Autofusion Scores Big AAA Online Contract
The energy crisis is so overwhelming to small business owners that one in five of them are already looking to move out of California.
So said a Feb. 23 survey by the National Federation of Independent Business, a small business advocacy group based out of Washington, D.C.
More than 40 percent of small-business owners polled said the power crisis has changed their views of California as a place to do business, while almost 20 percent said the problem has forced them to take concrete steps toward exploring a move out of California.
Thirty-one percent of the respondents say they will probably or definitely cut back on planned business investment, said Martyn Hopper, California director of the NFIB.
The survey polled 523 California small-business owners of varying sizes. Below are some of the other results for businesses with between 1 and 10 workers.
Blackouts struck about 20 percent of the owners surveyed. Of these, 37 percent had to terminate operations for the entire period; just under 20 percent had to severely curtail business for the blackout period.
About 44 percent of California’s small-business owners called deregulation a bad idea that should never have happened, while 33 percent said it was a good idea that was poorly implemented. An additional 18 percent thought it a political compromise doomed to fail from the start.
About 29 percent cited a failure to build more power plants as the main reason for the mess, while 25 percent attributed the problem to deregulating the wholesale price of electricity while capping the retail price.
An additional 22 percent thought it was a combination of problems, including conservation, prohibition on long-term contracts, weather, the economy, and the high price of natural gas.
– – –
Autofusion Gets AAA Deal: A partnership between a San Diego company and a San Jose firm has resulted in a high-profile deal with the American Automobile Association.
Locally based Autofusion and San Jose-based Selectica, Inc. have teamed up to provide AAA auto clubs with online auto purchasing and evaluation services. The “Select-A-Car” service, jointly developed by the two companies, will be available on United States and Canadian AAA club Web sites.
AAA’s 44 million members rely on the company to assist with travel, insurance, financial, and other automotive-related services.
First Impressions Are Critical: And when a new or smaller company is taking on established competitors, this is even more true.
The online resource gettyworks.com, a Calgary, Alberta-based company helping small businesses develop professional-looking business materials, has tips for creating business-to-business material.
First, identify your desired business image. Are you after a traditional approach? Or a more creative, artistic style? Or are you going for technology appeal? By identifying your company’s “personality,” you can better select design elements to project an image increasing your brand recognition and attracting your target customers, said Kim Freeman, vice president of gettyworks.com.
Next, develop a distinctive logo or wordmark. Customers will better remember your company if they can pair it with an effective image, such as Nike’s famed “swoosh.” A wordmark identifies a product or company name with distinctive letter shapes, like the letters in Coca-Cola’s wordmark, she said.
Drive your messages home with evocative, complementary images, keep materials short and to the point, and edit the materials for a perfect professional polish. Last-minute changes inevitably introduce new errors, so be sure to have a fresh set of eyes give all materials a final read before sending them to the printer.
– – –
Web Site For Taxes: The Internal Revenue Service unveiled a new Web site for the small business community Feb. 26. The new site has helpful hints for small businesses, including tax hints and tax forms, a section on common problems, and how to avoid them, and a calendar of important tax deadlines.
The Web site also features information, news and events of interest for new business start-ups, along with links to government and community resources available to them, said IRS Commissioner Charles O. Rossotti.
The Web site also has direct links to other sites, including the National Association of Home-Builders, the National Association of Manufacturers, the National Restaurant Association and others, Rossotti said.
Access to the new Web site is through the IRS’s home page at (www.irs.gov).
Please send small business and retail-related items to Lee Zion at lzion@sdbj.com, or call (858) 277-6359.
