by Leslie on June 19, 2009
As we all know by now, the Connecticut legislature failed to get a budget passed during the five months they spent more or less focused on job #1. I don’t know why this continues to drag on. Do they think CT residents enjoy gridlock? If I want gridlock, I’ll take a spin on I-95, thanks. It’s time to get this done.
We get it. Democrats don’t want to cut spending and Republicans don’t want to raise taxes. We also get that we need both, and we don’t really care who blinks first. All the voters see is the foot-dragging, and the political posturing. We want to see a balanced budget. What is happening now is an opportunity missed.
This is not to say that the legislature has done nothing this session. In fairness, there have been a slew of bills introduced, debated, and passed. Among the more curious was the passage of SB 262 which permits the importation of reindeer during certain months. This will come as a huge relief to all those being forced to part with their chimps under HB 6552.
Micro enterprise did score one very important victory this session with the passage of HB 5930 which Governor Rell signed on May 8th. Beginning on October 1st, any regulation proposed by any agency must be evaluated for its potential impact on small business. This is certainly a step in the right direction and shows us that legislators are beginning to understand that when it comes to business regulations, one size does not fit all.
by Leslie on May 19, 2009
I‘ve been meaning to post this sooner, but now seems like a perfect time. It’s an interview with Art Costa, who is one of the co-chairs of New London Local First. The interview was conducted by Steve Reed, a DJ at WCNI, a radio station on the campus of Connecticut College, also in New London.
New London Local First is the first “think local” network I’ve spotted in Connecticut, and I sincerely hope there are many others. If you know of one, please leave a link in the comments.
It’s just six short minutes of goodness, so please give it a listen.
Yesterday, MERG celebrated its 5th year of advocating on behalf of Connecticut’s micro enterprise with a recognition gala at the Capitol. We had an excellent turnout, and Mother Nature chose ours to be the one sunny day in a rather long stretch of gloom which resumed today. All of the food and drinks were provided by micro enterprise businesses, and there were some excellent dishes served up. A town crier read our proclamation from Governor Rell and we heard from one of our sponsors, Connecticut SBDC.
Our emcee, Marc Gallagher, reminded us to buy micro enterprise, or "Buy ME", as it is known. That "buy local" theme was reiterated by Rep. Diana Urban (D-North Stonington), who quite enthusiastically embraced the notion that we should all work together to strengthen our communities by keeping our dollars circulating locally.
I had a chance to speak with Rep. Chris Coutu (R-Norwich) who confirmed that any initiatives that cost the State money are a no-go this year. We figured as much given the economy, but I was interested to learn that he’s a micro business owner who has first-hand experience with getting socked by an unwelcome entity tax. He asked good questions, and learned a bit about micro enterprise and MERG, which is what the event was about.
I also spoke to Bill Potvin, a MERG member, and owner of Hosmer Mountain Soda. He told me the story of his efforts to get his soda onto the campus of Eastern Connecticut State University in his hometown of Willimantic. It seems the school has an exclusive contract with Coke or Pepsi which prohibits him from selling his soda on campus. Bill’s story illustrates just why the time has come for a buy local movement to fix a few of the things that are broken about the way we do things in Connecticut.
I’ll have official photos posted soon. If you had an interesting conversation yesterday, please share it in the comments.
by Leslie on April 29, 2009
MERG is hosting its 5th annual Recognition Gala on Wednesday, May 6th, 2009 from 4:30 to 7 p.m. in the Old Judiciary room at the State Capitol Building. If you are a micro enterprise business owner in Connecticut, this event is for you. Here are nine reasons you should join us.
1. This is our day. That’s right, we have a proclamation from Governor Rell stating that May 6th, 2009 is micro enterprise day in Connecticut.
2. Your representatives will be there. Well, not all of them, but many have already indicated they plan to attend. Please call or write your legislator and extend a personal invitation. This will help insure more of them show up. Our goal is to meet with legislators face-to-face to discuss issues that concern us. This is your chance to be heard.
3. There will be some terrific food and beverages. We have an award-winning ale, some delicious canoli, assorted wings, hors d’oeuvres,old-fashioned soda, and much more. Bring your appetite, this will not disappoint.
4. It’s spring, and you really need to get away from the office. You pass up way too many events already. Don’t pass up this one. We know you’re busy, but this is important. We need to keep driving home our message to legislators, and we need our members and other micro enterprise businesses there to show that we are concerned, involved, and committed to a better Connecticut.
5. Speaking of spring, the Capitol grounds and Bushnell Park are never more beautiful than in early spring. The tulips and azaleas are in bloom; so are the dogwoods, and all those varieties of pink flowering trees whose names I really should know. If you’ve never been to the State Capitol Building, this is your big chance to see it, and you really should. It’s a beautiful historic site, loaded with marble and granite, and with plenty of art and artifacts on every wall. Be sure to visit the Hall of Flags while you’re there.
6. The General Assembly is in session, and hard at work. This is my personal favorite “fun” reason for going each year. Once the main event is winding down, I love to go off to the visitors gallery and watch the proceedings on the floor below. There’s normally a lot of voting, so when you hear the bell ring, hurry on down to watch your representatives in action.
7. The speeches are short. This year, there will be a brief mention of our accomplishments over the last five years, and a short message from our presenting sponsor, SBDC. Again, we want you to have plenty of time to talk with legislators, and meet other micro entrepreneurs who share the challenges and rewards of running a micro enterprise.
8. We want to see you! This is one of the few times a year we get a chance to see many of our members in person. This is a celebration of your accomplishments and we want to thank you for your support of MERG.
9. You have no excuse not to. We’re giving you ample notice to clear your calendar, hire a sitter, and iron a clean shirt. Getting in and out of Hartford is not that hard. Leaving is especially easy once the rush hour is over, and all the major routes are well marked. Parking can sometimes be tricky, but I’ve had a lot of luck finding spots in the garage behind the LOB. I hate traffic as much as the next person, and I’m definitely not a city gal, so if I can do it, so can you.
So please plan to come. Let us know, so we have a name tag for you.
Did I miss any other reasons?
by Leslie on April 21, 2009
It appears from all the legislative updates I’ve been seeing in the last week that many of the bills with a potential to impact micro enterprise businesses in CT (both positively and negatively) are failing to get out of committee for a vote. This is nothing new. One of the most frustrating angles of the whole political process is its inability to get things done. MERG members and other concerned citizens take valuable time away from their jobs or businesses to go to Hartford to testify, or to write their legislators about matters that concern them. We actively participate in the process, thinking we are making a difference. But then all that hard work is flushed down the tubes when the bills we supported die in committee. Why, there ought to be a law……
by Leslie on April 15, 2009
The taxes are all filed, and the piles of paperwork are slowly being relegated back to their respective file drawers. Each year this day passes with a sigh of relief that this tedious chore is behind us again, at least for another year.
This year, I noticed that Tax Freedom Day fell on April 13th, which is 8 days earlier than last year. Tax Freedom Day is the day when Americans collectively have earned enough to fund our entire tax burden for the year. The reason it comes early this year is due to the recession, which has reduced tax collections, and also led to temporary tax cuts intended to stimulate the economy. How’s that for a silver lining?
But if you live in Connecticut, don’t start the party just yet. The bad news for us is that we must continue working to pay our taxes until April 30th, longer than residents of any other state in the nation. That’s right, we’re #1! We beat both New York and New Jersey. It’s hard to believe that life could be better in New Jersey, but apparently it is. That’s something for our legislature to consider as they debate the budget gap, and how to close it.
by Leslie on April 1, 2009
This was forwarded to me recently by Jean and Karen.
by Leslie on March 23, 2009
I‘d like to revisit a point I made a few weeks back about micro enterprise. In discussing why micro enterprise matters to Connecticut, I noted that one thing micro businesses do is grow into larger businesses. This remains a true and good reason to nurture micro enterprise with technical assistance, loans, regulatory relief, and other tools to promote their growth.
But there is increasing evidence that many of us are deliberately choosing not to grow our businesses. In Dawn Rivers Baker’s white paper, Microbusiness and the Human Economy, she observes that beginning around the turn of the 21st century,
“…the number of microbusinesses that launched and then chose not to grow beyond micro size began to gain remarkable momentum, such that the percentage of non-micro small businesses (firms with more than five but fewer than 500 employees) in the population of U.S. firms began to shrink.“
She goes on to explain that many of us are choosing to remain micros for a lot of very good reasons. It’s not because we’re lazy or lack ambition, or that we prefer to dabble in our “hobbies”. Rather, there is something inherently rewarding about being micros that keeps us doing what we love, instead of becoming managers of others who do what we love. Clearly, our motivation is different from owners of larger businesses. We’ve developed new rules for doing business that reward our judicious use of resources to produce goods and services with real value for customers, about whom we give a damn. We compete successfully (and fairly) against larger firms. The micro business model that has evolved in the last 20 years is the polar opposite of AIG’s, and right now, that feels like a very good thing. Could it be that micros are onto something?
Are you remaining a micro by choice?
by Leslie on March 11, 2009
When I started my micro business back in 1995, I recall a workshop where the speaker gave us tips on how to “sound big”. We should put people on hold and transfer them to the accounting department, or tech support, or the marketing director, all of which were me. We were instructed to list our apartment #s as “Suite 106″ on our business cards. The idea was to conceal the fact that we were small and working at home. The message was clearly that we should feel embarrassed that we were
home-based and had no employees. We should try to hide both facts from potential customers because it would make them nervous or uncomfortable about doing business with us.
But I’ve never been particularly good at deception, and never felt any real need to hide the fact that I work from my home. If a potential customer was uncomfortable with where I build her website, perhaps we weren’t a good fit.
And in all the years I’ve been in business, it has never been an issue for any of my customers. Apparently, I’m not alone. As Dawn Rivers Baker points out in her recent white paper,
That evolution began shortly after the turn of the century, as microbusiness owners came to realize that it was no longer necessary for them to pretend their firms were large in order to be taken seriously. Similarly, home-based businesses were no longer required to hide the fact of their business location, as favorable media coverage and government attention made home-based business ownership generally more mainstream and, thus, more acceptable.
So we have one 20th century micro business taboo vanquished, and somewhere there is a workshop presenter frantically re-working her material. I’ll have more on 21st century micro entrepreneurs soon.
by Jean Dunning on March 5, 2009
