Word: smalls
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...challenges, small business is still bullish. As just one example, the National Federation of Independent Businesses' small-business optimism index, a measure of perceived growth prospects, rose to 102.4 in September, a jump of nearly three points from a year ago. Says NFIB chief economist Bill Dunkelberg: "Small businesses love challenge and change. There's no better time to be a small business...
Loegering is not alone in having to look for new strategies to thrive in the turn-of-the-century economy. Business is booming across America, but small business is not doing--and cannot do--business as usual. Start with the search for workers. Unemployment has dropped nationally from 7.8% in June 1992 to its current 4.2%. Add to that the challenges of meeting tough demands from Big Business customers, avoiding the pitfalls of e-commerce and financing a fledgling firm without losing control, and you've got a climate for small businesses that is at least as challenging, and sometimes...
...they manage is important for the whole country. Small businesses (those with fewer than 500 employees) make up roughly 90% of all U.S. businesses and employ 55 million Americans. According to the Bureau of the Census, 99.9% of enterprises that are born and buried each year are small firms. And the challenges to a long life expectancy are growing. While the gross domestic product of the U.S. was up 3.8% in 1997, the U.S. Small Business Administration reports that business failures increased 15.9% that year, to 83,384--the highest level since...
...Loegering's story illustrates, hiring and keeping employees is perhaps the biggest challenge to small businesses today. In a survey conducted last month by the National Association of Manufacturers, 83% of respondents said they found it extremely difficult to find and retain employees. The problem is as much quality as quantity. Says Giovanni Coratolo, director of small-business policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce: "The No. 1 challenge of small businesses in this marketplace is hiring those who have a certain amount of education...
...sister problem of hiring good employees is keeping them. Fattening employees' paychecks is not always enough to get them to stay. Says Arnold Sanow, a small-business strategist and author of Entrepreneur Boot Camp: "Money is important, but you can get a job anywhere today. Why stay where you're not appreciated...