Small Biz Owners Expand Hiring

The results from the latest Inuit Payroll survey are in, and nearly half of small business owners (44%) say that they plan to hire new employees in the next 12 months.   80 percent of small businesses that have been open less than three years say they expect to grow over the next year while owners of companies that have been around for 10 years or more are a little less optimistic. 

Attracting the right candidate is still an ongoing challenge as more than half of the small business owners surveyed still struggle to offer retirement and health benefits for their employees. Left with fewer options, 79 percent of small biz owners say they have hired a friend or family member. Less than a quarter (22%) say that it was a bad idea. Despite the challenges, loyalty plays a big role in small businesses across the country. 44 percent of the Intuit small business payroll customers that were surveyed report that their first employee still works for them. 

Tap into talent and get the best candidate for the job by using a ten step “fool proof” hiring process that a veteran entrepreneur says works every time. Click here for the full story from SBTV.com. 

Small Biz Wins Big in Trademark Dispute- What You Should Watch Out For

Rock Art Brewery, a Vermont based small business is elated today after successfully surviving a trademark controversy with the makers of Monster energy drink. Renee and Matt Nadeau, founders of Rock Art Brewery fought back when Hansen Beverage Company served them a “cease and desist” letter to stop selling and manufacturing their Vermonster beer and drop their effort to obtain a federal trademark. With the support of local businesses and consumers the dispute with Hansen Beverage Company is now resolved but the issue over trademarks still remains. The Nadeaus who had already trademarked their beer say that their story is not unique that other small business owners are taken on by big companies that have more money to spend on lawyers forcing the entrepreneur to give up. However the Nadeaus are lucky to have a huge community that rallied around them. Local businesses pulled the top selling Monster energy drink from their shelves and boycotted the company in support of Rock Art Brewery while consumers rallied around the small business by spreading the word through Facebook and Twitter to boycott the energy drink and contact the manufacturer. 

The creators of a revolutionary tailgating grill describe the secret to their success in protecting their idea and their product. Click here to learn more.