Small Business

A business plan is an indispensable management and operating tool for using your time, capital and energy most effectively. The plan of action for building a successful small business examines the environment where you expect your business to operate, including potential problems, cyclical trends and growth opportunities. If you plan to seek financing, it is certain that a lender will require a business plan as part of the loan application. Putting your objectives in writing as you build a business plan also forces you to think realistically about sales, expenses and short- and long-term goals.

Everyone has a bad day now and then. If you are not careful, those bad days can become the norm rather than the exception for your small business. Without a positive attitude among everyone involved - including your own - a business can suffer. Employees with poor attitudes can affect customers and discourage other workers from doing their best. Customers can sense when a person helping them is indifferent about his work and may wonder if it extends throughout the company. When examining employee attitudes, start with your own. Respect your employees' dignity.

In many American households personal and business spending are intertwined. So smart spending on your small business can mean more dollars falling to your household's bottom line. Whether it's full-time home-based businesses, part-time eBay businesses, Internet storefronts or occasional freelancing, millions of Americans have business-related spending. Of the nation's 25 million firms nearly 20 million have no employees besides the owner, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. One key to small-business success is to be a penny-pincher, said Gene Marks, author of several books, including the Streetwise Small Business Book of Lists: Hundreds of Lists to Help You Reduce Costs, Increase Revenues and Boost Your Profits.

Small business owners in south Anne Arundel County are banding together to form a nonprofit agency to serve as champion for the independent, mom-and-pop stores that are a staple in this still mostly rural area.Despite a temporary moratorium on rezoning proposals that affects all but the most northern portions of the county, south Arundel business leaders say they have seen the writing on the wall when it comes to development."I've dedicated my life to this," said Weems W. Duvall Jr., a Churchton lawyer who has long battled proposals for development in the area.

One of William Couper's most exciting moments as a young banker in Washington was catching the latest scuttlebutt about Watergate from Woodward and Bernstein. The duo kept their notes in his vault at the bank.But his biggest thrill in the business was the day he was named president of NationsBank's greater Baltimore region.While Couper has worked for large banks, including MNC Financial Inc. and American Security Bank in Washington, none had the clout of NationsBank, which controls at least 18 percent of the Baltimore market, and is the country's fifth largest banking concern.

For many small businesses, bank loans, venture capital and money from angel investors are financing long shots at best. It is far more common for a small business to secure funds from family members or even friends. Availability is the big draw. The downside is that business loans from family and friends also can be a disaster if they are not handled properly. Unstructured or loosely structured financing and pay back terms can haunt both sides in the future. Research shows that 14 percent of business loans from family and friends go into default, compared with about 1 percent for bank loans.

Is your small business stuck in a rut? Perhaps your customers no longer seem excited and your staff isn't offering fresh ideas. Or maybe competition is giving you fits. This could be a good time for a business makeover. What is most important is to find ways to breathe new life into your profits and get the business back on track. Small, agile businesses have an advantage because you can move quickly to spot evolving conditions and to execute changes. Dig for details about your products or services, marketing and sales efforts, customer service, competition and more.

Many small businesses waste money on routine expenditures simply because they don't pay attention. And while money spent on shipping, office supplies, service contracts, Internet and others might fall into the category of "small stuff" for some businesses, these routine items can be costly. It is important to establish smart buying habits to protect your profits. The steps you can take are not complicated and do not require fancy financial formulas. When it comes to cutting costs, common sense prevails.

Maryland legislators, struggling with a huge budget deficit, are close to cutting or even eliminating the state's primary loan program for small and minority-owned businesses, a move some warned would hurt the state's most vulnerable businesses. The House of Delegates has already voted to eliminate the Maryland Competitive Advantage Financing Fund, a $1 million program that provides loans to companies with sales of less than $1 million or fewer than 100 employees. The Senate has voted to keep the program, which is administered by the Department of Business and Economic Development, but cut its funding from $1 million to $375,000.

Project VisionShare is a nonprofit, but the organization is in line to help entrepreneurs make more money. The newly formed organization, which will have an official launch at Oakland Manor on Wednesday, is an incubator without walls, created to help entrepreneurs form their business ideas and get money to help keep their fledgling businesses running. The program, founded by Brian J. McIntyre, will provide entrepreneurs in any field with low- or no-interest loans up to $25,000, business courses and mentoring support over a two-year period.