|
|
|
Asking For Proof in the Economic Pudding
There are no stupid questions, only stupid people. Ask an economist for proof of one of their pet theories and you'll find quickly that the age old axiom that we all learned in school and work place training seminars is dead wrong. You can ask a...
Can Buying Groups Save You Money?
Let me give you a brief history of Group Purchasing Organizations (GPO). They have been around for decades. Do you know what types of businesses get the best pricing on all of the goods and services they purchase? The answer is healthcare...
Paying for business purchases on a charge or credit card can assist in small business management
According to americanexpress.com,Most small business owners rely
in some type of business plastic to acquire business-related
goods and services and pay for the costs of doing business.
Review the benefits listed below to make sure you get the...
Small Business Q & A: Choosing A Business That's Right For You
Q: I really want to start my own business, but I have no idea what business would be best suited for me. I'm also eager to get started, but I don't want to pick the wrong business just because I'm impatient. How should I go about deciding what...
Unsung Heroes! Small and Homebased Business Owners
The homebased and small business owner is the "Unsung Hero". Why? The small business owner and today even the homebased business owner are the cornerstones of our society. The homebased business owner employs a number of...
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
|
| 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 |
|
| SBA |
| The Small Business Planner includes information and resources that will help you at any stage of the business lifecycle. ... |
| www.sba.gov |
|
| Main Page - SmallBusiness.com - Small Business Resources |
| Find Small Business plans, advice, tutorials about organization, corporations, entrepreneurship, and smallbusiness. |
| www.smallbusiness.com |
|
| Yahoo! Small Business: Domain Names, Web Hosting, E-commerce ... |
| Yahoo! Small Business provides products and services that enable you to establish and grow your business on the Internet. Services include domain name ... |
| smallbusiness.yahoo.com |
|
| Small business advice business start up small business finance ... |
| business start up small business finance start up advice. |
| www.smallbusiness.co.uk |
|
| 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 |
|
| Business & Small Business |
| Online and print small business publication. Information to help start, grow or manage a small business. |
| www.entrepreneur.com |
|
| 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 |
|
| The Small Business Advisor - advice for starting and operating a ... |
| Advice and assistance for starting and operating a small or home based business. |
| www.isquare.com |
|
| 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 |
|
| 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 |
|
| 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 |
|
| Small Business Service | Home |
| Provides information and advice to help small businesses realise their potential. |
| www.sbs.gov.uk |
|
| 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 |
|
| Business Management & Advice: Small Business Resources & Information |
| Looking for business management and advice? Our website includes small business resources and information that can help you. Visit the small business ... |
| www.businessweek.com |
|
| Small Business Lawyer, Attorney, Law, Legal Help - FindLaw for ... |
| Information and legal sites relevant to small business. |
| smallbusiness.findlaw.com |
|
| Small Business Funding Opportunities (SBIR and STTR) |
| Links to Small Business Funding Opportunities and SBIR / STTR Applications. |
| grants.nih.gov |
|
| Microsoft bCentral Small Business Directory |
| Directory categorized by industry with company business card feature. |
| sbd.bcentral.com |
|
| 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 |
|
| 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 |
|
|