Small Business Labs

MAY 18, 2012

VUCA is an acronym developed by the U.S. Army War College in the late 1990's to describe their view of the future strategic environment.   It stands for volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity and we think this group of words does a pretty good job of describing today's business environment. We also think this operating environment explains why a lot of small businesses are not hiring additional employees.  Things are simply too uncertain and too volatile to take on

Environment 136

Environment 136

Small Business Labs

MAY 16, 2012

Excellent article in the Harvard Business Review on The Rise of the SuperTemp.  According to the article: "Supertemps are top managers and professionals—from lawyers to CFOs to consultants—who’ve been trained at top schools and companies and choose to pursue project-based careers independent of any major firm." The article goes to say: Most supertemps are refugees from big corporations and law and consulting firms who value the autonomy and flexibility of temporary or project-based

Temping 129

Temping Retirement Networking Training 129

Small Business Labs

MAY 15, 2012

Although the overall labor market continues to improve, there isn't a lot of good job news for young Americans.  The Economic Policy Institute's The Class of 2012 lays out how the job situation is for those 25 and younger. The key data is the current unemployment rate for workers under the age of 25 is 16.4%.  A couple of other data points of interest are: For high school grads under 25 the unemployment rate is 31%.

Temping 169

Temping 2012 2011 Policies 169

Small Business Labs

MAY 14, 2012

Shaker LaunchHouse is a 23,000 square foot startup accelerator located in Shaker Heights, a suburb of Cleveland. They are sponsoring a 12 week residential accelerator program that will provide $25,000 in funding, classes on entrepreneurship, mentoring and networking for 10 startup teams.  The program begins on September 3rd and is held at LaunchHouse (bring your long johns, winter starts early in Cleveland).

Mentoring 131

Mentoring Networking UPS 131

Small Business Labs

MAY 11, 2012

For the 2nd week in a row , we have story on dogs.  Workforce's Pet Projects (registration required) covers the growing trend of employers letting employees bring pets to work, especially dogs.   The article says pets in the office reduce stress and increase employee loyalty.   As proof, the article cites a study showing that "pets in the workplace reduce stress, absenteeism and turnover and improve morale." In addition to allowing pets in their offices,

Medical 134

Medical 2011 Stress Learning 134

Small Business Labs

MAY 9, 2012

According to the Kauffman Foundation, the VC industry is very broken. Their report "We Have Met the Enemy. And He Is Us" is a damning analysis of Venture Capital as an asset class and the Venture Capital industry in general. The news here isn't that the VC industry is broken.  This has been actively discussed for years.   The news here is who's saying it's broken.   The Kauffman Foundation has long been a close friend of the VC industry.  In addition t

Expenses 131

Expenses Collaborate Finance 131

Small Business Labs

MAY 8, 2012

In 2020 the youngest baby boomers will be 55, the oldest 74.  Not surprisingly, the aging of this large demographic cohort is going to fundamentally change the nature of the workforce.   As the chart below shows, by 2020  one quarter  of the U.S. workforce will be 55 or older.        The aging workforce is being driven by two main factors - the size of the baby boomer cohort and increases in the workforce participation rate for older workers. 

2020 127

2020 127

Small Business Labs

MAY 7, 2012

The Longevity Economy  is the term the AARP uses to describe the huge economic impact - and numerous business opportunities - presented by the 100 million aging U.S. baby boomers and seniors.    One of the groups tracking the Longevity Economy, and other issues related to aging boomers and seniors, is the MetLife Mature Market Institute  (MMI).   We were introduced to the MMI at the Boomer Summit.  Since then we've been able to review a number of their stu

131

131

Small Business Labs

MAY 3, 2012

We love pet trends here at Small Business Labs.  PSFK has a good post on the rise of online doggie dating sites.   They cover two sites that have recently gone into beta.   Match Puppy is available in New York City and according to the article it allows dog owners to: " arrange playdates, find matches for breeding or just meet up with other dog owners.

Social Media 121

Social Media UPS 121

Small Business Labs

MAY 2, 2012

According to a study from Pew Research , between 2005 and 2010 more people moved from the U.S. to Mexico than the other way around.  The chart below is from Pew.       This reverses a long term trend of large numbers of legal and undocumented Mexicans moving to the U.S. In fact, 30% of all immigrants currently living in the U.S. are from Mexico.

2005 127

2005 Legal 2010 UPS 127

Small Business Labs

MAY 1, 2012

Small Town Rules - How Big Brands and Small Businesses Can Prosper in a Connected Community argues that a combination of social, economic, demographic and technology shifts have resulted in business in general looking more and more like business in a small town. The authors are two highly respected small business experts, Becky McCrae and Barry Moltz.   Becky is the author of Small Biz Survival , a well known blog on rural and small town business and Barry is an author, speaker and consult

Social Media 144

Social Media Environment Management UPS 144