President Bush urged Congress last night to quickly push through a stimulus package. But do you guys need one? I'm talking to all of you small business owners and entrepreneurs.

Health care reform would probably do more to help you all, I know, but at least Congress and the White House are planning to throw you a bone as part of the stimulus package.

Small business advocacy groups seem happy with the bone, which includes tax provisions for small firms.

"We are very pleased that the deal announced today includes many of the key tax provisions which NFIB listed as our top priorities for any economic stimulus package," says Dan Danner, executive vice president of the National Federation of Independent Business.

But do you need to be stimulated?

Ron Edmonds / AP file

Here's what the government's economy spurring packages has in store for all of you, according to NFIB:

* Increasing the dollar amount for small-business expensing limits. This will allow small-business owners to immediately write off business purchases and will help small-business owners expand their businesses. Allowing immediate expensing is an incentive for small-business owners to make investments in their business and can be more valuable than depreciating the investment over a long period of time.

* A 50 percent bonus depreciation deduction. This proposal provides an additional one-year depreciation deduction value to 50 percent of the value of the property. Bonus depreciation is an incentive for businesses to invest in their business now, providing an immediate deduction for half the cost of the investment.

A nice little pick-me-up for sure, if indeed it were needed.

In one survey of 2000 small businesses by Information Strategies, most respondents said the economy was doing badly. But, when asked how they were doing, 92 percent said things were pretty good and there was little or no fallout from the housing crisis.

But that doesn't mean small companies can't always use a hand.

"The real key is to get the speculators out of the oil market and bring down the price of [gasoline] 20 cents.  That will really help," says JoAnn Laing, president and CEO of Information Strategies, publisher of the Small Business Digest.
 
Also, she adds, "Small businesses cater to the consumer side of the economy more than many realize.  Two-thirds of our economy is tied up in consumer-driven side.  If people were given confidence that things were going to be okay, (hard to do in an election year) a lot of worries would go away."

So, getting people to believe the economy is sound would go a long way in helping small business owners, she maintains.

"If you take away the jitters on Wall Street and the fact that a lot of people got rich scamming poor people who wanted a home, other parts of the economy are doing well.  Remember Franklin Roosevelt's first fireside chat.  'I give you my word that the banks are sound' he told the people, and they believed him.  The banking crisis went away."

Can you guys picture George Bush chatting to the nation as he sits by a roaring fire?

It would be a lot easier than trying to get the Republicans and Democrats to decides on how much money to hand out or how many tax cuts to make, that's for sure.

This past weekend I got it in my head to finally use that fondue pot my sister-in-law and brother-in-law gave us for Christmas. Well, actually, they gave it to us three Christmases ago.

It was cold outside and the kids were restless. What better way to make everyone happy than a big hot pot of melted cheese and simmering beef broth, and lots of stuff to dip into them.

I set out to buy many of the ingredients I would need from local businesses. By local, I don't mean the big supermarket chains that line the busy thoroughfare near my neighborhood. I mean I wanted to buy as much as I could from my neighbors with no ties to conglomerates.

Little did I know I was part of a growing trend, a trend that's actually boosting business for local retailers.

I went to the butcher to get beef broth and filet mignon. (He actually cut the meat up in cubes for my fondue.) I went to a small family run farm to get the vegetables. I went to the neighborhood liquor store to get the wine for the cheese fondue. And, I went to a small bakery to get a French bread for dipping.

While I was driving around town going from store to store, I wondered if I was nuts trying so hard to buy local.

Turns out I'm not the only nut.

Independent merchants are seeing a growth in the desire among their customers to buy local, according to a nationwide survey of more than 1,300 independent retailers.
The survey -- commissioned by the Independent Business Forum, a trade association network, and administered by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance -- found that even in during these tough economic times, small businesses are doing OK, especially when they play up  "their local ownership and community roots."

"We're seeing the beginnings of a shift in people's shopping choices, particularly in places where 'buy local' campaigns have brought this to the forefront of public consciousness.  'Locally owned' is following in the footsteps of 'organic' as people look for ways to support a more sustainable economy and revitalize their communities," said Stacy Mitchell, author of "Big-Box Swindle" and senior researcher for the Institute for Local Self-Reliance.

In those cities that had "Buy Local" campaigns, small retailers reported better holiday sales than those merchants in cities that had no such initiatives.

What's getting more people thinking local, are the growing movements to eat healthier and books like Michael Pollan's "The Omnivore's Dilemma", that looks at how our food is grown and what we're eating. His book is a must read if you ever wondered what the heck you were putting in your mouth.

I came across a Q&A with the author at environmental news site, Grist, where he addresses the issue of local food.

Pollan answered a question about the growing desire for local foods:  "People have looked to food for all these values for thousands of years -- food was a way to come together, it was a way to express your identity, it was a way to engage with nature -- food has always had this power. And I think we've had a kind of temporary forgetting of that, and this idea that food is just fuel, food is about health or illness, these very simplistic, reductive ideas have kind of thinned out the whole experience. But there's a desire to thicken it again, and lo and behold food is providing all these satisfactions that people were missing."

And surely, the local butcher, the baker and candlestick maker are all missing you.

Many moons ago when I was working for a daily newspaper there was a columnist there who would always write his best columns after a three or four martini lunch.

Many of us in the newsroom would say, after reading a particularly witty column, "He must have really tied one on at lunch."

And, at a fashion publication I wrote for, one of the big time editors there would keep a bottle of whisky in his top drawer, "just in case."

I never found out what he meant by just in case. I figured there were probably a lot of just in cases in his day.

Alas, behavior like that is a thing of the past with only about 7 percent of American workers saying they drink during the workday, according to a University of Buffalo study.

But should entrepreneurs abstain? Can't they do what ever they want? They are their own bosses after all.

BusinessWire

Can a glass of wine, or dry martini help you be more productive, or more relaxed when it comes to business deals?

Don't get excited. I haven't found any research yet that says a bit of alcohol makes you a better businessperson, or a better anything frankly. On the flip side, there isn't a lot of research that points to a lack of entrepreneurial success if you drink either.

So what is an entrepreneur, who is also fond of libations, to do?

Most experts say stay away.

During business lunches, don't drink unless your clients want to partake as well, says Robin Jay, a Las Vegas career coach and author of "The Art of the Business Lunch."

If you don't like to drink but know you'll be taking out a client who's a boozer, Jay recommends you go to the restaurant before hand and tell the wait staff that when you ask for a vodka and tonic you want them to give you a club soda with a lime. That way, you don't make the client feel uncomfortable while you're teetotalling.

What about honesty being the best policy?

Jay likens it to lying when someone asks you if their butt looks too big in a pair of pants.

But what's wrong with one drink if you're nervous and want to relax, especially if you're meeting with that big client?

"Alcohol makes you sloppy," Jay says.

Sometimes sloppy is a great business strategy.

I came across a blog written by an Internet entrepreneur in Amsterdam who makes a case for being hung-over when you go into negotiations.

"I found myself in a bar, in Monaco, together with my business partners and a lawyer. We were slowly getting drunk. Since we were planning to sell our company for millions the next day I asked the lawyer if we shouldn't try to stay sober to avoid a hangover. He replied that the best way to go into a negotiation is with a hangover.

His theory: The unpleasant physical effects following the heavy use of alcohol actually work to your advantage during a tough negotiation. Seemingly uninterested you will be slouched in your chair, responding slowly and talking softly and looking generally unhappy with whatever the other party proposes."

Might be something to this strategy.

So, back to that University of Buffalo report. Guess who is most likely to be drinking during work hours? Single men, including managers, salespeople, restaurant workers and ... people in the media.

What's your take? Do you drink up during lunch?

Ha! Made you look.

I'm not trying to anger all of you out there, but when it comes to business, men want to be in control, while women are the nurturers and consensus builders.

I don't think that's the case in all situations, but the idea is drummed into our heads day in and day out!

Yet another survey points to just this phenomenon among entrepreneurs.

"Small business owners want to control their destiny," says Sastry Rachakonda, director of Discover's business credit card, which polled 1000 small business owners with five employees or less in its monthly Discover Small Business Watch is a monthly survey. "However, men and women do this in different ways. For men, it is about being in control and being their own bosses, while for women, it is about having more flexibility with their time."

The business owners were asked what was the biggest reason they became entrepreneurs and among the women polled, 32 percent had flexibility at the top of their lists, while only 17 percent said it was all about being your own boss. On the other hand, 27 percent of men put independence at the top and 24 percent said flexibility was the key.

When it came to decision-making, "77 percent of men said that they make most business decisions on their own, compared to 72 percent of women who said the same. Similarly, more women than men, 28 percent to 23 percent, allow employees and associates to participate in business decisions."

So which one of the genders is doing it right?

There's nothing wrong with consensus building. But sometimes you have to take the bull by its horns.

Who will be more successful? That's the main question.

"I can't say either gender has any distinct advantages through their preferred approaches to things like decision-making and networking," Rachakonda explains. "Success in running a small business is more about having done your homework, securing the necessary financing, setting realistic expectations, and most of all, having the aptitude to handle constant change."

With all this talk about gender differences, the poll did find some similarities, and you're not going to believe in what area…worklife balance.

Turns out, 81 percent of both sexes surveyed says they were balancing work and home life either "pretty well" or "very well."

About 15 percent of those polled answered "not so well" to that question and 3 percent said the balancing act was going "badly."

"The results seem to indicate that the vast majority of small business owners, led by their independence and flexibility, are finding the kind of time they need to spend with their families or with interests outside of work," Rachakonda explains.

Hey, I guess that's what really matters, no?

It's time to trip over the next big idea.

Get out of the office. Get out of the house. Head out into the world.

That's how many entrepreneurs found the big brands -- like Burt's Bees and Clif Bar -- that made them rich.

At least that's the belief of David Vinjamuri, author of the forthcoming book "Accidental Branding: How Ordinary People Build Extraordinary Brands", and president of ThirdWay Brandtrainers, a marketing training company in New York.

Gary Erickson, the owner of Clif Bar went out on what he thought would be a 120-mile bike trip one day that turned into a 170-mile journey, and ended up eating so many Power Bars he finally choked on the last one. "He spit it out because it tasted like glue," says Vinjamuri who interviewed the entrepreneur for his book.

And, Vinjamuri adds, Roxanne Quimby, founder of Burt's Bees, was hitchhiking to the post office to check her mail when she got a ride from Burt Shavitz, a guy who Quimby recognized because he sold honey at the side of the road.

Eventually, Roxanne asked Burt if she could help him out over the summer so she could learn how to keep bees, according to his book, and the rest is history. Burt and Roxanne found that they had 3,000 pounds of honey and several hundred pounds of beeswax to sell.

She started out by putting the honey into smaller jars (instead of the one-gallon pickle jars Burt was using), increasing the price and decorating the jars.

Soon the ideas evolved to candles then shoe polish and then lip balm. That exploded into a personal care products bee empire. The company was eventually sold for $175 million.

In the book, Quimby makes some great points about finding a niche:

"You have to be really open-minded about what business you are in. You might not know what business you are in for a while. Your customer will pretty much define that for you if you're open to their suggestions."

After doing his research for the book, Vinjamuri has some advise for all the budding entrepreneurs out there: "First of all, be your own customer. Don't try to solve someone else's problem. Solve your own," he explains.

So go out into the world people. You never know who or what you'll end up tripping over.

Earlier this week, I wrote a blog post on how small business owners were bucking the trend and actually hiring or looking to hire more workers this year.

The big problem was finding qualified applicants.

Some of you pointed out the double meaning in the headline I wrote:
Small Business Owners Are Hiring Junkies.

My friends, I meant you guys were in a hiring frenzy, not that you were hiring drug addicts.

One reader opened my eyes: "BTW, loved the (presumably unintentional) pun in the headline on your blog today. We knew it's gotten tough to find help, but didn't know we'd stooped to that level. :-)"

So many small company owners tell me finding the right person for a job can be next to impossible these days but it hasn't gotten that bad, not yet.

"Yes, small business is hiring," says Scott George, CEO of Mid-America Dental & Hearing Center in Mt. Vernon, MO. "We need five-six people trained and ready to go by March 1st to keep up with increased number of providers."

But, he adds, "it's not likely to happen, we will do our best to adjust."

I asked him what the problem was.

"We live in a small town between two major cities. Plus, low unemployment rates locally and statewide," he explains. "We just don't get enough qualified applicants. Hiring rookies and training them is usually our best bet."

Not only are business people in small towns feeling the squeeze. I was in Houston this past weekend seeing family, and my cousin, who's shop foreman for oil-drilling parts maker named High Tech Machine in Houston, has a similar problem.

He's desperately trying to find skilled machinists; and these guys can make as much as $30 an hour.

Why can't he find enough people to fill these high-paying gigs?

"Kids today don't want to get dirty," he says. "They look at the work and say 'it's too difficult.'"

It's so bad, companies in his industry are trying to snag workers from each other; and of course, many are going overseas to have the work done.

My cousin says he's trying to keep everything local, but things are expected to get worse in the years ahead as the machinists who are in their 40s and 50s retire.

So what is an entrepreneur to do?

One thing is to make the most of the people that are coming through your doors with resumes.

Here's some tips on hiring productive workers from Alan Nierenberg with recruiting company People Options in Wilton, Connecticut:

* Prepare a job description that lists the skills / experiences required to be successful.

* For each required skill/experience, prepare a question that begins with "Describe" or "How".  For example, if developing new products is required for a marketing position, then ask, "Describe the process you followed to develop and launch a successful product".  

* The hiring manager should counsel other company interviewers on this form of interviewing and ensure all job requirements are discussed during the interview.

* One final assessment that's extremely important for small company managers is to answer the question "Do I like this person and would I enjoy working with him/her".

And don't hire junkies!

With all the doom and gloom out there about the jobs outlook, small businesses appear to be thumbing their noses at economists and reporters like me.

I did a story about how hard it's going to be to find a job this year for my Your Career column yesterday, but it looks like it will be easier for people who are open to working at smaller firms.

A national report put out late last week found that businesses with 50 employees or fewer are in a hiring frenzy, at least compared to their larger company counterparts.

Are small business owners living in an alternate universe?

Amy Sancetta / AP

"Not if you consider 51 percent of the GDP, excluding government, an alternate universe," quips Bill Dunkelberg, chief economist for the National Federation of Independent Business.

 So, even economists can be funny. Who knew?

Dunkelberg's theory on why small companies are hiring even though the big guys are not, is simple. Larger firms do the bulk of manufacturing in this country, and small businesses typically are more service-sector focused.

Since manufacturing has been hit with a big stick, that's were job declines are expected.
"People are still going to the local hardware store and getting their nails done," he says, so small companies need to keep hiring.

When the scary numbers about jobs emerge, he adds, that's typically focused on the big companies not smaller ones. "I think we're out in a part of the economy that is major but boring," he surmised.

OK, here's how the job growth numbers shake out, according to the ADP National Employment Report:

Total non-farm private job creation among all business, large and small, rose 40,000 in December. But when you break down the data, small companies generated more jobs than that. Turns out the number of jobs dropped 35,000 among large businesses, but increased 9,000 among medium sized business, and skyrocketed 66,000 among the little guys.

"Throughout the year, small businesses have been the main driver of employment growth, adding a total 716,000 jobs during 2007," says Joel Prakken, chairman of Macroeconomic Advisers. "In eleven of the past twelve months, small businesses added more jobs than medium- and large-size businesses combined."

But that doesn't mean small businesses are walking on easy street. Dunkelberg does admit small firm hiring is weak compared to 2003. Only 11 percent of the NFIB members polled last month said they planned on increasing their hiring, down from 20 percent in 2003.

If you are planning on pumping up your worker ranks, remember to take it slow. Hiring new employees can be one of the best and worst things you ever do.

I have gotten an earful from business owners about the problems they've encountered when they first starting hiring workers, outside their family members.

There's a great nuts and bolts review of hiring for small business owners at the IRS website.

As for finding qualified applicants, that's one of the nagging headaches for small companies.

Among the 50 percent of small business owners who tried to hire people last month, 80 percent said they were few or no qualified applicants, Dunkelberg says about a recent NFIB report.

The NFIB is working on a report on what exactly is wrong with the applicants out there and will release that in the next few months.

Meanwhile can you all share some of your experiences in the hiring trenches? What are job applicants like out there – lazy, stupid, crazy?

It took the federal government almost seven years to finally submit a proposed rule that would help women-owned small businesses get a level playing field when it came to the federal contracting procurement process.

Some argue -- most notably the sponsor of the original bill in 2000 -- the new rule doesn't go far enough to help women business owners.

Rep. Nydia M. Velazquez (D-N.Y.), the chairwoman House Committee on Small Business, sponsored the "Equity in Contracting for Women Act of 2000" that created the Women's Procurement Program as a way to give women some needed traction when it came to competing for government jobs.

But the program never passed go, mainly because the federal government spent years reviewing and assessing how the plan would be implemented.

Even in the government's own Q&A that accompanied the announcement last week by the Small Business Administration, the long time delay gets top billing:

"Q. Why did it take so long to implement these procedures given that Congress passed the law authorizing them in 2000?

A. Supreme Court decisions require legislative findings to justify a gender-based preferences program such as the Women-Owned Small Business Contracting Procedures. In general, set-asides and other preference programs are subject to a high degree of Constitutional scrutiny and require careful study and thorough justification. For this set-aside, Congress delegated the complex and controversial responsibility to SBA — we believe a first for a federal agency.
 
Understanding this hurdle, SBA did attempt timely implementation. The agency completed its initial study in 2001, but during the review process substantial questions were raised, which necessitated an independent review by the National Academy of Sciences. Following the conclusion of this review, SBA contracted with the RAND Corporation, which specializes in government studies, to perform a new analysis, which provides the basis of the proposed rule."

Velazquez saw the delays as merely stalling tactics.

But now that the procedures are on the table, will it mean women entrepreneurs will finally find parity when playing in the government-contracting arena?

Not quite, Velazquez argues.

"After nearly seven years of studies, delays and empty promises, the Administration had a chance today to finally show its commitment to women-owned firms – unfortunately, this did not happen," says Velázquez. "These entrepreneurs are being shut out of billions of dollars in federal contracting opportunities, yet their concerns are falling on deaf ears. This is extremely disheartening and it cannot continue."

What's got her angry is that the government has limited the number of industries where the program can be implemented to four including, national security and international affairs; coating, engraving, heat treating and allied activities; household and institutional furniture and kitchen cabinet making; and motor vehicle dealers.

After a "rigorous process" of review, the SBA says these were the four industries where women-owned business were underrepresented.

Velazquez is crying foul. "To suggest that the only women who deserve support are in industries as small as kitchen cabinet manufacturing is downright insulting," she explains. "The Administration needs to go back to the drawing board and come up with an effective program that will help ensure the success of female entrepreneurs across the country – this is what the women of America deserve and it is the right thing to do."

The House Small Business committee will hold a hearing this month to address the new procedures.

If you've got an opinion on this either way contact the SBA pronto. The agency is accepting public comment for about two months. Speak up now or shut up later when you can't get your foot in the door.