Business and Financial News

This guest post is part of our ongoing Micro Business Experts series, and is written by Cathlyn Driscoll, co-founder of Best Business Mastery in New Jersey.

People can be lazy even when they own their own business. I think people need to get up off the couch and actually take action to fully become what they say they want to achieve. Whenever I want to learn something about web design or graphic design or learn about self improvement or how to utilize a new piece of software I don’t ask friends how they do it, I take a class or tutorial. I’m always attending seminars or webinars, tutorials, classes, listening to audio books or reading. I’m

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The key level that the markets are watching right now is 1,040 on the S&P 500, which is the 2010 low for the broad stock index. Sentiment on the Street right now is extremely bearish, and the consensus seems to be that we will finally break through this level on the downside after testing it a number of times already.

The near-term pattern, however, has been for the S&P to trade in a range between 1,040 on the downside and 1,100-1,120 on the upside. During Wednesday’s trading session, we are not seeing big buyers at the bottom of this band, but there are buyers nontheless with all three major averages rising on the day.

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The Northwest Regional Development Agency was dealt a blow as the government announced it was slicing £52m from its annual budget.

The cuts amount to 18 per cent of the agency’s overall budget, and chief executive Steven Broomhead said that some projects that had been promised cash would now end up losing out.

“This is obviously disappointing news,” he said.

“Our budget for 2010/11 is already 90 more than per cent committed and we will be forced to review some projects that have already been approved.

“Stakeholders and delivery partners involved in affected programmes and projects will be kept fully engaged and informed as specific decisions are made.”

The budget reduction is part of a £270m cull on allocated funding for regional development agencies (RDA).

Areas that have enjoyed the most prosperity over recent years will have to take on a higher proportion of the cuts, meaning the north west will see the most cash disappear, although four other regions will lose a higher percentage of their budgets.

The news takes the sheen off yesterday’s announcement by the coalition government that it will launch a £1bn regional growth fund next year to help hard-hit economies.

Chancellor George Osborne said the fund was designed to “help places like Manchester, where we want to see more private sector jobs.”

“We’re going to help every part of the country and every part of society share in the economic growth to come, while at the same time putting the prosperity of Manchester on the right track,” he said.

The NWDA could not say which sectors may be most hurt by the cuts although it could affect a variety of businesses, from large-scale property developers to start-up firms reliant on grants to aid growth.

Another option could be to reduce the agency’s own costs, Chris Fletcher, deputy chief executive and director of policy at the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, said local business leaders must now play a “central role” in the city region’s economic future.

“While business will wait to see the detailed plans on the proposed Regional Growth Fund, we are keen to ensure that the money is used for what is intended,” he said.

Shadow Business Secretary Pat McFadden accused the government of “breaking a promise” over RDAs.

“They seem to be vacating the pitch when it comes to growth,” he said.

“RDAs have done a good job for regional economies. To announce a consultation on the

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The US economy seems to have recovered from the brink of a collapse. Treasury secretary Timothy Geithner shared his views on the US economy at the G20 conference. Geithner believes that all of the countries in the G20 need to work together to ensure that the economy does not fall into another tailspin.

“The scars of this crisis are still with us,” Geithner told reporters. “If the world economy is to expand at its potential, if growth is going to be sustainable in the future, then we need to act together to strengthen the recovery and finish the job of repairing the damage of the crisis.”

“What we want to do is continue to emphasize that we are going to avoid that mistake,” he said.

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The question comes up all the time: “What should I look for when hiring my first (or my next) sales person?”

The next question is usually, “How should I compensate that person?”  (Entire books have been written on these two questions.)

However, before getting to those questions, a business owner must first answer this question.

“Why would a successful sales person want to come sell for my company?”

More specifically, answer these questions:

• Am I a good leader?  Is my company run well and do I inspire confidence?
• Are our products and services extremely competitive?
• Does the company have a strong brand in the market? D

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