Welcome to the Self Made. This is a blog focused primarily on the self-employed and micro-business and full of fantastic posts by not only our team of experts but by YOU! We realize that there are many ways to help the small businesses out there which is why we invite other business minded individuals to post here and help the rest of the community as well.
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It could be your local cupcake shop, neighborhood deli or even your friendly accountant -- all local entrepreneurs fueling not only their local economies, but our national economy as well. One of the things they all have in common is that they are part of a growing movement in America called the small business community. With every dollar you invest in a local, small business, the true entrepreneurial spirit of America continues to thrive. According to the Small Business Administration, more than half of Americans either own or work for a small business, and they create about two out of every three new jobs in the U.S. each year.
Posted on May 13, 2014
Posted by Katie Vlietstra-- The Small Business Administration (SBA) is our nation's direct link between the administration and America's small business community. The agency provides benefits such as advocacy and support, loans and access to capital and entrepreneurial development to ensure the small business community continues to move our economy forward.
Posted on Apr 18, 2014
Nearly one year after Karen Mills announced her resignation as head of the Small Business Administration, President Obama announced the nomination of Maria Contreras-Sweet to lead the organization pending Senate confirmation.
Posted on Jan 22, 2014
Another holiday season has come and gone and hopefully all of your best wishes came true. Most of us are now focused on the New Year with high expectations and new commitments for success. And in many cases that includes those high minded New Year’s resolutions that probably include losing a few pounds or maybe just striving to get in shape. Committing to better health is a great way to start the year whether that includes a better diet, a daily walk or short jog, or maybe even just one less dessert each week. The key is to just pick something and then stick to it long enough to build a habit that leads to the result you want.
Posted on Jan 10, 2014
Individuals and families will see a little less in their paychecks starting January 1, 2014- wage earners and self-employed individuals who make more than $200,000 (individual) and $250,000 (couple) will be assessed an additional .9% Medicare surtax on top of the existing 1.45% Medicare payroll tax as well as a 3.8% Medicare tax on unearned income (investment dividends, rental income, interest and capital gains on property).
Posted on Dec 17, 2013
As you may have noticed, Facebook rolled out their star rating system onto business pages last month. In reality, the star rating system has been in place on Facebook's mobile app for places for quite some time. However, November is when they officially rolled it out for business pages on the standard browser version of Facebook.
Posted on Dec 05, 2013
Earlier this week, the NASE submitted a statement for the record to the House Ways and Means Committee in response to the committee’s hearing on the status of the ACA enrollment. In the NASE statement, we expressed our concerns that leading up to the October 1st launch, the administration was not providing sufficient details and answers regarding the Exchange Marketplace. With the lackluster launch, we are now asking congress to eliminate the open enrollment deadlines for the 2014 calendar year and to delay the individual mandate penalty for one tax-filing year.
Posted on Nov 04, 2013
As many of you already know, starting at the beginning of the month, the Government shut down for 16 days. Standard & Poor estimates that the shutdown cost the U.S. economy $24 billion during that span. While many government employees were directly affected, they were not the only ones. Many small businesses felt the effects of the shutdown in every corner of the country.
Posted on Oct 22, 2013
Last week, we released an infographic to increase awareness about the upcoming changes to Health Care and how it relates to the twenty three million self-employed in this country. Next week, on October 1st, national and state health care Exchanges will begin open enrollment. Currently, the federal government has provided limited details and incomplete information which makes it difficult to plan and make decisions regarding your health care in the future.
Posted on Sep 24, 2013
Earlier this year, we here at the NASE announced a partnership with the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council) and Fundable to launch a crowdfunding contest. The contest was a great success for many small businesses and the winner that emerged was The Cookie Bar from Las Vegas, Nevada.
Posted on Sep 23, 2013