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About the Expert
Dawn Rivers Baker
Guest News Analyst
The MicroEnterprise Journal Editor-In-Chief Dawn Rivers Baker has
distinguished herself as the only national journalist exclusively
covering news that affects the nation's more than 20 million small
businesses. more
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Small Business News from The
MicroEnterprise Journal for the business that runs small and
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Small Business News
Microbusiness News Briefs: FTC Red Flag Rules Due To Kick In
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Policy Matters: Real Wealth
a weekly column
by Dawn Rivers Baker
I came across a blog post a few days ago, written by Linda Stacey of Business Opportunity Connection. Listen to some of what she said:
Yesterday my friend Roy Montero, The SEO & Twitter Guy, asked me why I was limiting myself. In response to something he said, I had replied that I don't want 100,000 people following me. He seemed surprised to hear it.
Of course I have goals and I would like to expand my business, but I just don't see myself providing services to that many people. It's just not my style. I understand the theory of "thinking big" and setting lofty goals, but I'm in the process of restructuring my businesses to offer more personal, more one-to-one direction. I can't provide that to 100,000 people.
I guess I'd rather be the "little shop on the corner" where customers come to chat and exchange information over a cup of coffee. I don't want to be the big chain that serves countless customers that I never get to know.
Read article
This week's news briefs
FTC Red Flag Rules Due To Kick In
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued a business alert to remind relevant firms that its Red Flag Rules will go into effect on November 1, 2008, and compliance is required as of that date. The relevant firms in question are financial institutions, which will not include any microbusinesses, and "creditors" — any firm that is involved in the decision to issue consumer or small business credit, a category overflowing with microbusinesses. Compliance requires impacted firms to come up with an Identity Theft Prevention Plan to identify 'red flags' that may signal trouble and take steps to prevent or mitigate the identity theft. The FTC published a list of sample 'red flags' in the Federal Register, which the Microbusiness News Briefs has made available here.
Anti-Trust Action Doesn't Help Small Biz
If you were under the mistaken impression that federal antitrust activity helped to safeguard the interests of small businesses against predatory larger competitors, a recently released study puts a tentative kibosh to that idea. The researchers examined several cases in the retail groceries industry and one case in the timber industry, and found that FTC antitrust intervention did not prevent declines in small firm participation in the effected regional markets. This turned out to be the case whether there was vigorous intervention or almost none at all. It's not that the FTC isn't doing its job; the feds are concerned with protecting competition and that often seems to translate into protection the competitions of the industry giants. The paper also found, however, that big box mass merchandisers like Wal-Mart did more damage to smaller firms than consolidation and that they fared best in communities that resisted the blandishments of those big box retailers. Food for thought, yes?
SBA Reauthorization Unlikely This Year
It will be interesting to see whether Senate Democrats publish another of their "reports" outlining their accomplishments for small businesses during the second session of the 110th Congress. Perhaps there will be one or two provisions in the Disaster Loan program improvements legislation or the energy bill. But when it comes to the Small Business Administration, accomplishments get entangled in partisan politics and Senate procedures. It's pretty incredible that the Senate has been able to deal with the tough stuff, from the Iraq war to the pending housing legislation, but can't seem to deal with something as routine and non-controversial as re-authorizing the SBA. One can only hope (as it is clear many members of Congress do) that the changing of the guard in January will put a stop to what, among a younger set of people, would look very much like one of those endless ‘he hit me first!' playground spats.
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