Good News On the Horizon
It's been a challenging year for small businesses, but we seem to have ended on a good note, with signs that the small business economy is starting to rebound. But is the worst really over? Let's take...
View ArticleUncertainty Clouds an Economic Recovery
Hiring continued to improve in January, and we see the first month of salary growth in well over a year. Has the economy turned the corner? The data may say yes, but sentiment says no. The first month...
View ArticleHiring and Wages on the Rebound
What a difference a month makes! If most people equate these economic times with an emotional roller coaster, small business owners have been on the ride of their lives. Last month I reported a...
View ArticleNot Yet Ready to Call It a Recovery
March ended on a positive note with a year-to-date increase in small business hiring of 3.1 percent and a year-to-date increase in pay of 0.4 percent, according to SurePayroll's Small Business...
View ArticleRecovery's in the Air, But...
American sentiment about the economy seems to be changing. The Federal Reserve reports that the "U.S. economy continues to strengthen," and our SurePayroll small business owner optimism level jumped up...
View ArticleIndependent Contractors See Gains
We've been hearing some good things that affect the economy lately. Most people seem to think we're in a full recovery, gas prices are down, and more Americans travelled this Memorial Day weekend than...
View ArticleSmall Business Paychecks Dip
The phrase "The only certain thing in life is that nothing is certain" comes courtesy of Pliny the Elder, an ancient Roman philosopher and military commander. And it seems fitting nearly 2,000 years...
View ArticleSmall Business Owners are Going Mobile – Have You?
With all the press surrounding the iPhone 4 launch, I'm reminded that it's been seven months since we introduced our Mobile Payroll app. As excited as we were to be the first in the industry to offer a...
View ArticleEntrepreneurs Think Like Consumers
The SurePayroll Small Business Scorecard results are in and they're revealing more of the same. Jobs increased slightly from last month (0.2%) to bring us to a year-to-date increase of 4.1 percent and...
View ArticleWhy Net Neutrality Matters to You
Despite its lack of coverage in many small business publications, changes to net neutrality policy have the very real potential to hurt the majority of small business owners. I know net neutrality...
View ArticleIncreased Spending, No Increased Pay
Every month before I report on the results of the SurePayroll Small Business Scorecard I'm sure to create a mental checklist consisting of two columns: One includes all of the news items I've heard...
View ArticleWhy Encourage Mistakes?
In my first year as a leader here at SurePayroll I encouraged employees to take risks. I stressed that if employees don't make mistakes they're playing it too safe and not stretching themselves to a...
View Article1099 Reform: Where Do You Stand?
The rules governing 1099s are set to change in 2012, created a huge new burden in terms of small business record-keeping.Taking care of small business paperwork is a good chunk of my business; however,...
View ArticleLiving the New Economic Norm
The SurePayroll Small Business Scorecard numbers are in for September, and they are pretty similar to last month…and the month before that.Hiring is up one percent, bringing us to 4.3 percent...
View ArticleEmbracing the Bush Tax Cuts
One thing I continually tell my employees here at SurePayroll is to slow down before you speed up. Rush jobs come up, but in almost every case, taking the time to gather the facts, analyze the issue...
View ArticleFlat Lined into the Election
The markets may have seen movement in October but Main Street hasn't. The SurePayroll Small Business Scorecard results are in, showing near flat month-over-month small business hiring and paycheck...
View Article3 Secrets of Successful Sales Quotas
There's something I've learned in the last 10 years as President of a growing small business that you probably won't hear elsewhere: For burgeoning small businesses, establishing a sales quota is more...
View ArticleWhat Businesses Can Give Thanks For
Entrepreneurs are America's chief optimists. But I'll readily admit that the past couple years have made even the most positive small business owners wonder how much longer they can still look at the...
View ArticleEconomy Remains Static, Competition Rises
November's SurePayroll Small Business Scorecard numbers are in and, as expected, we remain at the bottom of our L-shaped recovery. Hiring is down a tenth of a point over last month, bringing us to 4.2...
View Article2 Keys to Playing Big in 2011
Call it a hometown kick, but lately I've found a lot of inspiration in all things Chicago. Even in a tough economy, the Windy City is poised to take the reins as the next Silicon Valley. And its past...
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