3 Economic Indicators that Impact Small Businesses

Since the end of 2007, the economy has affected thousands of American small businesses. Some have successfully navigated through the winds of a rough economic climate, while others have given up and filed for bankruptcy. Although economic indicators are looking positive, we’re not out of the proverbial woods yet.

The Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Advocacy publishes a quarterly small business economic indicator pamphlet that provides detailed numbers and trends about the economic standings.

Full Post…

Not surprisingly, President Obama’s recently released budget proposal for fiscal year 2011 has elicited polarized views from the business community. He’s beginning to stand up to Wall Street and large corporations, at least rhetorically, while promising much-needed relief for small to mid-size businesses (US News).

Beyond the president’s expected populist stance, however, are a few arguably substantive budget proposals for Main Street:

$30 Billion for Small Business Loans (Reuters): The cash, from repaid TARP bank bailout funds, would be funneled into small- and medium-sized banks with assets under $10 billion. Incentives would include a dividend rate decrease in exchange for increases in business lending.

Full Post…

One of the most critical responsibilities of an IT project manager is keeping a project on track. Clients don’t like surprises, especially the kind that cost time and money. When it’s your reputation at stake, you want to be sure you’re managing the client’s expectations appropriately. Doing so means striking a careful balance between meeting the clients’ business goals and staying realistic when navigating the inevitable bumps in the project’s road.

As anyone who works in the IT field knows, some project delays may simply be unavoidable. So how do you keep your clients happy? It’s all about managing – or exceeding – the client’s expectations.

Full Post…

If you have a website, or a blog, and you want more traffic to it, please read this post carefully.

I bought erica.biz and moved my blog over to it in December 2007. At the time, I had negligible traffic and only 70 subscribers–mostly my real-life friends.

Full Post…

Travelling to Somaliland is now easier with the launch of direct flights to the city of Hargeisa in the country by East African Safari Air Express.

This follows the signing of a bilateral trade agreement between the airline and the Government of Somaliland last year.

However, no bilateral agreements have been put in place between the Kenyan government and the country

The firm will be operating scheduled flights twice a week, on Tuesday and Saturday’s.

Mr Hussein Ali Duale, minister of Finance of Somaliland, said this is bound to open the country to trade from the East African Community.

The two-hour flight from JKIA cuts down on a tedious 12-hour journey of connecting flights.