Business

Our daily blend of the latest news, trends and tips for the small business community.

What’s going ‘on’:

Small business sales, hiring increasing: Small firms are enjoying stronger sales and hiring more workers, according to the latest study by CareerBuilder and Harris Interactive. Nearly one-third (32 percent) said their sales increased over the last two quarters and nearly half (46 percent) expect sales to increase over the next two quarters.

SBA, AARP partner to support older entrepreneurs: The Small Business Administration on Wednesday announced a new partnership with the AARP to provide counseling and training to individuals over the age of 50 who want to start or grow a small business. Collectively, the groups plan to provide services to 100,000 “encore entrepreneurs.”

Y-Combinator accepts biggest class yet: The Silicon Valley-based incubator has accepted 80 fledgling companies for its upcoming class, the largest one to date, according to partner Hajeet Taggar. The spike in numbers comes mere months after the group said it would begin accepting start-up teams without a fully-formed idea.

Keep an eye ‘on’:

Small dairy farms disappearing:Though the number of dairy cows in the country has remained fairly stable, the number of dairy farms has been dropping as small farms either go out of business or consolidate, according to new agricultural data. The number of dairies nationally has dropped from nearly 92,000 in 2002 to less than 70,000 in 2007.

Taxmageddon could spark renewed recession: A combination of tax hikes and spending cuts scheduled to take effect next year would suck $607 billion out of the economy in 2013, according to forecasts released by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. That would plunge the nation back into a recession for at least the first half of the year.

Helpful advice ‘on:

How to vet job candidates using social media (OSB)

How to craft an attractive special offer (Open Forum)

How to pitch your start-up to the crowd (Entrepreneur)

How to improve your online checkout system (Mashable)

How to hire executive-level talent (Small Biz Trends)

Growing up in a Chinese home, Vincent Ko saw the many uses of bamboo — in the kitchen utensils, decorations and even furniture.

Years later, as a recent Georgetown University graduate, Ko began to wonder if the trendy Asian grass had a place in fashion — in sunglasses, to be exact.

Now, his D.C.-based Panda sunglasses company is featured in boutiques across the country and just inked a retail deal with Urban Outfitters.
Panda sunglasses are made of bamboo and come in natural, brown and black. (Courtesy of Panda)

Our daily blend of the latest news, trends and tips for the small business community.

What’s going ‘on’:

Senators introduce Startup Act 2.0: A birpartisan group of senators introduced the bill, which would create two new types of visas, one for foreign students who obtain graduate degrees in science- and math-related fields from American universities, and another for immigrants who start companies and create jobs in the United States.

Swing state business owners leaning toward Romney: A new poll from Manta shows that, in what are expected to be the most hotly contested states come November, less than 32 percent of small business owners plan to vote for Obama, while 53 percent plan to vote for Mitt Romney or whoever wins the GOP nomination.

Housing market gets uplifting news: Sales of existing homes increased 3.4 percent last month and remain higher than a year ago, and home prices continued to climb, according to the latest figures released by the National Association of Realtors. The total inventory of existing U.S. homes rose in April to 2.5 million.

Keep an eye ‘on’:

Generic drugmakers complaining over legal loophole: A number of drugmakers say they are unable to create cheaper generic versions of drugs because their rivals are exploiting a legal loophole to avoid sending them named-brand drugs to test against. Critics warn that the practice is bound to become more entrenched and widespread.

Helpful advice ‘on:

How to prepare your firm for the JOBS Act (OSB)

H ow to write a better help-wanted ad (Entrepreneur)

How to prioritize your company’s to-do list (Inc.)

How to decide which tasks to delegate (Open Forum)

How to use time wisely as an entrepreneur (USA Today)

Our daily blend of the latest news, trends and tips for the small business community.

What’s going ‘on’:

Ohio entrepreneur wins SBA’s top award: The Small Business Administration on Monday awarded its 2012 Small Business Person of the Year award to Victoria Tifft, president and chief executive of ClinicalRM, an Ohio-based medical research company. After contracting Malaria 20 years ago in Togo, Tifft launched her firm to help develop medicines and devices to fight such diseases.

Small business owners indifferent toward crowdfunding:Small business owners are none too excited about a new law that will allow them to raise money by soliciting investors online, according to a new survey conducted by Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp and Pepperdine University. Only 3 percent of owners said the new law increases the likelihood of companies raising money through crowdfunding.

White House opposes upping small firms’ share of contracts: The White House has come out against a provision in the National Defense Authorization Act (approved last week by the House) that would increase the share of government work expected to go to small businesses every year. In a statement, the administration said it was a “laudable but overly ambitious” goal.

Keep an eye ‘on’:

Facebook stock sinking:Facebook’s stock tumbled well below its $38 IPO price in the company’s second day of trading as a public company on Monday, reinforcing concern that its initial offering was priced too high. Morgan Stanley, which handled the offering, reportedly stepped in to prop up the stock immediately following the debut on Friday.

NSBW events winding down: National Small Business Week concludes on Tuesday in Washington with full day of events including sessions on federal contracting and social media. Hosted by the Small Business Administration, the celebration is meant to highlight small business accomplishments across the country.

Helpful advice ‘on:

How to prepare for the JOBS Act (OSB)

How to hire and delegate well (Yahoo)

How to partner with big firms (Entrepreneur)

How to avoid investor pitch mistakes (Forbes)

While the latest nationwide polls show little distance between President Obama and Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican nominee appears to have developed a wide lead among one potentially important group of voters: small business owners in swing states.

Most swing state business owners said they were at least somewhat satisfied with the crop of presidential candidates. (Carolyn Kaster, Charles Dharapak - AP) On Tuesday, Manta released new polling showing that, in what are expected to be the most hotly contested states come November, less than one out of three (32 percent) small business owners plan to vote for a second term for Obama, while more than half (53 percent) plan to vote for Mitt Romney or whoever wins the GOP nomination.

Roughly 4 percent said they would vote for the Republican candidate only if the name at the top of the ticket was Ron Paul, and 2 percent said they don’t plan to vote no matter who runs against Obama.