Successful Blog

Small Business Owners, Employees Sick of Rising Health Care Rates

by

With just about everything going up in price these days, it should not come as a surprise that health care rates for both employers and workers have been on a steep upward trend in recent years.

According to a Kaiser Family Foundation/Health Research & Educational Trust 2011 Employer Health Benefits Survey released this fall, employers are putting more money toward their employees’ healthcare premiums than at any other time.

The survey, which interviewed close to 3.200 public and private firms with a minimum of two employees, notes that prices grew 9 percent over the past year. The premiums for family health care coverage have increased to an average of $15,073, with business owners covering more than $10,000 of the cost.

Some highlights from the survey:

  • Six-in-10 companies made health benefits available to their employees in 2011, a sharp contrast from the nearly seven-in-10 who did so just a year earlier;
    • Employees pay $4,129 toward the premium, while employers cover the remaining $10,944;
    • Single policy health coverage costs also grew some 8 percent, coming in at $5.429 yearly. As a result of this coverage, employees pay $921 toward the plan;
    • Overall, PPOs are much more common plan types, enrolling 55 percent of those covered;
    • Seventeen percent of those covered workers are enrolled in an HMO, while 10 percent have a POS plan, and 1 percent utilize a conventional plan;
    • The majority of covered workers have to deal with added expenses when using health care services. A large number of workers with PPOs (81 percent) and POS set ups (69 percent) deal with a general annual deductible for single coverage that must be taken care of prior to all or the majority of services being reimbursed through the plan;
    • In all, 31% of covered workers have a policy with a deductible of at least $1,000 for single coverage, a major increase from the 22 percent such reported in 2009;
    • Most employees also are required to pay some of the expense of doctor office visits. Approximately 75 percent of covered workers’ pay a co-payment toward office visits for a primary care doctor or a specialist physician, along with any general annual deductible a plan may have.

According to a spokesperson for Kaiser, “This year’s nine percent increase in premiums is especially painful for workers and employers struggling through a weak recovery.”

Meantime, according to a report from Aon Hewitt, employees nationwide who have healthcare coverage can figure on seeing a cost hike of seven percent in the coming year.

So, how can both small businesses and employees lessen the chances of needing some of this healthcare in the first place? Among the things to consider are:

  • Stay healthy and active– More and more companies are instituting comprehensive wellness programs that involve disease management, offering cancer screenings, flu shots and smoking-cessation sessions. Some businesses also offer discounts or even free admission to local fitness centers in order for employees to stay in a good shape;
  • Give them what they want – While some plans have requirements as to what coverage and at what cost it is available, sit down with your human resources individual or team and see what your employees are most interested in. By doing so, you can potentially eliminate some of the more costly options if they are not being used;
  • Look into health savings accounts – More businesses are giving a second look to HAS’s. The accounts are tax-exempt, used to cover a number of medical costs;
  • Get a number of quotes – Small business employers are advised to shop around and obtain a variety of quotes. Also, don’t settle on the first quote even if it sounds really good. By shopping around, you have the opportunity to get a good health care insurance product at a reasonable price.

As 2012 comes to light in a little over a month, make sure both you and your employees have a health care plan in place that is both affordable and provides solid coverage.

Photo credit: businessnewsdaily.com

Dave Thomas, who covers among other subjects’ workers compensation, writes extensively for Business.com, an online resource destination for businesses of all sizes to research, find, and compare the products and services they need to run their businesses.

 

 

 

Is There a Vote of Confidence for Small Businesses?

by

If you ask a lot of small business owners, they’re worried right now.

Whether it is higher costs for health insurance, higher taxes or the inability to hire more workers to meet demand, many small businesses are going through rough times. If that doesn’t already paint a dreary picture, a recent survey from the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) won’t help matters.

According to the recent survey, small business confidence dropped for a sixth straight month in August, as the NFIB’s Small Business Optimism Index dropped to 88.1, the lowest level going back to March 2010. Data shows that the index has steadily declined since February, when it hit a high of 94.5.

Noting that these results are the first to be unveiled since the debate in Washington regarding the debt ceiling, small businesses are not exactly brimming with confidence over the deal struck by lawmakers.

According to NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg in a statement, “The tumultuous debate over the nation’s debt ceiling and a dramatic 11th hour ‘rescue’ by lawmakers did nothing to improve the outlook of job-makers. In fact, hope for improvement in the economy faded even further throughout the month, proving that short-term fixes will not help.”

Numbers Paint a Grim Picture

As the U.S. Small Business Administration points out, companies with less than 50 employees accounted for 65 percent of all positions created during the last 17 years. Up a point from July, 12 percent of small business owners believe they will decrease their payrolls over the next three months, while just 11 percent say they are likely to increase employment over the same time frame.

Data mined from the recent survey of nearly 1,000 small businesses indicates that the drop in small business confidence in the last month was highly focused on decreased expectations for real sales gains and business factors. Small business owners tabbed sales figures as their biggest concern.

According to the survey, small business owners were also less optimistic regarding business conditions down the road, with the net percentage of owners believing they would see improved conditions down 36 points since a January 2011 survey.

In order to stimulate hiring, President Obama went to Congress with a $447 billion job growth package, including granting businesses a 3.1-point decrease on taxes they must pay on the first $5 million of their payroll. The plan was presented to Congress as the national unemployment rates holds at 9.1 percent.

Should You Hire Now or Hold the Line?

As a small business owner, have you been toiling with the idea of hiring employees heading into the final quarter of 2011?

In the event you are considering hiring, take several factors into consideration:

  • Can the current workload be handled by present staff or do you need extra bodies in the office?
  • What will the implications be financially if you bring on extra people in terms of added health care costs, workers’ compensation etc.?
  • If considering laying off some workers to bring your finances better into line, would you consider rehiring these individuals down the road when times are better?
  • What are your long-term goals for your company?

Being a small business owner comes with a myriad of responsibilities, not least of which is deciding when is the right time to add and subtract employees.

Photo credit: londrescallando.com

Dave Thomas writes extensively for B2b lead generation online resource Resource Nation that provides expert advice on purchasing and outsourcing decisions for small business owners and entrepreneurs. He is an expert writer on items like business cash advance and is based in San Diego, California.

Are Women Getting a Fair Shake in the Workplace?

by

A co-worker and his wife recently brought three new lives into the world – triplets – two boys and a girl.

After all the congratulatory remarks were passed along, I stopped for a minute to wonder how the trio would be treated a couple of decades now when they go out into the working world. Trust me; their parents are likely asking can we at least enjoy them as little ones for a bit longer?

Will this young girl and millions like her find a working environment that is warm and receptive down the road or will it be cold and intimidating?

Challenges for Women at Work

While many young females are not stepping into 9 to 5 situations just yet, that day will come for millions of them and lead to an age old question, do they get treated differently than their male counterparts in the workplace?

As many successful women have worked their way up the corporate ladder, many others find themselves being left behind, whether it is salaries compared to men, opportunities for advancement or just plain respectability from their male counterparts.

As a woman in the workplace, have you found yourself the victim of?

  • A lesser salary than a male counterpart doing the same work;
  • Getting passed over for advancement opportunities;
  • Verbal or physical harassment.

While there are rules in place that are supposed to protect women against harassment on the job, the salary and advancement issues are two items that women have little power to fight. As even some males discover along the way, office politics can play a big role on who gets raises and the opportunities to move up the corporate ladder.

According to a recent study from CareerBuilder, 38 percent of female workers indicated they believe they are paid less than their male counterparts sporting the same skill set and experience. The study goes on to note that 39 percent of women employees think men have additional advancement opportunities within their companies, a jump of 13 percent from 2008.

Other interesting tidbits from the survey include:

  • 45 percent of males note they make $50,000 or more, with 24 percent of females claiming the same;
  • 10 percent of males make $100,000 or more compared to only 3 percent of females;
  • 30 percent of males note they are in a management role compared to 21 percent of females;
  • 36 percent of females claim that males receive more kudos for their achievements within the organization than they do.

One interesting fact from the survey was the responses males and females gave to what bothers them most with in the workplace.

Men noted that women oftentimes gossip or are too emotional or sensitive, while women claim men can be arrogant, make inappropriate comments or don’t take women at work serious.

Interestingly enough, not a lot of men claimed that women use their beauty to advance their careers along. Oftentimes, an attractive woman in the workplace must overcome misconceptions that she used her looks, flirting skills or charm to work her way up the corporate ladder.

For those men who assume that some women in their office rose up the corporate ranks with anything other than their intelligence, keep in mind that many of these same women are holding down two full-time jobs – employee and mother.

Harassment on the Job

One of the biggest challenges women face in the workplace is harassment, oftentimes in a sexual manner.

A recent AOL Jobs Survey pointed out that one in six employees has dealt with harassment on the job. Nearly 50 percent of women are more apt to report it, compared to 21 percent of men.

For those women harassed on the job, which are oftentimes females working in blue collar type jobs, the issues can include: Unwanted jokes or offensive language, inappropriate touching or other contact with a male co-worker, being asked out on dates, and being subjected to suggestive pictures or objects.

According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), in 2010, more than 11,700 charges were brought by workers against co-workers or bosses (83.6 percent from women).

While lower pay, fewer opportunities for advancement and sexual harassment issues do persist, many women have overcome these and other obstacles to work their way up the corporate ladder.

To their credit, they overcame the naysayers who for years thought that women could be nothing more than secretaries and/or administrative assistants.

And for those males who think the secretary is a worthless position, who do you think gives the outside world its first impression of your company, handles myriad of duties and oftentimes holds the business together?

Women continue to make positive strides in the workplace, a workplace whose scenery has changed for the better in the eyes of many women and men.

Photo credit: kristisiegel.com

Dave Thomas is an expert writer on items like online marketing and is based in San Diego, California. He writes extensively for an online resource that provides expert advice on purchasing and outsourcing decisions for small business owners and entrepreneurs at Resource Nation.

A Good-Bye from Terez

by

By Terez Howard

Passion, Reason and Success: An Impenetrable Triad

cooltext455576688_blogging

“If passion drives you, let reason hold the reins.” — Benjamin Franklin

In the blogging business, do you think that passion should make your business decisions? Probably not. But should it be the motivating force behind your work? No harm there.

I have a confession to make. I have a passion. That passion has been alive for 5 years. During that time, I’ve read, researched and learned a plethora of information. I’ve hungered for more information and found myself starved. I desired to give people what I had been craving. More information.

I spent a few months writing more than 35,000 words on the topic of black natural hair. I spent April designing a website and compiling all of this information into an organized manner to give other naturals a whisper of the information we yearn for. This whisper will transform into a shout because my passion still burns and will grow.

What does this mean for me?

I’m not going to go into great detail about why I decided to write about natural hair. I’m not going to tell you my personal story with natural hair because I doubt that you care. What I want you to know is that this passion of mine has taken hold of my time and energy. Since I’ve always been one to keep my writing business hours at a part time level, that means letting some things go.

My guest blogging here is one of those things. Jael Strong too will cease guest blogging and focus on pursuing creative writing, her passion.

What does this mean for you?

Maybe nothing.

But, it might make think about evaluating your circumstances, including your work schedule and productivity. Are you working your passion? If you are, are you spending enough time to develop it? Are you spending too much time on it? Are you being reasonable?

Benjamin Franklin put it so well. “If passion drives you, let reason hold the reins.”

Please be honest with yourself. There’s no sense in lying to yourself.

As for me, if you’re interested in the natural hair scene, you will see me around.

If not, know that I’m very grateful to have been here. Thank you, Liz, for the opportunity to know you and learn from your great wisdom. Thank you, readers, for checking in, commenting, tweeting and driving me to success.

And yes, I do think I’m successful, even though I’ve just recently started this endeavor.

I believe in what Pablo Picasso once said, “Action is the foundational key to all success.”

—
Terez Howard operates TheWriteBloggers, a professional blogging service which builds clients’ authority status and net visibility. She has written informative pieces for newspapers, online magazines and blogs, both big and small. She regularly blogs at Freelance Writing Mamas. You’ll find her on Twitter @thewriteblogger.

Thanks, Terez, for sharing yourself and your insights on my blog!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

Home Sick? 7 Productivity Tips So You Don’t Get Sick of Working at Home

by

A Guest Post By Ripley Daniels

cooltext443809602_strategy

So, you’ve been given the opportunity of working from home and the excitement of skipping your daily commute, navigating office politics and being chained to your cubicle have all but completely overtaken you. You are free to work from home and be productive without the confines of an office environment. For the first few months, all is well as you love falling out of bed in your favorite pajamas only to stumble a few feet into your home office. The freedom and autonomy is absolutely priceless. A few months later, the isolation begins to set in. You miss the office chatter and the scheduled breaks with your co-workers. There’s something unnatural about spending several hours a day in front of a computer screen with no one to interact with.

If you find yourself running into the issue of restlessness, isolation and depression while working from home; there is no need to worry. Like with anything new, you must learn to adapt to your new work environment. Follow these seven simple steps and you will be whizzing through your work day in no time.

pic1_homesick_rdaniels
  1. Set up or maintain a regular work schedule. Nothing causes anxiety more than not having an organized daily routine which is what the traditional office environment automatically creates. In order to get into a happy, healthy work rhythm, you must create a work schedule that is realistic and doable and then stick to it. If you are used to starting work at 9AM and shutting down for the day at 5PM, this should be the work routine that you commit to while working from home.
  2. Allow yourself an hour break for lunch and a few small breaks throughout the day. Just as it is legally mandated that employees take lunch breaks and small breaks, you must follow the same guidelines or run the risk of burning yourself out. It is nearly impossible to work eight hours or more without stepping away from your desk so don’t feel pressured to slave away in front of your computer because you’re no longer officially on the clock. Set your lunch time and breaks at the same time every day so you can keep a regular schedule.
  3. Get outside and get active. Living a sedentary lifestyle is harmful to your health, sanity and confidence. When you are required to sit in front of a computer while working from home, it can be easy to forget the importance of fresh air and exercise and sunshine. When you do take your lunch break or small periodic breaks, try and get outside for a walk or to make a leisure call to friends/family. Take advantage of your new work environment and fit in some exercise via an exercise DVD or take a mid-day work out class at the gym on your lunch break.
  4. Set up Skype or Google Chat so you can maintain contact with your fellow co-workers while working from home. Telecommuting can be an isolating experience but with the help of social media and various programs, you can stay in touch with your co-workers as if you were right back in your cubicle or office. This is also a good way to keep your socialization skills sharp as telecommuting can easily dull your sensibilities from the lack of human interaction.
  5. Set goals for yourself both professionally and personally. Unlike a traditional job, a telecommuter has the opportunity of enhancing both their work life and personal life at the same time. You have the ability of using your breaks to complete various projects around the house which also serves as a mental break from your daily work load.
  6. Attend industry events and conferences so that you can stay current on the latest technology, products, services and inventions within your field. There is nothing worse than falling behind in your position because you’re working from home and no longer have access to the same information regarding classes or programs. Just because you are a telecommuter doesn’t mean that you can mentally check out and not deliver outstanding work performance.
  7. Step away from your desk at the end of each business day and don’t look back. If your schedule is 9AM-5PM, you should resist working past your scheduled hours as you will soon find that your energy levels, confidence and productivity will all drastically be affected. Turn your computer off and shut down your home office during the evenings and weekends so that you can maintain some semblance of a normal work/life balance.

Do you have other tricks you use to keep your business well and working?
_____________
Ripley Daniels is an editor at Without The Stress, a passport, travel visa and immigration advisory firm located in Los Angeles.

Thanks, Ripley, for your insight into the problems that are unique to working at home!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

Cool Tool Review: Proxlet – Your Rescue for Twitterchats

by

A Guest Post by Leo Widrich

cooltext451585442_tools

Last Sunday was my first time to participate in #blogchat a weekly held Twitterchat and boy was it an amazing experience conversing with @lizstrauss and @mackcollier. It boasts great personalities each week helping you to answer any Social Media and blogging related questions.

For long I was quite reluctant to join in Twitterchats as I felt I would overwhelm my followers for the time the chat was going on with my tweets.

Fortunately I finally found a solution I can offer, since staying away from this massive amount of great insights at #blogchat is definitely not an option.

It is a nifty Twitter App called Proxlet.

What does Proxlet do?

Facebook has a very useful “Hide this post” option integrated. Proxlet gives you this exact same thing, only for Twitter.

Using proxlet, you can temporarily hide certain things on Twitter which clutter your timeline or aren’t currently the core thing of your interest.

How to best use it?

Proxlet fortunately takes the “hide this” feature a step further and allows you to explain in a very detailed manner which area of tweets you want to block.

  • You can block Apps you don’t want to show up in your Timeline. For example am using it for both foursquare and paper.li since I feel they don’t add enough value.
  • You can also stop certain individual users temporarily, for example because they are at a conference and you are not really interested in their tweets at that point.
  • Another way to make use of Proxlet is to block certain hashtags from showing up in your timeline.

What is the best part of Proxlet?

The best part of proxlet is that it works not only at twitter.com, but can also be used for your favourite Twitter clients such as Twitter for Iphone, Tweetdeck and others.

Someone approached me that he couldn’t take the load of my #blogchat tweets and Proxlet turned out to be a superb solution for both of us. He could continue following me, yet was freed of those unwanted tweets in a short space of time.

What are your thoughts on Proxlet (http://proxlet.com) ? Have you had a similar problem yourself before too? Please let me know below.

Leo Widrich writes Tips for Twitter on his blog. You can visit his website, Bufferapp, or find him on Twitter as @leowid.

_________

Thanks, Leo, for checking out proxlet for us!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!