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A Bang On The Head, A Kangaroo And An Entrepreneur, What Happened Next?
If you are always on the look out for a money spinner, sometimes you'll find them pop up in the most unlikely of places.
A Herd Of 45,000 Website Visitors That Didn't Cost Anything...
In September 2003 an amazing turn of events led to a...
Phone Tips To Get Things Done: Professional Phone Skills
It happens all the time, you hear someone over the telephone and you make a generalization about the person you are speaking with. It may not be fair and it is akin to judging a book by its cover, but it's true nevertheless. Within 60 seconds,...
Starting an On-Line Home Business
When looking for a business on the internet you should consider a number of things. One thing is stability- with many scams on the internet you should look for a business that has been around a few years. Another is to see how many members...
Startup Advice: Advice from Experts to Start your own Business
Most entrepreneurs get paranoid over the idea of starting a business. With so many federal, state, and, local laws governing any business, it becomes crucial to make an informed decision about the venture. Here are a few steps worth considering...
Tax Secrets For Small Business Owners
Small Business Tax Secrets
Many people that start a small business, can use all the help
that they can get to make it run successful. The government has
over the years provided incentives to more and more businesses
in order for them to...
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Small Business's New Regulations
Time was, you could just hang up a shingle and call yourself a
business. As long as you didn't shoot anyone, you were pretty
much left alone. Not so any more. A glut of federal and state
regulations have come into being, many just over the past few
years, and many apply to small businesses. These regulations are
meant to accomplish any one of several social goods, such as
protecting an individual's privacy and preventing identity
theft, preventing corporate financial scandals, or lastly, or so
it would seem, just to annoy small businesspeople by increasing
their paperwork burden. Fortunately, if you understand these
regulations, complying doesn't have to be too difficult or
expensive.
If you have a publicly-held company, you'll have to comply with
the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which sets technological standards and
reporting requirements for how companies handle their financial
reporting. Passed in response to the recent wave of corporate
scandals, fiscal mismanagement and outright theft,
Sarbanes-Oxley puts in place a set of requirements for
establishing internal controls that ensure the integrity of a
company's financial data. Although the requirements are
generally the same for companies of all sizes, smaller companies
have been granted some flexibility in terms of longer timeframes
to become compliant. This Act calls for, among other things,
security-related solutions to be put into place to regulate
access to financial data, provide an audit trail, and generate
detailed reports for the government. The good news is, if you
already follow best practices in security, you're already more
than halfway there.
If you are in the healthcare industry, whether you are a
healthcare provider, pharmacy, or a data processing agency
serving the healthcare industry, you'll have to comply with the
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
HIPAA calls for any company that handles private patient data to
guarantee that it is secure and protected against unauthorized
access. If your company handles healthcare information of any
sort, for any reason, you will have to take technological steps
to ensure that it is secure through measures such as encryption,
strong two-factor authentication, and adequate firewalling.
And if you're in California, or if any of your customers are in
California, you'll have to comply with SB 1386 (the California
Information
Practice Act). This law requires that your company
provide notice to customers whenever any technological hack, or
other attack has occurred and caused personal information to be
exposed and vulnerable to theft. Meant to safeguard against
identity theft, this state law also applies to any
subcontractors of companies that maintain information about
California residents. This particular law is ground-breaking,
since although it is on paper just a California law, it has, in
reality, become a federal law. California is the largest state,
population-wise, in the U.S., and any mid-size company and many
smaller ones have at least a few customers in California,
regardless of where the company is actually located. If, for
example, your company is in Maine, but your mail order division
sold some products to someone in California, you must comply.
Compliance simply means that if your network is attacked, you
must notify your customers. Although this can be done
individually, most companies actually make notification on their
Web sites, or through issuing a public press release.
The Visa Cardholder Information Security Program (CISP) isn't a
state or federal law, but a mandate from VISA USA created to
protect cardholder data. It calls on all vendors who accept
credit card payments to adhere to a higher standard of
information security for the purpose of guarding against
identity theft. CISP calls on vendors to implement standard
security measures such as firewalls, anti-virus software, and
strong authentication to regulate who has access to customer
credit card data. Visa also has set forth a set of best
practices. Compliance is easy, and involves adhering to the
Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard which includes a
call for implementing standard security technology, restricting
access, and encrypting the transmission of any cardholder data.
Audrey Hoffman is a successful business woman who writes
articles for entrepreneurs, in addition to writing for Speedy
Incorporation, a site that helps people incorporate in North Carolina and offers bus
iness advice. http://www.speedy-incorporation.com
About the author:
Facts about new regulations and how they affect small business
owners.
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| United States Small Business Administration |
| An electronic gateway of procurement information for and about small businesses. Search engine for contracting officers, marketing tool for small firms, ... |
| www.sba.gov |
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| SBA |
| The Small Business Planner includes information and resources that will help you at any stage of the business lifecycle. ... |
| www.sba.gov |
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| Main Page - SmallBusiness.com - Small Business Resources |
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| www.smallbusiness.com |
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| Yahoo! Small Business: Domain Names, Web Hosting, E-commerce ... |
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| smallbusiness.yahoo.com |
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| www.smallbusiness.co.uk |
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| Smallbusiness.gov.au redirect to business.gov.au |
| Business Entry Point - Helping small business in big ways. An Australian Government initiative. The content from this website has now been consolidated into ... |
| www.smallbusiness.gov.au |
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| Business & Small Business |
| Online and print small business publication. Information to help start, grow or manage a small business. |
| www.entrepreneur.com |
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| Microsoft Small Business Center |
| Your home for information about Microsoft's small-business products and services, tailored business advice, technology tools, and more. |
| www.microsoft.com |
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| The Small Business Advisor - advice for starting and operating a ... |
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| www.isquare.com |
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| SCORE "Counselors to America's Small Business" |
| A nonprofit association dedicated to encouraging the formation, growth, and success of small business nationwide through counseling and mentor programs. |
| www.score.org |
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| Small Business and Self-Employed One-Stop Resource |
| IR-2006-2, January 3, 2006 - Temporary and proposed regulations will significantly reduce tax filing burden for nearly 950000 small business owners. ... |
| www.irs.gov |
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| Welcome to Small Business BC your business resource in British ... |
| BC Business Services offers assistance and resources for those running or starting a business in British Columbia and Vancouver. |
| www.smallbusinessbc.ca |
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| Small Business Service | Home |
| Provides information and advice to help small businesses realise their potential. |
| www.sbs.gov.uk |
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| NSW Small Business |
| A site developed by the NSW Department of State and Regional Development for small businesses. Topics include management, resources, current issues and ... |
| www.smallbiz.nsw.gov.au |
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| Business Management & Advice: Small Business Resources & Information |
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| Small Business Lawyer, Attorney, Law, Legal Help - FindLaw for ... |
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| smallbusiness.findlaw.com |
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| Small Business Funding Opportunities (SBIR and STTR) |
| Links to Small Business Funding Opportunities and SBIR / STTR Applications. |
| grants.nih.gov |
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| Microsoft bCentral Small Business Directory |
| Directory categorized by industry with company business card feature. |
| sbd.bcentral.com |
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| Our site has moved! Please update your bookmarks! |
| Facilitates the sharing and exchange of information among small business development centers, the small business administration and other business-oriented ... |
| sbdcnet.utsa.edu |
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| Small Business Development Corporation |
| Our business information services provides guidance to improve business skills and knowledge on advice on starting, buying, selling and expanding a small ... |
| www.sbdc.com.au |
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