California Raises Minimum Wage, White House Offers Lessons on Summer Hiring


California Raises Minimum Wage, White House Offers Lessons on Summer Hiring

Growing your team is an important part of growing your business. But it’s not always a simple process. There are expenses and laws to take into account, like California’s new $15 an hour minimum wage. And you may even have to deal with things like seasonal hiring, which the White House may be able to help you with.

Read about these news items and more that may impact your small business in this week’s Small Business Trends news and information roundup.

Employment

California Minimum Wage Poised to Rise to $15 an Hour

Labor costs just shot way up in the states of California and New York. California Governor Jerry Brown signed legislation Monday that will raise the minimum wage in the state to $15 an hour. Similar legislation was signed in New York the same day.

What Can the White House Teach You About Summer Hiring?

Are you starting to think ahead to summer hiring? Maybe you own a seasonal business that needs more staffers in the summer — or maybe you’re just thinking summer could be a good time to hire some students and get energetic young employees at a reasonable rate. As you look for summer workers, millions of youth are also looking for summer employment — and coming up short.

Legal

New Jersey Proposes “No Text While Walking” Law

Smartphone users in New Jersey will have to break themselves of the habit of using their devices while out and about. Proposed by Assemblywoman Pamela R. Lampitt, a new “no texting while walking” bill hopes to impose a $50 fine for those caught walking on sidewalks or streets using their phones and other mobile devices without hands-free tools.

Sage Small Business Survey Says Washington Out of Touch

A survey of small business owners by Sage, a business management software company, regarding the 2016 election, revealed that a significant disconnect exists between the priorities and policy initiatives that small businesses want the federal government to focus on and what they perceive government devotes its time and energy to instead.

Green Business

Plastic Bottle Cutter Shows Innovative Products Can Be Low Tech

In a world filled with 3D printers that can make pizza on command and smart-watches that can monitor daily health, it seems that low-tech gadgets can still be game-changing and innovative. Take the Plastic Bottle Cutter.  The product first appeared on Kickstarter on February 23, 2016.

Marketing Tips

Viraltag: A Visual Marketing Tool Review

Until recently, social media marketers who wanted a visual marketing solution to manage their image-heavy posting schedule have gone without. Now Viraltag has come to the rescue. What is Viraltag? At its core, Viraltag enables you to manage your social media updates, workflow and tracking in one spot.

Retail Trends

A Year Later, Amazon Exclusives is Still a Major Option for New Products

A year ago, Amazon launched Amazon Exclusives, a platform for unique products offered exclusively on the Amazon platform. For small businesses selling products online, the platform offers an opportunity to reach a huge network of shoppers and even get help from Amazon’s marketing team.

Is Swiping “Tinder Style” the New Trend in Ecommerce Apps?

You don’t have to be a frequent user of Tinder to understand the popular dating app’s impact on popular culture. In fact, one of the app’s most popular features is actually making its mark on the business world. If you are unfamiliar with Tinder, the app allows users to “swipe” the screen to indicate whether or not they are interested in a person they’ve been matched with.

Small Biz Spotlight

Spotlight: Bookly Uses Cloud Technology to Simplify Bookkeeping

Bookkeeping isn’t often thought of as a fun activity for business owners. But that’s why companies like Bookly aim to cover those tasks so business owners can focus on what they do best. Bookly started because of the frustrations of one small business owner, and has grown into a service that helps many more. Read about the company in this week’s Small Business Spotlight.

Small Business Loans

StreetShares Facilitates Low Risk Small Business Loans for Veterans

The SEC has approved new plans for a revolutionary type of loan facilitated by both crowdfunding and traditional funds. Mark Rockefeller, CEO of StreetShares, of Reston, Virginia, feels the result should benefit small businesses owned by veterans by making financing easier to obtain.

Minority Businesses Struggling With Credit According to Experian Report

Minority businesses still struggle with credit in a way other small businesses do not, a report from global business analytics firm Experian says. According to Experian, minority owned businesses see an average business credit score of 49.7, five points lower than other U.S. businesses.

Small Business Operations

UPS Renames Next Day Air, Adds Over 12,000 Zip Codes

UPS has rebranded its oldest small package delivery service in order to provide more reliable logistic solutions for small businesses.

Social Media

Are Twitter Emojis a Growing Business Trend?

Social media has completely changed the way businesses communicate with customers. Instead of the same dry, text-filled marketing messages, businesses are finding new and interesting ways to get their messages across. One such technique is the use of Twitter emojis. In fact, Twitter recently released some ideas for ways brands can work emojis into their Tweets.

Taxes

5 Tax Breaks for Hiring New Employees

Payrolls are expected to expand this year, making it more challenging for employers to find good workers. The strong job market likely will pressure employers to offer higher wages and more benefits than in the recent past in order to attract and retain talented employees. This all adds to the cost of hiring.

Technology Trends

5 Cool Innovations Seen at Envision

Microsoft Envision is a conference and event geared toward businesses of all sizes. While many of the products, sessions, and partner exhibitors were obviously targeting large enterprises, we did see a number of innovations of interest to smaller businesses.

Microsoft CEO Challenges Business Leaders: “Make a Difference in the World”

At the Microsoft Envision 2016 event in New Orleans this week, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella (pictured above) outlined his vision of technology as transformational and challenged the audience and business leaders to use technology to “make a difference in the world.” For Nadella, technology isn’t just a tool.

7 Things About the Microsoft Envision Conference

Microsoft’s major business-focused event for the year, Microsoft Envision, is taking place this week in New Orleans.  This was the first year for the event with Microsoft Envision 2016 held at the city’s Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. Keynote speakers on the first day included Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, and Dan Schulman, the CEO of PayPal.

New OS X Update Improves Stability of Your Mac

Installing the latest updates a company provides for its software is key to ensuring the device and system you have in place are protected. While large enterprises have IT personnel to carry out this task, if you are a small business owner, it generally means having to do it yourself.

Antamedia Software Eliminates Security Risk on Public Computers

You can now safely and securely turn any computer into a self-service kiosk thanks to Antamedia Software — the providers of software for Internet cafe software and WiFi hotspot billing. Antamedia Ultimate Kiosk Software solution essentially locks down parts of a regular computer, allowing the user to leave it open for public use without security concerns.

Cloud Security Demystified

Cloud-based IT systems fulfill important functions in almost every modern industry. Companies, non-profits, governments, and even educational institutions use the cloud to expand market reach, analyze performance, manage human resources and offer improved services.

Gov. Jerry Brown Photo via Shutterstock

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