Build a business

The U.S. Small Business Administration and Comcast’s California Region recently announced a new partnership that will provide local small and mid-sized businesses with tools, information, and resources via video segments from Comcast’s video-on-demand platform. Launched on May 23, 2010 as part of National Small Business Week (May 23 – 29), the partnership is entitled Comcast Connecting Businesses. With difficult economic times facing local business owners, the two organizations partnered to connect entrepreneurs remotely to services and seminars necessary to establish, build and grow their businesses.

Under the Comcast Connecting Businesses initiative, Comcast will film the workshops and seminars that the SBA conducts in its San Francisco district office. These videos will incorporate interviews with the District Director, highlight forms required to start a business in the United States, and feature interviews with local business owners. Seminar topics include: “How to Start a Business,” “How to Obtain a Business License,” “How to Become a Government Certified Business,” “Basics of Marketing Your Business,” and “Financing Your Business 101.” Comcast will add new video vignettes monthly, and Comcast Digital Cable customers in California will be able to view the video courses any time of the day or night at no additional cost.

Comcast viewers will also be able to see videos and sessions from the recent 2010 Governor’s Conference on Small Business & Entrepreneurship which was held in Oakland, California. Comcast partnered with the Governor’s Office of Economic Development and California Small Business Centers to make segments available ON DEMAND for those unable to attend to attend the conference.

For more information, visit sba.gov.

Stark differences occur in what matters most to small business owners as their companies evolve from very small entities with fewer than ten employees to sizeable enterprises approaching 100 employees that resemble larger corporations, according to a new report from The guardian Life Small Business Research Institute.

Among the compelling findings are that “personal freedom” and “maintaining work-life balance” – often key reasons why an entrepreneur starts a company – decline as small businesses grow larger. On the other hand, “creating opportunities for others” – an unexpected pleasure of running a growing business – increases. The Institute’s analysis is based on a comprehensive and methodologically innovative new study, The Guardian Life Index: What Matters Most to America’s Small Business Owners.

Maintaining productivity becomes increasingly difficult for small business owners as the size of their company grows. Businesses of 2-9 employees tend to revolve around the owner and typically generate far higher revenues per employee than ones with 50-99 employees – between 100% and 400% higher on average, according to The Guardian Life Index. At the same time, expanding the business becomes a more dominant focus of small business owners at larger firms. Among owners of companies with 50-99 employees, 53 percent say they are planning to expand their business. However, at the other end of the spectrum, 58 percent of owners of companies with fewer than ten employees say they are just trying to maintain business as usual.

According to The Guardian Life Index, the following trends emerge as small businesses grow larger:

• The importance of the management team and employees rises, including the need to adopt effective practices for finding, motivating and retaining good employees.
• Professional services advisors, such as accountants, lawyers, financial advisors and insurance agents, increase in value.
• There is a growing focus on the disciplines of professional management, with an intensifying interest in improving productivity and stimulating business innovation.
• The business increasingly begins to shift its focus externally, rather than looking inward.
In particular, the small business owner places greater value on membership in – and information from – professional associations, and the value and importance of the company’s Web site rises.

In analyzing the shifting focus, needs and priorities of small business owners, The Institute segmented and defined four types of small businesses based on the number of employees:

• 2-9 employees – The smallest business entity, often consisting of the principal and a small, dedicated support staff. The focus is on “the principal.”
• 10-24 employees – At this small business growth stage, an organizational structure exists but is informal, collaborative and collegial. The focus is on “the business.”
• 25-49 employees – The enterprise is beginning to look like a formal corporation but lacks the resources for rigid departmentalization. The focus is on “the team.”
• 50-99 employees – The business has grown to a size that resembles a larger corporate entity but with fewer resources. The focus is on “the organization.”

For more information, visit smallbizdom.com.

In 2008 and 2009, businesses were struggling to stay afloat, especially those in the advertising and marketing industry. According to a study released by The Nielsen Company, businesses and organizations cut their advertising spending by $11.6 billion in 2009 alone.

Michael Flora and Associates (MFA), a Michigan based marketing and advertising firm, found a strategic partner to combat the down economy and in the process, signed several new clients including Kelly Services, Health Alliance Plan and Eagle Ottowa. They are now back in the mode of hiring and are showing signs of solid growth.

MFA partnered with RSW/US, an agency-client relationship expert that specializes in new business development.

According to Mark Sneider, president RSW/US, “We looked over all the material that MFA was sending out to perspective clients and recommended modifications and a business development plan from our research and findings. Like many agencies, they were focused on serving their clients and weren’t spending much time on business development.”

RSW/US has booked dozens of new business meetings on behalf of MFA and enacted a communication strategy for business development.

For more information, visit rswus.com.