The ongoing successes of small businesses is being overshadowed by the media’s heavy focus on the failings of corporate giants. The latest news about this economy doesn’t seem to bode well for anyone. However, there is a resurgence going on in small business circles.

The Editor of the Pacific Business Times has outlined five reasons why successful niche firms will help the economy rebound. Here they are below, along with our thoughts and experiences on each.

1. Employee empowerment
   On the flip side of having to wear multiple hats, owners and employees of a small business are able to take initiative. Self-starters are very effective within a small business. Our Pelago sidecar projects are evidence of this business trait. Our employees have created the notable open source offerings Sigmund and the Emogrifier.
2. Effective branding
   Small companies rely on highly targeted conversations with a highly targeted market. In other words, find a niche and pursue it. At Pelago, we did this early on and we haven’t looked back. An intimate understanding of the web design & development market is what has made our web-based project management application, Intervals, so successful for like-minded creative service firms.
3. Relationship-driven sales
   Established relationships with customers make it easier to sell products and services and to work together on recurring projects. Although these relationships can be complex, they are far more effective than cold calling and advertising. Most small businesses will tell you that referrals are the best source of business. Our web design and development projects have been referral based since the advent of Pelago nine years ago.
4. Cash management tools
   Controlling cash flow is probably one of the most difficult challenges facing a small business. It requires a lot of skill and consistency (a line of credit doesn’t hurt, either). Small businesses have learned to deal with fluctuations in cash flow on a daily basis. Fluctuations in the economy aren’t a far stretch from the norm. We’ve been dealing with them for years, certainly we can handle these lean times.
5. Constant innovation and entrepreneurial vision
   Small companies are always looking for new ways to present themselves. There is a lot of noise in the small business sphere and having a clear and succinct message can be critical to differentiation. We are constantly tuning and tweaking our message, our vision, and our appearance to the global marketplace. The goal is not to reinvent, but to stay fresh.

Perhaps the most important fact to remember is that the Rebel Alliance didn’t need giant AT-ATs to defend themselves against The Empire. All they needed were a few small and agile snow speeders. Here is to a successful 2009 for small businesses across the globe.

According to a survey of 209 creative service firms posted over at functionfox.com, 2009 is expected to be a good year for creative small businesses. It is rumoured that small businesses in general are poised to perform well in this new year, despite the failings of corporate giants. Small businesses tend to be more agile and adaptable to economic fluctuations. And with the further adoption of online tools, small companies are finding it easier to cut costs and remain competitive.

Some highlights from the survey:

• 40% of firms expect revenue growth in 2009
• 32% of firms expect similar revenues to 2008
• 23% expects to increase their staff in 2009
• 61% expects to maintain current staff size
• 33% of firms feel positive about their abilities to refocus their approach and positioning
• 20% sees new media, such as social networks, as their greatest opportunity in 2009

Looks like the end of 2008 is causing a few problems out there in the online world. Now dubbed the Y2K9 bug, applications and devices are experiencing everything from minor hiccups to complete failures. Here are a few cases we’ve noticed:

• Microsoft Zune Players failing:
  Gizmodo: 30GB Zunes Failing Everywhere, All At Once
  Taking the number 4, 7, and 9 spots on google trends today

• Ipods don’t seem to like the new year, either (or it could be all the noobs getting ipods for christmas):
  Google trends search for “ipod frozen”

• Intelliscreen on the iphone says no weather after today :(
  

Most online task management tools available today are great for helping the task-oriented individual or small business get things done. Once we’ve settled on one that matches our personality and worfklow style, we set about entering tasks and managing them. Intervals is very much like other hosted task management apps in this regard. The primary difference is that Intervals is a group task management tool, meaning, it’s designed for managing not only your own tasks, but others as well.

Managing your own tasks is straightforward enough. And if that is all you need, a more basic tool like Remember the Milk or Basecamp may suit you better. However, if you are part of a team in a small business environment you will need a more comprehensive task management tool capable of handling a group environment.

Intervals excels as a group task management app because it was designed to be one from the start. Every feature we build into the app is scrutinized through two primary personae, the project manager and the resource. For Intervals to be successful in this niche, it must provide an intuitive experience for both. The project manager requires the ability to not only manage his own workload, but to manage the workloads of others. While the resource is usually most happy addressing their own workload and not being burdened with the tasked responsibilities of others.

There are several ways in with Intervals addresses the dual nature of its audience, but perhaps the most powerful interface utility is saved filters. Intervals users can save different views of project lists, task lists, and the home page (And, Intervals always remembers the last thing you were looking at, so going back to your task list doesn’t reset the view). Saving filtered views of your milestones and tasks makes it incredibly quick and easy to access the information you need. For example, a project manager can quickly toggle between her assigned responsibilities and the delegated responsibilities of her team.

Our goal with Intervals is to create an online space that adapts to your workflow so that you may find it easier, perhaps even fun, to manage your projects and get things done, all in one place.

Online time tracking apps are great for discovering where all your time is going. And many of them allow you to classify time entries by billable types of work, an invaluable feature for billing clients and estimating future projects. One of the unique features within the Intervals time tracking tool is the ability to classify time entries into an additional category, what we call modules. So, what are modules, exactly? And, what makes them so powerful?

1. Modules are like work types, but different
   When applying your Intervals timer to a project you can assign it to a work type and a module. The selected work type assigns a billable rate to that unit of time. The selected modules groups that unit of time into a bucket. It helps to think of modules as categories that persist outside of the current project. For example, our web design & development agency uses modules like Ecommerce, CMS, and Custom Application Development, so we can report on the types of web sites we are designing and building.
2. Modules help you see into the future
   One method for determining which modules you will use is to ask yourself what will be asked of you in terms of accountability. How will your boss/client/teammates expect to see your time broken down in reports? They may want to see how much time you spent — or wasted — launching a new web site or getting the file server back online. Additionally, classifying your tracked time with well-planned modules may help you identify which types of clients, projects, and markets you should pursue in the future.
3. Modules help you recollect the past
   Reporting by module is perhaps most valuable when analyzing tracked time on completed projects. Modules reveal the nature of your small business be reporting across all projects. You can see collectively how much time is going to each aspect of your business, for example, Human Resources, IT, and the core focus of your business, whatever it may be. Tracking time using modules can spare you the proverbial condemnation of repeating the past.