By Rex Nutting; Wall Street Journal
It's no wonder the recovery has been so anemic: The U.S. economy has been trying to run on one leg.
Large businesses—the good leg—have been growing robustly for at least a year. Production is rising, sales are higher and profits are through the roof. But the recovery missed the second leg—small businesses, which account for about half of U.S. output… Read more »
By Jim Landers; Dallas Morning News
The health care law includes a provision that requires even the smallest businesses to send a 1099 form to the IRS whenever they buy more than $600 a year in goods or services from a single company or individual.
Andy Ellard, who runs Manda Machine Co., a 20-employee manufacturing shop in Dallas, estimates the provision will take 160 hours of his… Read more »
By Carol Tice; Entrepreneur.com Daily Dose
The past year was a rollercoaster for business owners hoping for tax relief, but help finally arrived right at the end of the year in the form of the Tax Relief and Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010. Here's a look at what's changed and what you need to know about business tax changes.
Tax expert Barbara… Read more »
By Emily Maltby; Wall Street Journal
New Year's resolutions aren't always about self-improvement. For entrepreneurs, they're also about enhancing a business or taking it to the next level. New product lines may have flopped in 2010 or sales may have slipped, but those are problems of the past. This year, entrepreneurs say, things will be different.
It's a nice thought. But the problem… Read more »
By Jeffrey Sparshott and Jeff Bater; Wall Street Journal
The U.S. economy added fewer jobs than expected in December, but the unemployment rate fell to its lowest level in 19 months as more people who still remain in the work force found employment.
Nonfarm payrolls rose by 103,000 last month as private-sector employers added 113,000 jobs, the Labor Department said Friday. The… Read more »
By Vivien Lou Chen and Timothy R. Homan; Bloomberg Business Week
Lee and Kate Amon, owners of Internet retailer Kate's Caring Gifts, say they would need a 50 percent increase in sales before adding a full-time employee. The couple, who live and work in Fremont, Calif., have two part-timers handle orders for organic food baskets and natural soaps because "it gives us the flexibility to… Read more »
By Laurie Segall; CNN Money
Small businesses saw a sharp jump in hiring in December, according to an ADP report released Wednesday.
The private sector added 297,000 jobs overall last month, with almost all of the gains coming from companies with less than 500 workers. Those firms added a net 261,000 new positions during the month, ADP estimates.
The smallest companies -- those with… Read more »
By James B. Kelleher; ABC News
Borrowing by small U.S. businesses jumped in November to the highest level in more than two years, PayNet Inc reported on Monday, as entrepreneurs invested in their businesses and did a better job of paying existing debts.
The Thomson Reuters/PayNet Small Business Lending Index, which measures the overall volume of financing to U.S. small businesses,… Read more »
By Washington Post;
At last, the Obama administration has cut a deal with South Korea, paving the way for congressional approval of a long-stalled free-trade agreement with that crucial Asian ally. Now, what about Colombia and Panama? Alas, the administration's answer still appears to be "not yet." White House spokesman Robert Gibbs announced Friday that the president would not be… Read more »
By Laura Petrecca; USA Today
One small provision in the new tax law could spur big-ticket business spending — and if a government analysis proves correct, bolster hiring.
The "100% expensing" policy allows businesses in 2011 to fully write off "productive capital investments" such as delivery trucks, machines and aircraft rather than depreciate the cost over a period of years.
With… Read more »
