Tuesday, September 28, 2010

SD Wind Partners Raise $16 Million in No Time

An announcement made yesterday indicates that South Dakota Wind Partners reached its $16 million investment goal in ajust over two months.

Although their minimum offering goal was met, South Dakota Wind Partners will keep the offering open for additional investment until final costs are determined.

The group will own seven turbines adjacent to Basin Electric Power Cooperative’s 101 turbines, Prairie Winds SD1 wind project in Jerauld County in central South Dakota.

The community-based, locally owned wind project will generate 10.5 megawatts of electricity. Prairie Winds SD1 agreed to operate the group’s wind farm and buy all of the electricity it produces.

Monday, September 27, 2010

The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 27, 2010

BACKGROUND ON THE SMALL BUSINESS BILL SIGNING TODAY

Today, President Obama will sign the Small Business Jobs Act, a bill that will give our nation’s small businesses support and incentives to help them grow and hire. The bill includes a series of small business proposals that the President put forth earlier this year, and small businesses will start benefiting from the bill on day one.

The Small Business Jobs Bill Will Provide Immediate Support for Small Businesses:
The bill immediately extends successful SBA Recovery Act provisions, meaning that within a few days, it will restart the SBA’s Recovery lending, beginning with the more than1,300 small businesses that have been waiting to get the credit they need – with thousands more benefitting in the coming weeks.

And the bill includes eight new small business tax cuts – all effective as of Monday, and applying to small businesses’ taxes for this year – providing an immediate incentive for businesses to make new investments and expand.

For example:
• if you are a small business and you buy new equipment, you can immediately write off the first $500,000 of your investments;
• if you are one of over one million eligible small businesses, key long-term investments in your company will be subject to zero capital gains taxes;
• if you are an entrepreneur and take a chance on a new idea, you can deduct the first $10,000 of your start-up costs;
• and if you are self employed you can deduct 100 percent of the cost of health insurance for you and your family from your self-employment taxes.

MORE DETAILS:
Eight Small Business Tax Cuts – Effective Today, Providing Immediate Incentives to Invest: The President had already signed into law eight small business tax cuts, and on Monday, he is signing into law another eight new tax cuts that go into effect immediately.

1. Zero Taxes on Capital Gains from Key Small Business Investments: Under the Recovery Act, 75 percent of capital gains on key small business investments this year were excluded from taxes. The Small Business Jobs Act temporarily puts in place for the rest of 2010 a provision called for by the President – elimination of all capital gains taxes on these investments if held for five years. Over one million small businesses are eligible to receive investments this year that, if held for five years or longer, could be completely excluded from any capital gains taxation.

2. Extension and Expansion of Small Businesses’ Ability to Immediately Expense Capital Investments: The bill increases for 2010 and 2011 the amount of investments that businesses would be eligible to immediately write off to $500,000, while raising the level of investments at which the write-off phases out to $2 million. Prior to the passage of the bill, the expensing limit would have been $250,000 this year, and only $25,000 next year. This provision means that 4.5 million small businesses and individuals will be able to make new business investments today and know that they will earn a larger break on their taxes for this year.

3. Extension of 50% Bonus Depreciation: The bill extends – as the President proposed in his budget – a Recovery Act provision for 50 percent “bonus depreciation” through 2010, providing 2 million businesses, large and small, with the ability to make new investments today and know they can receive a tax cut for this year by accelerating the rate at which they deduct capital expenditures.

4. A New Deduction of Health Insurance Costs for Self-Employed: The bill allows 2 million self-employed to know that on their taxes for this year, they can get a deduction for the cost of health insurance for themselves and their family members in calculating their self-employment taxes. This provision is estimated to provide over $1.9 billion in tax cuts for these entrepreneurs.

5. Tax Relief and Simplification for Cell Phone Deductions: The bill changes rules so that the use of cell phones can be deducted without burdensome extra documentation – making it easier for virtually every small business in America to receive deductions that they are entitled to, beginning on their taxes for this year.

6. An Increase in the Deduction for Entrepreneurs’ Start-Up Expenses: The bill temporarily increases the amount of start-up expenditures entrepreneurs can deduct from their taxes for this year from $5,000 to $10,000 (with a phase-out threshold of $60,000 in expenditures), offering an immediate incentive for someone with a new business idea to invest in starting up a new small business today.

7. A Five-Year Carryback Of General Business Credits: The bill would allow certain small businesses to “carry back” their general business credits to offset five years of taxes – providing them with a break on their taxes for this year – while also allowing these credits to offset the Alternative Minimum Tax, reducing taxes for these small businesses.

8. Limitations on Penalties for Errors in Tax Reporting That Disproportionately Affect Small Business: The bill would change, beginning this year, the penalty for failing to report certain tax transactions from a fixed dollar amount – which was criticized for imposing a disproportionately large penalty on small businesses in certain circumstances – to a percentage of the tax benefits from the transaction.

Extension of Successful SBA Recovery Loan Provisions— Immediately Supporting Loans to Over 1,300 Small Businesses : With funds provided in the bill, SBA will begin funding new Recovery loans within a few days of the President’s signature, starting with the more than 1,300 businesses – with loans totaling more than $680 million – that are waiting in the Recovery Loan Queue.

• In Total, Extension of Provisions Which Have the Capacity to Support $14 Billion in Loans to Small Businesses: Extending these Recovery loan enhancements – which increase guarantees for SBA’s largest loan program (the 7(a) program) to 90% and reduce fees for the 7(a) and 504 program – has the capacity to support $14 billion in lending to small businesses. Already, SBA Recovery loan provisions have supported $30 billion in lending to over 70,000 small businesses.

• Within Coming Weeks, the Bill Will Allow SBA to Support Larger Loans As Well: The bill also increases the maximum loan size for SBA loan programs, which in the coming weeks will allow more small businesses to access more credit to enable them to expand and create new jobs. The bill:

o Permanently raises the maximum loan size for the SBA’s two largest loan programs, increasing maximum 7(a) and 504 loan size from $2 million to $5 million and the maximum 504 manufacturing related loan size from $4 million to $5.5 million.
o Permanently raises the maximum loan size for SBA microloans, increasing it from $35,000 to $50,000 and strengthening a critical tool for entrepreneurs and business owners in underserved markets to access start-up capital.
o Temporarily raises the maximum loan size for SBA Express loans from $350,000 to $1 million, providing greater access to working capital loans that small businesses use to purchase new inventory and take on their next order – allowing them to create new jobs.

• Treasury Is Working to Quickly Implement the Small Business Lending Fund and State Small Business Credit Initiative: In addition to these SBA provisions, Treasury is working to quickly implement two new programs designed to support private-sector lending to credit-worthy small businesses, and expects to release further details in the coming weeks concerning applications for these programs.

o The Small Business Lending Fund would make available $30 billion in capital to small banks with incentives to increase small business lending, potentially supporting several multiples of that amount in new credit.
o The State Small Business Credit Initiative will support at least $15 billion in new lending by strengthening state small business programs – many of them facing budget cuts – that leverage private-sector lenders to extend additional credit.

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Monday, September 20, 2010

10 Mistakes that Start-Up Entrepreneurs Make

August 31, 2010
By Rosalind Resnick

When it comes to starting a successful business, there's no surefire playbook that contains the winning game plan.

On the other hand, there are about as many mistakes to be made as there are entrepreneurs to make them.

Recently, after a work-out at the gym with my trainer—an attractive young woman who's also a dancer/actor—she told me about a web series that she's producing and starring in together with a few friends. While the series has gained a large following online, she and her friends have not yet incorporated their venture, drafted an operating agreement, trademarked the show's name or done any of the other things that businesses typically do to protect their intellectual property and divvy up the owners' share of the company. While none of this may be a problem now, I told her, just wait until the show hits it big and everybody hires a lawyer.

Here, in my experience, are the top 10 mistakes that entrepreneurs make when starting a company:

1. Going it alone. It's difficult to build a scalable business if you're the only person involved. True, a solo public relations, web design or consulting firm may require little capital to start, and the price of hiring even one administrative assistant, sales representative or entry-level employee can eat up a big chunk of your profits. The solution: Make sure there's enough margin in your pricing to enable you to bring in other people. Clients generally don't mind outsourcing as long as they can still get face time with you, the skilled professional who's managing the project.

2. Asking too many people for advice. It's always good to get input from experts, especially experienced entrepreneurs who've built and sold successful companies in your industry. But getting too many people's opinions can delay your decision so long that your company never gets out of the starting gate. The answer: Assemble a solid advisory board that you can tap on a regular basis but run the day-to-day yourself. Says Elyissia Wassung, chief executive of 2 Chicks With Chocolate Inc., a Matawan, N.J., chocolate company, "Pull in your [advisory] team for bi-weekly or, at the very least, monthly conference calls. You'll wish you did it sooner!"


3. Spending too much time on product development, not enough on sales. While it's hard to build a great company without a great product, entrepreneurs who spend too much time tinkering may lose customers to a competitor with a stronger sales organization. "I call [this misstep] the 'Field of Dreams' of entrepreneurship. If you build it, they will buy it," says Sanjyot Dunung, CEO of Atma Global, Inc., a New York software publisher, who has made this mistake in her own business. "If you don't keep one eye firmly focused on sales, you'll likely run out of money and energy before you can successfully get your product to market."


4. Targeting too small a market. It's tempting to try to corner a niche, but your company's growth will quickly hit a wall if the market you're targeting is too tiny. Think about all the high school basketball stars who dream of playing in the NBA. Because there are only 30 teams and each team employs only a handful of players, the chances that your son will become the next Michael Jordan are pretty slim. The solution: Pick a bigger market that gives you the chance to grab a slice of the pie even if your company remains a smaller player.


5. Entering a market with no distribution partner. It's easier to break into a market if there's already a network of agents, brokers, manufacturers' reps and other third-party resellers ready, willing and able to sell your product into existing distribution channels. Fashion, food, media and other major industries work this way; others are not so lucky. That's why service businesses like public relations firms, yoga studios and pet-grooming companies often struggle to survive, alternating between feast and famine. The solution: Make a list of potential referral sources before you start your business and ask them if they'd be willing to send business your way.


6. Overpaying for customers. Spending big on advertising may bring in lots of customers, but it's a money-losing strategy if your company can't turn those dollars into life-time customer value. A magazine or web site that spends $500 worth of advertising to acquire a customer who pays $20 a month and cancels his or her subscription at the end of the year is simply pouring money down the drain. The solution: Test, measure, then test again. Once you've done enough testing to figure out how to make more money selling products and services to your customers than you spend acquiring those customers in the first place, roll out a major marketing campaign. (See related article, "On a Tight Budget? How to Land a Client.")


7. Raising too little capital. Many start-ups assume that all they need is enough money to rent space, buy equipment, stock inventory and drive customers through the door. What they often forget is that they also need capital to pay for salaries, utilities, insurance and other overhead expenses until their company starts turning a profit. Unless you're running the kind of business where everybody's working for sweat equity and deferring compensation, you'll need to raise enough money to tide you over until your revenues can cover your expenses and generate positive cash flow. The solution: Calculate your start-up costs before you open your doors, not afterwards.


8. Raising too much capital.
Believe it or not, raising too much money can be a problem, too. Over-funded companies tend to get big and bloated, hiring too many people too soon and wasting valuable resources on trade show booths, parties, image ads and other frills. When the money runs out and investors lose patience (which is what happened 10 years ago when the dot-com market melted down), start-ups that frittered away their cash will have to close their doors. No matter how much money you raise at the outset, remember to bank some for a rainy day.


9. Not having a business plan. While not every company needs a formal business plan, a start-up that requires significant capital to grow and more than a year to turn a profit should map out how much time and money it's going to take to get to its destination. This means thinking through the key metrics that make your business tick and building a model to spin off three years of sales, profits and cash-flow projections. "I wasted 10 years [fooling around] thinking like an artist and not a business person," says Louis Piscione, president of Avanti Media Group, a New Jersey company that produces videos for corporate and private events. "I learned that you have to put some of your creative genius toward a business plan that forecasts and sets goals for growth and success." (See related article, "Are Business Plans a Waste of Time?")


10. Over-thinking your business plan. While many entrepreneurs I've met engage in seat-of-the-pants decision-making and fail to do their homework, other entrepreneurs are afraid to pull the trigger until they're 100% certain that their plan will succeed. One lawyer I worked with several years ago was so skittish about leaving his six-figure job to launch his business that he never met with a single bank or investor who might have funded his company. The truth is that a business plan is not a crystal ball that can predict the future. At a certain point, you have to close your eyes and take the leap of faith.

Despite the many books and articles that have been written about entrepreneurship, it's just not possible to start a company without making a few mistakes along the way. Just try to avoid making any mistake so large that your company can't get back on its feet to fight another day.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Perfect Time to Purchase a Home!

PIERRE -- The South Dakota Housing Development Authority has lowered its interest rates for first-time homebuyers to the lowest in its history.

The interest rate for starting step rate loans is 2.75 percent.

Fixed Rate loans have been reduced to 3.75 percent, and the fixed rate plus option loan rate was reduced to 4.25 percent.

The authority was able to cut interest rates under new regulations in the Obama administration's New Issue Bond Program, which is designed to stabilize the housing market. The program allows state housing finance agencies to issue new mortgage revenue bonds backed by the U.S. Treasury Department.

Income limits and purchase price limits vary by county.

Check out these links for more info on homes for sale in the Winner area!
Whetham Realty: www.whethamrealty.com
Fidelity Agency: www.fidelityagency.com


Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Development Office to Host Leadership Course

Here in the Upper Midwest, small businesses tend to promote from within, often tapping employees with proven records of accountability, leadership and content expertise for our top positions. However, studies show that once businesses have secured top people in their top spots, investment in leadership training and management skills sometimes wanes or stops altogether.

In Quint Studer’s exceptional book “Hardwiring Excellence”, he writes that the key message employers need to send to their top performers is one of re-recruitment. “I value you. I want to invest in your continued success. “ From there, you build an emotional bank account and nurture a give-take employee-employer relationship that emphasizes performance, loyalty and empowerment.

That’s why the Tripp County Office of Development is excited to partner with Dale Carnegie to host a 1-day course here in Winner. Dale Carnegie is a proven name in motivation, sales and leadership education and has worked with some of Tripp County’s largest businesses to improve sales and customer service models.

Specializing in tools of engagement, Dale Carnegie focuses on “coaching in the moment” to help participants redirect existing behaviors into more successful performances.

If you would like to participate in the class or learn more about Dale Carnegie, feel free to call the Office of Development or check out the DC website at www.nesd.dalecarnegie.com. The 1-day class will be held October 26th at the Holiday Inn Express in Winner. To register, call (605) 842-1551 or email develop@winnersd.org. Cost is $75 per attendee and there are discounts for groups of 5 or more.

The Tripp County Office of Development is committed to helping new businesses locate to our area but, just as importantly, we want to see our local operations thrive and continue to grow. Making an investment in tomorrow’s leaders will help strengthen our community and provide continuing education for our local managers and up and comers.