Great idea for a business?
Ready to leave the rat race?
One reason I hear over and over again when it comes to why many people don’t plunge into entrepreneurship is health insurance. It’s hard to leave a job with benefits to go out and build the small business of your dreams when you know you’ll need big bucks to cover your healthcare.
My article today in the New York Times looks at this issue and it definitely made me wonder what the future holds for small businesses.
It will be interesting to see what the new Congress will do next year in regards to escalating healthcare costs.
Can anything be done?
That’s the burning question.
Do you have an idea for the next great business venture? What’s keeping you from going for it?

I’ve been getting a lot of mail this week on my MSNBC.com column. Basically, I tell readers it’s okay to fudge the truth a bit when you’re crafting your resume. Not lying about things you did or places you went to school, but maybe not being totally open about the holes in your resume. Many readers thanked me for the advice, while others think I’m nuts for even suggesting it.

Can you guys share any experiences you’ve had with this. While I think blatant lying can come back to haunt you, hiring managers don’t need to know every intimate detail.

We’ve been talking about, complaining about, worried about the continued lack of women in power.

In my column today on MSNBC.com I look at how many women often sabotage their climb up the ranks because they aren’t forceful enough when it comes to tooting their own horns.

And coincidentally, the Wall Street Journal today has a whole package on women in power call, “The 50 Women to Watch”. In it the author also asked women executives why there still aren’t more women running the show today.

So I hope today we can have a frank discussion on why the heck there aren’t more women at the top?

Go ahead, any theories will be greatly appreciated.

(Just a thought: Attitude may be key to advancing. In my book From the Sandbox to the Corner Office I interviewed many women CEOs and all of them were big believers in standing tough in order to succeed. Christine Jacobs of Theragenics Corp. talked a lot about how women should not see themselves as victims. One funny story she told me epitomizes her attitude. She was having lunch with the president of a local bank and he asked her “Whatever qualified YOU to be CEO of a public company?” To that she retorted: “Why, my breasts, of course.”)

Sometimes power clouds the heads of individuals. Maybe they get wrapped up in their own hype. Maybe the taste of obscene wealth makes them drunk. I don’t know exactly what it is but reason and the greater good begins to take a back seat to ambition.

Earlier this year I interviewed Doug Parker, the CEO of US Airways about how he was going to merge the workforces of US Airways and America West airlines. The two airlines had just merged and Parker had become the new CEO. He talked about how making sure the many employees now under his belt were happy and well adjusted was at the top of his priority list.

He had a difficult road ahead. Taking America West’s 14,000 workers and folding them into US Airways workforce of 21,000 were going to be anything but easy. We’re talking tons of union contracts, an array of hubs…not to mention the two very different cultures – US Airways button-down history, to America West’s laid-back mentality.

Airline analysts had estimated it would take years to make his vision of unity work.

So imagine my shock when Parker and US Airways announced yesterday they were making a bid to take over bankrupt Delta Air Lines. How could he take on such a monumental venture before getting all his labor baggage off of US Airways’ luggage turnstyle?

Was it a brain fart? I can’t imagine Parker was just giving me lip service.

OK, I’m being a bit silly. It’s all about economies of scale, they say. You know they, the corporate bigwigs, Wall Street. Indeed, US Airways stock skyrocketed after news of the possible merger.

If we put aside the huge anti trust issues with such a combination, the loss of consumer choices, and the inevitable loss of jobs, that leaves one thing.

When I asked Parker in January how he was going to build the trust of his new workforce and truly make such a melding work, he said: “I can’t change their minds overnight.”

Well, turns out he must have.

Now that the dust has settled after the election it’s time to talk about what a new Congress has or should have in store for the working stiff.

Things to keep an eye on in the months ahead:
1. Will minimum wage ever be in sync with the cost of living? Politicians from both parties are out of touch with the financial struggles of the working class. I say that with some certainty because anyone that thinks it’s okay not to fight for an increase needs a reality check. We’re talking $5.15 an hour. That’s barely enough to cover health insurance premiums for an individual, who, given their low wage, is probably not getting any health coverage from their employer.
2. And speaking about health insurance…will the government finally agree on some sort of universal coverage for workers and entrepreneurs? All I hear about these days is the dread and fear almost every non-wealthy person has over healthcare. Workers tell me their employers keep cutting back on coverage and are making them pick up a larger portion of the premium, if they’re offered coverage at all; while entrepreneurs are having trouble keeping their businesses afloat because of escalating health insurance costs.
3. Are worker rights going to get a needed boost? Across the board, when it comes to collective bargaining rights and wage and hour issues, employees have seen their rights diminish in recent years. The National Labor Relations Board’s recent ruling on union-joining rights for workers is a prime example “NLRB ruling”. Will the Democrats, for years known as the party of the daily grinders, push for the strengthening of worker rights on all fronts or will corporate interests win the day? There is a way to jive the bottom line with treating employees like human beings. Again, Costco is a great example of a company that doesn’t listen to Wall Street’s objections and continues to pay workers fair wages and good benefits.

Ok, just a sampling of what’s before the new Congress come January. While it might not seem like it, they have more on their plate than Iraq.

But I can’t help myself. GO VOTE!!

So a story on the front page of the New York Times reveals a new study of how women business travelers are on the rise. But the focus of the story is not how women are making their mark on the business world. Rather, it’s about how moms who travel on business see the trips as a break away from the children. One woman talks about how nice it is to be without her two screaming twins and “grumpy preteen” when she’s making business jaunts.

Does anyone think a story about how dads on the road for business happy to leave their families behind would have made it on the front page, or any page of a major newspaper?

Here’s a link to the story:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/01/business/01travel.html?hp&ex=1162443600&en=f1023755c78d1721&ei=5094&partner=homepage

What are your thoughts? Is it only moms who see business trips as “mini-vacations” as the author writes?

(I just got back from a business trip promoting my book “From the Sandbox to the Corner Office” in Florida and my hubby came a long on the trip for moral support. When we got back everyone commented on how rested he looked. I, on the other hand, looked like something the cat dragged in. And, I must admit, very happy to see my screaming, grumpy kids.)