Small Business Loan Authorization Program Could Close Down

I have seen first-hand the kind of struggle that today’s small businesses face in order to survive in this economy, especially here in California. When looking for capital, many small businesses hear “no” and many banks run from small businesses as one of the riskiest investments in the market. That is why the survival of […]

Support Fair Rules for Franchised Small Businesses

What are the biggest obstacles facing small businesses? Contrary to conventional wisdom, it isn’t always government. In fact, for many small businesses in California, the main source of bureaucracy, red tape, interference, fine-print traps, and threats to financial stability is a big corporation, not the government. Tens of thousands of California entrepreneurs have invested in […]

Small Business Sizes Up the Affordable Care Act

With all the media coverage of the federal government shutdown, there was some news about the historic launch the California’s health care market place but details were few.  So what exactly is happening? On Oct. 1, Covered California (California’s state-run health coverage exchange), as well as other state and federally-run health care marketplaces created by […]

Employers Must be Alert to Section 1512 of Affordable Care Act

Although several provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) have been in effect since 2010, the majority of the regulations that affect employers will take effect in the fall of 2013 and 2014. One new requirement that may have slipped past you and where the clock is quickly ticking down in order to comply is […]

Healthcare Law Could Spur Entrepreneurship

There is a lot of back and forth debate about the effects of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on businesses big and small, but it likely will also have implications on an untold number of ones that haven’t even started yet. Certainly health-related startups will benefit as the large providers and insurance companies invest and […]

Can We Clear the Confusion around the ACA and Make it Work for Small Business?

For all the words written, for all the speeches given, and for all the votes taken, you’d think we’d know more about the Affordable Care Act, how it works and what it requires of small business owners, larger employers, employees and individuals. Sadly, in talking to my members around the state, there’s still much confusion […]

Workers Comp Reform Bill is Essential for Small Business

Small Business California, which represents more than 3.2 million small businesses in this state, STRONGLY SUPPORTS SB 863 (De Leon), that will ensure a fair and balanced approach to correcting our costly and inefficient workers’ compensation system.  This legislation accurately identifies key problem areas as described in the numerous reports produced by the California Commission […]

Small Business California Survey – Outlook Pessimistic but Better than Recent Years

Small Business California has just completed its eighth annual survey of California Small Businesses. There were 1,067 responses collected with at least one response from every county in the state. The results showed that small businesses overall were pessimistic about the future, but less so then in the past two years.  There was a reported […]