Dashboard
A daily roundup of small-business developments.
What’s affecting me, my clients and other small-business owners today.
Employees
- Starbucks wants to hire veterans (but a new dress code won’t allow employees to wear engagement rings).
- Here is why you should hire people even if they commit typos.
- Here’s how one advertising agency rewards employees.
Finance
- The Federal Reserve will unveil one more rule to prevent financial firms from becoming too big.
- Veteran-owned businesses are gaining traction with investors.
More Election Returns
- Voters said yes to paid sick days in Massachusetts and a handful of cities.
- Voters delivered a split decision on local fracking bans.
- Voters also delivered mixed messages on initiatives involving food and beverages.
Management
- In South Carolina, a program makes apprenticeships work.
- This chief executive functions on less than six hours of sleep.
- These five women are shaking up traditional industries.
- Herbalife is accused of having an illegal business model and finds its stock tanking.
- Wendy’s introduces cost-cutting plans.
Marketing
- After 20 years, the banner ad is finally in decline.
- A new study sheds light on the spending habits of wealthy consumers.
- Groupon uncorks its own wine label.
- A Turkish company inadvertently uses an image of an imprisoned al-Qaeda official in an advertisement.
Social Media
- Twitter introduces a small-business planner.
Start-Up
- Investors have put more than $300 million into Internet of Things start-ups in the last year.
Entrepreneurship
- A GoDaddy executive says the future is in “very small business.”
- This 12-year-old’s sewing business is growing by the yard.
Around the Country
- The United States now uses less water than it did in 1970.
Around the World
- There’s a Bitcoin-only cafe in Prague.
- Germany is suffering from flagging exports.
- Forbes picks the world’s most powerful people.
Washington
- Senator Mitch McConnell says, “There is no possibility of a government shutdown.”
Mobile
- A competitor to PayPal raises $50 million.
- Thanks to Apple Pay, the use of Google Wallet is also growing fast.
Online
- San Francisco has the slowest Internet of any major city in the United States.
- Amazon tries out taxi deliveries in a few California cities.
Technology
- Technology is the reason pizza chains, like Domino’s, thrive.
- CNN uses Microsoft Surface as an iPad stand.
- These are the eight best Android office suites.
- Symantec’s profit tops estimates on increased demand for its security products.
- Here are five tech issues to watch now that the Republicans control Congress.
- Here are 44 of the best productivity apps.
Gene Marks owns the Marks Group, a Bala Cynwyd, Pa., consulting firm that helps clients with customer relationship management. You can follow him on Twitter.
