St. Louis Post-Dispatch
June 13, 2004

HIT THE ROAD

Small business owners aren't immune to the summer itch to ditch work. A new survey from American Express' Open Small Business Network shows that two-thirds of small-business owners plan a week-long summer vacation. And many will mix business and pleasure:

59 percent expect to call in or e-mail the office at least once. About a third plan to link their vacation and business trips to save time and money -- up 5 percent from last year.

HELP WANTED

Small businesses hired more employees in the first quarter this year compared with the same period in 2003, according to SurePayroll of Chicago, the nation's fifth-largest payroll service. It found that small businesses filed fewer private-contractor 1099 forms and more permanent-employee W-2 documents during the quarter. That suggests more businesses were hiring and willing to switch people from contractor status to permanent employees.

LINING UP FOR ONLINE

70% of small businesses have or plan to have Web sites this year. Only about 35 percent of small businesses developed Web sites last year.

Source: U.S. Small Business Administration Report 35% of business owners say having a Web site is a key to expanding business. That compares with 19 percent who said hiring additional employees is important for growth.

Source: Harris Interactive and Yahoo! Small Business Survey

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