IBDL level 1. Entrepreneurship and Starting a Small Business

Transcription

1 IBDL level 1 Entrepreneurship and Starting a Small Business Internet Exercise 1

2 BONUS INTERNET EXERCISES BONUS INTERNET EXERCISE 1-1 Most Admired Corporations Each year Fortune magazine asks top executives, outside directors, and securities analysts to evaluate the companies in their industries on each of eight criteria. These criteria are added together to obtain an overall admired score. Go to the Fortune magazine Website ( and identify the Fortune most admired corporations for the current year. (Sometimes the web address for a location changes. You might need to search to find the exact location mentioned.) 1. What are the top ten admired corporations for the current year? 2. What are the eight criteria Fortune uses to rank these companies? 3. Choose one of the top ten companies and visit its Website. Write a brief summary of the company, including major products or services, corporate officers and board of directors, and key financial information. 2

3 BONUS INTERNET EXERCISE 1-2 Researching Boards of Directors Refer to the list of most admired companies identified in BONUS INTERNET EXERCISE 1-1 above. Using the Internet, research the board of directors for any five companies from the top of the most admired list and five from the bottom of the list. Determine how many outside directors and how many inside directors are serving each company. This information can be found on the corporations websites. 1. Do most of these large, publicly held companies have a majority of inside or outside directors? 2. Are there any obvious differences in the composition of the boards of those companies from the top of the most admired list as compared to those from the bottom of the list? 3. Choose one of the organizations in the top ten and go it its website. Who are the members of the board of directors? List the members and their titles. 3

4 BONUS INTERNET EXERCISE 1-3 What Is Small? Small business is defined as an enterprise that is independently owned and operated; is not dominant in its field of operation; and meets certain standards in terms of employees or annual receipts. Those certain standards are set by the Small Business Administration Office of Size Standards. In some industries, a small business must have fewer than 500 employees. In others, the limit is a dollar revenue figure, such as $6.5 million. Go to the SBA Website ( and navigate to the Size Standards page. The size standards are listed by the NAICS U.S. industry title and code (for example, under subsection 113, Forestry and Logging, you will see a listing for Forest Nurseries. ) You can find the specific code for an industry at the Website for the U.S. Census. Go to the Bureau of the Census Website, and use the NAICS Search box in the upper left hand corner. (Sometimes the web address for a location changes. You might need to search to find the exact location mentioned.) Alternately, you can just scroll through the table to locate the right industry. Use the table on the SBA Website to find the size limitations for the following industries: 1. scheduled passenger air transport 2. Internet service providers 3. credit unions 4. breakfast cereal manufacturing 5. cheese manufacturing 6. florists 7. aircraft manufacturing 8. motorcycle and bicycle manufacturing 9. cellular and wireless telecommunications 10. radio stations 4

5 BONUS INTERNET EXERCISE 1-4 Small Business Administration Resources Go to the Small Business Administration Website ( (Sometimes the web address for a location changes. You might need to search to find the exact location mentioned.) Find the following information about SBA services available near you: 1. What is the address and phone number of the SBA office nearest you? 2. Are there any SBA-sponsored special events scheduled in your area? If so, what are they? 3. Is there a Small Business Development Center in your area? Where? 4. Identify the lenders licensed to participate in the Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) program. If you needed to borrow $100,000 to start your business, which lender would you approach? Which would you approach to borrow $500,000? 5

6 BONUS INTERNET EXERCISE 1-5 Recordkeeping for the IRS Remember the advantages of starting a sole proprietorship presented in this chapter? One advantage is less paperwork. Compared to large corporations, small businesses are required to keep fewer records. However, the IRS does require that you retain certain records and file specific forms. Go to the Internal Revenue Service Website ( (Sometimes the web address for a location changes. You might need to search to find the exact location mentioned.) Use the information on that site to answer the following questions. 1. What type of records does the law require you to keep? 2. How long should you keep records of employment taxes? 3. What federal forms does a sole proprietor need to file? 4. What is an estimated tax, and who is required to file it? 5. If the IRS questions an item, who has the burden of proof? 6. The U.S. tax code is a pay as you go system. What does this mean? 7. What is the self-employment tax, and who has to pay it? 6