Small business owners might be overlooked, but their businesses are still businesses.

Despite what you might have heard, it isn’t all doom and gloom in the business world today. In fact, more and more businesses are reaching out and acknowledging they need help to avoid closing their doors. This might seem like a bad thing to them…but it’s actually a good thing.

Business owners are acknowledging that they need to be held accountable, and so the only chance of failure is if the business owner doesn’t work to achieve their goals. If you have even mentioned once that you are losing money, or missing out on sales you owe it to yourself to invest some of your time learning how your business can reach its full potential.

Interested in learning more? Click here.

Will the small business bill be enough for small businesses?

As the weather turns cool and America faces a mid-tern election cycle in November, the question remains, which party is better for the economy? There is little doubt that the biggest topic in this year’s election is the economy.

So, is the Republican Party correct when it says President Obama’s policies are the reasons we are stuck in this recession? Or is it the Democrats who have the plan to get America moving in the right direction, if partisan politics didn’t stand in the way? To many moderates, both parties seem more concerned with winning elections rather than improving the situation Americans find themselves in.

We find another case study in the two-party system and its effects on the economy when we look at the current small business bill put forward by President Obama and waiting for Senate approval.

The bill currently stuck in the Senate authorizes the creation of a $30 billion lending fund. The Treasury Department would run the program, which would deliver cheap capital to community banks.

The idea is to stimulate community banks based on the theory that they do the bulk of lending to small businesses in their localities.

Other important areas of the bill would provide $12 billion of tax relief for small businesses between 2010 and 2020, based on an estimate from the Joint Committee on Taxation.

The bill also increases Small Business Administration loan limits and extends loan sweeteners through the end of 2010. It offers several tax cuts for small businesses, to both encourage investment and entrepreneurship.

The legislation also provides $1.5 billion in grants to state lending programs that can’t rely on depleted states for more cash. Critics of the bill say it doesn’t go far enough and won’t have a big enough affect on the economy to create jobs.

What do you think of the administration’s attempt to stimulate the economy? Is it too much or too little? What do you think are the underlying reasons for the stagnant economy?

Encouragingly, Americans have increased their spending without dipping into their savings or taking on more debt. The savings rate has been relatively steady at around 6% of disposable incomes, much better than the 2% we were saving when the credit bubble was in full bloom five years ago.

But that doesn’t mean American consumers aren’t shopping without a care, as they usually do coming out of recessions. We blogged about this earlier; wage growth has been tepid at best, and aggregate incomes are still too dependent on transfer payments from the government.

But progress can be seen in the data: after years of acting irresponsibly, American consumers are slowly getting their lives together, reducing their debts and increasing their savings. The percentage of their disposable incomes that goes toward debt service is the smallest in 10 years.

Americans are relearning thrift, just when the broader economy could use a little irresponsible spending to supercharge the recovery. In the longer run, those habits of thrift will benefit.

Are you thrifty about more than you were a few years ago, or less thrifty?

What's in a name? The name of your business is important.

Shakespeare said “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” but what about when it comes to naming a business? Finding the right name is incredibly important for any business that wants to come up smelling like a rose.

The wrong name can hurt a business. The wrong name can drive customers away, make customers question what you sell or even cause serious legal issues for small businesses.

There are some questions a small business owner should ask themselves when considering what to name their company: Is the name inviting to potential customers? Does it make it easy to know what services are provided? Does it speak to the geographic areas serviced? Does the business’ name make sense? Does it help evoke the proper image?

After finding a name that fills those criteria, it is vitally important for business owners to know whether the name chosen is available for your company. Sure, the web domain name might be available, but that doesn’t mean another company isn’t already using that name for their business.

Picking a name out of the air without proper research can lead to legal and financial troubles for small businesses. No company wants to spend hours of company time as well as thousands of dollars promoting and marketing a business, just to have to change the campaign due to naming issues. Think of all the wasted resources that can be used in better ways.

If small businesses fail to do their proper research when naming themselves, they run the risk of failing to reach their customers while possibly losing valuable resources like time and money.

What factors do you consider when naming a business? Have you run into naming pitfalls in your business?

Before working with ActionCOACH, Bryce Robb, owner of Beaver Tree Services, had a decent business but he was having a hard time taking it to the next level. Since working with ActionCOACH, Bryce has generated larger than expected profits and has also started another company. Within 6 months of working with ActionCOACH, Bryce was able to buy his own office building. Watch the video to find out how.

Tony Hayward -- shipped off to Siberia?

BP is shipping Tony Hayward off to Siberia. While it sounds like a punishment, it might not be.

Hayward will step down from his CEO position in October, and Robert Dudley, an American, will take over. Dudley has been overseeing oil spill efforts, and he will likely continue with that in his new role as CEO.

Hayward isn’t leaving BP, however…he’ll reportedly be taking a post at TNK-BP, the company’s joint venture in Russia.

It’s not yet clear what Hayward’s role will be with TNK-BP, but the job suggests BP still holds more faith in Hayward than much of the U.S. public and political establishment do. Analysts consider the Russian venture one of BP’s crown jewels; it accounts for a quarter of the company’s production.

The general public all over the world might not be happy to hear this, but is it a good thing when companies give employees who screwed up — and in this case, big time — a second chance?

Solar power now makes financial sense for small businesses.

Energy is a big issue in the modern world. How can we find the right kind of fuel to satisfy our growing needs, while keeping the world a healthy, safe place for the generations to come? Green, renewable energy sources are the answer, but installing and using renewable energy just doesn’t seem to make financial sense for small businesses, until now.

Clarion Power, a Seattle based power company is planning on distributing the first plug-in solar power system to the market in 2011. The cornerstone of the power system will be plug-in solar panels which will cost as little as $600, according to reports published on CNN.com.

The plug-in solar panels will be able to fit into normal power outlets, but instead of taking energy, the panels will give energy back to the power system, saving the user money and relieving pressure on the existing grid.

This development could be huge for small businesses looking to differentiate themselves from the competition.

Green technology is hot and companies can create positive word of mouth if they have the ability and inclination to eschew mass power and create a self-sustaining power system.

The problem has been that building a solar power source is expensive and can be a massive undertaking. It often takes fields of solar panels to power relatively small urban areas.

This new product seems to alleviate much of that problem, because individuals and businesses will be able to control their own use of solar power, while contributing power they don’t use back to the public at large.

If this new system works as promised, companies could use solar power as a way to generate revenue, while at the same time, saving money.

Do you think your business could use a smaller solar power system for your power needs. Do you think your business would have extra challenges because of using green power or could it help build your customer base and bottom line?

Derren Brown gets people to do what he wants by using NLP.

Marketing and advertising is very important in business – you want your company stuck in potential customers’ heads, and still stuck there for repeat business.

Derren Brown is a hypnotist, and he plays a trick on two men who work in a big London advertising agency. Using neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), a controversial approach to psychotherapy and “making” people change by using a model of interpersonal communication that deals with patterns of behaviour and the subjective experiences, especially thought patterns, underlying them and “a system of alternative therapy based on this which seeks to educate people in self-awareness and effective communication, and to change their patterns of mental and emotional behaviour,” according to Wikipedia.

You’ll see in the video the great lengths Brown went to put a subliminal message in both their minds – which, unfortunately, we all can’t do – but it proves how the power of advertising and having something everywhere that relates to your company really is powerful.

Entering into a start-up can be scary and hard work...but also rewarding.

Because of the slumping economy in the US, we’ve seen a growing number of prospective entrepreneurs looking to start-up their own businesses. Times may be tough but the “American Dream” is alive, as more Americans than ever are starting their own businesses, and often on a shoe-string budget.

More and more start-ups are beginning at home, but with the right planning they can yield massive rewards down the road. Generating a start-up business is not easy, especially in this day and age of economic uncertainty and tighter lending, but with the right plan and attitude it can be done.

Unfortunately, many Americans don’t feel starting their own business is realistic because they don’t have the money to invest. Sure, buying into a franchise or opening a clothing store can cost a pretty penny, but how much money does a person need to produce a product at home and find ways to market it?

It probably wouldn’t cost as much money as one might think. With a solid idea or product, the process should cost more in time than in money.

So what are entrepreneurs doing to get the start-ups off the ground without a large amount of capital?

First of all, they are willing to work hard and delay gratification. It may only cost $100 to get started, but it will also cost exponentially more in time and effort. A business, especially one in the beginning stages, is a full-time job with very few days off and it will usually take years to reap the rewards for this hard work (unless an ActionCOACH Business Coach is hired to help).

Secondly, be sure to use all of the free technology available to promote your business. Facebook, Twitter and other interactive databases offer literally millions of customers for any business. Starting accounts on those sites is free and can provide much of the marketing your business needs to generate a solid customer base.

In fact, the technology boom over the last decade or so has made it easier than ever for anybody to start their own business and grow it without having to spend a fortune, primarily thanks to these interactive databases.

What are some ways you generated capital for your start-up?

Find some great free business advice and tools, like eBooks or white papers, to help with any business, not just start-ups, or to see what an ActionCOACH Business Coach could do for your business, click here.

Bill Law, owner of Law’s Country Kennel, started his business as a facility for people to leave pets while away from home. Since working with ActionCOACH, Bill has put vision, mission and culture into place and has used the ActionCOACH “Hiring Sysytem” to hire the perfect candidates. With the help of his ActionCOACH, Bill has also learned how to test and measure his lead generating strategies, average dollar sales and number of transactions. Bill loved the number of resources that ActionCOACH provides…listen above!