Death and taxes. These two things may be certain, but for small business owners, there’s something that may be even more worrisome.

According to a survey by the National Federation of Independent Business, the inability to find affordable health insurance is the single most troubling issue for small business owners today. In fact, USA Today calls small employers “among the most hard-pressed in the current health care climate.”

Of the 43 million Americans without healthcare coverage, 60 percent work for small business owners who can’t afford to offer them insurance. According to the Department of Labor, only 49% of small employers offer health insurance, compared with 98% of large companies.

For those that do offer insurance, it can be a struggle to keep up with rising costs. Small business owners lack the leverage to negotiate for the lower rates paid by large companies. In some states, they only have one or two carriers from which to choose.

In the past four years, insurance premiums paid by small business employees rose an average of 13% a year, compared with 11% increases for those working for large companies. In the coming year, premiums for small business employees are expected to rise by as much as 15%.

As costs keep rising, many more small businesses may drop their coverage. Employees will be drawn to larger companies where health benefits are offered. Small business owners, who account for more than 99% of the employers in the United States, will be hard pressed to attract and keep good help.

The problem is significant enough that it has attracted the attention of legislators such as Kansas 3rd District Congressman Dennis Moore. Last year, Moore, who has served on the House Committee on Small Business, introduced the Small Business Health Insurance Affordability Act. The bill would provide tax incentives to encourage small business health plans.

Even President Bush has weighed in on the issue. In his State of the Union address this January, Bush called on Congress to approve the creation of Association Health Plans for small businesses.

Association Health Plans, or AHPs, would allow small companies to band together and buy insurance at much cheaper rates than they are currently able to get on their own. The idea has been around for a while.

Last year, the House approved an AHP bill, but the measure didn’t make it out of the Senate. Small business lobbyists are hopeful that with Bush's endorsement, AHPs will make it through Congress this year.

However, it won’t be easy. The insurance lobby is against AHPs, and even some small business associations oppose them. The Washington-based National Small Business Association has expressed fears that AHPs may do more harm than good.

Todd McCracken, president of the NSBA worries that “insurers would be able to exclude some medical conditions because AHPs would not be bound by state laws.”

On the other hand, the National Federation of Independent Business supports AHPs, believing that they will comply with federal coverage mandates under ERISA, the law that governs employee health benefits.

Whatever happens with AHPs, there are other steps that small business employers can take to help reduce their health care related costs.  Corporate wellness and health prevention programs can save companies money and improve employee health, according to a study published in the Journal of Occupational Medicine.

Janet Lockridge of WellWork Corporate Wellness Services will talk about how to promote employee wellness to help reduce health care costs in a free program at the KCK Main Library, 625 Minnesota Avenue, at noon on Tuesday, May 18.  Call (913) 279-2064 for more information. 

Is today’s workplace different for blacks and whites?

According to Michelle Johnson, author of Working While Black, the answer is yes and no.

“What I think many whites, including (ironically) even liberal whites, don’t get, is that even though our experiences as black people can be 85 percent the same as white people, some days that 15 percent difference is the only difference we feel.”

Johnson is an employment attorney and mediator, a KU graduate, and a resident of the Kansas City area. Her book, which was published this year, is subtitled “The Black Person’s Guide to Success in the White Workplace.”

“Blacks have the most complex working history of any group in America. We don’t have to travel too far up our ancestral line to find relatives who didn’t work for pay—they worked to keep from being beaten or killed…This is our history…We were brought here as property to help others build better lives for their own families.”

And, Johnson points out, it took a long time for things to get better.

“Historians have argued that with all the roadblocks put in place, it wasn’t truly until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that blacks actually had the right to vote. Therefore, from a practical standpoint, blacks didn’t really start having the benefits of full citizenship in society until the mid-1960s.”

Even now, “the remnants of slavery continue to exist and proliferate. As black people who work, our legacy of being the descendants of bought goods still lingers.”

Johnson sites the case of Johnnie Cochran, “probably the single most well known living black attorney in this country.” According to Johnson, Cochran’s great-grandfather was a slave.

“Think about that for a second. Only two generations stand between Johnnie Cochran and slavery.”

“Take that a step further. There are no slaves without slave owners. Therefore, when Cochran is going toe-to-toe with opposing counsel, witnesses, prosecutors, and judges, many of them only have two generations that stand between them and being slave owners.”

“This is our legacy and we experience it every day.”

For instance, Johnson cites a very public episode that occurred less than one month before the start of 2003.

“Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott had to apologize for indirectly singing the praises of a segregated America. (He was later forced to resign as majority leader.) His view may not be the majority view, but it exists.”

How does this legacy impact the workplace?

"Race is always a factor. Period. There is no thinking, breathing, functioning black employee who will tell you that race hasn't touched her experience if she's ever worked someplace where she was in the minority."

"It doesn't touch every aspect of work, but it touches enough of the overall experience to require you to empower yourself with the perspective and knowledge to make sure that your work life is as positive as you can make it."

Michelle Johnson will talk about her book, Working While Black, at 7 pm on Tuesday, May 11, at the KCK Public Library Main Branch, 625 Minnesota Avenue. This program is free and open to the public. Call (913) 279-2064 for more information.

I never could have done what I did at FedEx had I not served in the Marines.

-Fredrick W. Smith, CEO, FedEX

You’ve heard their ads. The Marines: the few, the proud. But, the “do more with less?”

According to the authors of The Marine Corps Way, the Marines have long been “perennially underfunded.” In the late 1980s they faced budget cuts and “an increasingly difficult mandate to meet mission requirements.”

If that combination of underfunding and increasingly difficult mandates sounds familiar to your organization, you might be interested in the Marine’s solution. They call it maneuver warfare.

In the 1989 field manual Warfighting, maneuver warfare is defined as “a state of mind bent on shattering the enemy morally and physically by paralyzing and confounding him by avoiding his strength, by quickly and aggressively exploiting his vulnerabilities, and by striking him in a way that will hurt him most.”

Sound a little harsh for the business world?

“We are not advocating the brutalization of business [and] it is not our intent in this book to glorify warfare and the associated loss of life. But we firmly believe that the concept of maneuver warfare is directly relevant to leadership in business.”

As General Sherman said, “War is hell.” But, how is war like business?

“In the same manner that commanders position men and material on the battlefield, business leaders deploy information, capital, personnel, and physical assets to capitalize on market opportunities.”

So, what kind of advice can the Marines offer the average business person?
Well, to start with, there’s the 80 Percent Rule.

“Marines train their junior leaders to rely on the 80 Percent Rule, which states that delaying any decision so that it can be made with more than 80 percent of the necessary information is hesitation.”

Then, there’s the “zero defect” mentality.

“Marines acknowledge that boldness sacrifices precision in execution and therefore reject the dreaded “zero defect” mentality. Leaders correct, rather than punish, mistakes that stem from bold zeal.”

Not only do they not punish mistakes, the Marines actually celebrate them, with one commander handing out a monthly “toilet seat award” to the junior Marine who shows the most initiative in an endeavor with an unsuccessful outcome.

And, if you’re a small business owner itching to take on the big guys, you might want to read about how Sam Houston and his poorly equipped band of 783 men managed to defeat 1,500 Mexican soldiers at San Jacinto.

Grab your coupons, hop in the basket and get ready for a ride around your grocery store. 

Have you wondered why you hit the produce aisle first? The store was designed that way. Most grocery stores are laid out to guide shoppers “to the right”.

First you pass the produce, meat is in the back, dairy items are in the back to the left and grocery items are in the middle.

More than 80% of grocery stores use this basic lay out says Vince Staten in Can You Trust a Tomato in January?

The cart you’re pushing? Women balked at using it when it was introduced to stores in 1937. Shoppers preferred to use the small hand-held market baskets they brought from home.

Sylvan Goldman, inventor of the grocery cart, hired his employees’ wives to walk around his store and place items in the carts they pushed. Once women saw how convenient it was, they started using the carts.

Wondering  how much your grocery store earns? The formula is simple—roughly one cart for $1,000 in weekly business.

Remember Ovaltine? Sugar Smacks? Addams’ Family Cereal? Some products have given up the ghost and turned their shelf space over to trendier products.

Others have undergone name changes (Sugar Smacks are now Smacks) to avoid an unhealthy moniker. Other products have a shelf life equal to the larger item they are promoting.

But Cool Whip, Pringles and Kraft Macaroni ‘n Cheese—those things will be around forever! If for no other reason than Cool Whip comes in a great reusable container.

Pringles made the market because they came in a can that preserved potato chip freshness. And Kraft Macaroni ‘n Cheese, with its debut in 1936, became the first convenience food.