As the year comes to an end it is fitting that we look both backward and forward in this week's recommended reading. For many reasons it is a good time for reflection and using the lessons of the past to help move forward. It's also a good time to look to the things closest to us - family, friends, and yes, our businesses - and take a look at the bigger picture and make changes to improve where we are headed. This week in our Startup Diaries series we took a look at a business that made the tough decision to hit reset and postpone a launch rather than get it wrong. We also looked at one that looked inward and to the past to make the decision to take the leap into getting started.

The Small Business Administration continued to demonstrate why it is an effective branch of government for the small business person with the launch of a new program to help transition people from unemployment to self-employment. On the topic of getting people to work we also has an interesting op-ed looking

Read More »from Making hard decisions and employment: Small Business Reading

The most important issue for Americans is jobs -- specifically, creating more of them. We heard it through the lowest point of the recession. We heard it during the 2012 presidential campaign. And we've heard it echoed in the media since. A largely untold story is one about the many jobs in our economy that remain unfilled due to the skills gap in the American labor force. It's clear that the technology sector is a powerful force in our economy -- but to fully harness its potential for growth, we need to ensure we have workers with required skills to fill the new types of jobs of these new companies.

We're playing catch up -- not unexpected, perhaps, given the incredibly fast rate at which the tech sector grows and changes and the comparatively slow (sometimes seemingly glacial) pace of institutional reform. The skills gap we're currently experiencing is indicative of a failure of policy to keep pace with changing technology, to the detriment of a faster economic recovery and our

Read More »from The One-Two Punch: Closing the Skills Gap in the American Workforce

Small business news was dominated by doom and gloom headlines this week, but every story has a silver lining.

Disaster recovery continues: Thousands of small businesses in New York and New Jersey continue to struggle through superstorm Sandy recovery efforts. Newsday reported that local officials believe that unless many businesses get help, they will close their doors.

The good news? Newsday reports that New York FEMA coordinator Michael Byrne said the agency is open to extending the deadline for disaster loan applications past December 31. Byrne told Newsday that FEMA and SBA want to hear from business owners in need of the deadline extension.

Fiscal cliff fears: The biggest fiscal cliff threat to small businesses is the little-talked-about end of the payroll tax holiday, which would raise the current 4.2 percent payroll tax to 6.2 percent--effectively a 2 percent paycut on a $113,000 salary, reports CNN Money:

"Ending the payroll tax holiday would take away $80 a month from someone

Read More »from Disaster recovery, fiscal cliff fears, and hiring slump

Here at Yahoo! Small Business Advisor we started a new series this week - Startup Diaries. This series is going to follow between four and eight small businesses as they go through the ups and downs of establishing and running their businesses. Some are already established, some in the middle of starting up and some still in planning. But we are committed to bringing their stories and lessons learned regularly and in the authentic voices of the owners themselves. First up was a customer service insight from Art Cardenas and next a quick look at the kind of side task small business owners have to undertake in order to get from point A to point B. In this case some remodeling by P. Quick.

We also took a look at how technology is driving entrepreneurship and job creation, a really great article with seven reasons why a strong budget is a good idea and seven different viewpoints on what our politicians can do to help small business.

If you haven't taken the plunge yet, hopefully some of

Read More »from New Startup Diaries Series, technology, budgets: Small Business Reading

New York Democratic Senator Kirstin Gillibrand is grabbing headlines in her state this week for pushing her colleagues to vote on the Small Business Lending Enhancement Act. The legislation, introduced by Colorado Senator Mark Udall in 2011, would address ongoing complaints about limited access to business loans by raising a cap on commercial loans that credit unions are permitted to make, based on a percentage of their assets.

Senate Bill 509, as it is known, "would amend the Federal Credit Union Act to advance the ability of credit unions to promote small business growth and economic development opportunities, and for other purposes." It has been sitting in the Banking Committee since March 2011.

According to a report published by public media aggregator Innovation Trail,

Passing the act would mean that credit unions could gradually increase their lending capability through a tiered system, with a new upper cap of 27.5 percent. Senator Gillibrand says passing this act would increase

Read More »from More credit union loans to small business? Banks say no

TechJobVisualization

There's an economic renaissance happening in America. The 21st Century jobs that are leading the American economy are powered by technologies created every day in labs and garages by students, innovators and entrepreneurs. It's a story many of us have become familiar with -- or so we thought. The truth is, the story of the technology-powered economic revival goes beyond the traditional tech centers of Silicon Valley and New York; it's a story that's being played out in communities all across the country.

More and more new data points and stories are highlighting that tech is leading the job revival in America. And this rebirth, though led by the traditional centers of innovation like San Francisco and Silicon Valley, is also taking root in every corner of this country, from Detroit to Kansas City, Los Angeles to Austin, Boise to Boulder.

I helped found Engine Advocacy last year to assist the startup and small business communities in the U.S. thrive via changes in policy, and we are

Read More »from Tech Works: How Technology is Leading America’s Economy

businessbudgeting

The housing collapse has been a rude awakening for many Americans and has forced many people to take a good hard look at their personal finances, and come up with a better plan to manage their money. Creating household budgets, and living the frugal lifestyle, has become vogue and being thrifty has become the newest cool thing to do.

Small business owners have experienced the same financial tensions with increased competition and unstable revenues. This has created the need for companies to tighten their spending and recognize the importance of creating an annual budget.

Interestingly, many business owners don't create a budget because they either don't know how, or don't think it is a good use of their time. This is unfortunate because a formal budgeting process helps to ensure that resources are available for those things that support business growth and development.

7 Reasons to Create a Budget

1. Budgets Set Targets
Budgets are used to project revenues and spending to help

Read More »from Seven Reasons Why Your Small Business Should Set a Budget

Internet shopping continues to grow at record levels and smartphones are ubiquitous. Whether your business is in retail or the service industry, a merchant account and website are important tools to help grow the business.

ComScore estimated that online holiday shopping in November rose 28% this year over last, and purchases on mobile devices were up 10%. Cash is out. Plastic is in. According to the Small Business Administration, credit cards are the most common method of customer payment. So if you don't have a merchant account, you could be losing revenue.

A merchant account is a special bank account that allows business owners to process e-commerce transactions. Merchant accounts are available to everyone these days, regardless of the size or type of business. Companies like Square and Intuit offer devices that are compact and that easily attach to your mobile phone. This allows you to accept credit cards on the move, anywhere there is an internet connection and a smartphone.

Read More »from Broaden Your Customer Base with a Merchant Account and a Website