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Charles M Cooper

Charles M Cooper

Recession-proof Your Business

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke climbed Capital Hill on Wednesday with some bad news. "It now appears likely that gross domestic product (GDP) will not grow much, if at all, over the first half of 2008 and could even contract slightly." By one definition of the word, six consecutive months of decline in the GDP (the value of all goods and services produced in the United States) constitutes a recession. What can you do to protect your business? Read on.

Tags: recession, fed, gdp

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Posted: 4/3/2008 | Comments (1)

Charles M Cooper

Charles M Cooper

The ADA and Your Business: Times, They are a Changing

The American’s with Disabilities Act has had, since its inception, a real effect on American culture and on how we, as Americans, do business. However, thanks to the actions of the Supreme Court, what was once an intimidating source of frivolous lawsuits against businesses great and small is now far more useful and reasonable.

Tags: ada

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Posted: 4/2/2008 | Comments (0)

Charles M Cooper

Charles M Cooper

Cell Phone Protection: A Budding Cottage Industry

Cell phones have been blamed for everything from cancer to infertility to acne due to the electromagnetic radiation they give off. Having figured out that cell phones are not going away, these well-meaning crusaders now want to sell you stuff. If you are thinking of jumping into that business, read on.

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Posted: 4/1/2008 | Comments (5)

Dave Cosper

Dave Cosper

Chargeback Proof Your Business

The benefits of accepting credit cards are innumerable. We have immersed ourselves in a world of platinum plastic. The reassuring feeling of having a wad of cash in your pocket has been replaced with a plastic sliver of magnetic circuitry few understand. What merchants do need to understand is how to properly protect their business from credit card fraud.

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Posted: 3/28/2008 | Comments (3)

Charles M Cooper

Charles M Cooper

Biometric Scanning: Intrusion or Good Financial Sense?

Today, there is something new on the employment landscape: Biometric Scanning, and it is becoming big business with over $2.1 billion in sales worldwide for 2006 alone. Is it all about control? Does it raise privacy or civil liberties issues for you. Let us know what you think.

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Posted: 3/27/2008 | Comments (1)

Charles M Cooper

Charles M Cooper

Small Business Reaches for the Stars: Do You Have the Right Stuff?

Who said you have to be a government agency or some huge conglomerate to send people into space? There is nothing keeping a plucky entrepreneur from getting in on the next big thing in tourism: Space.

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Posted: 3/26/2008 | Comments (3)

Dave Cosper

Dave Cosper

Best Small Business Blogs You Might Not Know About

Like a well-scripted novel, a good blog usually keeps you engaged and waiting for more. With everything that’s on the Web today, it’s impossible to filter and summarize all that’s relevant to a specific business discipline. A blog also helps you establish a public dialogue where anyone can participate and learn.

Tags: blogs, weblogs

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Posted: 3/25/2008 | Comments (45)

Charles M Cooper

Charles M Cooper

Employees vs. Independent Contractors: What’s a Small Business to Do?

Have you noticed the upsurge in the number of companies outsourcing work to independent contractors? We’re not talking about a gradual upsurge, either. The growth is robust and shows no sign of slowing down. What does that mean for your small business? Read further to find out.

Tags: outsourcing, contracting

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Posted: 3/25/2008 | Comments (2)

Charles M Cooper

Charles M Cooper

Requiem for a Fallen Business

Have you ever gone back to a place—a store or a restaurant—after some time only to find that it has changed and not for the better? It could be the service, perhaps the product or even just the ambiance of the place. Whatever it is, by the time you walk out you know that you will never go back again.

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Posted: 3/24/2008 | Comments (1)

Charles M Cooper

Charles M Cooper

Business Opportunities: Not All That Glitters is Golden

We are all looking for it, the one great business that will give us a good income, all the free time we could want and allow us to be our own bosses. Sometimes, though, that so-called opportunity is too good to be true.

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Posted: 3/21/2008 | Comments (1)

Dave Cosper

Dave Cosper

Opposition to Wal-Mart Builds Momentum

Recently there have been a lot of great stories about local communities binding together to fight back against new Wal-Marts aiming to pave their way in to town.

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Posted: 3/21/2008 | Comments (0)

Charles M Cooper

Charles M Cooper

Energy Independence and Small Business Part II: Interesting Alternatives

We hear all about biofuels and ethanol, fuels that can operate your vehicle at a fraction of the cost and don’t depend on a single drop of oil. They come from surprising sources and have a long history. The question to small business is this: Can you turn this into a business?

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Posted: 3/20/2008 | Comments (2)

Charles M Cooper

Charles M Cooper

Energy Independence and Small Business

“Energy Independence” is an idea that’s been kicked around for a long time. Back in 1973 during the Arab Oil Embargo that sent prices rising, gas lines lengthening and speed limits dropping, Richard Nixon first brought up the idea of an energy independent America, but where are we 35 years later?

Tags: energy independence, oil, enviroment

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Posted: 3/19/2008 | Comments (0)

Charles M Cooper

Charles M Cooper

Free SBA Online Courses: The Small Business Primer

The SBA's Small Business Primer is a self-paced overview course of the processes and necessities associated with starting a small business. Along the way, the student has the opportunity to find helpful resources associated with each main topic. For anyone contemplating their own small business, this is a great place to start.

Tags: sba, small business primer, goverment services

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Posted: 3/18/2008 | Comments (2)

Charles M Cooper

Charles M Cooper

Spam vs. e-Mail: Take the Smell Test!

In the world of e-mail marketing, dancing the fine-line between e-mail and spam can leave you more unsettled than a Michael Flatley DVD played at high speed. What to do, is it spam, is it legitimate? Sometimes it is hard to say but you know that this is a line you don’t want to cross.

Tags: spam, email, can-spam

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Posted: 3/14/2008 | Comments (2)

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