Small Business BlogWhat's New at ABC

Charles M Cooper
Charles M Cooper

Nominations for Review and Reform: The Second Year of the r3 Initiative

It is time for the voice of small business to he heard! The Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration is once again seeking nominations of federal rules in need of review and reform. This is your chance to nominate a rule that you feel needs to modified or pulled off the books entirely.

Read Full Story »

Charles M Cooper
Charles M Cooper

How Much More Will This Cost?

Are you ready to spend a whopping 20% of the wealth of the United States to set things right after our government let Wall Street brats run amok with the nation's financial system? Are you willing to trust that these politicians, most of whom have their hands dirty in all of this, will do the right thing by you?

Read Full Story »

Charles M Cooper
Charles M Cooper

The 2008 $700 Billion Bailout: It Seems We Have Been Here Before

Take a look at the 1929 stock market crash and the Savings and Loan crisis in the 1980s and you will find some really eerie similarities to what we are facing today.

Read Full Story »

Charles M Cooper
Charles M Cooper

Energy Freedom Day 2008

October First will be a seminal day in U.S. History. Either the Congress will finally admit that they are more concerned with their ideological base, or they will get out of the way, end the moratorium on offshore drilling and allow the nation to declare Energy Independence Day.

Read Full Story »

Charles M Cooper
Charles M Cooper

Small Business Tax Changes May be on the Way

The Small Business Tax Modernization Act of 2008 has been introduced to the House Ways and Means Committee and it has a great deal to offer small businesses struggling in today's economy. Have a look at it now and join us in watching it work its way through Congress.

Read Full Story »

Charles M Cooper
Charles M Cooper

New Life for the ADA

There are some amendments coming that will change the way the ADA works and how it is interpreted by the courts.

Read Full Story »

Charles M Cooper
Charles M Cooper

A Lesson in Sales

What makes for good or bad salesmanship? I had a lesson in proper salesmanship last weekend while out looking for a new car that gave me the answer.

Read Full Story »

Charles M Cooper
Charles M Cooper

Religious Accommodation: Where to Draw the Line

There is a drama playing out in Greeley, Colorado. Muslim workers at the JBS Swift meat packing plant wanted their lunches on the evening shift moved from 9pm to sunset. They also wanted breaks for prayer. Swift tried to compromise, now there is a threat of legal action. It all begs the question of just how accommodating businesses really should be. Should the personal desires of the employees win out over the interests of the business? That is the real question.

Read Full Story »

Charles M Cooper
Charles M Cooper

Social Networking’s New Arena: Hiring

Employers have discovered a new way to screen job applicants--the applicant's own pages on sites like FaceBook and MySpace. The idea is to get a real idea of what the applicant is really like when suit comes off. It's amazing what hiring managers have found, and how much their discoveries have affected their hiring decisions.

Read Full Story »

Charles M Cooper
Charles M Cooper

Even with E-Verify, the ICE-man Cometh

American employers are in the forefront--whether they like it or not--of our nation's fitful efforts to stem the tide of illegal immigration. Many thought that by voluntarily adopting DHS's E-Verify program, they could quickly and accurately check the status of new hires and protect their company from legal trouble. As it turns out, neither of these hopes seems to have come to pass.

Read Full Story »

Charles M Cooper
Charles M Cooper

The High Cost of Business in the City by the Bay

San Francisco may be the City by the Bay, but it is also a place where abusive government regulations are forcing small businesses to bear the burden of Mayor Gavin Newsom's "vision" of his city. You have to wonder, how much longer it will last?

Read Full Story »

Al
Al

ABC Moves from Partner Discounts to Total Business Solutions

The ABC Partner Program is growing by leaps and bounds. First we were adding partners with an eye toward leveling the playing field through discount business services. Now we have grown to a point where we can offer you total business solutions.

Read Full Story »

Charles M Cooper
Charles M Cooper

Customer Service for a Price

We have heard of customer service being a perk for the select few, now we hear of a company that charges you to have a customer service agent that knows what they are doing? Will it ever end?

Read Full Story »

Charles M Cooper
Charles M Cooper

When Loyalty Programs Go Bad

Loyalty programs, buying clubs and the like are great customer relationship tools, but only if you use them right. Make a mistake with yours and you could hurt your reputation as well as your bottom line.

Read Full Story »

Charles M Cooper
Charles M Cooper

When it Comes to Marketing, Nothing Succeeds like S.U.C.C.E.S.

What makes some marketing ideas survive while others simply wither on the vine? Here we have one secret of marketing success and boy is it sticky!

Read Full Story »