Small Business Administration (SBA)

The Small Business Administration (SBA) upholds a rich, exciting website that supports various programs to sustain the growth of businesses. The availability of such crucial information is useful for local small businesses. Even with new businesses, the SBA resources would still be applied. This is the reason why the U.S. government pumps a lot of money trying to support small business growth. It is, therefore, important to note that anyone who wants to begin a small business should think about SBA (Brown & Earle, 2017).

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) was established in 1953 as an autonomous organization of the government to help, protect and counsel the welfare of small business concerns. Additionally, the SBA helps to reserve free, competitive business to strengthen and maintain the entire economy of the United States. The SBA provides various financial assistance programs for people in small entities that have been exactly considered to meet the main financial needs. The SBA helps to facilitate the loan for a business owner and a third-party lender. It also guarantees special bonds to assist in finding venture capital. The SBA resources have been very important for new businesses. For instance, the Small Business Data Resources can help the new venture to flourish.

According to Brown & Earle (2017), the presence of online databases by the private sector or federal agency sources hyperlinks the listings on the websites and inserted in small-business issues to give relevant information to the needy. The SBA gives information from the university, non-governmental, private sector, federal government agencies and other sources. The information is then broken down into main topics used for policymakers, researchers, trade associations and small members of the businesses. Mostly, the organization does not give straight loans, nonetheless, it associates with credit unions, banks, and other investors. The SBA offers financial help through the four major programmatic functions, namely, advocacy, government contracting, entrepreneurial development and access to capital. The new businesses in the US have the opportunity to get the SBA resources. This is the reason why the U.S. government pumps a lot of money trying to support small business growth. It is, therefore, important to note that anyone who wants to begin a small business should think about SBA.

Advocacy

The SBA operates like the face of new business and performs studies on the business situation in relation to small business owners (Fay-Spina, 2017). Additionally, the Office of Advocacy appears before the Congress as a representative of small business.

Government Contracting

The government and contracting office of the SBA performs its duties with different federal agencies and departments to warrant that 23 % of major federal treaties are directly given to small businesses. Additionally, it awards 5 % to small businesses owned by women, and 3% goes to businesses owned by service-disabled veterans (Brown & Earle, 2017).

Entrepreneurial Development

The SBA gives free training and counsels small business owners and entrepreneurs in 1800 locations across the United States. It also gives grants to more than 900 established small business development centers. The SBA has developed 110 Women’s Business Centers. It has a Business Development Program that helps in developing small businesses owned by people who are less fortunate in society.

Access To Capital

The SBA loans provided by other partners, such as credit firms and banks, are moderately guaranteed by the central regime. The main aim is to help finance new and small businesses that might not get funding under the normal lending guidelines. The SBA loans are very significant for businesses to establish, grow, build or buy an existing business.

Disaster Relief Loan Program

The program offers interest loans at a lower rate to businesses, tenants and homeowners to repair or replace properties that have been destroyed by disasters.

PRIME Grant Program

The Program for Investment in Micro-Entrepreneurs (PRIME) is very important because it gives grants to low-income business people to get financial backing.

Loan Program

The program is intended to benefit new and present small companies to get funding with a maximum of $ 5 million.

CDC/504 Loan Program

This is a program that works for a long time and it helps to encourage economic development in the community. It offers funds for the buying and construction of real estate. It also gives small entrepreneurs an opportunity to purchase business machinery. The lender gives 50 % of the financing.

Micro Loan Program

This program gives small, short-term loans to childcare centers and small businesses. The program gives a maximum loan of $ 50,000. The loan can be applied to operational investment to buy supplies and inventories, machinery equipment and fixtures.

Venture Capital

The SBA is responsible for licensing and regulating Small Business Investments Companies (SBICs) that are owned by private entities. These firms use their funds and the money loaned with the SBA warranty to make debts and equity in succeeding small businesses.

Starting A Business: Initial Paperwork

Depending on the kind of business an entrepreneur starts in different states, the process might vary a bit. However, the general procedure documents play a very important role in protecting the interests of business owners and the business. It is very stressful, but when a person understands the type of paperwork need is important to make it a successful effort. Many legal paperwork and documents required to start up can be confusing and time-consuming (Yallapragada & Bhuiyan, 2011).

Business Name Registration

Registering the name of a new business is a task that can be accomplished at the state level for most small businesses. Once the name has been verified, it is then registered with the Secretary of State’s Office.

Business partnership business plan

To ensure that the partnership succeeds, it is important to have a business plan that acts as a road map for the growth of the business. The business plan should describe the roles and responsibilities of each partner such as managing partner.

Insurance

In most businesses, especially partnerships, it is important to have insurance so that each partner can have personal assets covered. The assets are unprotected from the claims of each partner’s creditors.

Starting And Running Business

Getting a business idea is important because there are many business opportunities. Business ideas come after evaluating the customer and market needs for a new business. To start a business, one needs to focus on the good side of the business (Teck & Cyril 2013). Focusing on the market opportunities, such as the market niche, depends on the people and what they want. A business plan is necessary because it the vital since it establishes the variations that exist. An entrepreneur must select the best business plan to succeed and attract investors (Fay-Spina, 2017). An entrepreneur has to develop a good marketing strategy so that more customers should be attracted to the business. A unique marketing strategy can help to compete with other players in the industry. The marketing strategy gives a good reputation to the company. It is important to spend time with customers so that their needs are understood. There is a serious problem for entrepreneurs to find new investors.

Social Responsibility

One issue that affects the business is social responsibility. Social responsibility can be defined as the process where managers create awareness of the financial, human, political, environmental and social consequences that their actions offer. Society has reinvented its anticipation of business owners and currently depends on all businesses to have a high behavioral standard (Moon, 2014). The customers have been demanding the enterprises to be more socially responsible. When customers buy goods and services, they also anticipate the business to perform well on social responsibility and sustainability. For instance, businesses are required to be responsible for the environment. Companies need to address the customer’s needs to protect the environment. They need to address the issues relating to their environments, such as the packaging of their products and the processes involved in the entire operation. One of the main responsibilities is the approach to diversity. A diverse workforce is the rich combination of ideas, perspectives, skills, and talents employees have to deliver.

Molding employees with different biases, backgrounds, and beliefs into unified teams requires commitment and time. Prejudices, biases, and stereotypes have presented problems that managers and workers must try to overcome. One of the most significant business responsibilities is the clients. Customers are an important stakeholder that an enterprise must strive to satisfy. Socially responsible businesses must recognize their role to accept their customer’s rights. Things such as the right to safety are paramount. Businesses must ensure that they offer quality and safe products and services. The most important breach of trust happens when enterprises give products and services that are properly used to avoid injuries (Yallapragada & Bhuiyan, 2011). Customers must have the right to know, and this can be achieved through honest communication concerning the products and services that they purchase. In the modern free market economy, the right to information is among the most important issues. This entails that companies have to take the responsibility to be truthful when they advertise their products. Additionally, businesses have to take responsibility for investors. They must be responsible for offering investors an attractive return on their investments.

Entrepreneurs have established that investors want to know the actions they take to encourage and support ethical decisions in social responsibility. Maintaining high ethical and social standards results in an environment in which the stability of profitability is assured. Firms need to report and display their economic performances in a timely and accurate style to all shareholders. Businesses that falsify their financial proceedings are responsible for violating the fiduciary association with all stakeholders (Moon, 2014). The public forms another important part of the business that must be responsible. All businesses that have managed to be socially responsible are aware of their role to give back to the community the same way they get profit. For many years, organizations have assisted social causes to enjoy financial rewards and support internally and externally. In most cases, they have assisted the communities to achieve their well-being.

Business Planning Process

The business planning process is important because it helps to determine the position of the business and what it intends to achieve. The result of the process lies in the business plan that acts as a guideline for the management and running of the business. There is a need to describe the most important task that must be achieved and the time frame for finishing the task. The planning process must include a review of the present state. The managers evaluate what the business is performing well and where the weaknesses are. The plan must also keep track of competitive reviews, such as other players, to get information that can evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the market. The analysis can help the management to know the position of the business. The planning process involves defining the current opportunities to ensure the success of the business. The management must determine the customer’s needs before making a new entrant.

Conditions That Produce High Morale

When an organization maintains good morale, there is a chance of good performance. Employees who have low morale tend to have fewer working hours and high productivity that satisfy the company’s objective. Low morale among employees can result in additional expenses like employee turnover and reduced production. It is important to motivate employees in every organization. Changes in management can help to boost the morale of employees because they become accustomed to the methods and practices of a single manager, which reduces their morale. Confidence management can help to boost the morale of employees. When the management shows incompetent, the whole organization can be affected. Giving employees an opportunity to voice their opinions about management through a suggestion box can have a positive impact on employee morale. Such suggestions can be given feedback to make changes that can retain employee confidence (Akhter et al., 2016). Communication is another way of ensuring that employees have morale in the organization. The level of communication in an organization that runs from the top management to employees, department to department helps the organization to achieve its objectives. There is a need for the communication line to be open and important information to be relayed in a timely manner. For instance, when the layoffs are planned, the managers are supposed to communicate the extent of the layoffs to all employees so that there are no unnecessary rumors that can shatter morale (Urošević, 2016)

Human Resource Management

The human resource management has functioned in every organization. It includes activities such as deciding needs and whether it is important to apply for independent contractors or hire people to satisfy such needs. Human resource managers recruit and train the best employees and ensure that they are high performers (Dokes, 2017). Generally, the managers deal with performance matters and personnel and management practices to follow different regulations. Managers in the human resource department manage the approaches to employ compensation and benefits. Employee records are important in every organization, and the task is bestowed on human resources. The objective of human resource management is to assist every firm in meeting strategic aims by maintaining and attracting employees by managing them well. Human resource management has an approach to make sure that all employees fit in the organization and its strategic direction. The functions of human resources give important advice and support to the management. The development, preservation and attraction of high-caliber persons are a foundation of competitive advantage of every organization. A good HRM system enables establishments to address human resource matters strategically. Through such initiatives, the employees can deliver high-quality services irrespective of internal and external challenges (Yallapragada & Bhuiyan, 2011). An established human resource management system has driven organizations to prioritize their business and organizational strategies while addressing the changes in intrinsic decentralization and reforms. HRM assists in attracting and retaining skilled employees to adopt organizational change and enables the application of technology to establish when and how work is done.

360-Degree Feedback

As many organizations face competition internally and externally, the efficiency of teams to deliver performance goals is the main source of differentiation between businesses that are successful and those that perform poorly. One achievement is the communication that helps in the team’s feedback. It is imperative to understand the advantages and disadvantages specific to 360-feedback in the organizational setting (Venkateswara & Chawla, 2005). When used properly, 360-degree feedback increases communication while fostering employee development, hence increasing productivity. Managers, supervisors, workers, customers, team members and subordinates can get quality communication. Members can discuss issues that are difficult to deliberate and address through open channels without fear of retaliation. The teams can have more awareness and assess their performance with others. It also allows raters to reflect on their behavior and establish if they need any improvement in their performance to align with the business expectations. 360-degree feedback helps a clear understanding of the goals of each player. After the players observe how others are working, they can formulate their expectations about goals for behaviors and performance.

Supply Chain

Supply chain management for small businesses is important since customers expect value for their money. Small businesses can perform well when they adopt supply chain management practices that help in the flow of goods and services. The supply chain helps the business minimize the costs incurred during warehousing and transportation (Wisner, Leong & Tan, 2019). Small businesses have achieved their goals, saved a lot of money, and reduced inventories while achieving customer satisfaction and improving efficiency through supply chain management. The material can be moved from their source to the end, which is the customers. Supply chain management includes the buying of raw materials, taking them for manufacture, keeping the finished products in the warehouse and transporting them to retail outlets. The supply chain must include supply planning, demand planning, and customer service. Small businesses have benefited from supply chain management since they take advantage of the strategy involved. Small businesses are flexible in a manner that they are able to re-engineer the existing processes. A small business can integrate with nature where different business functions are normally performed few individuals working together. The supply chain enables small businesses to make decisions very fast, and they can enhance the process through power or clout to enter into a partnership or use outstation sources with attractive, cheap raw materials. The business is able to track all the ingredients and raw materials in the manufacturing process. Additionally, the process helps businesses establish their sourcing details and assess them to get the right quality at a lower cost while ensuring safety.

Sales Promotion

Sale promotion works well for small businesses to dump sub-par merchandise. The businesses need to provide a sustainable reason for promoting their brand. For example, the business promotes the will of the desire for discounts. Because very customers wish to save little resources, they result in looking for cheaper options. Businesses use discounts such as a percentage off or sale price to ensure that customers believe that they are getting a great deal. Another way that a business can promote its product and service is the two-fer sale. The concept is that customers hear and see two-fer and think that it means two for one, and they buy a product thinking that they are buying one to get an additional offer. Another way of promotion is a bundle sale, which ensures that the business packages various products together and sells for a single price. It creates the appearance of value. Generally, the bundle is sold cheaper than purchasing single or individual parts. Promotion can be done by capitalizing on coupon fervor. For example, email coupons ensure that a good number of people receive coupons. The customers can redeem their coupons by presenting them to the cashiers. An entrepreneur has to develop a good marketing strategy so that more customers should be attracted to the business. An exceptional promotional strategy can help to compete with other players in the industry. The promotional strategy gives a good reputation to the company. It is important to spend time with customers so that their needs are understood. There is a serious problem for entrepreneurs to find new investors.

References

Akhter, N., Raza, H., Ashraf, A., Ahmad, A., & Aslam, N. (2016). Impact of Training and Development, Performance Appraisal and Reward System on Job
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Brown, J. D., & Earle, J. S. (2017). Finance and growth at the firm level: Evidence from SBA loans. The Journal of Finance, 72(3), 1039-1080.
Dokes, D. R. (2017). Virtuous Leadership for Increased Business Growth (Doctoral dissertation, Walden University).
Fay-Spina, D. (2017). Exploring Business Planning Strategies of Women-Owned Small Businesses in the Construction Trades.
Moon, J. (2014). Corporate social responsibility: A very short introduction.
Teck Weng, J., & Cyril de Run, E. (2013). Consumers’ personal values and sales promotion preferences effect on behavioural intention and purchase satisfaction for consumer product. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, 25(1), 70-101.
Urošević, S., Milijić, N., Đorđević-Maljković, N., & Karabašević, D. (2016). Indicators of motivation and employee satisfaction in public enterprise: Case study of PE’Post of Serbia’. Industrija, 44(3), 77-95.
Venkateswara, R. T., & Chawla, N. (2005). 360 degree feedback and assessment & development centres. New Delhi: T.V. Rao Learning Systems.
Wisner, J. D., Leong, G. K., & Tan, K.-C. (2019). Principles of supply chain management: A balanced approach.
Yallapragada, R. R., & Bhuiyan, M. (2011). Small business entrepreneurship in the United States. Journal of Applied Business Research, 27(6), 117.