The Benefits and Controversy of White Roofs |  |
- The Benefits and Controversy of White Roofs
- Small Business Mentoring Tips from Champions of Change (Honored at the White House)
- Startup Company Growth
- Do You Need a Small Business Coach?
| The Benefits and Controversy of White Roofs Posted: 26 Mar 2012 11:30 AM PDT Much ado has been made in recent years about the benefits of installing white or "cool" roofs. The idea: Light-colored materials reflect heat, while dark roofs, such as those made of asphalt and tar, absorb heat, driving up air-conditioning consumption in order to offset it.
So, in other words, installing a roof that is white or “reflective” helps save energy and money. Energy Secretary Steven Chu has pressed Americans to install cool roofs on their homes and business, even committing his own department to making all its new roofs white. But is the hype about cool roofs legitimate? Should you consider one for your business? First, the net energy savings generated by white roofs compared with dark roofs depends partly on where you're located. White roofs seem like no-brainers in warm climates like Phoenix, Las Vegas and Miami, where they can keep air-conditioning bills in check year-round. States like California even now mandate white roofs on commercial buildings. In cooler climates – think Detroit or Toronto — the issue is less straightforward. While white roofs may shave electric bills in hot summer months, studies suggest they increase winter heating bills. The question is by just how much. Some scientists say white roofs can increase heating costs more than they save on A/C costs. Scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory dispute this, saying the electricity savings of air-conditioning has found to outweigh any negatives even in cool cities like Minneapolis. (Check out this interesting analysis from Treehugger.com.) Another question is the overall environmental benefit of reflective roofs – and whether they actually do slow global warming. A Stanford study published last year found that the heat being reflected from white roofs may actually exacerbate climate change by contributing more heat to the atmosphere and absorbing more emissions. Earlier studies have suggested that whitewashing roofs can have a cooling effect. If you do decide to install a white roof on your business or home, make sure you do some research about costs and options in your area and get at least a few bids from different contractors. There are several different types of reflective roofing materials. Also look into incentives available to you. Some states offer rebates for installing white roofs, as do some electric utilities. You can look up incentives at DSIRE.
From Small Business Trends |
| Small Business Mentoring Tips from Champions of Change (Honored at the White House) Posted: 26 Mar 2012 08:30 AM PDT This the National Mentorship month and the White House held an event to honor 12 Small Business Champions of Change from all over the US on March 7, 2012. I had the great honor to attend this event (Web.com and Network Solutions, the companies I work for, were active supporters of this event and so I was fortunate to get an invitation). I thought I would share the insights on mentoring that came out of this event. You can learn more about the White House program at Champions of Change.
From Champions of Change 2012 – White House The event started with a plea from an administration official asking all mentors to tell their story using all forms of communication including as he put it, when you meet people at the grocery store. This is an excellent idea. We have been proponents of story telling as it relates to small business success and you will find them in all our blogs and channels with both small businesses themselves and thought leaders participating. During the panel discussion, the 2012 Champions of Change gave these tips to small Businesses and to mentors themselves: Advice to Small Businesses:
Advice to Mentors:
Do you have a story to tell? Maybe you have been a successful mentor or have succeeded due to guidance from a mentor. What is your advice? From Small Business Trends |
| Posted: 26 Mar 2012 05:30 AM PDT Everyone – entrepreneurs, investors, policy makers, employees and just plain concerned citizens – would like to see new companies add workers. Especially right now, the U.S. economy needs businesses of all ages and sizes to create jobs for those who are unemployed or entering the labor force for the first time.
That's why recent data from the Kauffman Firm Survey (KFS) is disappointing: It demonstrates how rare employment growth among new companies really is. The KFS is an ambitious effort to track 4,928 companies founded in 2004 over time to identify which businesses survive, die, stagnate and grow, and identify why some businesses do better than others. Not too long ago, the Kauffman Foundation released the sixth year results for the survey and the findings aren't very pretty. The data show that relatively few new companies survive over time, let alone grow. By 2009, only 56 percent of the companies started in 2004 were still in business, according to the Kauffman Foundation's analysis of the data. Moreover, hiring people isn't very common for young businesses. Only about half of the companies that survived to year six had any employees at all. This means that at age six, only 29 percent of the companies started in 2004 were providing a job for anyone. The number of jobs provided by most of these companies is very modest. According to the Foundation's analysis, the typical (median) six year old company had only a single employee, while the average (mean) business had 3.7 workers. Even the biggest company in the sample is a small business. At 265 workers, this company was a little more than half the minimum size of a large business, according to the Small Business Administration's definition (500 or fewer workers). That is, none of the new businesses tracked in the study experienced the kind of break out growth that investors, entrepreneurs, and policy makers hope new companies will have. While a complete understanding of the causes of new business job growth awaits systematic analysis, one factor jumps out: whether the business began as an employer. The KFS reveals that only 11 percent of businesses without employees in their start-up year had any employees six years later. Doomed Growth Photo via Shutterstock From Small Business Trends |
| Do You Need a Small Business Coach? Posted: 26 Mar 2012 02:30 AM PDT Small business coaching helps many entrepreneurs everyday. Do you have a small business coach? Do you often get small business advice from other entrepreneurs? Here are some tips and a great way to share yours and win a prize. Enjoy! Coaching AdviceWhat are your small business coaching tips? What tips can you offer to other small business owners and entrepreneurs about offering advice and feedback? Share your tips in our new business coaching contest and you could win a prize. BizSugar Blog Tips for those really bad days. They come in every business and how you handle them is particularly important. Here are some simple tips on how to deal with days when everything goes wrong. There are still ways not to let it beat you. Small Business Bliss Entrepreneurship TipsTips for growing your market. If you want to know how to get bigger buyers to consider your products, try starting with a brand awareness campaign that lets them know who you are. Your brand shouldn’t be a secret. Entrepreneur The risks your business must face. There are probably many things you worry about as you pilot your small business. However, awesome business coach Martin Zwilling has 10 more to keep you awake at night. Startup Professionals Musings Business Q & AA conversation with John Jantsch. The Duct Tape Marketing guru who some might call the ultimate small business marketing coach has these thoughts in a question and answer session you won’t at to miss. Noobpreneur How David beats Goliath. Sure, many people are familiar with the famous Bible story. However, in the business world, small startups challenge industry leaders everyday and win. Here are some examples. CNN Money Developing Your CompanyE-mail marketing still huge. If you want a great tip to boost your online marketing efforts, think e-mail marketing. What’s more, this link shares 10 important suggestions that should make your e-mail marketing work even better. TweakYourBiz Avoiding founder’s syndrome. This affliction’s name may be misleading because ideally effective small business founders shouldn’t have it. Still, here is some advice to avoid this pitfall and save your business. Youngentrepreneur Decision MakingAdvice on which deals to take. Decisions on the deals you make in your business should always be carefully considered. For example, don’t make deals during tough times that you may regret later. Your business needs cash flow, but don’t make the wrong choices. Chris Brogan What kind of message do you create? Decisions on the way you craft your marketing message are equally important. Here’s some advice on how to create marketing copy that works for your business. Share it with others you know. Copyblogger From Small Business Trends |
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