your financial statements in order.
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The Labor Department reported Thursday that applications for unemployment benefits fell to 365,000, a decline of 18,000 from the previous week. Economists had been looking for a much smaller decrease of around 5,000.
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More businesses filed for bankruptcy in April, 2008, than in any month since new bankruptcy laws took effect in 2005, according to a company that tracks federal court filings.
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In the past seven years, Louisville-based Papa John’s has sold over $1 billion of pizzas online. Today, online and text-message orders account for 20% of its sales.
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More than 500,000 small businesses will be created globally in next five years, spending $517 billion on technology.
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The number of banks that tightened their commercial lending standards and raised loan prices increased sharply between January and mid-April.
May 8th, 2008
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Start-ups and major Internet players such as Facebook Inc. are giving advertisers the option of planning, buying and tracking online-ad campaigns all on their own.
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Worker productivity rose by a better-than-expected amount in the first three months of the year while labor cost pressures eased.
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“This is not a shock. The pace of sales seems to be stabilizing but that’s the best you could say about it. But I don’t think we’ve hit a bottom yet,” said David Wyss chief economist at Standard & Poor’s.
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Some business schools are creating programs so grads can apply their skills to the farms and businesses of rural America.
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Consumer borrowing rose in March at the fastest pace in four months, more than double the increase of the previous month.
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Most businesses prefer a .com domain name because it is a highly recognized symbol for having a business presence on the Internet.
May 7th, 2008
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Higher standards for cash flow, personal credit history, collateral requirements, and performance standards. Business loans that might have been approved a year ago, might no longer meet this new standards.
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Dell and NFIB today announced the 10 U.S. finalists for the Fifth Annual Dell/NFIB Small Business Excellence Award.
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In a Wall Street Journal interview, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said U.S. financial markets are emerging from the credit crunch that many economists believe has pushed the country to the brink of recession.
May 6th, 2008
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Retail gas prices, meanwhile, fell more than a cent over the weekend, offering further evidence that prices may have peaked for the year.
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April’s job losses were fewer than expected, but a turnaround won’t come until later in the year.
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The nation’s service economy unexpectedly expanded in April after contracting for the previous three months.
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Rather than “searching” for a startup idea, most entrepreneurs get their ideas from their experience working in an industry.
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SWAT (”smart women with available time”) is one mother’s label for all-mom teams assembled quickly through networking and staffing firms to handle crash projects.
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Poor workplace communication could be costing you business in more ways than you might imagine. Here’s what you can do to improve it
May 5th, 2008
May 4th, 2008
May 3rd, 2008
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U.S. employers cut far fewer jobs in April than in recent months and the unemployment rate dropped to 5 percent, a better-than-expected showing.
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U.S. factories saw demand for their products rebound in March, following a two-month slump.
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The Federal Reserve and other regulators are moving to crack down on “unfair and deceptive” practices in the credit card industry that have added billions in debt to people already struggling to cope.
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While thousands of other companies scratch and claw for the tiniest sliver of the corporate computing market, Apple treats this vast market with utter indifference.
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Many on Wall Street, the epicenter of the credit mess, seem to think that the worst is over. For the first time in months, analysts and executives sound upbeat again.
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Soaring gas prices have turned the steady migration by Americans to smaller cars into a stampede.
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Retail gas prices fell slightly Friday — the first time in 18 days they haven’t risen to a new record — and analysts say pump prices may be peaking for the year.
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Breakthrough ideas are around the corner, says the Google co-founder. But most of us are failing to take a chance on them.
May 2nd, 2008
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Successful businesses (in the midwest) have learned to branch out from the industries that defined the region for so long.
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With the U.S. economy growing, financial markets recovering and the government sending out tax rebate checks, the reduction in the Federal Reserve’s target for the overnight lending rate ought to be the last for now.
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A study by consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers has argued that there is little evidence of HR having increased its presence or profile within the boardroom, despite years of arguing this is where its future lies.
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Another jump in the dollar sent oil prices below $111 a barrel Thursday as speculators who drove crude futures to nearly $120 pulled out of the market. Retail gas prices, meanwhile, rose to a new record above $3.62 a gallon.
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Personal spending rose by 0.4 percent in March, twice as much as forecast and despite a cooling economy, while a key inflation measure was up by a bit more than expected, government data showed on Thursday.
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While a growing proportion of companies acknowledge that flexibility is becoming a critical retention and recruiting tool, most do not have the structure or support in place to maximize the value that these programs can provide.
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Google’s new service allows advertisers to create ad schedules and bid for commercial time. Need a TV ad produced? Google says they’ll help match you up with someone to produce those also.
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A new report from the Kaufmann Foundation shows that U.S. tech entrepreneurs are, if anything, older than expected.
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Not all businesses are hurting. In fact, some are humming right along.
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The “future” is an abstraction. It doesn’t exist except as an idea. The only future that has any reality is the one that you continually create for yourself through each day’s contributions, achievements, and results.
April 30th, 2008
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Hands-on jobs are where some of the worst U.S. talent shortages exist, according to Manpower Inc., which recently surveyed more than 42,500 employers world-wide.
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Paying for gasoline easily tops the list of economic woes facing families in the United States, according to a survey on how changes in the economy have affected people’s lives.
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Sometimes it’s just about breaking mental habits that prevent pushing forward when things look bleak – habits that “are as hard to break as stopping smoking or biting your fingernails.”
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They’re a crucial part of the business process, but if your meetings are planned on autopilot, you’re probably not sending the right message
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Oil prices fell more than $3 a barrel Tuesday as the market absorbed data showing demand is falling even as supplies are rising.
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Truck drivers honked horns, waved placards and shouted through bullhorns at the Capitol on Monday to protest rising fuel prices they say are hurting their livelihood.
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At Craigslist, which has become a kind of online flea market for the world, the number of for-sale listings has soared 70 percent since last July.
