Video Case 4.3: Smart Design: Life Is In the Details

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Kansas City

Salina



Smoky Hill River



Greensburg

den City



135



335



35



Wichita



PART 1



KANSAS

Saline River

70



New Ways to Be a Better Town

Greensburg, Kansas, had been struggling for years.

Located along Highway 54, a major trucking route, the town

was merely a pit stop for people on their way somewhere

else. It did have a few tourist attractions: the Big Well, the

world’s largest hand-dug well, and a 1,000-pound meteorite

that fell from the sky in 2006.

Lonnie McCollum, the town’s mayor, had been looking into ways to breathe new life into the town. McCollum

wanted to add a little vintage charm to its quaint Main

Street, but could not raise the money. And he had launched

a campaign to put the “green” back in Greensburg by promoting green building technology. But the idea, which many

residents associated with hippies and tree-huggers, did not

go over well.

Then everything changed. “My town is gone,”

announced Town Administrator Steve Hewitt on May 5,

2007, after surveying the damage caused by a devastating tornado. “I believe 95 percent of the homes are gone.

Downtown buildings are gone, my home is gone.” With

a clean slate and 700 homes to replace, Hewitt vowed to

rebuild Greensburg using sustainable materials. He believed

the town had a unique opportunity to control its environmental impact and reduce operating costs through increased

energy efficiency.

“What if we turned this tragedy into something beautiful?” asked resident Dan Wallach in a new business plan

he wrote shortly after the disaster. Wallach and his wife

had long been interested in sustainable green living. Using

their experience in developing nonprofits, the two launched



Greensburg GreenTown, an organization designed to support Greensburg’s green building efforts through education,

fund-raising, and public relations management.

One of Wallach’s favorite new projects was BTI

Greensburg, the local John Deere dealership. Owners Kelly

and Mike Estes had decided to replace their ruined building with an energy-efficient, technologically state-of-the-art

showroom featuring radiant heat, solar energy, passive cooling, and wind power. With corporate support from John

Deere, BTI Greensburg would become a flagship green

dealership.

Long-term plans for Greensburg include a business

incubator, to help displaced businesses get back on their feet

and bring new businesses to town; a green industrial park,

green museum, and green school system; green building

codes and zoning restrictions; and a community of green

homes and businesses.

Questions

After viewing the video, answer the following questions:



1. In what ways is the town of Greensburg like any other

business?



2. In what ways is the town of Greensburg a socially responsible organization?



3. What might be the effects of the town’s new green build-



ing guidelines on residents and businesses? On the regional

economy?



4. What kind of business is Greensburg GreenTown? How

does its structure differ from John Deere’s?



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LAUNCHING YOUR



Global Business

and Economics Career

In Part 1, “Business in a Global

Environment,” you learned about the

background and current issues driving contemporary business. The part

includes four chapters covering such

issues as the changing face of business,

business ethics and social responsibility, economic challenges facing

contemporary business, and competing in world markets. Business has

always been an exciting career field,

whether you choose to start your own

company, work at a local business, or

set your sights on a position with a

multinational corporation. But today’s

environment is especially attractive

because businesses are expanding

their horizons to compete in a global

economy—and they need dedicated

and talented people to help them

accomplish their goals. In fact, professional and business service jobs are

found in some of the fastest-growing

industries in the U.S. economy and are

projected to grow during this decade.1

So now is the time to explore several

different career options that can lead

you to your dream job. Each part in

this text profiles the many opportunities available in business. Here are a

few related to Chapters 1 through 4.

If you’re good at math and are

interested in how societies and companies function, then maybe a career

as an economist is in your future.

Economists study how resources are

allocated, conduct research by collecting and analyzing data, monitor



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economic trends, and develop forecasts. They look into such vital areas

as the cost of energy, foreign trade

and exchange between countries,

the effect of taxes, and employment

levels—both from a big-picture

national or global viewpoint and

from the perspective of individual

businesses. Economists work for corporations to help them run more efficiently, for consulting firms to offer

special expertise, or for government

agencies to oversee economic decision

making. Typically, advanced degrees

are needed to climb to top-level positions. Economists typically earn about

$90,830 per year.2

Or perhaps you are interested in

global business. Companies increasingly search the world for the best

employees, supplies, and markets. So

you could work in the United States

for a foreign-based firm such as Nokia

or Toyota; abroad in Australia, Asia,

Europe, or Latin America for a U.S.based firm such as Microsoft; or with

overseas co-workers via computer

networks to develop new products

for a firm such as General Electric.

With technology and telecommunications, distance is no longer a barrier to

conducting business. Global business

careers exist in all the areas you’ll be

reading about in this text—business

ownership, management, marketing,

technology, and finance.

Global business leaders are not

born but made—so how can you start



1

on that career path? Here are the

three areas that businesses consider

when selecting employees for overseas

assignment:

• competence—including technical knowledge, language skills,

leadership ability, experience, and

past performance

• adaptability—including interest in

overseas work, communication

and other personal skills, empathy

for other cultures, and appreciation for varied management styles

and work environments

• personal characteristics—level of education, experience, and social compatibility with the host country.3

Solid experience in your field or

company ranks at the top of the list

of needed skills. Firms want to send

employees who have expertise in

their business and loyalty to the firm

to represent them overseas. Those

who obtain their master’s of business administration (MBA) degree

are reaping rewards financially: In

a recent year, the average median

base salary for MBA graduates hit

$94,500.4 Companies are reluctant

to send new graduates abroad immediately. Instead, they invest in training to orient employees to the new

assignment.

Knowledge of and interest

in other languages and cultures

is the second-highest priority.



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Businesspeople need to function

smoothly in another society, so they

are selected based on their familiarity with other languages and cultures.

Because China is a business hot spot,

some people have become fluent in

Mandarin Chinese to boost their

career prospects. Also, some school

systems are offering Chinese language

classes in addition to their standard

offerings of Spanish, French, German,

and Russian.

Finally, employees are evaluated

on their personal characteristics to be

certain that they will fit well in their

new country. A person’s talent is still

foremost in making assignments, but

executives with cross-cultural skills are

in high demand.

Career Assessment Exercises in

Economics and Global Business

1. With the ups and downs in the

U.S. economy, economists have

been highlighted in the news.

The head of the Federal Reserve,

Ben Bernanke, has been managing the country’s general financial

condition. To get an idea of the

role economists play in a federal

government agency, research

Bernanke’s background and



qualifications. Now make a list of

your own skills. Where is there a

match of your skills to his? What

do you need to change? How can

you improve your skill set?

2. To see the effect of the global

economy in your community, go

to a major retailer. Look at the

number of different countries

represented in the products on

the shelves. Compare your list

with those of your classmates to

see who found the most countries

and what goods those countries

provided. Go online to research

the career opportunities at the

retailer’s Web site.

3. To learn more about other countries, do research online for a

country in which you are interested. Here are some sources that

may be useful:

• The World Factbook, published

by the Central Intelligence

Agency, https://www.cia.gov/

library/ publications/theworld-factbook/. This publication, updated yearly, contains

a wealth of information about

countries—geography and

climate, population statistics,



cultural and political information, transportation and

communications methods, and

economic data.

• BusinessWeek magazine,

http://www.businessweek

.com. The Web site has links

to Asia and Europe, where

you can explore breaking

news or information on global companies.

• Online news sites Yahoo! News

and Google News, http://

news.yahoo.com and http://

news.google.com. Both of

these online news sites have

links to global business news.

The Yahoo! site has a link for

“Business” and then “Global

Economy.” The Google site

has a “Business” link and then

lists sites for many countries

and many languages.

Write a one-page summary of

what you found. Make a list of abilities you would need to function well

as a businessperson in that country.

Concentrate on the areas of competence, adaptability, and personal characteristics. How might you formulate

a plan to gain those skills?



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Part 2



Starting and Growing Your Business

Learning Objectives

1 Discuss why most businesses are small businesses.

2 Determine the contributions of small businesses to the economy.

3 Discuss why small businesses fail.

4 Describe the features of a successful business plan.

5 Identify the available assistance for small businesses.



Chapter



5



6 Explain franchising.

7 Outline the forms of private business ownership.

8 Describe public and collective ownership of business.

9 Discuss organizing a corporation.

10 Explain what happens when businesses join forces.



mangostock/iStockphoto



Forms of Business Ownership

and Organization



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Snagajob’s Success Hooks

Investors



W



hen Shawn Boyer tried to help a friend find an internship online in 1999, he didn’t know he would soon be the

founder and CEO of a fast-growing company, or the winner of a

couple of prestigious business awards. Finding no Web sites for

part-time or hourly job seekers at that time, Boyer set up a job

board to serve them and called it Snagajob.com.

A few years later the board had become a full-service online

job-search company, offering job opportunities, networking,

and advice to a loyal community of more than 30 million hourly

workers, most between 18 and 32. Snagajob provides workforce solutions to employers as well.



The U.S. Small Business Administration named Boyer its National

Small Business Person of the Year, and his Virginia-based company continued to grow, relocating, adding employees, and developing a casual culture with employee benefits such as paternity

leave, backup child care, gym membership, and paid resort vacations to celebrate 5- and 10-year employment anniversaries.

Snagajob recently attracted $27 million in investment money

from a venture capital firm to help it keep expanding, “especially the sales team,” says Boyer. It’s a good thing the company

was recently named the Best Small Company to Work For in

America, too. Having recently grown from 150 to 300 employees, it is rapidly on its way to becoming a mid-sized firm.1



Overview

Do you hope to work for a big company

or a small one? Do you plan to start your

own business? If you’re thinking about striking out on your own, you’re not alone. On

any given day in the United States, more

people are in the process of starting a new

business than getting married or having

a baby. But before you enter the business

world—as an employee or an owner—you

need to understand the industry in which

a company operates, as well as the size and

framework of the firm’s organization. For

example, Snagajob.com is a small but fastgrowing business that could spawn a whole

new industry. It’s important to remember

that most larger businesses—like Ford and

Apple—began as small businesses.

Several variables affect the way a business is organized, including how easily it can

be set up, access to financing, tolerance of

financial risk, and strengths and weaknesses

that exist in competing firms, as well as the

strengths and weaknesses of your firm.



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This chapter begins by focusing on

small-business ownership, including the

advantages and disadvantages of smallbusiness ventures, the contributions of small

business to the economy, and the reasons

small businesses fail. The chapter examines

the services provided by the U.S. government’s Small Business Administration, the

role of women and minorities in small business, and alternatives for small businesses

such as franchising.

The chapter then moves on to

an overview of the forms of private business

ownership—sole proprietorships, partnerships, and corporations. In addition, the

features of businesses owned by employees and families, as well as not-for-profit

organizations, are discussed. Public

and collective ownership are examined.

The chapter concludes with an explanation

of structures and operations typical of larger

companies and a review of the major types

of business alliances.



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1



Most Businesses Are Small

Businesses

Although many people associate the term business with corporate giants such as Walmart,

3M, and ExxonMobil, 99.7 percent of all U.S. companies are considered small businesses.

These firms have generated 65 percent of new jobs over the past two decades and employ half

of all private-sector (nongovernment) workers.2 Small business is also the launching pad for

new ideas and products. They hire 43 percent of high-tech workers such as scientists, engineers,

and computer programmers, who devote their time to developing new goods and services.3



What Is a Small Business?

How can you tell a small business from a large one? The Small Business Administration

(SBA), the federal agency most directly involved with this sector of the economy, defines a

small business as an “independent business having fewer than 500 employees.” However,

those bidding for government contracts or applying for government assistance may vary in

size according to industry. For example, small manufacturers fall in the 500-worker range,

whereas wholesalers must employ fewer than 100. Retailers may generate up to $7 million in

annual sales and still be considered small businesses, while farms or other agricultural businesses are designated small if they generate less than $750,000 annually.4



small business independent business with fewer

than 500 employees, not

dominant in its market.



While Will Curran was studying at Arizona State University, he also became the CEO

and president of Arizona Pro DJs, which provides everything from security to lights to

music for teen events. Will’s love of music and entertaining audiences got him deejaying while he was still in high school. Now Arizona Pro DJs, which earned $116,000 in a

recent year, has 24 employees, so the government classifies it as a small business.5

Because government agencies offer benefits designed to help small businesses compete

with larger firms, small-business owners want to determine whether their companies meet the

standards for small-business designation. If it qualifies, a company may be eligible for government loans or for government purchasing programs that encourage proposals from smaller

suppliers. With assistance like this, Arizona Pro DJs might eventually expand to other areas of

the country and become a larger business.



Typical Small-Business Ventures

Photo courtesy Will Curran



Small businesses have always competed against each other as well as against some of the

world’s largest organizations. ModCloth, an online clothing, accessories, and home furnishings

retailer founded by the husband-and-wife team Eric and Susan Koger, does both. Launched

while the owners were still in college, the business, which is located in Pittsburgh, offers trendy

fashions by more than 700 independent designers. The company reaches out to consumers

via Twitter, Facebook, and a company blog. It also invites customers to rate possible inventory

through its Be the Buyer link. Because of these relationships, ModCloth can compete against

other clothing e-tailers of any size.6

Will Curran started Arizona Pro

DJs while a student at Arizona

State University. The small

business provides everything from

security to lights to music for teen

entertainment events.



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There has been a steady erosion of small businesses in some industries as larger firms

have bought out small independent businesses and replaced them with larger operations.

The number of independent home improvement stores has fallen dramatically as Lowe’s and

other national discounters have increased the size and number of their stores. But as Table 5.1

reveals, the businesses least likely to be gobbled up are those that sell personalized services,

rely on certain locations, and keep their overhead costs low.



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TABLE



5.1



Business Sectors Most Dominated and Least

Dominated by Small Firms



MOST LIKELY TO BE A SMALL FIRM



FEWER THAN 20 WORKERS



Home builders



97%



Florists



97%



Hair salons



96%



Auto repair



96%



Funeral homes



94%



LEAST LIKELY TO BE A SMALL FIRM



FEWER THAN 20 WORKERS



Hospitals



14%



Nursing homes



23%



Paper mills



33%



Electric utilities



38%



Oil pipelines



38%



Source: U.S. Census Bureau, “Number of Firms, Number of Establishments, Employment, and Annual Payroll by Employment Size of

the Enterprise for the United States, All Industries,” http://www.census.gov, accessed March 5, 2012.



Nonfarming-related small firms create more than half the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP). In the past, many of these businesses focused on retailing or a service industry

such as insurance. More recently, however, small firms have carved out an important niche

for themselves: providing busy consumers with customized services that range from petsitting to personal shopping. These businesses cater to the needs of individual customers in a

way that big firms can’t.

As Figure 5.1 shows, small businesses provide most jobs in the construction, agricultural

services, wholesale trade, services, and retail trade industries. Retailing to the consumer is

another important industry for small firms. Retailing giants such as Amazon and Macy’s may

be the best-known firms, but smaller stores and Web sites outnumber them. And these small

firms can be very successful, as the owners of ModCloth illustrate, often because they can

keep their overhead expenses low.

Small business also plays a significant role in agriculture. Although most farm acreage

is in the hands of large corporate farms, most U.S. farms are owned by individual farmers or families, not partners or shareholders.7 The family farm is a classic example of a

small-business operation. It is independently owned and operated, with a limited number of

employees, including family members. Cider Hill Farm in Massachusetts is one such farm.

Three generations of the Cook family operate the farm together—it produces fruit and vegetables, including a wide variety of cooking and eating apples from its orchards and honey

from its on-site beehives. In addition, Cider Hill makes its own fresh cider and cider doughnuts every day and operates a well-stocked country store on the property. During growing

season, the farm hosts field trips for schools, offers hay rides, and creates a corn maze in

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FIGURE



5.1



Major Industries Dominated by Small Businesses



Industry

Construction



90



Agricultural

Services



88



Wholesale

Trade



66



Services



56



Retail Trade



51

Percentage of

firms with

fewer than

500 employees



Source: Office of Advocacy, U.S. Small Business Administration, “Small Business Profile:

United States,” http://www.sba.gov/advocacy, accessed March 6, 2012.



Fifty-two percent of small businesses in the United States

are home-based businesses—firms operated from the residence of the business owner. There are about 16 million such

businesses in the United States.9 People who operate homebased firms often do so because this type of work allows them

more control over their business as well as their personal

time. Whether you’re a morning person or a night owl, in

many cases you can structure your business hours accordingly.

Access to the Internet and availability of communications

devices such as the iPhone and other smart phone technology

makes it convenient to run a home-based business. Freedom

from overhead costs such as leasing office or warehouse

space is another major attraction of home-based businesses.

Drawbacks include isolation and less visibility to customers—

except, of course, if your customers visit you online. In that

case, they don’t care where your office is located.



Many small-business start-ups are more competitive because of the Internet. The

Internet doesn’t guarantee success—there are so many Web sites that a small firm needs to

find ways to make its online presence effective. But establishing a Web site is generally less

expensive than opening a retail store and reaches a broader spectrum of potential customers.

The Connecticut-based eBeanstalk.com is an online toy store. How does this small business compete with the likes of online giants such as Amazon and Toys ‘R’ Us? The company

specializes in learning toys that “help plant the seeds that help children grow.” Two teams

of experts (including 700 moms) hired by eBeanstalk evaluate more than 10,000 toys from

manufacturers, to narrow the selection down to around 600 of what they consider to be the

best learning toys. That group may shrink even further. Only the selected toys are included

on the site. Consumers appreciate this screening process, knowing they can go straight to

eBeanstalk for the toys they want.10



home-based business 

firm operated from the

residence of the business

owner.



American business history is filled with inspirational stories of great inventors who launched

companies in barns, garages, warehouses, and attics. For visionaries such as Apple Computer

founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, the logical option for transforming their technical idea

into a commercial reality was to begin work in a family garage. The impact of today’s entrepreneurs, including home-based businesses, is discussed in more depth in Chapter 6.



Assessment

Check

1. How does the Small

Business Administration

(SBA) define small

business?

2. In what industries do

small businesses play a

significant role?



its fields. All of these activities contribute to the income of

the farm. The Cooks are also dedicated to environmentally

friendly farming technologies. Cider Hill operates three wind

turbines and uses solar cells to help power its buildings.8



2



Contributions of Small Business

to the Economy

Small businesses form the core of the U.S. economy. Businesses with fewer than 500

employees generate more than half the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP). These companies account for $65 billion in exports, shipping more than 13 percent of all exported

goods overseas each year.11 Small firms are credited with U.S. competitiveness in a number

of global markets.12



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Creating New Jobs

Small businesses make tremendous contributions to the U.S. economy and to society as

a whole. One impressive contribution is the number of new jobs created each year by small

businesses. While it varies from year to year, on average two of every three new jobs are

created by companies with fewer than 500 employees.13 A significant share of these jobs

are created by the smallest companies, those with four or fewer employees. Several provisions of the 2010 Small Business Jobs Act may help give a further boost to these job numbers

by raising the dollar amount of small business loans available to companies.14

Small businesses also contribute to the economy by hiring workers who traditionally have

had difficulty finding jobs at larger firms, such as military veterans returning to the workforce, former welfare recipients, and workers with various challenges. The Small Business

Administration provides incentives for companies to hire these types of workers.

Even if you never plan to start your own company, you will probably work for a small

business at some point in your career, particularly at the beginning. Small firms often hire

the youngest workers. Table 5.2 illustrates some of the newest jobs within both traditional

and new industries, many of which can be found in small businesses.



Creating New Industries

Small firms give businesspeople the opportunity and outlet for developing new ideas.

Sometimes these new ideas become entirely new industries. Many of today’s largest and

most successful firms, such as Whole Foods, Google, and Amazon, began as small businesses.

Facebook co-founders Mark Zuckerberg, Dustin Moskovitz, Chris Hughes, and Eduardo

Saverin launched their new business from their college dorm room. Within a few years,

Facebook had logged more than 500 million active users, positioned itself as a leader in the

new industry of social networking, and prompted others to start their own businesses.15

New industries are sometimes created when small businesses adapt to provide needed

services to a larger corporate community. Corporate downsizing has created a demand for

TABLE



5.2



New Job Opportunities for Small Businesses



INDUSTRY



JOBS



Green energy and construction



Wind-farm engineers; solar installers and technicians; green-collar specialists and

consultants; green construction specialists



Healthcare



Home health care specialists; informatics specialists (workers cross-trained in

healthcare and technology)



Self-improvement



Yoga instructors and studio managers; spa managers; nutrition specialists



Education technology



Tech and trade school teachers and administrators; creators of online education

materials; specialists in software and hardware for use in schools



Other growing industries



Temporary staffing agencies; repair services; fast-casual dining



Sources: Jason Del Ray and Tamara Schweitzer, “Best Industries for Starting a Business Right Now,” Inc., http://www.inc.com,

accessed March 2, 2012; “11 Big Ideas to Watch in 2011,” Inc., http://www.inc.com, accessed March 2, 2012; U.S. Small Business

Administration, “Small Business Jobs Act of 2010,” http://www.sba.gov, accessed March 2, 2012.



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Courtesy ThinkEco, Inc. Reproduced with permission



other businesses to perform activities previously handled

by in-house employees. These support businesses may

become an industry themselves. The need for wireless

communication devices and services to support businesses

has resulted in a proliferation of small businesses to fill

this niche.



New industries can be created when small businesses adapt to shifts in consumer

interests and preferences. ThinkEco wants to make it easier for consumers to save

money and energy.



New industries can be created when small businesses

adapt to shifts in consumer interests and preferences.

For example, the idea of offering accessories for men—

dubbed “mancessories” by marketers—has taken root in

the U.S. economy, with small businesses at the forefront

selling goods ranging from shapewear for bellies to

bacon-flavored toothpicks. Web sites and newsletters such

as Style Flavors that feature such products report accelerating growth.16



Finally, new industries may be created when both the

business world and consumers recognize a need for change.

The recent emphasis on environmental responsibility—ranging from recycling and reuse

of goods to reducing the amount of energy consumed—has fostered a whole new industry of

green goods and services, many produced by small companies. ThinkEco is a small firm that

has created a device that regulates outlet power, allowing its business customers to save as

much as 20 percent on their energy bills. ClearEdge Power, based in Hillsboro, Oregon,

offers a fuel-cell power energy system that is particularly effective for other small businesses,

such as boutique hotels and restaurants.17



Innovation

Small businesses are adept at developing new and improved goods and services.

Innovation is often the entire reason for the founding of a new business. In a typical year,

small firms develop twice as many product innovations per employee as larger firms. They

also produce more than16 times more patents per employee than larger firms.18



Assessment

Check

1. What are the three key

ways in which small

businesses contribute to

the economy?

2. How are new industries

formed?



Key 20th-century innovations developed by small businesses include the airplane, the

personal computer, soft contact lenses, and the zipper. Innovations that already drive small

businesses in the 21st century include those that fall into the social networking, security, and

green energy industries. The “Business Etiquette” feature offers tips for using online social

networking successfully.



3



Why Small Businesses Fail

Small businesses play a huge role in the U.S. economy. But one of the reasons

they are so successful is also the reason they may fail—their founders are willing to take

a risk. Some of the most common shortcomings that plague a small firm include management inexperience, inadequate financing, and the challenge of meeting government

regulations.

As Figure 5.2 shows, 7 out of every 10 new businesses survive at least two years. About

50 percent make it to the five-year mark. But by the tenth year, 82 percent will have closed.19

Let’s look a little more closely at why this happens.



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BusinessEtiquette

Management Shortcomings

One of the most common causes of smallbusiness failure is the shortcomings of management. These may include lack of people skills,

inadequate knowledge of finance, inability to

track inventory or sales, poor assessment of the

competition, or simply the lack of time to do

everything required. Whereas large firms often

have the resources to recruit specialists in areas

such as marketing and finance, the owner of

a small business often winds up wearing too

many hats at once.

This could result in bad decision making,

which could end in the firm’s failure. Krispy

Kreme was once a small business that expanded

too fast. The company’s near failure had nothing to do with the quality of its doughnuts.

Instead, as the company grew bigger, so did its

debt. In addition, consumers turned their taste

buds toward more healthful snacks and breakfast foods produced by competitors. Now under

new management, operating at a leaner size, and

rolling out strategies such as new offerings

and upgraded packaging for its grocery-store

products, the firm is recovering.20

Owners of small businesses can increase

their chances of success if they become educated in the principles of business; know the

industry in which they intend to operate;

develop good interpersonal skills; understand

their own limitations; hire motivated employees; and seek professional advice on issues

such as finance, regulations, and other legal

matters.21



How to Use Social Networking in Your Job Search

During one recent year, networking sites such as LinkedIn registered about

1 million new users per month. Here are a few simple tips from the pros to

help you stand out from all the other job-seekers who have discovered the

benefits of social networking.

• Research a network before jumping in. Some networks, such as Facebook, exist

mostly to connect friends with each other. Others, such as LinkedIn, have

a stronger employment focus. Twitter attracts both types of users. To

adopt the right approach—and make the most of a site—learn something about it before you log on.

• Complete your online profile. Help prospective employers by filling out your

online profile. Update your bio as frequently as possible and provide a

link to your own blog or Web page. Don’t mix business and personal

information in one account or profile. Post an accurate photo of yourself.

• Share information. Be willing to share information about companies or

career opportunities with like-minded job seekers. You can help an online

recruiter find the right person—even if it’s not you.

• Search for people. Find companies that interest you, then try to make connections with friends, family members, classmates, alumni—anyone who

might be able to help you establish contact. A specific job might not be

available, but a personal connection could help you when that job does

open up.

• Respect privacy. Just as you only want to present certain information about

yourself online, respect the privacy of potential employers and colleagues.

Abide by the privacy settings of your social networking site.

Sources: DeLynn Senna, “Recruiters Reveal Pet Peeves About Job Seekers,” Yahoo! Hot Jobs,

http://www.monster.com, accessed March 6, 2012; Daer Glista, “Etiquette Tips for Social

Networking,” EzineMark.com, http://business.ezinemark.com, accessed March 2, 2012; Lydia

Ramsay, “Social Networking Etiquette Tips,” http://mts.typepad.com/blog, accessed

March 2, 2012.



Inadequate Financing

Money is the foundation of any business.

Every business—large or small—needs a certain

amount of financing in order to operate, thrive,

and grow. Another leading problem of small

businesses is inadequate financing. First-time

business owners often assume that their firms

will generate enough funds from their initial

sales to finance continuing operations. But

building a business takes time. Products need

to be developed, employees have to be hired,

a Web site must be constructed, distribution

strategy has to be determined, office or retail

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