Do you own a small business? Wanna make your banker love you? Well, maybe not love you, but certainly like you enough to renew that line of credit? When economic times get tough, bankers worry about their business borrowers. If they don’t think you’re payin’ attention to the economic downturn, that could mean curtains for your annual line of credit renewal.

Before their recent demise (no fault of small businesses), one of the nation’s largest banks, Wachovia, did more than just wring their hands—they watched over ya, by looking for ways to help their customers’ preempt financial difficulties.

And guess what? Telecommuting was one of the ways they recommend companies lighten their expense loads.

Citing research conducted by Noel Hodson, a U.K.-based telecommuting consultant, Wachovia recommended telecommuting as a way to:

Increase Productivity

Office interruptions account for 18% of a typical office-bound employee’s day.

Reduce Travel Costs

Once telecommuting technologies are common, face-to-face meetings are less necessary

Improve Employee Availability

Research shows that people who work at home are, on average, 15% more available to their co-workers than traditional workers.

Reduce Sick Days

People who work from home typically continue to do so, even when they’re sick.

Reduce Turnover Costs

Hodson’s research shows that it can cost as much as $100,000 to replace and train a high level executive.

Have you hugged your banker today? If not, send your workers home and run right over for a kiss!

Full disclosure: I used to be a banker.

I did a radio interview about the growth of telecommuting recently. The host had that revved-up style that’s presumably intended to help commuters stay awake on their trek to and from work and he wasn’t buying the whole work from home thing. “It would never work for radio station employees,” he said. “They’d all be getting sloshed and playing golf—especially the sales guys.” I countered with the usual argument of how good companies manage based on performance, not presence. If the sales team is selling just as many ads, what does management care about how and when they do it. He still wasn’t buying it. So I told him that if companies were that worried about being able to monitor their employees, a variety of technologies make it possible to watch their every keystroke.

One company, oDesk, I went on to explain, even makes it possible to see remote employees at work in their home offices.

Well that really got him going. “What, you mean they’d actually be watching me? Now that’s going too far! What about privacy? No one’s going to stand for that!” He went on and on. When I finally got a word in, I asked how is that any different than working in a cubicle farm. Don’t you think you’re being watched there? Don’t you think your internet activity is being monitored?

Our twenty minutes were up so I wasn’t able to to tell him about the American Management Association study that showed that two-thirds of employers monitor their employees’ Internet connections, 28% percent have fired workers for misusing email, and 30% have fired people for misusing the Internet. More than 300 companies participated in the poll. They cited the following reasons for the firings:

E-mail Misuse
Violation of company policy 64%
Inappropriate or offensive language 62%
Excessive personal use 26%
Breach of confidentiality rules 22%
Other 12%

Internet Misuse
Viewing, downloading or uploading inappropriate/offensive content 84%
Violation of company policy 48%
Excessive personal use 34%
Other 9%

Only Delaware and Connecticut, require employers to notify workers that they are being monitored, but most of the companies surveyed said they did let them know.

If remote monitoring is what it takes to convince employers to allow their people to work from home, I say bring it on. My only beef would be having to actually get dressed in the morning.

You’ve seen the ads on TV where the idiot in the suit covered in dollar signs screams at you about free money. Millions from untapped grant sources—for free! Use it to start any business!

Not. All he’s promoting is his book. Other, more nefarious characters are out for more than that. Check this out from the Department of Consumer Affairs or this from Business Week. Here are the facts.

The government’s largest grant source is the Small Business Innovation Research program (SBIR). It provides funding for specifically identified research and development on behalf of governmental agencies such as the Dept. of Health or the Dept. of Transportation, etc. It’s available in very narrowly defined research situations. The accounting for this type of financing is sophisticated, and the agency will, obviously, expect that you have expertise in those technical areas for the R&D required.

Other specialty grants are available from philanthropic organizations for HIV research, space technologies, and solutions to world hunger and global warming. Local, County, State, and Foundation grants are occasionally available to businesses involving education, poverty, and the arts. You can find out about these by checking the web sites that represent each. But, sorry to say, the corner store or home-based business isn’t going to send the Warren Buffet’s of the world running for their checkbooks.

One final note, there are a number of micro loan programs that typically provide $10,000 and up to $35,000 to encourage start-up and expansion loans for small business. Some are offered at very attractive interest rates, particularly if the business is located in a disadvantaged area. Visit Accion International or the U. S. Small Business Administration at www.sba.gov for more information.

Twenty-six states have ‘business opportunity’ laws to protect you from those idiots that claim you can make thousands of dollars while you sleep. The laws prohibit the sale of business opportunities unless you’re given a pre-sale disclosure document that must be filed with a designated state agency.

They typically cover every imaginable type of business opportunity that might be offered. If a business opportunity seller is not required to provide pre-sale disclosures by the FTC Franchise and Business Opportunity Rule, then these disclosures will almost always be required by the laws of the states listed below. If you live somewhere else take a look at one of the other states laws to see what questions you should ask.

The disclosures required by state business opportunity laws differ somewhat, and typically they provide more abbreviated information than the FTC’s Rule requires. However, most of these laws provide you important rights and remedies, including required security bonds to cover investor losses. If the opportunity you’re looking at can’t be verified with a state agency or the FTC, run don’t walk to the nearest exit.

If you are considering purchasing a work-at-home or other business opportunity, and live in a state with a business opportunity law, find out more about the protection provided by your state statute before you invest.

Alaska, California,Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky,

Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina,

Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin

Alaska (filing required)

Attorney General’s Office

Commercial and Fair Business Section

1031 W. 4th Avenue, Suite 200

Anchorage, Alaska 99501

(907) 269-5200

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California (filing required)

Attorney General’s Office

Public Inquiry Unit

P.O. Box 944255

Sacramento, CA 94244-2550

Toll-free in California only (800) 952-5225

Out-of-state callers (916) 322-3360

E-Mail: piu@doj.ca.gov

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Connecticut (filing required)

Department of Banking

Securities Division

260 Constitution Plaza

Hartford, CT 06103

Phone: (860) 240-8230

Toll-free: (800) 831-7225

Fax: (860) 240-8295

Website: http://www.state.ct.us/dob

E-mail: marcelle.groves@po.state.ct.us

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Florida (filing required)

Dept. Agri. & Consumer Services

407 S. Calhoun St.

Finance & Accounting Section

Tallahassee, FL 32301

(850) 488-2221

(800) 342-2176 (FL only)

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Georgia (no filing required)

Office of Consumer Affairs

No. 2 - Martin Luther King Dr.

Plaza Level, East Tower

Atlanta, GA 30334

(404) 656-3790

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llinois (filing required)

Illinois Securities Department

Lincoln Tower

520 S. Second St. Suite 200

Springfield, IL 62701

(217)782-2256

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Indiana (filing required)

Indiana Office of Attorney General

Consumer Protection Division

302 West Washington Street

IGCS 5th Floor

Indianapolis, IN 46204

(317) 232-6330

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Iowa (filing required)

Securities Bureau

Second Floor

Lucas State Office Building

Des Moines, IA 50319

(515) 281-4441

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Kentucky (filing required)

Office of the Attorney General

Office of Consumer Protection

1024 Capital Center Drive

Frankfort, KY 40601

(502) 573-2200 NOTE: DOESN’t Work

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Louisiana (bond filing req’d)

Office of the Attorney General

Consumer Protection Section

1885 3rd St.

Baton Rouge, LA 70802

(225) 326-6460

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Maine (filing required)

Banking Bureau

Securities Division

State House - Station 121

Augusta, ME 04333

(207) 624-8551

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Maryland (filing required)

Attorney General’s Office

Securities Division

200 St. Paul Pl. - 20th Floor

Baltimore, MD 21202

(301) 576-6360

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Michigan (notice required)

Consumer Protection Division

Dept. of the Attorney General

PO Box 30213

Lansing, MI 48909

(517) 373-7117

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Minnesota (filing required)

Department of Commerce

Registration Division

133 East 7th Street

St. Paul, MN 55101

(651) 296-6328

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Nebraska (filing required)

Dept. of Banking & Finance

Commerce Court

1230 “O” Street, Suite 400

PO Box 95006

Lincoln, NE, 68509-5006

1-877-471-3445

Website: http://www.ndbf.org/

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New Hampshire (filing required)

Attorney General’s Office

Consumer Protection Div.

State House Annex

Concord, NH 03301

(603) 271-3641

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North Carolina (filing required)

North Carolina Department of the Secretary of State

P.O. Box 29622

Raleigh, NC 27626-0622

(919) 807-2000

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Ohio (no filing required)

Attorney General’s Office

Consumer Protection Section

25th Floor, State Office Tower

30 E. Broad Street - 14th Floor

Columbus, OH 43215

(614) 466-8831

800-282-0515 (in-state only)

Website: http://www.ag.state.oh.us

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Oklahoma (filing required unless exempt)

Oklahoma Department. of Securities

Suite 860, First National Center

120 N. Robinson

Oklahoma City, OK 73102

(405) 280-7700 (voice)

(405) 280-7742 (fax)

Website: http://www.securities.ok.gov

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South Carolina (filing required)

Secretary of State’s Office

P.O. Box 11350

Columbia, SC 29211

(803) 734-2169

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South Dakota (filing required)

South Dakota Division of Securities

445 E. Capitol Ave.

Pierre, SD 57501

(605) 773-4823

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Texas (filing required)

Secretary of State’s Office

Statutory Documents SectionP.O. Box 12887

Austin, TX 78711-2887

(512) 475-1769

Website: http://www.sos.state.tx.us/statdoc/statforms.shtml#BOAF

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Utah (filing required)

Consumer Protection Division

160 East 300 South

Salt Lake City, UT 84111

(801) 530-6601

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Virginia (no filing required)

Consumer Affairs Office

101 North 8th Street

Richmond, VA 23219

(804) 786-0594

(800) 451-1525 (in-state only)

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Washington (filing required)

The Department of Financial Institutions

Securities Division

P.O. Box 9033

Olympia, WA 98507-9033

Voice: (360) 902- 8760

Fax (360) 902-0524

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Wisconsin

Wisconsin Department of Agriculture

Trade and Consumer Protection

P.O. Box 8911

Madison, WI 53708-8911

(800) 422-7128

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