Today’s roundup starts with news that mid-market companies are leading the pack in job creation and includes bad news for Groupon and a story about how Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg would rather be in Boston.
Mid-market companies are biggest job creators
Yes, you read that correctly. As Entrepreneur’s Carol Tice writes, it’s not small businesses that are keeping this economy afloat—it’s the $10 million to $1 billion companies (a.k.a. mid-markets). These companies create 34 percent of jobs while small businesses (most of which only consist of one person) create just 17 percent of new roles. We stand corrected.
Consumer spending changes during hard times
Lets start the week off with a few numbers. As The Economist reports, consumer spending has fallen by about 8 percent over the past few years. Where are people spending? At the grocery stores, they are buying more fruits and vegetables and less sugary items. At the clothing stores, they are buying more women’s clothes and less men’s apparel items. Increasing in sales: alcohol and household furniture, which have risen 19 percent and 13 percent, respectively. Maybe it’s time to think about opening a different kind of business.
Small businesses added 30,000 jobs in October
Yes, 30,000 may seem like a nice number, but it’s a little sad compared with last month. As Reuters reports, small businesses created 40,000 jobs in September. In October, small business employees worked an average of 24.5 hours and earned by $2,622. Lets hope these numbers improve next month.
Oh, the sweet smell of revenge. Almost exactly one year ago, Google offered to buy Groupon for $5.3 billion and the Chicago startup refused. Now, I’m willing to bet Groupon founder Andrew Mason is kicking himself. As Rolfe Winkler of The Wall Street Journal reports, Google is launching Google Offers, a direct competitor to Groupon. The tech giant wants to be the market leader, evidenced by the fact that it recently purchased Daily Deal, a German company in the space. Maybe Groupon should just give up.
Mark Zuckerberg on disappointments in Silicon Valley
Maybe Silicon Valley isn’t a bastion for growing companies after all. As Leena Rao of TechCrunch writes, Mark Zuckerberg says that if he were to start a company now, he would have stayed in Boston (where he started Facebook) instead of migrating west. Why? Silicon Valley doesn’t inspire company loyalty; everyone is just looking for the next big thing.
Small businesses excited about new Walmart
Now this is interesting. While most mom-and-pops would seethe over big box infiltration, a few small businesses in Amherst, New York are looking forward to it. As Marissa Bailey of WGRZ Buffalo reports, business owners at shops such as Rosiek’s Vacuums and Buffalo Stamps & Stuff are excited about the opening of a new Walmart within their vicinity. They hope Walmart consumers who can’t find everything they need will go to surrounding smaller stores to supplement purchases. Would you be excited if you were to share a parking lot with a Walmart?
TechCrunch CEO Michael Arrington learned the importance of media training in last week’s interview with Soledad O’Brien. As Laurie Segall of CNNMoneyTech reports, Arrington was being interviewed for a documentary about Silicon Valley when he said he didn’t ‘know a single black entrepreneur.’ He also said he’d pay attention to the ideas of African-Americans just because of their race. (This is paraphrased, of course.) A Twitter war of words was ignited after the interview. Arrington responds on his blog, UNCRUNCHED. Here’s a tip: before you go on air, chat with your PR team and get ready for tough questions.
Entrepreneurs share their biggest fears
Happy Halloween! Here’s a treat. As Elmira Bayrasli of Forbes writes, entrepreneurship and Halloween have a lot in common—both are a little scary. Common business fears include losing a good reputation, losing business partners, focusing on the negative all the time, failing to come up with a new idea, and losing it all. Do you share in these concerns?
5 places to find investors online
Chances are you are a little frustrated with banks these days. Instead of beating your head against the wall trying to garner traditional financing, why not tap a few online resources? As Megan Geuss of PCWorld writes, companies such as Kickstarter, ChubbyBrain, RaiseCapital, OnGreen and Venture Hacks can help you raise money online. This may be the wave of the future, so start soliciting the big bucks.
