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It can’t be said enough: Whether your small business is a start-up company or a well-established staple of your community, the United States Small Business Administration (SBA) is the first stop you should make when you’re looking for new resources or opportunities. Even if you don’t have anything specific in mind, the wealth of knowledge and the profusion of helpful advice on their site is worth acquainting yourself with.

Unfortunately, many Americans aren’t even aware of the SBA, and even fewer take interest in or advantage of all it has to offer. But it’s important to keep up with what’s going on in the SBA, especially in this time of political change. The recent shift in Congressional power means a dramatic change in leadership of the committees that control the U.S. government’s small business initiatives.

For example, Mass. Senator and former presidential candidate John Kerry is taking over as the chairman of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, which is in charge of the federal loan programs used by the SBA. (Sen. Kerry also headed the committee from 2001 to 2002.) Rep. Nydia Velazquez, a Democratic representative from New York, will chair the House Small Business Committee—the first Hispanic woman ever to preside over a full congressional committee. According to Inc.com, “She has been the ranking minority member on the committee since 1998 and a vocal opponent of miscoded federal small-business contracts awarded to large corporations, among other issues.”²

And those who may not fully support the Democrats and their mission shouldn’t fret too much: Happily, the SBA has proven to be one of Washington’s more bipartisan groups. George W. Bush’s recent nominee for deputy administrator sailed through the Senate confirmations and even won effusive praise from Sen. Kerry. (“Impressive … It’s the way it should work in America.”) That new administrator is Jovita Carranza, a Latina business executive with a 30-year track record and recipient of Hispanic Business Magazine’s 2004 Hispanic Woman of the Year award.¹ And finally, Ms. Carranza’s and Rep. Velazquez’s ascensions to power offer encouragement that the diversity of these legislative bodies is now reflecting the reality of America’s business world.

(By the way, BusinessWeek recently interviewed Rep. Velázquez. You can read it here.)

Check out the Small Business Administration’s website today—there are some interesting things going on.

Sources:

1.  United States Small Business Administration. (2006.) Senate Confirms President’s Choice of Jovita Carranza As Deputy Administrator at SBA [Electronic version]. U.S. Small Business Administration Online. Retrieved January 9, 2007 from http://sba.gov/idc/groups/public/documents/sba_homepage/news_06-62.pdf

2.  Loten, Angus. (2007, January 4.) As Democrats Seize Power, New Small-Business Leaders Emerge [Electronic version]. Inc.com. Retrieved January 9, 2007 from http://www.inc.com/criticalnews/articles/200701/congress.html

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File Manager: Improved, and Better Than Ever

• An easy-to-use interface similar to Windows Explorer, with tree navigation and a right-click menu that lets you easily cut, copy, delete, rename, paste, and much more;
• A multiple upload feature that’s compatible with directories and files (Internet Explorer users only); and
• Embedded editing for text files.

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Small Business Essentials for 2007

2007… just another year, right? Not so fast. With today’s rapidly changing technologies and political sensibilities, consumer tastes are becoming more and more diversified, and the old ways of reaching them are almost completely obsolete. But there’s good news: With new technology comes greater advantages in communications. USA Today’s Steve Strauss breaks down today’s small business landscape and offers ten important pointers for smart marketing in the new year. Miss it at your own expense!

Read full Expert Opinion article...

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Aplus.Net wins the RealMetrics #1 Shared Hosting Web Speed award for November 2006!
Aplus.Net has received the "#1 Shared Hosting Web Speed" award for November 2006 from RealMetrics, LLC, a leading Internet performance research firm. The award distinguishes Aplus.Net as the top web hosting provider in terms of web speed. Aplus.Net also won RealMetrics #1 Shared Hosting Web Speed award for October 2006 and #1 Shared Hosting 100% Uptime award for October 2006. Read more here.

Newswire and many other news sources are carrying the latest news about Aplus.Net’s corporate restructuring. (Don’t worry—there will be nothing but improvements for our customers!) Read about it here.

Learn more about our awards here…
Learn more about our news coverage here…

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Year-End Rundown

The no-brainer of the day: Running your small business is time-consuming, and your leisure time is precious. Given that fact, you probably don’t always take the time to scour the news media in search of that rare gem of a story that provides pointers on how to proceed with your business plan. That’s why we’re here. In this week’s Small Business Center, we run down some of the most interesting, insightful, and generally helpful advice articles we’ve seen recently.

• Straight from the financial wizards at Forbes comes this invaluable list of tax tips for small businesses. From deferring expenses to rounding up on your phone bill, these are the little things that add up. Read more here.²
  Want more tax advice? Check out Inc.com’s “Last-Minute Tax Savings for 2006” here.⁹
• Is your company making money? “Today every deal—indeed, every major business decision—is tested against the principle of true profit.” CNN Money delivers a great and informative article about how to make sure you’re getting the most out of your business. Check it out here.⁶
• From new environment consumer consciousness to the local effects of globalization, USA Today’s Steve Strauss offers an excellent rundown of the biggest issues facing the small business community today. Read his article, “Countdown of the biggest trends in small business,” here. Also, be sure to check out this week’s Expert Opinion for closer examination of these important topics.⁸
• What’s Your Company’s True Profit? CNN Money offers a great—and free—resource for finding out where you’re at, and where you should be. Check it out here.
• Would a blog help your business on the road to success? BusinessWeek examines this question in this column from early 2006.⁷
• Frustrated with the difficulties of raising financing for your company? Having trouble winning over investors? CNN Money offers some helpful advice: From finding “angel investors” to courting venture capital, this article lays out what it means to solve the problem of financing.³
• Forbes gives us some nice pointers on getting the right real estate for your company. Don’t overpay on your location unless it’s absolutely necessary to impress high-end clientele — a misstep on a long-term lease is one of those bottom-line mistakes that are hard to unmake. Instead, choose an up-and-coming neighborhood for maximum investment value, or sublease from a larger company. More insights and pointers can be found here.⁴
• Earlier in the year, Forbes also provided a great rundown on how the smart small business owner does thrift travel. As they say, “for entrepreneurs who need to spend their own limited funds to make a crucial business trip, snagging a free airline ticket or a discounted rental car can sometimes mean the difference between making payroll and having a lot of cranky employees.” Learn how to do just that in this article.¹
• Beware: Cyber criminals are preying more and more on small businesses in recent times, seeing them as an easier target than large corporations. BusinessWeek runs the situation down and lets you know what you can do to protect yourself in a December 2006 article. Read it here.⁵
• That computer security is absolutely essential to the success of your small business website is (hopefully) no surprise. Still, when it comes to learning more about protecting your network security, there’s always room for improvement. To that end, it may be a good idea to check out this article from the Microsoft Small Business Center, “Safeguard Your Business in 7 Steps.”¹¹
• And finally, we know that most of you can’t simply up and move to another state that has a friendlier business climate, no matter how welcoming its incentives to small businesses may be. But, on the chance that some of you can, be sure to take heed of CNN Money’s run-down of the ten states most favorable to small businesses. Read it here.¹⁰

Sources:

1.  Banay, S. (2006, March 16). Small Business Travel Guide: Getting There [Electronic version]. Forbes.com. Retrieved January 9, 2007 from http://www.forbes.com/2006/03/15/smallbiz-travel-savings-
cx_sb_0316feat_ls.html

2.  Crane, M. (2006, December 5). End-of-Year Small Business Tax Tips [Electronic version]. Forbes.com. Retrieved January 9, 2007 from http://www.forbes.com/entrepreneurs/2006/12/05/irs-small-business-
accounting-ent-law- cx_mc_1205yearendtax.html

3.  Dickler, J. (2007, January 5). Finance Your Fantasy Startup [Electronic version]. CNNMoney.com. Retrieved January 9, 2007 from http://money.cnn.com/2007/01/05/smbusiness/financing/index.htm

4.  Farrell, M. (2006, December 12). Cheap Digs For Your Small Business [Electronic version]. Forbes.com. Retrieved January 9, 2007 from http://www.forbes.com/2006/12/04/small-business-real-estate-
craigslist-ent-fin-cx_mf_1204realestate.html

5.  Gangemi, J. (2006, December 11). Cybercriminals Target Small Biz [Electronic version]. BusinessWeek.com. Retrieved January 9, 2007 from http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/dec2006/sb20061211_634627.htm?chan= smallbiz_
smallbiz+index+page_today's+top+stories

6.  Gray, P.B. (2006, November 6). What’s Your Magic Number? How to Make a True Profit [Electronic version]. CNNMoney.com. Retrieved January 9, 2007 from http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fsb/
fsb_archive/2006/ 11/01/8391420/index.htm?postversion=2006110612

7.  Klein, K.E. (2006, May 15). Does Your Small Business Need a Blog? [Electronic version]. BusinessWeek.com. Retrieved January 9, 2007 from http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/
content/may2006/ sb20060515_027053.htm

8.  Strauss, S. (2007, January 9). Countdown of the Biggest Trends in Small Business [Electronic version]. USA Today. Retrieved January 9, 2007 from http://www.usatoday.com/money/smallbusiness/
columnist/strauss/2007-01-07-trends-2_x.htm?csp=34

9.  Weltman, B. (2006). Last-Minute Tax Savings for 2006 [Electronic version]. Inc.com. Retrieved January 9, 2007 from http://www.inc.com/resources/tax/articles/20061201/bweltman.html

10.  CNNMoney.com. Who Loves Small Business? Top 10 [Electronic version]. Retrieved January 9, 2007 from http://money.cnn.com/popups/2006/fsb/beststates_top10/index.html

11.  Microsoft Small Business Center (Microsoft.com). Retrieved January 9, 2007 from http://www.microsoft.com/smallbusiness/support/computer-security.mspx

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