NFIB

Special Summit Digital Edition of MyBusiness

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 17:51:26 +0000

NFIB and Sam's Club are partnering to bring you a special digital edition of MyBusiness with all the highlights from this summer's National Small Business Summit. Enjoy videos of NFIB members and Summit speakers, including Sen. John McCain. Get solutions for your business, and learn how you can make a difference.

View the digital edition online now!

NFIB/eBay Small Business Summit Wrap-Up

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 02:34:07 +0000

The NFIB and eBay Small Business Summit in Washington, D.C., officially ended Tuesday, but the news and insights from the Summit offer an outline of the top concerns and priorities that small business owners brought to the nation's capital this week and that will set the priorities for NFIB's work in the coming months.

Here's a rundown of the top take-aways from this week's Summit:

Rising healthcare costs are a primary concern. NFIB's small business owner members made that point loud and clear in NFIB's Small Business Problems and Priorities survey, released at the Summit. MSNBC blogger Eve Tahmincioglu echoed that concern in her coverage of the Summit, noting that increased costs for healthcare coverage and energy, and inflation, rank as chief pressure points on profitability for many small businesses.

AARP CEO Bill Novelli's keynote also addressed how his organization and NFIB will be working to address healthcare solutions from a small business perspective. Washington Post small business blogger Sharon McLoone highlighted Novelli's remarks and the joint Divided We Fail initiative in her blog.

The Summit's healthcare panel also provided NFIB members with a chance to share their concerns and interests. Former Nebraska Sen. Bob Kerrey moderated the panel, which included a bipartisan group of speakers and an on-the-spot poll that allowed NFIB members the opportunity to offer their suggestions for healthcare reform. Panelists Sens. Ron Wyden (Ore.) and Blanche Lincoln (Ark.) shared highlights of the NFIB-supported bills they've introduced in Congress, the Healthy Americans Act and the SHOP Act, respectively.

Candidate John McCain pledges tax relief, spending restraint. In his Summit keynote address, Republican presidential hopeful John McCain drew distinctions between the policies he would pursue and support as president and those offered by Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama. In particular, McCain highlighted his support for tax reform that includes a first-year expensing deduction and no increases in capital gains and estate taxes--two areas in which, McCain noted, Obama has proposed increases.

Indeed, NFIB members are concerned about potential tax increases under a Democratic administration. NFIB member John Raney says he's "worried that a change in administration will mean a tax increase." The owner of the Texas Aggieland Bookstore in College Station, Texas, says he supports tax reform as a key prong in ensuring his business' profitability.

McCain also pledged to re-adopt federal spending restraint as a key priority, calling for a one-year pause in the growth of lawmakers' discretionary spending priorities (known as "earmarks").

McCain's keynote drew a throng of media, including Inc. magazine blogger, Robb Mandelbaum, who noted the largely enthusiastic support from Summit attendees for McCain.

Pundits Share Political Crystal Ball. NFIB's keynote session featuring Charlie Cook and Stu Rothenberg offered the following prediction about this November's election: Democrats are likely to increase their majority in Congress, picking up as many as five Senate seats and 15 House seats. Neither of the pundits offered any predictions on who would win the presidency this November. (Inc. magazine blogger Robb Mandelbaum offers more coverage of the Cook/Rothenberg session.

NFIB Members Find Summit Worthwhile. Between meeting and networking with fellow small business owners and interacting with lawmakers during Capitol Hill meetings, several NFIB members found the Summit's breakout sessions to offer insights to help manage their businesses more successfully. NFIB member Bingo Roncelli, owner of Roncelli Plastics, found the session on avoiding legal liability to be helpful. Meanwhile, Sharlene Chapman, owner of the new Park Forest, Ill.-based Jump Fitness and Dance, says the Summit was helpful for her as a new entrepreneur to "learn the ropes" of running a successful business.

Special note: NFIB's online staff thanks all the bloggers and other media who covered the Summit and shared their views--as well as the NFIB members and Summit speakers who made this year's Summit one of the best-attended events on record. Stay tuned to http://www.nfib.com for future updates on how NFIB will incorporate the insights and perspectives shared at the Summit into our member outreach and advocacy efforts.

Roger Staubach Talks Trust, Teamwork

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 04:07:34 +0000

Former Dallas Cowboys Quarterback and Executive Chairman of the Staubach Company Roger Staubach spoke to small business owners at the closing reception for the 2008 Small Business Summit Tuesday night in Washington, D.C.

Staubach entertained the crowd with stories of football games and winning runs, but also spoke to the attendees as fellow small business owners. "I knew I wanted to own my own business," Staubach said. "That's why we're all here tonight. We relate to each other."

Staubach also talked about the trust, teamwork and perseverance that was necessary to lead a great sports team or a great small business. "When you have the right people in the right place at the right time," Staubach said, "miracles happen."

Solveras/NFIB Small Business Champions Recognized

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 21:30:28 +0000

L to R: NFIB President/CEO Todd Stottlemyer; East Region Champion William G. Thornton, Thornton & Associates, Lebanon, Ohio; South Region Champion Bobra Bush, Telcom Corporation & Telcare Corporation, Boca Raton, Fla.; Central Region Champion Catherine Popp Hoffman, Law Office of Catherine Popp Hoffman, LLC, Zionsville, Ind.; West Region Champion Billy Knorpp, Teknor, Inc / RVP Systems, Boise, Idaho; and John Cramp, president of Solveras Payment Systems.

Each year, NFIB singles out a small business owner in all 50 states for special recognition—honoring those small business owners who go the extra mile for America’s entrepreneurs. At tonight’s closing dinner for the Summit, NFIB honored four regional champions chosen from these activist-entrepreneurs nationwide.

“We owe our considerable success in state capitals and in Washington, D.C., to our member activists,” said Todd Stottlemyer, NFIB president and CEO. “We’re grateful for all of the hard work they do to help protect and promote our free-enterprise system. This is an opportunity to recognize those members who are truly the ‘best of the best’ advocates for NFIB and our members.”

Tyler, Texas, Plumbing Company Wins Makeover

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 15:31:21 +0000

L to R: NFIB President/CEO Todd Stottlemyer, SBTV.com CEO Susan Solovic, winners Wayne and Ginger McIntyre, Sam's Club VP of Marketing Catherine Corley

Sam's Club Vice President of Marketing Catherine Corley today announced the winner of the SBTV/Sam's Club/NFIB Small Business Makeover Award: McIntyre Plumbing in Tyler, Texas.

In business since 1985, Wayne McIntyre's company employees 18 people, including his wife and two children. As the winner of the award, McIntyre receives $45,000 in merchandise from Sam's Club, $25,000 cash, a full year of mentoring from SBTV and a lifetime NFIB membership. The award was created to help small business owners save money and motivate them to shop at Sam's, Corley said.

Texas Member Takes Tax Concerns to the Hill

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 15:26:26 +0000

This is John Raney’s first time at the Summit, but he’s no stranger to making his voice heard. An NFIB member since the ’70s—and the owner of Texas Aggieland Bookstore in College Station, Texas, since 1969—Raney has been active on the state level for years. But today, he’s taking his message to Capitol Hill during visits with Texas Sens. John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison. He plans to share his thoughts on taxes: “I’m worried that a change in administration will mean a tax increase. I’m ready to see some significant tax reform,” but not if it means he’s going to have to watch his dollars even more closely.

McCain Calls for Clean Break From Spending Policies

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 15:18:46 +0000

It's time for a "clean break" from practices of both political parties, John McCain told Summit attendees this morning. Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have lost fiscal restraint, he said. Using the recently passed farm subsidy bill as an example, McCain told the small business owners that "small farmers have been forgotten" while Congress "sends subsidies to giant agri-businesses."

[Click here to launch a slideshow of McCain's appearance at the Summit.]

McCain called for a one-year pause in the growth of all "discretionary" spending and vowed to end "earmark spending" by using the presidential veto, if necessary.

McCain used his speech to the small business audience to draw a distinction between himself and his opponent in the fall election, Barack Obama. He focused on their differences in foreign trade and tax policy. He reiterated his support for such policies as NAFTA, low capital gains taxes and a simpler tax code. "Under Obama, the 'death tax' will be raised to 55%," said McCain, describing such a tax as "confiscatory."

McCain continued to issue his invitation to Obama to participate in joint "town hall meetings" where, he said, "we can explore our differences, in a friendly way."

At the beginning of his speech, McCain was interrupted briefly by anti-war protestors. "Let's stop yelling at each other," he responded. "The American people want a respectful conversation."

Note: A copy of Sen. McCain's prepared remarks can be found here.

Tips for Lobbying Your Lawmakers

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 15:17:49 +0000

As NFIB members from across the country head to Capitol Hill to visit their elected officials this morning, Tod Cohen, vice president and deputy general counsel, Government Relations, eBay, Inc., offered 10 tips for lobbying lawmakers.

These are a few that stuck out to me:

Tell your story. Cohen said to keep the visit personal as members relay their small business experiences to their lawmakers.
Ask for something specific. If you want lawmakers to vote against or for a special bill or issue, ask them specifically to do just that.
Make sure you let them speak. Do the speaking you want and need to do, but be sure to give your lawmakers time to respond, and listen to them.
Save paper until the end of your visit. If you hand lawmakers and their staffers something to read or look at up front, they'll lose focus on you and what you have to say.

Kansas Member Hopes to Talk Taxes on the Hill

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 12:15:41 +0000

I had the chance to eat breakfast this morning with a very interesting NFIB member from Kansas—Lafe Bailey of Wenger Manufacturing Inc. in Sabetha, Kan. He asked me if I had a pet. I thought he was just making small talk, but he was actually trying to simplify for me what exactly his business does. The business—with 280 employees worldwide and locations in Brazil, China and Belgium—manufactures equipment for, among other industries, pet food companies.

So now it was my turn to ask a question, and of course, with visits on the Hill happening today, I asked him whom he was planning to visit with and what issues he was hoping would be covered in the meetings. He and fellow Kansas Summit delegate Kevin Tubbesing of Stag Commercial have a busy day ahead of them, with meetings confirmed with Reps. Jerry Moran, Dennis Moore and Nancy Boyda.

“I’m really looking forward to it,” Bailey says. “I’d like to hear some encouragement about the state tax situation.” He also wants to share his story of how his business, despite doing much of it overseas, has managed to keep most of its operations in Kansas. “The IC-DISC tax program for exporters has allowed us to reinvest $5 million in our manufacturing business,” he says. “We are very bullish about domestic manufacturing—and I intend to keep it that way. There are so many influencers vying for our lawmakers’ time and attention. So even if you’ve taken the message to them once before, you have to reiterate it on a regular basis.”

And that’s just one of the reasons attending the Summit is so important.

Others are blogging the Summit

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 10:22:22 +0000

Robb Mandelbaum of Inc.com is also live-blogging the Summit.

Watch the Winning Video for the Small Business Works for America Contest

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 09:14:14 +0000

Update
The YouTube contest winners were featured in their local paper recently. They talk about how the experience has inspired them to consider entrepreneurship. Read the article.

Congratulations to Marc Boese and Michael Cottrell, creators of the winning video below in the Small Business Works for America video contest. The grand prize: $5,000 in cash and an expenses-paid trip to the National Small Business Summit.

Tucker Carlson Predicts a Challenging Fall for Republicans

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 03:45:06 +0000

Political pundit Tucker Carlson told Small Business Summit attendees that he believes the presidential election "is Obama's to lose." The momentum against Republican candidates, in general, is worse than at any time since Watergate, claimed the MSNBC conservative political analyst. "That said, I think the Democratic Party nominated the wrong candidate," Carlson said. Clinton lost the nomination, but was stronger in the states that Obama must win if he is to be elected, he noted. She's also "the toughest person in the world," he said, noting her ability to withstand decades of stinging attacks by political opponents.

Speaking at an evening reception and dinner held at the Smithsonian's Portrait Gallery, the animated Carlson said he believes the key to predicting the winner in the Fall is "not taking your eyes off Obama -- the race is his to lose."

Echoing predictions earlier in the day by Stu Rothenberg and Charlie Cook, Carlson told the Summit attendees that Democrats will likely pick up a significant number of seats in both the House and Senate.

Healthcare Panelists Outline Reform Proposals Expected to Surface in 2009

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 23:08:15 +0000

More on Healthcare Reform
NFIB’s Senior Healthcare Advisor Robert Graboyes, Ph.D., was recently a guest on the Build Your Business podcast to discuss healthcare and the challenge for small businesses to obtain affordable coverage for their employees.

Listen to the podcast to learn what’s happening in Congress and how NFIB is fighting for small business healthcare reform. (Select the June 9 program, and then the No. 3 and 4 segments.)

“What do you think we should do?” That was the question former Nebraska Sen. Bob Kerrey asked panelists during the Summit’s Monday afternoon general session.

The panel discussion focused on the No. 1 issue for small business owners in America—healthcare.

Panelists included Sens. Ron Wyden (Ore.) and Blanche Lincoln (Ark.), Rep. Charles Boustany (La.) and The Heritage Foundation’s Stuart Butler.

Here’s how they answered.

Butler: “(We need) to move away from a system where employers are organizing the healthcare for their employees and move toward a system that allows healthcare connectors or exchanges do that for them.”

Boustany: “There’s no magic bullet. I approach the problem by looking at what principles should guide us: information, choice and control. Information means implementing IT. It’s also about transparency—creating a fluid flow of information from provider to provider. Choice means creating a wide range of options for business owners large and small, families and individuals to shop and find the plan that best meets their needs. Finally, control means putting the family back in control of their healthcare destiny.”

Lincoln (who sponsors the NFIB-supported SHOP bill): “We have to shift ourselves from a system of healthcare that was designed for acute care to one that is focused on chronic care and promoting wellness.The SHOP plan is geared toward small business. It ensures that the mandates the states already have stay in place, but it allows small businesses to enter pools and use an exchange on the state or national level so they can locate a plan that’s best for them at a lower cost.”

Wyden (who sponsors the NFIB-supported Healthy Americans Act): Four things, he says, are necessary for meaningful healthcare reform for small businesses: cost containment, insurance reform, chronic disease prevention and malpractice reform. “I don’t believe you have to raise taxes to fix healthcare. Here’s the math: This year in the U.S. we’ll spend $2.3 trillion on healthcare. There are 300 million of us. We’re spending enough money on healthcare; we’re not spending it in the right places.”

Roncellis Enjoy Their First Trip to the Summit

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 20:14:21 +0000

This is my first trip to the Summit, and so far my favorite part about being here has been meeting gracious and interesting business owners like Bingo Roncelli, and her husband Gino (not pictured), who own Monrovia, Calif.-based Roncelli Plastics. Like me, this is the Roncelli’s first trip to the NFIB Summit, and also like me, they’re having a good time mingling with NFIB members and learning more about overcoming obstacles to small businesses all over the country.“This is such an interesting conference,” Bingo said. “There are very powerful, very successful people here. I really enjoyed hearing Meg Whitman speak at the opening session this morning—she is such an amazing woman, and she was so informative.”

While Bingo enjoyed hearing Whitman, the former president and CEO of eBay, Inc., speak this morning, her husband is more concerned with learning how to keep his business out of the courtroom.

“One of the reasons we’re here is because it’s hard to stay out of the courtroom,” Gino said. “Sometimes it just seems like people are out to get you, even though you’re just trying to run an honest business. I’m hoping to learn new ways to protect our company from lawsuits.”

This morning’s breakout sessions helped small business owners at the Summit learn more about staying out of the courtroom, coping with immigration, using eBay as a business tool and preparing for (even more) tax increases on small businesses. Hopefully all these lessons learned with help businesses like Roncelli Plastics thrive.

Learning the Art of eBay Success

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 20:06:23 +0000

Less than an hour after former eBay President and CEO Meg Whitman told 750 Summit attendees that the Internet “allows small business people to reach a global customer base at a minimal cost,” an issue breakout session covering eBay selling success was standing-room only.

Jason Miner, who works with eBay University and is a host on PayPal Radio, used his own experience selling on eBay to walk Summit participants through the process of selling their products on eBay.

But if you weren’t there, you didn’t miss out. Many of the tips he offered were the same ones you employ in dealing with your current customers every day: price your item right; have a professional appearance (from the item description to the product pictures to the correspondence between you and your buyer); and be upfront about your return policy. In short, make it as easy as possible for the customer to want—and trust—to do business with you.

A few specific tips that even this seasoned eBay user was surprised to learn:

Take product pictures first thing in the morning in natural light.
If it’s electronics you’re selling, make sure to take a picture and document the serial number. This not only lets potential buyers know you actually have the product, but it also protect you as a seller when the buyer tries to return the product.
Cash is OK for pickups or deliveries, but if you accept cash (or a money order), eBay has no way of tracking the transaction in the case of a dispute.
Once you’ve settled on an eBay name, secure that name for your e-mail address as well. It’s easier for a buyer to feel comfortable when he buys something from JohnsStamps on eBay and sends his payment information to JohnsStamps@aol.com.
Your return policy can vary depending on the type of product you’re selling. Tailor your policy to the specific product.
If you’re shipping to buyers overseas, don’t commit postal fraud. Oftentimes, overseas buyers will ask you to report a reduced value of the product you sold or report it as a gift. These are ways for your overseas buyer to avoid paying duty on the products—and it’s a way for you to commit postal fraud.

Miner also shared these resources:

www.ebay.com/educationcenter - Lots of ways to learn more about selling on eBay
www.ebay.com/griff - Connect to eBay Radio
www.paypal.com/securitycenter - How to protect yourself buying and selling online
www.paypal.com/paypalradio - Connect to PayPal Radio