The Stimulus Package: What it means for small business

Now that a bit of the dust has settled, this is a good time to go over exactly what’s in the stimulus package for small businesses. 

 

But first, let’s take a look at the following statistics reported by the Small Business Administration.  After just a glance, you’ll quickly see just how important the estimated 27.2 million small businesses are to our country’s economy and overall well-being.  You see, small businesses…

• Employ about half of the country’s private sector workforce
• Hire 40% of high tech workers, such as scientists, engineers and computer workers
• Include 52% home-based businesses and two percent franchises
• Represent 97.3% of all employer firms
• Generate a majority of the innovations that come from United States companies

Now, here’s a summary of what the Stimulus Package means to you as a small business professional:

• $720 mllion to support specific activities of the Small Business Administration
• $400 million to support economic development and entrepreneurship with a special emphasis on businesses located in rural, urban, and low-income communities
• An extension of bonus depreciation so that small businesses can more quickly recover from the costs of new capital investments
• Increased small business expensing for businesses making investments in plants and equipment
• A delay of the 3% withholding tax on payments to businesses that sell goods or services to governments
• A decrease in capital gains tax for small businesses who hold stock for more than five years

In addition, the Package calls for several infrastructure and “green” intiatives that will create jobs and opportunities for businesses of all sizes.

 

This is just a summary and you should speak with your accountant to determine how any of this can be used to your benefit.  I also invite you to visit Small Business Tax Provisions to learn more about the small business tax implications of the Package.

 

You may also visit Stimulus Watch to gain easy, online access to the entire Package.  This site allows you to search the document for information of particular interest and also provides a state-by-state breakdown of exactly how the funds are being allocated.

It Takes A Pro

Earlier this week I went to a new beautician.  (Men, please don’t stop reading, you’ll get something out of this, too.)

 

I get my hair done on a pretty regular basis, usually by a woman in my neighborhood who is both convenient and reasonably priced.  This woman has been doing hair for years, yet has a dwindling clientele as women opt for the bigger, fancier salons.  I purposely avoided such places for years because I was turned off by the pretenses when all I wanted was a good hair wash and style.  After all, who wants to dress up to get their hair done?

 

Anyway, due to circumstances too complicated to share here, I went to such a shop earlier this week and I quickly learned that while the neighborhood woman I’d been going to could do hair well, the woman whose chair I was now sitting in, was a pro.  What a difference!

 

This pro told me things about hair I’d never before known.  And the enthusiasm in her voice let me know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that she loved her work.

 

“When people come to me for writing or marketing assistance, that’s the impression I hope they have,” I thought to myself.  “I want them to recognize that I’m a pro at what I do.  And I want them to believe that at that particular moment in time, my sole reason for living is to give them the assistance they need.”

 

Any writing and marketing expert worth their weight can provide good copy and helpful advice, but it takes a pro to make that copy sing, make the advice actionable, and make you smile about it all. 

 

Along these lines…  I recently got wind of a free conference call being held next week featuring a national public relations expert.  She’s going to be telling listeners how to become an industry expert aka “recognized pro” at what they  do.  Send me an email at gail@gcdwritingandmarketing.com if you want to know how to join this call.