Small Business

More than half of small businesses are in favor of requiring all employers to comply with some kind of E-Verify system, even though a majority of them don't use it or have never heard of it, according to a national survey. The National Small Business Assn. interviewed nearly 300 businesses for its 2013 Workforce and Immigration Survey . It found that 17% employ immigrant workers and that 46% depend on workers with backgrounds in science, technology, engineering or mathematics.

California's small-business owners worry about the economy, regulatory burdens and taxes, but they're also concerned about the deteriorating quality of public education and crumbling roads and other public works. Those are the findings of an annual survey of 1,067 small-business executives just released by Small Business California, an advocacy group. Employers -- just over half of them with 19 workers or less -- have trouble finding capable staff and then have trouble navigating clogged freeways, said Scott Hauge, a San Francisco insurance broker who is Small Business California's founder and president.

The job outlook at America's small businesses is the worst it's ever been, according to new research. Last month, 21% of small business owners said they expected to lower head count over the next six months - the highest percentage recorded by the Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index since its launch in 2003. In July, the last time the data was compiled, just 10% of bosses said they planned to shrink employee ranks. More than six in 10 owners said they would keep their workforce steady, while 17% said they intended to boost hiring.

A day after shoppers surged into malls for Black Friday, local merchants around the country are welcoming them to Small Business Saturday. The shopping day, invented by American Express in 2010, is a nationwide effort to get customers to support neighborhood boutiques and mom-and-pop shops. Last year about 100 million shoppers visited small businesses on that day. Local merchants in Los Angeles got into the spirit on Saturday, sandwiched between the marathon shopping days of Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Small business owners, take your website one step further and add a video showing off what you do. Don't know how? A two-hour workshop on video for small business owners will be held at the Small Business Administration office in Glendale on May 8. The free workshop is one of a variety of educational programs for small businesses sponsored by the SBA's Small Business Development Centers. The workshop aims to help business owners use video to get noticed online and get more clicks.

WASHINGTON -- Small business owners were more optimistic about their prospects in February, but their overall confidence in the economy remained low, according to a leading private barometer. The Small Business Optimism Index from the National Federation of Independent Business rose to 90.8 in February, up 1.9 points from the previous month. Although the increase was positive, the group noted that reading was similar to the average from 2008, as the Great Recession was taking hold.

American small business owners are in a sour mood, with optimism at one of its lowest levels since 1986, but don't blame Superstorm Sandy. It's the fiscal cliff's fault, according to a new report from the National Federation of Independent Business. The threat of major spending cuts and tax hikes in the new year has caused a forward-looking gauge of Main Street sentiment to plummet. The election and the looming implementation of President Obama's health coverage overhaul is also weighing on small business owners, according to the report.

Behind the weak job growth numbers and the uncertainty about the economic recovery, small-business owners see shrinking consumer confidence sapping demand for their products and services. Many small firms say they are barely staying afloat and won't hire until they see signs of more stability in the marketplace. That sentiment doesn't bode well for efforts to push the economy forward. Small business, the conventional engine of job growth, has been particularly active in the last two years in driving the recovery from the Great Recession.