As a small business owner, time is as scarce and valuable a commodity as gold. Starting and managing a business requires a tremendous amount of energy and man hours, leaving you little time to eat and sleep – much less to catch up on the latest news.
Here at MaxFilings and Incorporation-e, we know that the struggle of entrepreneurship is real. However, staying connected with major business and economy headlines that pertain to your small business is important. For this reason, we have undertaken the lofty mission of producing a monthly overview of the biggest and most significant news headlines in the world of small business and economic – something we like to call a roundup.
As you’ll see below, we’ve broken up a compilation of news stories from the past month into several sections to make it easier for you to find topics that matter to you and your small business. So without further ado, let’s dive in!
Economy and Market Updates
- The small business index dropped slightly in September. CNBC asks Paychex CEO Martin Mucci what his take is on what this means in this video.
- Whether out of personal interest or the desire to be entertained by Donald Trump, millions of viewers tuned into the Republican presidential debates in September. Amidst all the political bantering, Republican nominees brought up a number of issues that small business owners should pay attention to. Here are the takeaways…
- Whole Foods Market Inc announced that it will cut about 1.6 percent of the company’s workforce (roughly 1,500 jobs) over the next eight weeks. The layoffs are intended to offset recent investments in technology updates and in preparation of the company launching a “smaller, more value-focused” chain of stores next year.
- By 2055, Asians will be the largest immigrant group in the country according to Pew Research.
- The forecast of the most profitable industries in 2015 is out and there appears to be sunny days ahead for the health technology, finance, and technology services sectors. See what other industries have head a good year here.
- Uber faced a number of roadblocks in September as California determined that drivers are employees, not independent contractors as the company maintains. Now, a number of Uber drivers are banning together in a class action lawsuit to challenge their drivers’ classification.
- Is another government shutdown going to happen? The threat still looms, though so far the Senate is on track to prevent another shutdown.
Entrepreneurship
- On September 14th, the Small Business Administration (SBA) issued a final ruling that opens up additional funding opportunities to Women-Owned Small Businesses (“WOSBs”) and Economically Disadvantaged Women-Owned Small Businesses (“EDWOSBs”). Find out more information about the awards and see if you qualify here.
- What if you had the chance to ask 6 power women in business their most valuable career advice? You might not, but Forbes did. Check out these game-changing tips from Meg Whitman (CEO of HP) Nancy Pelosi (House Democratic Leader), Jessica Alba (actress and founder of The Honest Co.) and others.
Business Management
- September marked 2 years since the Affordable Care Act (better known as Obamacare) was rolled out and small business owners have mixed feeling about the massive health care law. Check out this article to read the story and weigh in yourself.
- Offering better employee benefits is a great way to attract solid talent and inject some fresh blood into your organization. But how can provide employee benefits that don’t bust your budget. Read more…
- Back in the day, businesses had to prepare for a robbery by installing alarm systems and drop-gates. These days, the bigger threat is cyber thieves who want your data rather than your products. No business is too small to prepare for a cyber attack.
- Is your business covered in the event of a disaster? Many victims of Hurricane Sandi thought they were too. Click here to read why sometimes it takes a long time to receive insurance benefits and how to ensure your business gets covered quickly if something disastrous happens.
- Despite the fact that one poll found that most people would rather do literally anything else than go to a meeting (including watching paint dry), trends show that businesses are having more meetings now than ever before. The good news, meetings are getting shorter on average.
Business Law
- It’s good to make your employees happy, but not if you end up implementing a workplace policy that lands you in court or costs you bigtime in legal fees and penalties. The Huff Post discusses 5 employment laws that every small business owner and HR department should know about.
- Building a business requires hard work…plus lots and lots of paperwork. From tax forms to legal documents and insurance waivers to hiring paperwork, making sure you have all your i’s dotted and your t’s crossed can get overwhelming. Fortunately, Small Business Trends rounded up 50 resources to find employment forms.
And there you have it. Stay tuned to the Incorporation blog for our monthly small business and economy roundups, as well as other business management and incorporation strategies throughout the month. Visit MaxFilings.com to see our management services today to see how we can help you.