Archives
Making Payroll: The Perils of Personally Guaranteeing Business Loans
Posted Monday, March 30, 2009 - 9:49am
It isn't often that you see someone file for personal bankruptcy with debts of more than $500 million, as Edra Blixseth, the owner of Yellowstone Club in Montana, did last week. Yet even though Blixseth's situation is unusual by any measure, the proximate cause of her personal bankruptcy is something that's all too familiar to many small-business owners: signing personal guarantees for business-related debts.
(Photograph of a handshake by George Doyle/Stockbyte/Getty Creative Images)
The Googlization of Small Business
Posted Monday, March 23, 2009 - 10:55am
Google became a household word by building better Internet search technology. But today it touches my business, NewWest.Net, in all kinds of ways that have little to do with finding things online. Google, in fact, is on the brink of becoming a sort of universal information technology utility for small businesses—a great thing, for the most part, but also a little scary.
Why Small Business Hates the Taxman
Posted Monday, March 16, 2009 - 9:30am
To hear the United States Chamber of Commerce tell it, small businesses across the country are living in fear of the Obama administration's economic plan, particularly the part that would raise taxes on families making more than $250,000 a year. But I'd wager that most small businesses, starting with my own, have a very different set of concerns when it comes to taxes.
For many of us, it's not about the money. It's about the sheer hassle of compliance with the tax laws and the complete loss of control you feel when dealing with the government.
Tweet Smell of Success
Posted Monday, March 9, 2009 - 9:56am
New Internet tools and technologies are definitely a mixed blessing for many small businesses. On the one hand, they represent opportunities for innovation and getting ahead of the pack; on the other hand, they can easily become merely another thing that causes anxiety because you know you should be up to speed but you don't have the time and resources to pay sufficient attention.
Stimulus: What’s In It for Me?
Posted Monday, March 2, 2009 - 10:43am
In the rush of economic-policy news of the last few weeks, I've been watching carefully for new initiatives that might help—or hurt—my very small online business. I was hoping for (though not expecting) something along the lines of what was proposed a couple of months ago by fellow Montana entrepreneur Andrew Field: a loan program based on job creation and retention, which would give me immediate access to Small Business Administration funds.
Recent Making Payroll Posts
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Jonathan WeberOctober 12, 2009
