Small business news - CNNMoney.com

No oil on the beach. No tourists, either

Tue, 03 Aug 2010 08:16:19 EDT

Tourists have been acting like the beaches of the Florida Panhandle are covered by oil, and for communities like Destin, their absence hurts.

Florida bets on Feinberg

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 16:47:02 EDT

Business owners in Florida believe Kenneth Feinberg will manage the $20 billion oil spill claims fund fairly and efficiently, but because of the complicated nature of their claims, they're anxious about how much they'll get paid.

100 days after the spill: Feinberg in Florida

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 08:39:13 EDT

Wednesday marks the 100th day since the oil spill began, and business owners across the Gulf Coast who've seen the tourists they depend on disappear hope that somehow the next 100 days will get better.

How debt led to sales of $1 million

Tue, 03 Aug 2010 14:44:19 EDT

For 12 years, Andrea Herrera played it safe and stayed out of debt.

Babysitters for backyard chickens

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 09:20:50 EDT

You've heard of cat-sitters, dog-sitters and, of course, babysitters. But chicken-sitters?

Spill czar: 'It's my call'

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 04:23:00 EDT

For Gulf businesses wondering if their oil spill claims will be paid, there's one guy who'll decide -- Kenneth Feinberg, the former special master of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund.

The Honest Tea guys look back

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 11:20:59 EDT

In September 1997, I went for a run with a friend in New York City. We both wanted a tasty post-exercise drink, but everything on the market was too sweet.

The wrong fix for small biz lending

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 09:21:06 EDT

In a speech last week, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said banks across the country are systematically denying loan requests from financially credible small businesses. Bernanke implored community banks to lend more to small businesses, saying they are "crucial to America's recovery."

Pawning the family heirlooms

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 12:30:03 EDT

You might be forgiven if you don't place pawnshops in the vanguard of environmental sophistication. But don't sell them short. "We're the original recyclers," says Beverly Hornstein, who works in her husband Donald's pawnshop, Littman's, which has been a fixture in downtown Norfolk, Va., for 118 years.

BP claims centers hit the road

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 10:27:21 EDT

Embattled oil giant BP plans to unveil a mobile claims office in Louisiana on Tuesday, according to a statement from the company.

Auto dealers shut down too fast

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 09:21:00 EDT

Automakers GM and Chrysler were pressured to quickly close hundreds of dealerships by the Treasury department without regard for the job losses that would result, according to a government watchdog report out Sunday.

Florida: BP's next big mess

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 14:43:00 EDT

Oil just stopped gushing out of the leak on the ocean floor Thursday, but its impact in Florida has only just begun to surface.

Want a loan? Hit the plastic

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 15:25:45 EDT

On Monday Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke took up the growing issue of lack of lending to small businesses by banks, and the havoc it's causing in the economy. Lending to small businesses contracted by $40 billion for the first quarter of 2010 as compared to 2008. Only a third to half of small businesses were able to secure a loan or line of credit in 2009. And Small Business Administration lending all but disappeared in June, thanks to the end of a popular stimulus program. Because of the dry-up, Bernanke said small businesses "have had difficulty obtaining the credit that they need to expand and, in some cases, even to continue operating."

5 strategies for global expansion

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 06:18:37 EDT

Eric Zuziak reckons that the Chinese middle class saved him from ruin. Before the real estate bust of the past four years, a company in Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu province in China, noticed on Zuziak's website all the design awards his architectural firm, JZMK Partners, had won. It then hired Zuziak to design a residential community in Nanjing. Business from Costa Rica to Qatar soon followed. No worries about the real estate crash, says Zuziak, who now generates 85% of his $4 million in sales overseas. His secret? He and his Irvine, Calif.-based company work with market researchers to target countries such as China, of course, that have lots of consumers with money to burn. Here's what I think you should be doing to ramp up your own global business.

Bernanke: $40B in loans disappears

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 12:43:24 EDT

In the last two years, $40 billion worth of loans to small business loans have evaporated, and correcting the problem should be "front and center among our current policy challenges," said Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, in a speech Monday.

When potholes swallow shoppers

Tue, 25 May 2010 18:29:21 EDT

Whether it's road resurfacing, sidewalk repairs or a sewer upgrade, public works projects can wreak havoc on local businesses -- and thanks to stimulus money, 2010 has been full of them.

Founders cash out with ESOPs

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 11:23:01 EDT

On his 81st birthday, entrepreneur Bob Moore signed the papers to hand nearly a third of his company over to his 200 employees. But it's a gift Moore and his three partners hope will pay off for them as well: By launching an employee stock ownership plan, they're creating an exit strategy for themselves from the business they've spent the past three decades building.

Why a $14/hour worker costs $20

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 11:24:28 EDT

You probably cost your boss a lot more than you think you do.

Control the cloud

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:58:18 EST

For years the online-software company HotSchedules had its head in the clouds.

Save $: Sign on the virtual line

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 07:22:02 EST

Looking for a business challenge? Try getting seven people in as many locations to sign a 45-page contract.