Government Could Point Way for SBOs
Historically, small business owners (SBO) have proven to be a fairly resilient bunch. However, this perseverance has been severely tested in recent years ... Read story
TRADE SECRETS 
Michael Alter
Economy in Reverse
For the last several months I’ve talked about our economy being in neutral and teetering on the brink of improvement or downturn. With results in fo... Read story
The Skinny on Monthly Economic Reports
We all know it’s a bad economy, so why pay attention to monthly economic reports? It’s a fair question, and one that a lot of small business o... Read story
My Customers’ 3 Most Valuable Learning Experiences
One of the reasons I love my job is having access to so many customers who are bright entrepreneurs. When you treat your customers like the gifted b... Read story
Economy Flat, More Feeling Uncertain
The June SurePayroll Small Business Scorecard is a bit of déjà vu, looking similar to la... Read story
Happy to Be in Neutral
According to the most recent SurePayroll Small Business Scorecard, hiring remains flat and paychecks are virtually flat in May over the previous month. Bu... Read story
The Importance of Saying No
As a business owner, you have to work within a lot of confines—a small (or no) staff, a limited budget and only so many hours in the day. If you've ... Read story
Economy Shifts Into Neutral
The small business economy has shifted into neutral, with hiring and wages virtually flat month over month (both down 0.1 percent from March), according t... Read story
Smallest of Businesses Still Struggle
The last couple days have brought numerous positive reports about the economy. Most show jobs climbing, others show decreased layoffs and still others ind... Read story
The Danger of Experience
In my last blog post , I made the ... Read story
The Value of Hiring Experience
More often than not, choosing a candidate with less experience is a detriment, not an advantage, to your business. Read story
Recovery Hangs in Delicate Balance
After so much negative news regarding the economy, the last few days' reports on Warren Buffet's letter to shareholders were a breath of fresh air. A few ... Read story
Going Mobile: Is Your Office Ready?
As the president of an online Software-as-a-Service company, I have been touting the advantages of choosing online services for a long time. In this econo... Read story
The Importance of Hiring Right
Hiring is a tough business. It takes patience, proper screeni... Read story
Wages Climb While Hiring Rests
The last month of 2010 ended on a high note for small business employees, with pay up 0.6 percent over November, according to the Read story
2 Keys to Playing Big in 2011
Call it a hometown kick , but lately I've found a lot of inspiration in all things Chicago. Even in a tough economy, the Windy City is poised to Read story
Economy Remains Static, Competition Rises
November's SurePayroll Small Business Scorecard numbers are in and, as expected, we remain at the bott... Read story
What Businesses Can Give Thanks For
This year, entrepreneurs have plenty of reasons to count their blessings. Read story
3 Secrets of Successful Sales Quotas
There's something I've learned in the last 10 years as President of a growing small business that you probably won't hear el... Read story
Flat Lined into the Election
The markets may have seen movement in October but Main Street hasn't. The SurePayroll Small Busine... Read story
Embracing the Bush Tax Cuts
Allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire at this point is an understandable reaction to a growing deficit. But it’s a gut reaction that doesn’t consider the ... Read story
Living the New Economic Norm
The SurePayroll Small Business Scorecard numbers are in for September, and they are pretty similar to ... Read story
1099 Reform: Where Do You Stand?
The rules governing 1099s are set to change in 2012, created a huge new burden in terms of small business record-keeping. Read story
Why Encourage Mistakes?
You can’t just tell employees that you support their decisions to take big risks that could result in mistakes – you have to prove it to them. Read story
Increased Spending, No Increased Pay
Every month before I report on the results of the SurePayroll Small Business Scorecard I'm sure to cre... Read story
Why Net Neutrality Matters to You
Despite its lack of coverage in many small business publications, changes to net neutrality policy have the very real potential to hurt the majority of sm... Read story
Entrepreneurs Think Like Consumers
The SurePayroll Small Business Scorecard results are in and they're revealing more of the sa... Read story
Small Business Owners are Going Mobile – Have You?
With all the press surrounding the iPhone 4 launch, I'm reminded that it's been seven months since we introduced our Read story
Small Business Paychecks Dip
The phrase "The only certain thing in life is that nothing is certain" comes courtesy of Pliny the Elder, an ancient Roman philosopher and military comman... Read story
Independent Contractors See Gains
Despite signs of a recovery, businesses remain cautious, and are relying on more independent contractors to fill in gaps in the workforce. Read story
Recovery's in the Air, But...
American sentiment about the economy seems to be changing. The Federal Reserve reports that the "U.S. economy continues to strengthen," and our SurePayrol... Read story
Not Yet Ready to Call It a Recovery
March ended on a positive note with a year-to-date increase in small business hiring of 3.1 percent and a year-to-date increase in pay of 0.4 percent, acc... Read story
Hiring and Wages on the Rebound
What a difference a month makes! If most people equate these economic times with an emotional roller coaster, small business owners have been on the ride ... Read story
Uncertainty Clouds an Economic Recovery
Hiring continued to improve in January, and we see the first month of salary growth in well over a year. Has the economy turned the corner? The data may s... Read story
Good News On the Horizon
It's been a challenging year for small businesses, but we seem to have ended on a good note, with signs that the small business economy is starting to reb... Read story
Hiring's Up! Now the Bad News
As we saw in the post-Thanksgiving retail reports, more holiday shoppers came out this year than last. Unfortunately, they spent less, giving us the "More... Read story
What It Takes to Avoid Hiring Mistakes
Bring up the topic of hiring mistakes in a group of business owners and you're bound to hear quite a few horror stories. The manager who fudged his qualif... Read story
Economy Remains Fragile
According to SurePayroll's monthly Small Business Scorecard survey, which aggregates data from more than 25,000 small businesses nationwide, small-busines... Read story
Mastering the Moment of Truth
At SurePayroll, we have always lived by the philosophy that employees should feel empowered to handle hard customer service situations without having to c... Read story
A Path Forward
While we may be seeing a recovery on Wall Street, Main Street continues to struggle. Though the stock market is rising and the pace of job loss is easing,... Read story
