The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is a unique institution that brings a wide range of resources and benefits to small businesses and entrepreneurs.

Steven Preston, the Administrator of the SBA, came to this Federal agency in 2006 from the private sector. Since then he has enacted reforms to cut red tape, reduce transaction processing time, and make the agency more responsive to small business owners and individuals.

Administrator Preston is our featured guest in this episode of Small Business Trends Radio. He highlights the resources available from the SBA and shares some of the initiatives and reforms he has instituted, including:

• Disaster assistance loans – are available to individual homeowners as well as small business owners. The post-Katrina backlog has been whittled away step by step. One technique that Administrator Preston implemented was to assign a case officer to each application, so that an applicant has a single point of contact within the SBA to work with.

• Twenty-three percent (23%) – of government procurement dollars are ear-marked for small businesses. One of the best ways for small businesses to break into Federal contracting is by partnering with a larger business and providing a joint bid as a sub-contractor. There is even a Mentor/Protege program available to pair up a small business with a larger company. Your local district office of the SBA can provide more information on what’s available to small businesses.

• The Patriot Express loan program — is specifically designed for members of the military. Veterans have been shown to have one of the best records for self-employment. The Patriot Express program is one of the SBA’s biggest loan initiatives to members of the military community in decades. The SBA has structured an automated, streamlined process with financial institutions to speed up the application process and make the program more accessible to veterans.

• The Small Business Training Network — consists of a range of online courses that entrepreneurs can take regarding financial management, business plan writing, and other topics for starting or running a business.

• Small business counseling and assistance — is available from roughly 15,000 counselors around the country, through resource partner organizations and many of their services are FREE.

And there is much much more information in this show. To listen to the full recording of Administrator Preston’s interview, click the player below.

Listen Now:

 Recent SBA Developments Affecting Your Business [40:42m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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For three years running, Insomniac Games has been named among the top 10 on the “50 Best Small & Medium Sized Companies to Work for in America” list by the Great Place to Work Institute. In addition to that, Insomniac Games has ranked among the top 10 “Best Small Companies to Work for in America” in 2005, 2006, and 2007.

In a special segment of the Small Business Trends Radio Show, Ted Price, CEO of Insomniac Games, was interviewed and discussed how a casual atmosphere conducive to creativity is key to the company’s success, as well as making it consistently a great place to work.

Insomniac Games is an independent videogame developer that has released award-winning hits for PlayStation and PlayStation 2, such as Spyro the Dragon and Ratchet & Clank.

In this segment, Ted explains how Insomniac Games has implemented perks into the work environment such as massage therapy Mondays, Nerf gun wars, a fully stocked kitchen, post-production vacation, and a facility that includes a putting green and basketball and volley ball courts.

Promoting a casual work environment assists in office productivity by keeping your employees happy, having fun, and well fed while working — all positive aspects that generate creativity, inspiration, employee commitment, and an atmosphere of collaborative teamwork to get the job done.

To listen to Ted’s discussion, click on the player below.

Listen Now:

 How to Become a Great Place to Work [5:36m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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This week’s Podcast Review is about the GopherHaul Lawn Care Podcast

Description: GopherHaul is a show for lawn care operators, small business owners and entrepreneurs.

Comments: TeamGopher talk about how to get your lawn care business started and then once you are in busiensss how to use creative ideas to make your business stand out from the competition.

I know, it is about a Lawn Care business. However it is a good podcast, good sound quality, clever use of music but nothing fancy, just relevant content that is surprisingly to the point for almost any entrepreneur. In fact several of the shows are more about life success than Lawn Care.

Here is a sampling of some of the show titles:

- Create The Business You Want
- Take Baby Steps
- Believe In Yourself
- Pitfalls of Commercial Accounts

With more than 20 unique podcasts there is something for any business owner and the Lawn Care operator as well.

Pluses: Easy to listen to, good show notes (on some episodes), my favorite instant play and downloads too. Hosted at ODEO, Gopher Lawn Care also has YouTube videos on their business site, Gopher Graphics. RSS feeds and iTunes subscription are clearly labeled for the visitor.

Minuses: Sometimes starting with ODEO and then jumping to the parent site and other links it is easy to get lost and tough to find your way back to the Podcast itself. I guess clearer navigation would be helpful.

Recommendation: If you like success stories, like learning from other entrepreneurs or have a Lawn Care business then you should check out the GopherHaul Lawn Care Podcast.

Posted by Steve Rucinski | Comments (1) | Permalink

Navigating the world of merchant accounts can be confusing and intimidating, but every small business should accept credit cards. This can help you grow your sales and simplify collections while providing better customer service.

Our featured guest in this episode of Small Business Trends Radio is Samuel Peery, Vice President of Marketing at Propay, Inc. ProPay provides credit card services customized to small businesses.

For instance, did you know that:

• Retail businesses — can increase their sales by accepting credit cards. Statistics show that the average credit card order is 3 to 4 times larger than the average check or cash order. Accepting credit cards as a form of payment can increase sales anywhere from 40% to 400%.

• Service oriented businesses — can benefit by simplifying collections and increasing their cash flow. Statistics show that 24% of accounts receivables are 90 days old. This number can be as high as 75% at times. By accepting credit cards, service businesses can get paid much faster.

• Convenience — speed, professional image, legitimacy, electronic records - these are all benefits of accepting credit card payments and providing superior customer service.

• ProPay is offering — Small Business Trends Radio listeners 50% off until June 30th. To take advantage of this special offer, please visit this page.

In this episode, Samuel Peery discusses the in’s and out’s of merchant credit card services. He explains how some services differ from other services offered online today and the benefits of accepting credit card payments.

Stay tuned at the end of the program for the Today’s Trend segment. Today’s Trend is: The Rise of the Big Business/Small Business Ecosystem.

Gain access to Samuel’s insights by clicking the player below to listen to the full interview.

Listen Now:

 What Every Business Should Know About Credit Cards [53:27m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Posted by Staci Wood | Comments (5) | Permalink

This week’s Podcast Review is about the Venture Voice Podcast

Description: Venture Voice is a podcast that explores how entrepreneurs build their businesses and live their lives.

Comments: No fancy production here, just straight talk from successful entrepreneurs, highly successfully, sometimes serial entrepreneurs.

Gregory Galant produces Venture Voice and conducts the interviews. Aaron Quint does the creative work for the Web site and helps with sound engineering.

Covering entrepreneurs from all types of industries, some very successful and some about to be. Sometimes the stories include failures on the way to success. Here is a list of some of the shows:

- Kevin Ryan of Panther Express, ShopWiki and Music Nation
- Fred Seibert of Frederator Studios and Next New Networks
- Reid Hoffman of LinkedIn
- Guy Kawasaki of Garage Technology Ventures
- Jason Calacanis of Weblogs Inc., Netscape and AOL

Great stories, lots of emotion and plenty of lessons learned.

Pluses: The big plus is the content, the stories and the journeys the 45 different entrepreneurs have made. Plain, simple website, good notes, RSS subscription, instant play, download buttons and very detailed show notes.

Minuses: Not much to say here, maybe a rating system but that is really stretching it.

Recommendation: If you love stories about entrepreneurs, especially tech entrepreneurs then you need to check out and subscribe to the Venture Voices Podcast.

Posted by Steve Rucinski | Comments (3) | Permalink

The right pitch at the right time, to the right person, can jump start a career, but it can be difficult to pull off.

Our featured guest in this episode of Small Business Trends Radio is Laura Allen, Co-Founder of 15SecondPitch.com. Laura is going to walk you through the key elements for creating a perfect 15-second pitch. And next time the perfect moment arrives, you’ll be ready for it.

Here are a few tips:

• Create a pitch — for every niche. This is very important. Develop a straight forward pitch for every industry that your focused on. If you dabble in photography but work nine to five as a caterer - you need one for each.

• Use it effectively — and have a pitch prepared for every event that you attend. Be it a barbecue, fundraiser, or networking event - when you are least prepared is when you are most likely to have a random encounter opportunity.

• Include a bold — compelling statement that peaks the interest of the listener and provokes them to want to know more. As Seth Godin says, “Your either remarkable or invisible.”

Stay tuned at the end of the program for Steve Rucinski’s Small Business Advice segment in which he discusses delegation in the virtual world and making a hire in 30 days or less.

Gain access to Laura’s discussion by clicking the player below to listen to the full interview.

Listen Now:

 How To Create The Perfect 15-Second Pitch [53:26m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Posted by Staci Wood | Comments (3) | Permalink

This week’s Podcast Review is about the Best Accounting Practices Podcasts

Description: Best practices in accounting. Advice, insight, experience and how-tos, shared by Jack Boyer, CPA.

Comments: If you care about business finance for large or small business then you should check out this Podcast.

Jack moves quickly to the meat of the titled topic and believe it or not some of the shows are actually humorous.

Decent production values consisting of mostly recorded phone calls of interviews with various experts. Here is a sampling of some of the topics covered:

- Get faster closes with process improvements and automation
- All Things Accounting: An Interview with Steve Bragg
- Accounting Can be A Comedy of Errors if You Don’t Know What The Numbers Say
- Business Portals Next Best Thing to “Beam Me Up Scottie.”
- Driving Profits with Better Estimates and Project Management

Some good stuff in this Podcast that CEO’s and Board members and investors would really appreciate. This material is presented as kind of “accounting as a best practice service.”

Pluses: Great content presented in a credible and even entertaining manner. This podcast is hosted on a directory site and offers all of the basics. Instant play, rating system, show notes and even a feedback and rating system, not much missing herre.

Minuses: Occassionally the telephone sound levels vary some so you have to play with the volume dial in order to hear the speaker effectively.

Recommendation: If accounting processes and how to make your financial management ‘best in class’ is important to you then you should check out the Best Accounting Practices Podcasts

Posted by Steve Rucinski | Comments (1) | Permalink