Business Intelligence

Rising gas prices are taking a toll on small businesses. But you haven't seen anything yet.

Keeping tabs on small business attitudes appears to be a growing marketing trend. At last count, at least 10 credit card companies, service providers, banks, and trade groups are now conducting regular surveys, often with conflicting results. So how do you really feel?

There's a word for the purposeful use of evasive arguments and shadings of meaning to avoid a logical conclusion: it's known as "quibbling." And when it comes to major issues involving lots of government money and competing special interests -- such as small business contracting -- quibbling is a way for the government to make apples seem like oranges.

A surprising new survey reveals that a majority of small business owners now support universal health coverage. Find out why they are ready to make such a radical move.

Astute business owners should be like sea captains, keeping a weather eye on the horizon for unseen economic troubles that may be brewing. And the latest data suggests that a big storm may indeed be on the way.

Federal and state governments spend billions of dollars a year on small business incentives, but do government bureaucrats really have a clear idea whether that money is being spent as effectively as possible?

We all know about the small business health care crisis, which has been front and center in the news media and on the agendas of most small business groups. But another silent crisis, one that potentially affects far more small business owners and employees, is looming.

When senior executives at WorldCom, Enron, and Arthur Andersen were finally busted for playing fast and loose with corporate accounting, Congress stepped in with a tough new law known as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. But practically no one gave much thought to how the law would affect small businesses.

Credit card companies have been marketing aggressively to small businesses for the past few years with great success, but Keith Girard cautions that when it comes to credit card debt, many small business owners may not realize how vulnerable they truly are.

A new pro-labor bill introduced by Congress has some business groups up in arms, but Keith Girard argues that businesses must address the issue that economic inequality in the U.S. has reached levels not seen since before the Great Depression.

Congress has begun to introduce bills aimed at lowering greenhouse gas emissions, but Keith Girard argues that small business owners need to take the initiative and get involved before the real-world consequences of global warming hit Main Street.

The U.S. Small Business Administration is suffering a death by a thousand cuts that has rendered the agency a shell of its former self. Keith Girard sheds some light on the current campaign to upend the SBA and why some tough decisions need to be made to either fix it or abolish it.

Despite troubles overseas, turmoil in the stock market, and rumors of a possible recession, Keith Girard points out that the economy is proving to be remarkably resilient.

Keith Girard shares the surprising results of a new national poll: For the first time ever, small businesses beat out all others — including the government and the military — as the most trusted institution in the country.

With the next presidential election starting to heat up, Keith Girard discusses the resurgence of the universal health care debate nearly 15 years after the political defeat of "Hillary Care."

Keith Girard recounts the ongoing crusade of Lloyd Chapman, head of the American Small Business League, who believes his fight says a lot about the state of small business in America.

Keith Girard discusses how Congress's recent move to raise the minimum wage has become a case study of how good intentions often go awry in Washington.

In its annual report to Congress, the Taxpayer Advocate Service called the tax gap "one of the most serious problems" facing taxpayers. So how big is it? The IRS doesn't quite know; it could be $290 billion to as much as $345 billion or more.

Hiring worries, love of technology, and a generally upbeat mood about the economy — these are just some of the key findings in AllBusiness's newest SMB State of the Union survey, which polled almost 1,000 key small business leaders across the country.