US Airways flies at the back of the pack for on-time performance

US Airways Group Inc. ranked last among U.S. airlines in April for on-time performance and delayed flights.

New statistics from the U.S. Department of Transportation showed 63 percent of US Airways' April flights were on time. That ranked the Tempe-based carrier (NYSE:LCC) 20th among the 20 major U.S. carriers. Aloha Airlines was first with 89 percent of its flights on time. Southwest Airlines ranked fourth best with 84 percent of its April flights on time.

JetBlue Airways was next to last with a 64 percent on-time score, according to DOT.

US Airways had a number of flights which were habitually delayed or late in April. That includes flights between Boston and Charlotte (100 percent late), Charlotte and Newark (96 percent late) and Atlanta and Las Vegas (94 percent late).

The airline has struggled with delayed and late flights recently due to issues related to reservation systems integration from the 2005 merger with America West Airlines, problems at its Philadelphia hub and weather challenges. via Phoenix Business Journal

Arizona and West poised to beat national job numbers

While the national economy is expected to remain sluggish through the rest of the year, analysts in the West are betting states will beat the average.
Nationally, employment gains are pegged at 1.3 percent for the year, down from 1.9 percent in 2006, according to economic-financial analysis firm Global Insight. Projections for job growth in the West are much stronger with five states, including Arizona, expected to show annual increases of more than 3 percent, according to the latest issue of the Western Blue Chip Economic Forecast.

Only California, with a projected 1.2 percent growth, is below the national average. Arizona is expected to see a 3.5 percent gain in wage and salary employment for the year, behind only Nevada, at 4.3 percent, and Utah, at 3.7 percent.
The Blue Chip Forecast also looks at 2008 with Arizona jobs expected to see a 3.4 percent boost in numbers. That again trails the projection for Nevada, at 4.3 percent, but is ahead of the Utah's 3.3 percent projection for 2008.
The Blue Chip report is put out by the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. via Phoenix Business Journal

Arizona Small Business Profile

In Arizona, small businesses are vital to the financial well-being of the state’s economy. Their contribution is essential for economic growth . As entrepreneurs and innovators, small business owners represented a diverse group in 2004 and continued to keep the state’s economy productive. This Small Business Profile was prepared by the U.S. Small Business Administration and provides information on the performance of small businesses in the state using the most current federal data available. According to the Small Business Administration, "small business" is defined as a company with less than 100 employees or less than $4 million in revenues.

Number of Businesses
There were an estimated 396,318 small businesses in Arizona in 2004. Of the 110,153 firms with employees, an estimated 97.2 percent, or 107,018, were small firms. In 2004, the estimated number of employer businesses increased by 0.4 percent. The number of self-employed persons (including incorporated) increased overall by 1.6 percent, from 293,006 in 2003 to 297,672 in 2004. Non-employer businesses numbered 289,300 in 2002, an increase of 4.5 percent since 2001, based on the most recent data available.
(Sources: U.S. Dept. of Labor, Employment and Training Administration; U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Census Bureau; U.S. Dept of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.)

Women-Owned BusinessesIn 2002 women-owned firms totaled 109,807, an increase of 24 percent from 1997, and generated $16.2 billion in revenues. Firms owned jointly by women and men numbered 59,754 with revenues of $18.3 billion. Women represented 37.4 percent of the self-employed persons in the state.
(Sources: U.S. Dept. of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics; U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Census Bureau.)

Minority-Owned Businesses
In 2002, Hispanic-owned firms numbered 35,102, an increase of 21 percent from 1997. Black-owned firms numbered 6,338, an increase of 77 percent; Asian-owned firms numbered 10,223, an increase of 48 percent; American Indian and Alaska Native-owned firms numbered 6,614, an increase of 20 percent; and there were 348 Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander-owned businesses.
(Source: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Census Bureau.)

Business Turnover
There were an estimated 12,421 new employer businesses in 2004, 6.8 percent less than the previous year. Business terminations numbered 17,553 in 2004, an increase of 13.3 percent. Business bankruptcies decreased by 31.5 percent and totaled 480 in 2004.
(Sources: U.S. Dept. of Labor, Employment and Training Administration; Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts; U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Census Bureau.)

Employment
Companies with fewer than 500 employees numbered 93,178 in 2002 and employed 930,225 individuals, or 47.8 percent of the state’s non-farm private sector. Net job gains among firms with fewer than 20 employees totaled 22,473, while large firms with 500 or more employees lost 14,640 jobs between 2001 and 2002.
(Source: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Census Bureau, Statistics of U.S. Businesses.)

Small Business Income
Non-farm proprietors’ income, a partial measure of small business income, increased by 5.5 percent, from $11.9 billion in 2002 to $12.6 billion in 2003.
(Source: U.S. Dept. of Commerce.)

Read More at smallbusiness.com

Is eBay a Small Business Marketing Tool?

There's a pretty tired myth with some small business folks that pegs eBay as simply a way for people to unload junk, collectibles, or out of date seconds.

Now I know many of you also know that people are making lots of money running businesses completely on the eBay platform.

I visited with Janelle Elms, a noted instructor for eBay University and author of 7 Steps to eBay Marketing Success on a recent episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast.

Our conversation focuses on ways that traditional small businesses are finding to tap into the eBay set of tools and online world to help market everything from products to services.

eBay has millions of members and visitors and has developed tools like online stores, blogs, podcasts and web page optimization to help members get their products and services found and sold - these same tools can be used to extend your already existing business and open new doors and opportunities.

Every small business should find out what eBay can do for them.

By the way I'm conducting a marketing session at eBay Live in Boston on June 16th to help eBay sellers learn to use offline tools to grow their businesses.via Duct Tape Marketing

Is It Time to Outsource Your HR?

Need HR help for your small business? Consider hiring a PEO.

When the time comes to start hiring staff, a lot of entrepreneurs fail to give much thought to all the responsibilities that come with being an employer. The average small-business owner isn’t equipped with either the knowledge or the time to comply with the mountain of regulations required by the government. Fortunately, HR outsourcing--hiring a PEO to oversee your HR tasks--is a solution that not only provides help with compliance issues but can also provide assistance that’s tailored to your company’s specific needs. via Entrepreneur

180-Day Discrimination Rule

The Supreme Court overturned an Alabama Federal Court decision awarding a woman $360,000 in damages for her discrimination suit because she didn't issue the complaint within 180 of the "intentional discrimination" beginning. Although Lilly Ledbetter's salary initially matched that of her male colleagues, over time she received smaller raises. And at the time of the suit, Ledbetter was making 40 percent less than the lowest-paid man, even after 20 years of employment with Goodyear Tires. via Entrepreneur

Using Business Planning Software

Over the years I have written several business plans. If you have not had the experience as of yet, get ready for some work. There are some great resources on the web to get more information. One I particularly like is Tim Berry's Hurdle Book. Berry gives some good insight and practical methodology to putting your plan together.

Berry is President of PaloAlto Software, who produces Business Plan Pro. Business Plan Pro has come a long way over the past few years and is very flexible. In 2001, I tried this application for a plan I was writing. Although the plan templates were very comprehensive and helped guide me through the key areas of the plan, I found it hard to work with and eventually put the plan together using Word, Excel and PowerPoint. The current version (2007) offers much more flexibility in the areas where you will need it most (importing and exporting). I am currently completing a new plan and Business Plan Pro has been great. In the future I hope PaloAlto offers increased flexibility with their spreadsheet formulas.

Business planning is a long arduous process. PaloAlto is not a sponsor of this blog, and I don't work for Tim Berry, but I have looked at a few different business planning tools and found Business Plan Pro to be the best.