Is This a Good Thing????

Small Business Administration redefines 'Small Business'
New size standards will now classify more than 18,000 additional businesses as "small business," making them eligible for SBA programs
By Lauren Drell
AOL Small Business
October 11, 2010

Small businesses are getting a little bigger, thanks to new size standards form the Small Business Administration. Effective November 5, 2010, the change will make nearly 18,000 more businesses across 70 industries, including retail and hospitality, eligible for SBA programs, including loans and help winning federal contracts.

SBA size standards vary by industry, and caps are typically set based on the number of employees or average annual receipts -- criteria that have been in place since 1984. This recent "comprehensive review" of size standards will at least double the cap on average annual receipts, taking them from $7 million to as much as $35.5 million.

The change is said to benefit car dealers most of all, as they represent nearly one-third of the 18,000 deemed "small businesses." Whereas the cap for car dealers used to be revenue based, the new rule hinges on the number of employees: 200 is the limit. About 90 percent of all car dealerships will now be considered small businesses, some with revenues up to $20 million, according to a report by The New York Times' You're the Boss blog.

"These increases in the size standards mean more of America's small businesses will be eligible for and can access the resources and services the SBA and other federal agencies have available," SBA Administrator Karen Mills said in a statement. The new size guidelines are aligned with current economic and industry indicators and are meant to ensure that small businesses have the tools they need to grow and create jobs, since small businesses have created 65 percent of all the new jobs in the past 17 years and employ half of America's private-sector workforce.

Merchants Push Sales Through Social Media

Early Adopters Add Shopping-Cart Apps to Fan Pages to Sell Items, Services
By: Sarah E. Needleman
The Wall Street Journal: Small Business Online

After learning how to market themselves through tweets and status updates, some small companies are taking the next step: selling directly to consumers via social-networking sites.
Merchants on Facebook and MySpace are adding e-commerce stores to their fan pages, hoping users will scan lists of for-sale items and services—such as floral bouquets, hand-crafted jewelry and spa treatments—and click a button to add them to online shopping carts. (MySpace is owned by News Corp., publisher of The Wall Street Journal.)

The e-commerce trend, also being adopted by large companies such as Hallmark Cards Inc. and Brooks Brothers Inc., so far appears limited to Facebook and MySpace, where applications for selling directly to consumers started cropping up in 2008. Other popular social-networking sites, such as Twitter and LinkedIn, don't offer a direct-sale platform.

Early adopters say they've so far seen only modest results, and generally not until after they've established a loyal-fan following.

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