Tag Archives: small business

FTC Takes New Steps to Protect Consumers and Fair Competition

News, , ,

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has implemented a new rule to protect consumers and promote fair competition. Now in effect, the rule bans the sale and purchase of deceptive reviews, granting the FTC authority to impose civil penalties against knowing violators.

Customer reviews are essential for small businesses to build credibility and increase sales and reviews that aren’t real erode consumer trust, harm businesses dependent on authentic feedback, and leave small businesses vulnerable to unfair negative reviews from bad actors.

According to FTC Chair Lina Khan, such reviews harm consumers by misleading them and unfairly disadvantaging honest competitors. She noted that the regulation seeks to enhance transparency and promote a fair, trustworthy marketplace.

This new rule by the FTC specifically prohibits reviews and testimonials attributed to non-existent individuals, generated by artificial intelligence, or written by people with no real experience using the product or service. It also bars businesses from creating or purchasing fake reviews and prevents employees or insiders from posting misleading testimonials.

Companies caught engaging in these practices—whether by buying fake reviews, issuing baseless legal threats, or using intimidation tactics—will face penalties. This move aims to deter unethical businesses from manipulating public perception while leveling the playing field for legitimate competitors.

Consumers can report suspicious activity and violations directly to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov.

This regulation reflects the FTC’s ongoing efforts to enhance accountability and restore consumer trust in the online marketplace, ensuring businesses compete fairly and honestly.

Urban Grazing: A Growing Business Opportunity in City Landscapes

Environment, small business, , , , , ,

Urban grazing, which involves using sheep and goats to manage green spaces in cities, is emerging as an innovative and eco-friendly business model. This trend is gaining traction across the United States, with cities like Nashville and Santa Barbara leading the way.

The Nashville Chew Crew, managed by urban shepherd Zach Richardson, highlights the potential of this business opportunity. The company grazes sheep on approximately 150 acres of city property annually, including historic sites like Fort Negley and Nashville City Cemetery. This method proves to be more cost-effective and environmentally sustainable than traditional landscaping techniques. Additionally, urban grazing creates a unique attraction for residents and tourists, enhancing community engagement and potentially boosting local tourism.

The benefits of urban grazing extend beyond mere lawn maintenance. It addresses various land management concerns, including control of invasive species, protection of native vegetation and animal habitats, maintenance of historic sites, and even reduction of wildfire risks.

In Santa Barbara, California, urban grazing has been successfully implemented for about seven years as part of a wildfire prevention strategy. The city’s Parks and Recreation Department deploys sheep to graze approximately 15 acres of open space across four City park properties. This approach not only reduces wildfire risk but also maintains defensible space between homes and parkland, protects infrastructure, and provides safe access routes for firefighting. The community’s positive response to the grazing sheep has made it an effective tool for public engagement and education about land management

For entrepreneurs, this business model requires minimal equipment compared to traditional landscaping services. However, it does demand specialized knowledge in animal husbandry and land management. Additionally, business owners must also consider essential factors such as livestock guardian dogs for flock protection and proper fencing to contain the animals. As cities increasingly prioritize sustainable practices, urban grazing presents a promising business opportunity for those looking to blend agriculture with urban land management.

Biden Reaches Out to Small Businesses

Economy, Politics, , , , , ,
Joe Biden courtesy of Gage Skidmore

The campaign for the Democratic nominee for president of the United States, Joe Biden, will create an initiative to deploy an advisory council on small businesses and entrepreneurship. The initiative includes John Hickenlooper, who is running for the Senate in Colorado; Andrew Yang, who, along with Hickenlooper, participated in the Democratic primaries; and the owner of a Miami-based empanada company.

Biden’s campaign will also place a group of four advertisements throughout Arizona, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania that will focus on business owners who have been hurt and are struggling due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The initiative and the ads are designed to contrast Biden’s concern with the actions of the Trump administration which the campaign believes did not do enough to help small business and handled the Covid-19 pandemic poorly.

Biden has often pointed to Trump’s mishandling of the pandemic and brought attention to the difficulties small businesses are facing with an emphasis on the challenges procuring Paycheck Protection Program loans.

“The fact is that we’re in a situation where right now an awful lot of small businesses, 50 or fewer employees, are going out of business because the $2 trillion in the acts that are passed by the Congress aren’t getting to them at all,” Biden explained at a fundraiser.

Only One Third of Census Bureau Number for Small Businesses are Truly Small Businesses

Economy, ,

Of the 32,570,855 small businesses the US Census Bureau says are small businesses, only about one-third of them are what most people think of when they think of a small business, one that has employees.

Its even worse than that. The 76.2% of small businesses that do not have employees only account for 4% of sales of all small businesses. So what is the explanation? Who are these non-employers?

According to Alan Grundy of the Census Bureau, they are

“self-employed individuals operating a very small unincorporated business which may or may not be the owner’s principal source of income.”

Simply put, these “small business owners” are not business owners at all.

A lot of them are people making some money “on the side.” Maybe they sell a few thousand dollars a year of stuff on Etsy. Or a student that babysits to support his education. Or a professional that occasionally rents out his apartment on Airbnb. These people most likely have a full-time job with health insurance and other benefits. They are certainly not entrepreneurs. They are just earning a few extra dollars that they report on Schedule C.

Then there are other types of businesses skewing the numbers. For example, a person who owns ten rental properties, each one with its own separate tax return. Yes, he is a real business owner, but of one business, not ten. There can also be several partners that own one business, but each one files his own tax return.

Another source of the inflated figures are “independents.” These are also real businesses, but without employees. Many of these “businesses” are the main livelihood of service providers such as stockbrokers, cleaners, delivery people. A hairstylist who is independent and just works in someone else’s salon; an accountant or lawyer who works from home; or a consultant or real estate agent who works from a work-share space are all small businesses without employees. The owner and worker is the same person.

A more accurate way of knowing if someone is a small business owner is to ask whether he or she has employees. Real employers sign paychecks, have vacation policies, break rooms, hires and fires.
More precisely, there are closer to 7.8 million true small businesses in the USA. The rest of the 32 million are just people reporting extra income on their tax returns.

Small Business and Health Insurance

Economy, ,

Small Business Owners Have a Lot to Think Over When it Comes to Healthcare Benefits for Employees

Many factors need to be considered by small business owners when deciding what exactly they should do about equipping their employees with health insurance benefits. Here are several issues to consider when contemplating this costly decision.

1.    What type of business do you run? According to healthcare consultant Robert Laszewski small companies which are made up mostly by the owners, such as doctors’ offices, dental practices, architectural and accounting firms should most likely provide health insurance for their employees.  “I expect they’ll continue to offer insurance through the group model because that’s the way to get tax-deductible health insurance. They also have to compete for skilled workers,” says Laszewski. However, he adds, family owned restaurants or dry cleaning shops that hire minimum wage or unskilled workers might not find it in their best interest to provide group insurance for their employees.

2.    Consider the tax benefits of providing healthcare insurance to your workers: The federal government gives tax breaks to most companies with less than 25 low-wage employees. Today the benefit can come to 35 percent of health costs, but will go up to 50 percent in 2014 for businesses that purchase their insurance through their state’s online health insurance market.

3.    Take into account what your employees actually want: Now that employees are going to be required to own health insurance, they might prefer to get that coverage from their employers, therefore encouraging their bosses to supply that coverage.

4.    Don’t forget about subsidies when deciding to offer health coverage or not: It is possible that your employees might be better off buying their healthcare coverage at a subsidized rate from the newly formed state exchanges. (Families of four with income of $92,000 annually or less will qualify for such subsidies. Low-income workers in California may be eligible for even bigger subsidies under Medi-Cal.)

5.    Do not make your decision under pressure: Laszewski says, “Do absolutely nothing until this shakes out,” he says , adding that there is a dearth of information at the moment. “I might wait a year, because what the exchanges look like and what the prices look like the first year may not be what they look like the second year,” he adds.

Small business owners should try not to panic. Although it is certain that we are entering a brave new world of healthcare culture, it is certainly not going to be as bad as you may think.