New titles at Evanston Public Library

Wild west 2.0 : how to protect and restore your online reputation on the untamed social frontier,  

Fertik, Michael. American Management Association, c2010.  [ 659.2 Ferti.M]

"The book contains tools to help perform an online reputation audit as well as have false information removed from websites. There are a good glossary, informative chapter notes, and lots of additional information available on the book's official website. There are no comparable works, since the technology referred to changes so rapidly.This accessible book would be great for anyone interested in having a personal or business presence on the Internet and for those interested in the sociological impacts of web 2.0. " (Library Journal review)

Companies on a mission : entrepreneurial strategies for growing sustainably, responsibly, and profitably.  Russo, Michael V.  Stanford Business Books, c2010. [658.408 Russo.M]

"The book strikes a good balance between well-researched scholarship (including charts, graphs, and many footnotes) and real-world examples that enhance the readability and keep readers interested...A well-written and informative business book that provides valuable tips and background for anyone interested in starting up or managing a socially conscious company."  (Library Journal review)

The Wall Street journal essential guide to management : lasting lessons from the best leadership minds of our time.  Murray, Alan S., 1954-.  Harper Business, c2010. 

Draws the best from the existing body of knowledge and research, and summarizes it in a simple, clear, and useful way. Focusing on classic and contemporary works that have been recommended by members of The Wall Street Journal CEO Council-all chief executives of large and successful global companies-it is an invaluable reference and essential tool for every manager, new and experienced alike.

IRS releases draft of form to Help Small Businesses Claim New Health Care Tax Credit

On September 7, the IRS released a draft of the form 8941, that will be used by small business owners to claim a tax credit under the new health care law.  The final version will be available later this year.  The credit is designed to encourage small employers to offer health insurance coverage for the first time or maintain coverage they already have.


If you have any comments on this draft form, you can submit them to the IRS on their web site.  You may make comments anonymously, or you may include your name and e-mail address or phone number.  Due to the high volume of comments they expect to receive, they will not be able to respond to each individual.  However, they will carefully consider each suggestion.  Comments should be sent within 30 days from the date the draft was posted.  Be sure to include the words DRAFT  and Form 8941 in your response.

Brown Bag Lunch Workshop for Small Business Owners

Bring your lunch and join Neil Gardner of Edward Jones, Inc. as he presents Financial Solutions for Business Owners on Thursday, September 23, at noon, in the Community Meeting Room of the Evanston Public Library.  Mr. Gardner will provide ideas for putting the banking, retirement and insurance tools available to business owners to work, to build their wealth and protect their businesses.  Registration is requested, but not required.  If you would like more information, please call the Reference Desk at 847-448-8630.

New Titles at EPL for Small Business Owners

Here are some new titles to check out at the Evanston Public Library.

19 ways to survive : small-business strategies for a tough economy, Spry, Lynn.   (658.022 Spry.L)
"This is not a book on economic theory. It's a practical guide for small business owners demonstrating hands-on techniques and ideas that you can start using today...Readers will be presented with the nuts-and-bolts basics on how they can turn their small business around today using inexpensive tactics to gain and retain customers."

Accounting savvy for business owners : a guide to the bare essentials. Goodman, Philip B.  CPA911 Pub, 2010.  (657.9042 Goodm.P)
Addressing a common problem for small business owners, this accessible handbook is the key to understanding the ins and outs of accounting. Demonstrating how to correctly maintain records and apply bookkeeping rules, but avoiding complex jargon, this guide demonstrates how to keep track of financial matters and monitor the overall health of any business.

Win government contracts for your small business, DiGiacomo, John.  Toolkit Media Group, c2010.  (658.804 Digia.J 2010)
Government contracts under $100,000 are targeted to small businesses. This title-now in its fifth edition-will show you how to get in on the action in just 10 easy-to-understand steps. By following the author's practical advice, you'll be listed accurately in the federal procurement system, allowing you to start receiving bid leads for lucrative federal contracts.

Sidewalk Sales

The Central Street Business Association's annual SIDEWALK SALE takes place today, Thursday July 15 through Saturday, July 17th from 10am to 5pm each day. The businesses located between the 1900-2100 blocks of Central Street will be putting their wares out on the sidewalk at heavily discounted prices.  

Next weekend, you can visit the SUPER SIDEWALK SALE.  Close to 200 Evanston merchants in both downtown Evanston and the Chicago/Dempster district will be participating.  The Super Sidewalk Sale runs Friday, July 23 - Sunday, July 25, 2010; times vary with each business.

Show your support for Evanston's retail businesses by visiting one of these great sidewalk sales!

Evanston/North Shore Networking's e-B.A.S.H.

Participate in Evanston/North Shore Networking's e-B.A.S.H (Evanston’s Business Appreciation Scavenger Hunt) on July 27, 2010, from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30.   The event is a challenge (but not a race).  Participants go to predefined merchants to learn more about the products and services offered by those merchants.  They decipher creative clues and answer questions about merchant offerings, which provides the opportunity to learn the next clue on the route.

All teams that successfully complete their route are submitted for a drawing to determine the winning team.  Prizes include Cub tickets, jewelry, dining certificates and much more.  Registration is $30 in advance and $40 at the door.  Buffalo Wild Wings is the final destination, where a post-scavenger-hunt party will be held.  For more information, check out the e-B.A.S.H. website today.  Don't miss out on this unique Evanston networking opportunity!

Home-based business ideas

Evanston Public Library has books to help you find that perfect home based business idea.  There are several books that compile lists of ideas:  The complete idiot's guide to starting a home-based business (also available as a downloadable e-book); The best home businesses for people 50+ (also available as a downloadable e-book); and Home-based business for dummies. 

Or, if you already have an idea and want to find out how to make it a reality, Entrepreneur Magazine's Startup books are a good place to start:  Start your own pet business and more : pet sitting, dog walking, training, grooming, food/treats, upscale pet products; Start your own mail order business : your step-by-step guide to success; Start your own successful retail business : your step-by-step guide to success; and Start your own import/export business : your step-by-step guide to success.

Additionally, find other business-specific titles:  How to start a home-based personal chef business; The crafts business answer book : starting, marketing, and managing a homebased art, crafts, or design business; Faux for dough : the art of making a living doing faux finishes; and How to start a home-based web design business.  






Sandlin, Eileen Figure

Small Business Startups

Here's an interesting factoid, presented by the Kaufman Foundation:  the rate of entrepreneurial startups in 2009 was was higher than anytime in the previous 14 years, which includes the dot.com era... 

New small business titles

Here are some new books and audiobooks that will be of interest to entrepreneurs.  And they're available for free at the Evanston Public Library:

Your idea, inc. : 12 steps to building a million-dollar business--starting today! Abrams, Sandy.  Avon, Mass. : Adams Media, c2010.  "Founder and CEO of Moisture Jamzz Moisture Gloves, Abrams started with a business idea-and little else. She went in search of a comprehensive guide she could understand without having an M.B.A. that would teach the basics in a step-by-step fashion, but could find nothing. Undaunted, she learned the ins and outs of starting a business on the fly-and wrote the book herself. " (Publishers Weekly)

Selling in tough times : secrets to selling when no one is buying, Hopkins, Tom. New York : Business Plus, c2010.   "Hopkins...encourages readers to step back and reevaluate their positions in the economy, and to make a plan for when the climate improves...Part self-help book, part motivational guide, this book provides valuable advice for selling professionals struggling in the current economy as well anyone hoping to emerge from the recession primed for growth." (Publishers Weekly)

The next evolution of marketing : connect with your customers by marketing with meaning, Gilbreath, Bob.  New York : McGraw-Hill, c2010.  "With solid credentials supporting him (as chief marketing strategist at Bridge Worldwide, a large advertising agency), Gilbreath lays out his ideas about a marketing strategy he calls meaningful marketing. He defines meaningful marketing as the marketing itself adding value to peoples' lives. Insisting that traditional marketing is now out-of-date...he is a great proponent of marketing that offers consumers actual things to put to practical use..." (Booklist) 
Also available as a downloadable eAudiobook to Evanston Public Library cardholders.

Rubies in the orchard : how to uncover the hidden gems in your business, Resnick, Lynda.  New York : Doubleday, c2009.  " In a forest of dry marketing books, Resnick's animated debut stands out as its own hidden gem, filled with juicy real-life tales of marketing strategies that rocketed Resnick and her husband to astounding success with companies like Fiji Water, Teleflora, the Franklin Mint and Pom Wonderful, the wildly successful pomegranate juice." (Publishers Weekly) 

Also available as a downloadable eAudiobook to Evanston Public Library cardholders.

Firms get deal on money-saving signs | Evanston Now

Firms get deal on money-saving signs | Evanston Now

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Is Green the New Black for Your Bottom Line?

As we have become more environmentally aware, many business owners are wondering how they can be more green, without adding red ink to their balance sheets.  The Small Business Administration has a Green Business Guide that provides information about resources to help small businesses expand their businesses while saving energy costs.  The Greening Advisor of the Natural Resources Defense Council provides advice for that can help any commercial business or organization to reduce its environmental impacts.

Also, the Evanston Public Library has a number of books that address this issue.  Here are just a few to get you started:

Greening your small business : how to improve your bottom line, grow your brand, satisfy your customers--and save the planet, Kaplan, Jennifer, c2009.  Jennifer Kaplan founded Greenhance LLC, a business consultancy dedicated to providing marketing and communications strategies to small businesses going green. 


The complete idiot's guide to greening your business, Riley, Trish, c2009. This entry in the "Idiot's" series provides the most up-to-date, concrete, and practical steps for readers to follow "to get rich by going green."

Green recovery : get lean, get smart, and emerge from the downturn on top, Winston, Andrew S., c2009.  Includes case studies of companies that have gone green, and explores how going green can aid economic recovery.

Green your work : boost your bottom line while reducing your carbon footprint, Carlson, Kim, c2009.  This book shows managers practical steps to make their companies environmentally responsible while staying profitable and efficient.






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Meeting set for contractors about big grant

An article in Evanston Now announces that Brinshore Development LLC will hold an informational meeting about subcontracting opportunities for the City of Evanston's $18 million federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program housing rehabilitation grant at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 27, at the Civic Center. (Read article)

If your small business can benefit from this opportunity, be sure to make plans to attend.

Small Business Blogs

Do you want to keep up with the best of the Small Business blogs that are out there?  Forbes Magazine has weighted in with their choices for the Best of the Web blogs to follow. Included are recommendations for Duct Tape Marketing, Small Business Trends, and more.

Or ar you just interested in local news?  Both the Chicago Tribune and Crain's Chicago Business have their own business blogs.  Crain's targets entrepreneurs in its blog.  For example here is a recent post to Crain's talking about business lending loosening up, which is good news for local business owners: Crain's video: Ice starts to melt for biz borrowers | Enterprise City | Crain's Chicago Business.  (Posted using ShareThis).   The Chicago Tribune maintains a business blog as part of its breaking news feature, Chicago Breaking Business.

New Small Business Titles @EPL

Here are some recent acquisitions at the Evanston Public Library that may interest the small business owner or owner-to-be:

Awakening the entrepreneur within : how ordinary people can create extraordinary companies,  Gerber, Michael E.  Collins Publishing, c2009.

Michael E. Gerber is the legend behind the E-Myth series of books, which includes The E-Myth Revisited, E-Myth Mastery, The E-Myth Manager, The E-Myth Physician, The E-Myth Contractor, and The E-Myth Enterprise.

	The Wall Street journal complete small business guidebook, DeBaise, Colleen.  Three Rivers Press, c. 2009. a practical guide for turning your entrepreneurial dreams into a successful company, from America's most trusted source of financial advice. It answers would-be business owners' biggest question-how do I fund my venture?-then explains the mechanics of building, running and growing a profitable business. Escape from cubicle nation [electronic resource (eAudiobook)] : from corporate prisoner to thriving entrepreneur, Slim, Pamela. Brilliance Audio, c2009. Life coach Slim shows readers how to navigate the terrifying yet gratifying transition from corporate drone to entrepreneur.  Hating your job intensely, she writes, is not a business plan. What's here is: the nitty-gritty of getting a business off the ground, legal considerations, making the best use of social networking sites, the components of a business model, organized creative brainstorming, financial advice, shopping for self-paid insurance and benefits, and helpful anecdotes of real-life entrepreneurship.

Good advice in tough times

Small business owners sometimes need someone to consult when they need advice, especially in tough economic times.  There are a number of non-profit organizations that will supply the expertise of advisory boards for just this purpose.  One of the largest and most well know is SCORE, Counselors to Small Business.  SCORE offers free and confidential business advice through Ask SCORE online, face-to-face counseling, workshops and more.  Their 12,400 nationwide volunteers consist of working or retired business owners, executives and corporate leaders who share their wisdom and lessons learned in business.  Their Chicago office is located at 500 W. Madison Street. 

An organization that provides business counseling to women through a mentor-matching program  is Athena International, whose Chicago office is located at 70 E. Lake Street.  Their Athena PowerLink Program is an advisory program designed to increase the growth and profitability of women-owned businesses by "linking" a business with a volunteer panel of advisors recruited from the local community. The panel and business owner work together for one year to meet the specific objectives of the business owner.

And Northwestern University provides the expertise of its graduate students, at a nominal fee, through the Small Business Opportunity Center.  This student-based clinical program affiliated with the Bluhm Legal Clinic and Northwestern University School of Law, provides affordable legal services to entrepreneurs and nonprofit organizations focusing on job creation and economic development in the Chicago area. 

Tax Time

Spring is in the air, and taxes are on our minds.  The Wall Street Journal has advice in the form of "The Best Tax Breaks for Small Business."  The Nolo Small Business center provides a "Small Business Taxes FAQ", posted on the website of the magazine, Inc., and the IRS provides an online, Virtual Small Business Tax Workshop. 

You can find J. K. Lasser's Small Business Taxes at the Evanston Public Library, which has tax facts and strategies that every small business owner needs to know for their 2009 tax return and year-round planning.

Kellogg Entrepreneurship Internship Program (KEIP)

An eight week internship program sponsored by Kellogg's Levy Institute for Entrepreneurial Practice offers entrepreneurs the opportunity use Kellogg students' passion and business skills toward completing critical projects, and offers first-year MBA students the opportunity to experience entrepreneurship first-hand.  As a business owner, you will be matched with an exceptionally talented business student between February and May, and will have their services full-time for 8 weeks in June through early August.

According to KEIP's website, "This program is ideal for start-up companies that can’t afford MBA talent year round but have a need in marketing, finance, strategy, or operations that could be met through an 8 week project involving the Kellogg intern." 

Kellogg’s Larry and Carol Levy Institute for Entrepreneurial Practice is hosting an information session and networking reception for prospective students and host companies interested in participating in the 15th year of the Kellogg Entrepreneurial Internship Program (KEIP) in Summer 2010. Past participating students and host companies will also be on hand to talk about their experience with the program.


Event Details:
Thursday, January 21st
5:15 – 6:15 pm: Information Session
6:30 – 7:30 pm: Networking Reception
Kellogg School of Management, Jacobs Center, Room TBD
2001 Sheridan Road, Evanston IL 60201 (no parking passes required)
RSVP by Wed 1/20 to levyinstitute@kellogg.northwestern.edu

For more information, and to find out if this program could benefit you and your business, see the KEIP website.

Small Business and Taxes

Small business owners face a different set of tax issues than do individuals. Since many entrepreneurs start out by turning their hobbies into money-making ventures, they don't always realize what the implications will be at tax time. An article in the Small Business section of the New York Times discusses some of the bookkeeping and tax problems you may encounter as your business grows.

There are some resources that can help. Taking accounting classes at a local community college, such as Oakton Community College can be useful. SCORE, Counselors to America's Small Business, offers reasonably-priced workshops and free individual counseling.The IRS provides important small business tax information in its Publication 583.

The Evanston Public Library has some resources, also.  Check out J.K. Lasser's Small Business Taxes, or Tax smarts for small business, or Nolo Press' Tax savvy for small business, to name just a few.

Award to honor businesses that support the arts | Evanston Now

Award to honor businesses that support the arts | Evanston Now

The Arts & Business Committee of the Evanston Arts Council is seeking nominations of a local businesses that have been supportive of the arts for the third annual Arts Leadership Award.
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SBA and the Recovery Act

On November 23, 2009, the SBA began the transition period from two of its Recovery Act programs. The funds made available from the Recovery Act eliminated the upfront guaranty fee for loans with maturities greater than 12 months as well as provided higher SBA guaranties to lenders for most 7(a) loans. The SBA Recovery Loan Queue has information about what this might mean for your small business loan.  Jim O'Connor, SBA's manager of online training, and Eric Zarnikow, associate administrator of SBA's Office of Capital Access, have produced a video that also provides information about the loan process.