|
National
Dialogue on |
|
Week of September 20 - September 24, 2004Welcome to the National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship, an initiative of the Public Forum Institute made possible by a grant from the Kauffman Foundation of Kansas City. Through e-News, we bring you short summaries and analyses of various trends driving the innovation economy. Current and archived issues of e-News are available online at www.publicforuminstitute.org/nde/news/enews.htm. To subscribe, visit www.publicforuminstitute.org/nde/join/ Links to the day's entrepreneurship stories from across the nation and around the world are posted each weekday at www.publicforuminstitute.org/nde - bookmark it and stay informed about the latest entrepreneurship news. |
|
|
Health Care Costs Continue Upward Climb The rising cost of health insurance remains a primary concern for entrepreneurs. There’s a reason for that, as a new survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation shows.
The 2004 Annual Employer Health Benefits Survey is chock full of bad news about the state of health benefits in the US. The cost of employer-sponsored health premiums rose 11.2% in 2004. While this is an improvement over last year’s rise of 13.9%, the increase is five times the rate of inflation or growth in annual worker earnings. Since 2000, health premiums have risen 59%, while worker’s wages have risen 12%. How will businesses respond? A majority of large firms (52%) plan to increase employee contributions for health care. Small firms are less likely to do so; only 15% plan to increase employee costs. As costs continue to climb, businesses will continue to scramble until some sort of comprehensive reforms are enacted.
|
|
|
Top Small Government Contractors Recent increases in government spending have been bad news for deficit hawks, but such spending does create lots of new opportunities for entrepreneurs. The annual Small Business issue of
Washington Technology offers an update on trends affecting small government contractors. The rise of women-owned small businesses merits special attention in this year’s analysis. More women-owned firms have landed on
Washington Technology’s Fast 50 list of technology firms that have seen the largest increases in government contracts. In fact, women lead 15 (30%) of this year’s
Fast 50. Only seven women-owned firms made the Fast 50 last year. These trends are a cause for optimism, but the big picture is still not so rosy. Overall, in fiscal year 2003, women-owned small businesses received only 2.98% of federal contract dollars—far short of the Small Business Administration’s goal of 5%.
|
|
|
Food-Focused Entrepreneurs If you watch reality TV shows like
The Apprentice, you get a pretty skewed picture of how to succeed as an entrepreneur. But, some shows do get it. Foodies with an entrepreneurial bent should take a look at
Recipe for Success, a new Food Network show that profiles entrepreneurs who work in and around the food business. Recent shows have profiled Kelly Flatley and Brendan Synnott, the twenty-something founders of Bear Naked Granola, and Robert Friedman, who left his media business to start the Red Hot and Blue barbecue restaurants. The shows offer an informative, entertaining, and realistic look at what it takes to succeed in the food business.
|
|
|
Worldwide Red Tape Next time you complain about government red tape, take a moment to think about your poor compatriots in Ethiopia, where registering a business requires a bank deposit equivalent to 18 years of average annual income. That scary statistic is just one of many you’ll find in an excellent new World Bank report,
Doing Business in 2005. The report’s premise is compelling: poor countries worsen their economic situations through heavy regulation and weak property rights. Poor nations desperately need new businesses, but cumbersome rules and regulations make it almost impossible for residents to legally start new ventures. In rich countries, starting a new business takes an average of 27 days, and requires six procedures and 8% of average annual per capita income. In poor countries, aspiring entrepreneurs must take an average of 59 days to leap through 11 procedures and invest an average of 129% of annual per capital income. The report also notes that regulatory reform generates quick and extensive payoffs. Countries that improve business regulation see significant increases in business starts and overall economic activity.
|
|
|
To
sign up to receive e-news, visit Please do not respond to this e-mail. To unsubscribe please send an e-mail to nde-out@pfidc.org with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject line and your email address in the body. |
|
|
Sponsored
by: |
Contact
the National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship:
Mark Marich, Editor - mark@pfidc.org |
