Small Business Owners

Small-business owners are slightly more optimistic about the outlook for their businesses and the economy, Dunn & Bradstreet Corp. said in an annual survey. The survey of 5,000 small businesses found that 61% of the respondents are optimistic about the next 12 to 18 months. Last year, 59% were optimistic, the lowest reading since the 1982 recession.

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. - Mitt Romney accused President Obama on Monday of trying to distract the American people from his record on the nation's economy. “I wish the president would start talking about the economy and stop trying to divert with all the silliness day in and day out of he and his team,” Romney said while campaigning on a scenic fishing pier here. “Let's focus on what people care about, and the issue people care about is the one that's affecting us, which is their pocketbooks, their gasoline prices, the cost of higher education, the need for more jobs, the need for higher incomes.” Romney said Obama's taxation, regulatory and energy policies have harmed the nation's small-business owners.

While Gov. Bill Clinton has been able to convert a significant number of lifetime Republicans in the business community, President Bush still appears to hold the lead among large- and small-business people who say they favor his stand on controlling taxes and spending. Fear of uncertainty may also be bringing some business people back into the Bush fold as the campaign comes down to the wire, says N.

Gas prices are rising. The economy is still shaky. But since the recession began, there hasn't been a higher percentage of the nation's nearly 6 million small businesses expecting to boost their spending . A survey from pollster Gallup and Wells Fargo found that 28% of such business owners plan to increase capital expenditures in the next 12 months -- the most since mid-2008. It's also been four years since so few business owners -- 23% -- said they plan to scale back spending.

Starting a small business is tough enough. Keeping one afloat while turning a profit can be even harder. In an effort to help small business owners in Los Angeles expand their businesses, the Valley Economic Development Center in Van Nuys will offer a free entrepreneurs workshop series in October.

California Congressman Wally Herger (R-Marysville) said Tuesday that he will draft legislation to change a controversial new tax provision that has some small business owners facing a hefty tax bill when they sell their companies on the installment plan. Herger's bill would restore the ability of sellers who use the accrual method of accounting to spread their tax liability over a number of years as payments are received from the buyer, rather than be taxed upfront on the entire capital gain.

Along with their dreams, small-business owners honored during National Small Business Week brought sparkly magic wands, deluxe beef steaks, high-temperature textiles, Creole seasonings and piles of potato-free Idaho Spud candy. As always, the annual event drew hundreds of entrepreneurs and their families to the capital for purposes of flexing their political muscle, showing off their products and just plain schmoozing.

Il Byun stepped inside his Hollywood Boulevard clothing store Monday morning and could hardly believe his eyes. The earthquake a few hours earlier had jarred ceiling tiles loose, collapsed an interior wall and crumbled a piece of the store's facade into the street. Looters had carted off about $8,000 worth of goods. It was the second major blow to Byun's small business in as many years: His former clothing store in South-Central Los Angeles had burned to the ground during the riots of 1992.

Seven years ago, Richard J. Riordan swept into the Los Angeles mayor's office--a multimillionaire businessman schooled in how business works and ready to impart some of those lessons to the crowd at City Hall. Elected with strong backing from the San Fernando Valley, Riordan has long been viewed as "the business mayor" and generally finds a supportive crowd for his annual "State of the Valley" address to the Valley Industry & Commerce Assn.

Last week, the San Fernando Valley was the battleground for Gov. Pete Wilson's unusual war against the Democratic-controlled Legislature over workers' compensation reform. I knew it was war when I heard Wilson speak to about 200 owners of comparatively small businesses at the Precision Dynamics Corp. plant in San Fernando. I've observed four previous governors--Pat Brown, Ronald Reagan, Jerry Brown and George Deukmejian.

If you own a bar and your customers are having trouble distinguishing it from the strip club next door, you've got a bit of a PR problem on your hands. Such was the case with a joint named Angel's in Corona. Opened in 1992 by a former female wrestler named Renee Vicary, it was close to shutting down for good in this past spring. In fact, Angel's rated so high on the dive bar Richter scale that it was featured on a new Spike TV reality show called "Bar Rescue. " Jon Taffer, seasoned bar consultant and "Bar Rescue" host, spent five spring days transforming Angel's from a dingy sports bar into a classed-up whiskey den called Racks Billiards & Bourbon.

Fourteen-year-old entrepreneur Gianna Gallardo is entering ninth grade, but in some ways she already has an advantage over many small-business owners. Having created a detailed business plan, the Culver City teenager sells handmade bookmarks decorated with her drawings. She has managed to raise prices 50% recently. And she has landed some outside capital, which she invested in a laptop computer for her part-time business, Custom Mark Bookmarks. It's still a very small enterprise.

If you've had a laptop computer lost or damaged during security screening at Los Angeles International Airport, you are not alone. Laptop computers are the item most often listed as lost or damaged in claim reports filed against the Transportation Security Administration at LAX, according to an analysis of TSA records. In a three-year period, passengers at LAX filed 1,702 claims, second only to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, with 2,277 claims, according to the records for November 2007 to December 2010.

Consultants, self-help gurus and moms agree: Mistakes are how we learn. Small-business owners tell us their biggest errors. Here is this week's: Business owner: Don Myers Company: Cha Cha's Tacos & Tequila in Brea What I did: Failed to make sure everything had been delivered for a huge catering event Background: In 1993, I was newly hired as the general manager of a restaurant directly across the street from Anaheim...

Consultants, self-help gurus and moms agree: Mistakes are how we learn. Small-business owners tell us their biggest error. Here is this week's: Business owner: Sarah Shaw Companies: Sarah Shaw Handbags, Entreprenette What I Did: Gave away my own name Background: I'm a consultant, and I teach women how to market tangible products. The Mistake: I had a handbag company, and about two years in I brought in investors. I had never trademarked my name, Sarah Shaw, so they had the attorney file the trademark for Sarah Shaw Handbags.

Congress has repealed a tax provision that small businesses said would have buried them in paperwork and forced them to pay for hours of extra accounting services. The provision, passed last year as a way to raise money to pay for healthcare reform, would have forced all businesses to file special tax forms to report anyone with whom they did more than $600 worth of business in a given year. The repeal was welcomed by small-business owners and advocates across the nation, who had fought hard to push Congress and the White House to withdraw support from a measure that President Obama had initially favored.

Small-business owners are being invited to join Challenge, a program run by the Gold Coast Small Business Development Center in Ventura that focuses on how to implement marketing tactics that improve business performance. Participants attend small group meetings twice a month for three months. Currently, the program has more than 20 groups with 120 companies represented. It is free to qualified business owners. Applications are available by calling 658-2688.

A quarterly U.S. survey of small-business owners shows that confidence and optimism have fallen, matching a low in 2004, in part because of worries over record gasoline prices. The Wells Fargo/Gallup small-business index fell to 99 in June from 110 in March. That matched the level in September 2004 and is the lowest since a 93 reading in December 2003.

Consultants, self-help gurus and moms agree: Mistakes are how we learn. Small-business owners tell us their biggest errors. Here is this week's: Business owner: Margie Mullen, Los Angeles Companies: Mullen Advisory and KidExerciser The mistake: Assuming that as a successful financial advisor with a very high credit score, I would not have trouble obtaining financing for my new business. Background: When my son was 6 years old, my spouse said, "I wish there were a way we could get him to exercise in order to watch TV. " Our product, 123GoTV, is a bike trainer stand that allows the child's own bike to be pedaled in a stationary position.

Consultants, self-help gurus and moms agree: Mistakes are how we learn. Small-business owners tell us their biggest error. Here is this week's: Business owner: Suzanne Park, 35, Kirkland, Wash. Company: Plaid Doctrine The mistake: Had no backup plan when manufacturing problems arose. Background: I left a job at Microsoft Corp. to start a new business making eco-friendly bags and accessories. But starting from scratch without the background and contacts that other people have –- it was literally starting from nothing.