Saturday, February 26, 2011

Untitled

Being heavily invested now is the world of small business (I suppose I could add in the word medium here and use the SMB acronym), I thought this would be interesting. However, the very first one - number 10 - is suspect. I think a much more interesting number would be the percentage of people employed by small businesses. I'll bet it would be a significant, but lower number.



I worked for two organizations that each employed around 140,000 people world-wide and there are many that big and bigger. Frankly, I would expect the number of small business, as a percentage of employers, to be that high - but I think the metric is meaningless.



Number one - the last point - makes more sense to me and sort of obviates whatever value number 10 had. However, leading off with a useless metric kind of lowers the value of everything else in my eyes. Just sayin'!

Amplify’d from usgovinfo.about.com

Top Ten Reasons to Love U.S. Small Business

List highlights importance of small business to U.S. economy 

By Robert Longley, About.com Guide

The Small Business Administration (SBA) has announced the top 10 reasons to love small business, what the SBA's Office of Advocacy calls "the heart of the American economy."


10. Small businesses make up more than 99.7% of all employers.


9. Small businesses create more than 50 percent of the nonfarm private gross domestic product (GDP).


8. Small patenting firms produce 13 to 14 times more patents per employee than large patenting firms.


7. The 22.9 million small businesses in the United States are located in virtually every neighborhood.


6. Small businesses employ about 50 percent of all private sector workers.


5. Home-based businesses account for 53 percent of all small businesses.


4. Small businesses make up 97 percent of exporters and produce 29 percent of all export value.


3. Small businesses with employees start-up at a rate of over 500,000 per year.


2. Four years after start-up, half of all small businesses with employees remain open.


1. The latest figures show that small businesses create 75 percent of the net new jobs in our economy.


The SBA's Office of Advocacy, the "small business watchdog" of the government, examines the role and status of small business in the economy and independently represents the views of small business to federal agencies, Congress, and the President. It is the source for small business statistics presented in user-friendly formats and it funds research into small business issues.

Source: U.S. Small Business Administration]
Read more at usgovinfo.about.com
 

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Frosty, The Red-Nosed Snowman

There are lots of things I love about being a father of young children. One of them just happened in our living room while I was cleaning the kitchen. Our oldest is away with Mom at a Girl Scout activity and the youngest daughter of one of the other families is here playing with our youngest.



I just listened to her (the friends' daughter) start to sing Frosty the Snowman which, mid-way, transformed into Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and somehow ended in an amalgamated medley of the two. Listening to this incredible editing job, which I'm sure was invented on-the-fly, was priceless. I will miss this age as I miss others that have passed. Thankfully my memory isn't what it used to be, so the loss isn't melancholy for long. Still . . .

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Some Weird Stumble Upon-Like Thing

I came across this while looking for information on the treatment of left-handers during medieval times. This isn't from the page I found, which seems to be quite old and simplistically designed, but I thought the sentiment quite useful to memorialize.



Consider this a very public bookmarking; done so you might judge for yourself if the sentiment is worthy of a moment of your time . . . retrospectively, I realize but, well, what can I say? So sue me.

Amplify’d from www.csun.edu

… A Prayer by a 17th century Nun



"Lord --- Thou knowest better than I know myself that I am

growing older and will someday be old.

Keep me from the fatal habit of thinking I must say something on

every subject on every occasion.

Release me from craving to straighten out everybody’s affairs.

Make me thoughtful but not moody… helpful but not bossy.

With my vast store of wisdom, it seems a pity not to use it all.

But Thou knowest, Lord, that I want a few friends at the end.

Keep my mind free from the recital of endless details.

Give me wings to get to the point.

Seal my lips on my aches and pains…

They are increasing… and love of rehearsing them is

becoming gets sweeter as the time goes by.

I dare not ask for grace enough to enjoy the tales of others pains…

but help me endure them with patience.

I dare not ask for improved memory,

but for a growing humility and a lessening cocksureness

when my memory seems to clash with the memories of others.

Teach me the glorious lesson that occasionally I may be mistaken.

Keep me reasonable sweet.

I do not want to be a saint…

some of them are so hard to live with…

But a sour old person is one of the crowning works of the devil.

Give me the ability to see good things in unexpected places

and talent in unexpected people.

And give me O Lord, the Grace to tell them so."

Read more at www.csun.edu
 

Sunday, February 06, 2011

Dang! I missed today's best time

I'm sorry . . . and I say that with the utmost sincerity (especially since I'm likely the only one I'm saying it to - which makes it all that much more pathetic) . . . but I really wanted to write about something, anything, today. So I thought I might write about my relationship with blogging. However, as the linked graphic clearly shows, I just missed the ideal time to do so today and, alas, it appears mostly downhill from here.



Nevertheless, thanks to Amplify, I can still fulfill my obligation to myself and get back to work so I can relax and watch some of the best commercials we're likely to see all year. Incidentally, I think there's a football game wrapped around those commercials. Don't quote me on it, though.


Friday, February 04, 2011

Gladwell for Dummies | The Nation

This is an interesting (and quite long) primer on Malcolm Gladwell, written before his comments regarding social media and social movements. It's surely worthy of a read if you're trying to figure out just how valuable his opinion is. The author of this piece, Maureen Tkacik, casts a fair amount of doubt on his ability to really understand much of anything . . . I think :).


Tuesday, February 01, 2011

Consider Attending IBM's Social Business Jam? Here's How!

I am a VIP guest taking part in a unique opportunity to engage in an interactive discussion about the growing influence of social technology in business.



On February 8-11, 2011 I will be joining IBM to host their Social Business Jam where we will cooperatively explore the value of social technology in business, the mitigation of its risks, and the management system required to drive the social transformation required for its use. This web-based event will provide an unrivalled opportunity for thousands of leaders from around the world to pool their knowledge and experiences, and to examine this next generation of business. I urge you to participate. Learn more here: www.ibm.com/social/businessjam



There will be 5 discussion forums occurring simultaneously, where participants can join any time during the event. The subjects of these forums are:



  • Building the Social Business of the Future


  • Building Participatory Organizations Through Social Adoption


  • Using Social to Understand and Engage with Customers


  • What does Social mean for IT?


  • Identifying Risks and Establishing Governance




Participation does not require your full-time involvement during the 72 hours of the event. You can log-in to the Jam whenever you are available, and spend as much time as you want to comment, read or engage in topic areas you find most interesting. We're looking forward to your participation!



Please join me in this exciting conversation about the new era of business:

1. Register for the Jam: Please register for the Jam via this link: http://ibm.co/joinsbjam

2. Spread the word about the Jam: Please help us generate buzz about this upcoming event via Twitter (#sbjam) and other channels of communication you have access to.





Thanks.