Teamwork is more than a method or a model. It is a culture based upon the concept of Human Resource. The chemistry or dynamics between the team members is generated by the line of thinking of the members.

 In recent history, an excellent example of Teamwork is the Apollo Project (NASA) culminating with the landing on the moon. It is possible for a company to have a number of interrelated projects with different Teams or the whole company.

 Some of the most important points to have a successful Team are:

 · Motivation of all the players towards the same goal.

· Effective communication channels between all the members.

· Integral hierarchy system, meaning “not because I am the brain I’m more important that the arm”.

· The correct implementation of “Constructive Criticism”; the problem is analyzed objectively by the Team and corrected using suggestions and recommendations that strengthen the efforts and motivation of the part that produced the problem or error thereby improving the methods, accelerating the processes, motivating and capitalizing on the problem itself.

· Culture deep-seated in the unification of the Team by a close interpersonal relation.

· A strong compromise by all the Team members to achieve the goal in “Real Time”.

· The psychological and intellectual capacity of the Team members of facing obstacles and difficulties objectively without the use of negative criticism or arguments.

The above mentioned 7 points are vital to achieve a goal utilizing the culture of Teamwork.

 Teamwork applies to the small and medium business, the corporate world, government and society in general. The competiveness of any company is based on its organizational platform which determines its productivity. In today’s competitive markets successful companies do not have “Fat”, they operate in a lean and proactive environment looking to the future and the opportunities it will bring.

Teamwork is without a doubt an instrument that improves productivity, product and service quality, reduces time waste and ultimately turns into competiveness.

A Web site known for helping entrepreneurs in developing countries has turned its sights on the United States.

Since 2005, Kiva.org has helped Internet users give microloans, or small loans of $25 or more, to business owners in nearly 50 impoverished countries. Now it’s offering similar loans to struggling U.S. entrepreneurs. Tannis Lee Harrison has owned a housekeeping business for three years, but she never thought she’d be a cleaner. The 47-year-old was desperate when her husband’s notary work dried up.

She says she and her family were going to lose their house in East Palo Alto, Calif. So, she asked a friend for help finding odd jobs. Once she found her niche in cleaning, Harrison says, the work poured in. She soon needed to hire an employee, buy heavy-duty vacuums and find extra storage. She couldn’t get a loan or a credit card, though. She’d emigrated from Canada and didn’t have a credit history in the U.S. yet. “I did try to get credit through places like Walmart,” says Harrison. “I didn’t get it from there; I didn’t get it from the bank because my Social Security number is so young.”

Ask And You May Receive

Then she heard about loans on the Kiva Web site. The site connects small business owners who need cash with Internet users who want to open their wallets. Harrison asked for $2,000. Within a single day, a combination of nearly 80 people had fulfilled her request. “It’s another growth spurt for me — a very personal thing to me,” Harrison says.

 Microloans typically have low interest rates and easy payback terms. Harrison will pay hers off in $100 monthly installments. Kiva just recently made these loans an option for U.S. borrowers. Premal Shah, the president of Kiva, says the San Francisco-based organization thought it might help the economy in its own backyard.

“We know that small businesses are the cornerstone of the economy. It’s a real growth driver of the U.S.,” Shah says. “Even before the credit crunch, small business loans were hard,” he says. “Post credit crunch it’s really, really hard. So, Kiva started thinking, ‘Wow, we’re allowing people in the developing world to request loans, why not un-crunch America and allow people here in the U.S. to request loans and see if the Internet community wants to fund them.’”

Lending Opposition

A small number of people who make loans on Kiva.org protested the decision, including Tom Behan, a retired marketing executive in Seattle. “In shifting their emphasis or some direction toward the U.S., they began diverting their time, money and resources from the have-nots to the haves, and that really set poorly with me,” he says.Kiva’s mission is to alleviate poverty, so Behan wants it to disregard the U.S. and other rich, developed countries. “There are over 2 billion people in the world who live in extreme poverty,” Behan says. Poverty is defined by the U.N. as trying to survive on less than $2 a day.”It also means they don’t have access to basic necessities that we have here in the U.S., like free education, free health care if you need it, and the services of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of religious and nonprofit groups that are dealing with every kind of need,” Behan says.

Behan says he and other unhappy lenders are switching to a different organization. That won’t change Kiva’s course, though. The Web site has attracted more money since the U.S. loan program began, according to Shah. He says that’s good for entrepreneurs all over the world.

 by Charla Bear

Defense policy bill has major implications for contractors

The 1,500-page fiscal 2010 Defense authorization bill approved by a congressional conference committee on Wednesday will have major repercussions for contractors and the government’s acquisition workforce.  Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said the legislation “supports the [Pentagon's] plan to increase the size of the civilian acquisition workforce; reduces the Department of Defense’s reliance on contractors for critical acquisition functions; and eliminates waste, fraud and abuse through better contract oversight.”

The House approved the conference version of the bill on Thursday 281-146. The Senate is not expected to vote on it until Friday or early next week.  As expected, the legislation once again suspends the Defense Department’s authority to hold public-private competitions for government jobs under Office of Management and Budget Circular A-76 until Defense conducts a review of its procedures, including issues related to cost, oversight and data integrity. The Government Accountability Office will assess the quality of the Defense review.
If the ban is lifted, then there would be a two-year time limit for conducting public-private competitions. The legislation provides the secretary of Defense some flexibility to extend a competition based on its complexity.

The bill includes several other provisions that would affect the contractor community.  The legislation provides Defense Department officials with the authority to deny award or incentive fees to a contractor when the “gross negligence” or “reckless disregard” of one of its employees leads to the death or severe bodily injury of a service member or civilian employee. The types of incidents the provision covers include criminal convictions and civil or administrative findings of fault that result in a fine of more than $5,000 or damages in excess of $100,000.

In response to reports of faulty wiring and electrical hazards that have wounded or killed U.S. personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan, the legislation requires Defense to establish appropriate safety standards for expeditionary facilities that military or civilian personnel use.   The bill also includes a number of provisions designed to enhance the size and training of the acquisition workforce. Lawmakers expanded and extended the department’s expedited hiring authority, allowed additional funding for the Acquisition Development Workforce Fund and eliminated limits on the number of civilian personnel who can be hired for Defense acquisition work.

Other acquisition-related provisions would:
Extend the Commission on Wartime Contracting for an additional year and enhance the support available to the group from federal agencies;
Mandate that the Panel on Contracting Integrity, a body established in the 2007 Defense authorization act, review revolving door policies surrounding officials who leave the Pentagon to work in the defense industry;
Clarify that suspension and debarment rules apply to subcontracts;
Require the Defense Department to justify sole-source contract awards in excess of $20 million;
Force the Pentagon to notify the public before making any decision to bundle multiple contracts into a single large contract prior to issuing a solicitation;
Direct the Defense Science Board to conduct an independent assessment of improvements in the procurement and oversight of contract services;
Require GAO to study Defense’s use of categories other than cost or price as the predominant factor in evaluating competitive proposals, and to examine how prime contractors award and manage subcontracts on major weapons systems.
(C) 2009 BY NATIONAL JOURNAL GROUP, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Government Executive.com

When I wrote my book, Customer Pillars, I did not start out with the idea of generating nine pillars or key laws of marketing. They just happened to show up that way. I set out to be comprehensive and thorough, but I did not have a set number in mind. In fact, nine is actually a less “marketable” number than five, six, or seven. But when I asked the question, nine pillars emerged.

After the fact, however, I looked back at the pillars and saw that three stuck out. In fact, I saw a “system within a system” emerge. But let me warn you, before I divulge them, I do not think these three pillars (or laws as I have also referred to them), are more important than the other six. And, I will also say, that looking at these three pillars, without the others, is not as complete. (Looking at the whole list builds substance underneath all of them.)  These three pillars did appear to group together and did appear to present a simplified marketing development system. Those three pillars are…

· Sharpen Your Competitive Edge
· Connect Powerfully with Customers
· Manage Expectations Brilliantly

Each powerful (and challenging) in their own right, but when combined, this 1-2-3 punch, is the perfect marketing trifecta. Let’s look at how they work together:

“Sharpen your competitive edge” suggests a company must understand the competitive environment where they operate. It recognizes that other firms, in fact, other talented firms, are vying for the same business, for the same customers you are. To win, you must be able to articulate (directly or indirectly), why the customer should choose you over all the other options. In a crowded marketplace, why should the customer choose you?

Once you know this, it becomes important to “connect powerfully with the market,” or the second pillar highlighted in this “mini” system. (In the full Customer Pillars program, this is actually the sixth pillar.) While developing messages to share with customers does extend beyond just the “competitive edge,” this should be an important part of the message you aim to share with customers. Simply, once you know why customers should choose you over other options, you need to tell your customers and prospective customers about it. This is the customer communications aspect.

If you know why you are advantageous to competition, AND you clearly explain it to your customers (to the extent that they really understand it!), they should be willing to give your business a try. When accomplished, these first two steps should get customers “in the door.”  But the game is not completely won yet. Companies must “manage expectations brilliantly” to close the deal. In this third step of our mini system (the 7th pillar in the whole system), you make good on the promise.

When you communicate your competitive edge (steps 1 and 2), you make a promise to the customer. You essentially tell them why they should buy from you. To get them to try, you have to tell the customer your option is better than others; there’s a little bit of persuasion going on here! After they buy, they will see if what you delivered met or exceeded that commitment. And they will judge you.  If what you deliver exceeds what you promised, customers will be satisfied with the transaction. They will likely want to buy from you again. If they’re really happy, they may even tell others about your firm. On the other hand, if you fail to make good on your promises, they will not be pleased, may not buy from you again, and may tell others you are not a good company to work with. (That’s called momentum! Make it work in your favor as opposed to against you!)

So that’s it. Do those three things really well, and by improving them, you have done a great deal to implement a winning marketing strategy. (Now remember, it doesn’t mean those other six pillars are not important!!!) But the following three pillars do make a great “mini” system: sharpen your competitive edge, connect powerfully with customers, and manage expectations brilliantly.

Three simple steps to excellence in marketing!

(OK, if you believe that, you are too gullible! Marketing is not ever easy, but this system is extremely simple to understand, and if you make progress on those 3 steps, your are definitely working on GREAT marketing concepts!!!!)Curt Clinkinbeard, is the Director of The FAMEE Foundation, not-for-profit organization dedicated to helping entrepreneurs “advance marketing excellence” and build profitable revenue streams. More information on their free small business marketing programs can be found at http://www.famee.org.

Theft of confidential information and trade secrets can be just as damaging to your business as embezzlement or other employee fraud. Help protect your competitive advantage with these tips.

Buy paper shredders… and use them
Be careful when you are throwing out copies of sensitive or confidential documents. These include: financial statements, proposals, customer information, reports, receipts, bills, invoices, etc. Don’t just toss these in the trash. Shred them first. Putting them in the garbage unshredded opens up a range of security issues. If your trash is not disposed of properly, these documents could easily end up in the wrong hands… or blowing down the street past your competitors. In addition, industrial spies have been known to go through garbage looking for confidential data. Make shredding a company-wide practice — insist that your employees dispose of all papers this way.

Have a plan for terminated employees
Don’t let a disgruntled ex-employee become a security threat. Have a plan in place to keep a person from leaving your company with confidential documents. Some steps to follow include:

• Have the person leave the company immediately upon termination. Letting an employee hang around a few days to get his or her affairs in order only invites this person to make off with papers and other information that might be valuable to your firm. Have a supervisor stand by while the employee removes personal possessions from his or her desk.
• Make arrangements for immediate return of any confidential company information such as client lists, price lists, etc. Make the timely return of these documents a condition of receiving severance pay.
• Insist the person turns in keys, both for the business premises and for his or her desk and file cabinet. If he or she doesn’t return them, change your locks.
• Remove the person’s password from your computer network immediately. This is especially important if the person can dial in to your network from home, and then simply log in and download important information.

Use computer passwords
Require your employees to use passwords to access your computers or your network. This will serve to keep unauthorized people away from important files. Don’t let employees get lazy with their passwords — make them change them on a monthly basis. Dissuade people from using features that “remember” passwords — this can make it easy for an unauthorized person to gain access to your system. Insist that users log off your network whenever they’re away from their desks, so unauthorized users can’t jump in from their workstations.

Have all employees sign non-disclosure agreements
Make sure employees understand that theft of intellectual property is as serious to your business as theft of physical property. Use a non-disclosure agreement, or a non-disclosure clause in an employment contract, to spell out employees’ responsibilities regarding confidential or trade secret information. Be sure you define what your company considers to be confidential. This is critical, since it clearly differentiates which information belongs to your company and which belongs to the ex-employee. The agreement also should outline steps the employee must take to maintain confidentiality, such as using computer passwords, not removing sales lists from the premises, not copying documents to disk, etc.

Keep tabs on your documents
Set and enforce strict procedures for access to confidential or trade secret information. Create a hierarchy of access among your employees for sensitive information — allow only those who need certain information to see it. For example, a sales rep may need customer contact information for his or her territory. But the rep does not need your entire client list, and does not need access to billing data. Label key electronic documents (such as your customer database) as “read only” so they can not be altered or written to disk.

Don’t tempt prying eyes
Don’t make it easy for people who aren’t supposed to see confidential documents to snoop. Encourage everyone at your business to take certain basic precautions. Never leave documents lying around. File things away when you’re done with them or when you’re away from your desk. Lock your filing cabinet and your desk when you’re away. Close computer files when they are not being used and never leave a file on your screen when you go away from your desk.

Social networks have been around for a while. Recently, there has been a mild explosion of these social sites. Take a look at the below list and decide if there is one that will meet your business marketing needs.

Top Social Networking Sites – General Interest

• MySpace: Started in 2003, MySpace was a driving force in popularizing social networking and still maintains a large userbase. Over 263,920,102 registered users
• Facebook: Founded by Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook was designed as a social networking site for Harvard students. After spreading from Harvard through the university ranks and down into high school, Facebook was opened to the public in 2006. Over 250,000,000 registered users
• Hi5: A fast-growing social network with a strong base in Central America, Hi5 has over fifty million users worldwide.
• Ning: A social network for creating social networks, Ning takes the idea of groups to a whole new level.

Top Social Networking Sites – Niche Sites

• Flixster: With a tagline of “stop watching bad movies,” Flixster combines social networking with movie reviews.
• Last.fm: Billing itself as a social music site, Last.fm allows members to create their own radio station that learns what the person likes and suggests new music based on those interests. In addition to this, you can listen to the radio stations of friends and other Last.fm members.
• LinkedIn: A business-oriented social network, members invite people to be “connections” instead of “friends.” Linkedin is a contact management system as well as a social network, and has a question-and-answer section similar to Yahoo! Answers.
• Xanga: A social blogging site that combines social networking elements with blogging. Members earn credits for participating in the site and can spend credits on various things such as buying mini-pictures to post in the comments of a friend’s blog.

Business Social Networks

CompanyLoop is a business social network aimed at workers in the same company. By restricting access to only co-workers, CompanyLoop allows you to connect with your fellow employees and share knowledge specific to your business. Not only can you stay up to date with your co-workers, you can find the people you need to get your tasks done faster.

DoMyStufff is a social network designed to connect people who want stuff done to people who will do it. DoMyStuff allows everything from household chores to business tasks to be outsourced to thousands of assistants bidding on the jobs. An alternative to hiring a temp agency to fill short-term needs, DoMyStuff is also a good site for people looking to do odd jobs.

DOOSTANG is a business social network marketing itself as an exclusive career community for top young professionals. To become a member, you must either be at a company that is hiring or have an invite from a current member. While the idea is to raise the level of talent in the job seeker pool, whether this is actually true is open for debate.

Fast Pitch connects enterprising professionals to other professionals and is a great way for job seekers to become involved with potentially their next boss. It also provides tools for businesses to market themselves and helps drive traffic to the business website. In this way, it is a great business social network for entrepreneurs.

Konnects is a business social network aimed at the young professional who wants to start building a network of contacts. It is also geared toward the new business looking to start their own community and offers the tools needed to promote the business.

LinkedIn is the most popular business social network and one of the most recognizable social networks in the world. Focused on helping professionals maintain their list of connections, LinkedIn also provides invaluable information on companies and is a great resource for job seekers and for filling job vacancies.

PairUp takes a step away from the standard business social network by focusing on the frequent business travel. Providing the tools to share travel plans and alert colleagues that you are arriving in town, PairUp is a great resource to cope with changing itineraries.

Ryze  Founded in late 2001, Ryze was one of the first social networking websites. With the ability to set up company networks, Ryze is a great destination for businesses wanting to get more done on the web. It is also great for professionals who want to create their own business networks and connect with other professionals.

Spoke is a business social network that specializes on the recruiting aspects of social networks. Unlike many other social networks for professionals, Spoke is an open-ended network that allows businesses to search through the database and tailor their recruiting efforts to a specialized audience.

XING is one of the oldest business-oriented social networks. With over six million professionals using the service every day and conducting business in 16 different languages, XING is a world leader in business networking. An excellent site for keeping track of your business contacts, XING can also help employers fill job vacancies and help young professionals land their fist big job.  The list of the social sites could fill a book. The above list represents only a few.

These lists were part of an article by A List of Business Social Networks for Professionals by Daniel Nations, About.com

If you are a small business owner, whether you hire people as independent contractors or as employees will impact how much taxes you pay and the amount of taxes you withhold from their paychecks. Additionally, it will affect how much additional cost your business must bear, what documents and information they must provide to you, and what tax documents you must give to them. Here are the top ten things every business owner should know about hiring people as independent contractors versus hiring them as employees.

1. Three characteristics are used by the IRS to determine the relationship between businesses and workers: Behavioral Control, Financial Control, and the Type of Relationship. 

2. Behavioral Control covers facts that show whether the business has a right to direct or control how the work is done through instructions, training or other means. 

3. Financial Control covers facts that show whether the business has a right to direct or control the financial and business aspects of the worker’s job. 

4. The Type of Relationship factor relates to how the workers and the business owner perceive their relationship.

5. If you have the right to control or direct not only what is to be done, but also how it is to be done, then your workers are most likely employees.

6. If you can direct or control only the result of the work done — and not the means and methods of accomplishing the result — then your workers are probably independent contractors. 

7. Employers who misclassify workers as independent contractors can end up with substantial tax bills. Additionally, they can face penalties for failing to pay employment taxes and for failing to file required tax forms. 

8. Workers can avoid higher tax bills and lost benefits if they know their proper status.

9. Both employers and workers can ask the IRS to make a determination on whether a specific individual is an independent contractor or an employee by filing a Form SS-8 – Determination of Worker Status for Purposes of Federal Employment Taxes and Income Tax Withholding – with the IRS.

10. You can learn more about the critical determination of a worker’s status as an Independent Contractor or Employee at IRS.gov by selecting the Small Business link.  Additional resources include IRS Publication 15-A, Employer’s Supplemental Tax Guide, Publication 1779, Independent Contractor or Employee, and Publication 1976, Do You Qualify for Relief under Section 530? These publications and Form SS-8 are available on the IRS Web site or by calling the IRS at 800-829-3676 (800-TAX-FORM).

I just spent an hour or so researching hot business start ups and business idea trending for 2009 and the next couple years. No big surprises really. Business ideas that are poised for hot start ups have leveled off a bit I think. Seems a several year meltdown period followed a go for broke, get it now, free for all with the late nineties and early 2000’s

Sticking with our theme of home based business ideas I thought I’d mention a few of the hot business ideas that are becoming popular start ups from home. I’ll save the benefits or better yet redirect you when I can find some of the articles I’ve posted on the benefits of home based business models.  One trend people are seeing in the wake of the dot com bust is small businesses reassessing the Internet. Not as a new business model or as an opportunity for investment with large return, but more as a way to improve on what they are already doing. Many are low cost business ideas, some are even free, requiring no capital.

Some of the top business ideas that were started in the last three years are simply user friendly tools to communicate with customers. Third world business ideas even utilize the Internet to attract funding, spread their message, and communicate need. Companies like iContact who simply provide a platform that a company can use for marketing, improving customer loyalty, and even to educate its employees on web based marketing.  I’ve notice the everyday tasks associated with doing business get so simple with the advent of the tight niche platform products that new start ups are using as a springboard into the marketplace. Its great, some even make my life easier.

One, more specific, business idea that is building a whole new class of entrepreneurs and “socialpreneurs” are CMS’s or Content Management Systems. A CMS makes it extremely easy for everyday or “nontechnical” people, like myself, to publish websites and blogs. The new group or industry, if you will, that these CMS’s are creating is SEO professionals. Search Engine Optimization is a surging market.

Comprised of small one man companies and large growing corporations the SEO industry is really starting to boom. It takes what it takes and when website owners are counting the costs of doing business SEO is making it on the list and for good reason. Search traffic is a quality of traffic that can be so targeted, so refined, that its worth investing in. When in history have we been able to connect with people who are looking for exactly what we have, EXACTLY when they are looking?

Its a powerful concept. One that I’m really excited about and enjoy the benefits of. Not only do I use my Blackberry to find information from anywhere, I also use the intricacies of search to improve traffic to my few small business blogs. I’m a small player in the world of search and that’s OK. I’ve got my place and enjoy it. I earn money doing something I like and would do anyway. Kinda cool.

For more informtation  go to : http://www.createliberty.com/

With technology making it easier than ever for people to operate a business out of their house, many taxpayers, entrepreneurs and small business people may be able to take a home office deduction when filing their 2009 federal tax return next year. Here are five important things the IRS wants you to know about claiming the home office deduction.

 1. Generally, in order to claim a business deduction for your home, you must use  part of your home exclusively and regularly:

•  As your principal place of business, or
• As a place to meet or deal with patients, clients or customers in the normal course of your business, or
• In the case of a separate structure which is not attached to your home, it must be used in connection with your trade or business

    For certain storage use, rental use or daycare-facility use, you are required to use the property regularly but not exclusively.

 2. Generally, the amount you can deduct depends on the percentage of your home that you used for business. Your deduction for certain expenses will be  limited if your gross income from your business is less than your total business expenses.

 3. There are special rules for qualified daycare providers and for persons storing  business inventory or product samples.

 4. If you are self-employed, use Form 8829, Expenses for Business Use of Your  Home, to figure your home office deduction. Report the deduction on line 30 of Schedule C, Form 1040.

 5. Different rules apply to claiming the home office deduction if you are an employee. For example, the regular and exclusive business use must be for   the convenience of your employer.

 For more information see IRS Publication 587, Business Use of Your Home, available on IRS.gov or by calling 800-TAX-FORM (800-829-3676).

 To get the most timely IRS information, news and products and services, subscribe to e-News on IRS.gov at http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=154825,00.html, click “Subscribe Now” at the bottom of the page and enter your e-mail address.