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Start Saving with a U.S. Bank® Visa® Business Card
Give your small business more buying power with the
U.S. Bank Visa Business Card. It's more than a credit
card; it's your business management tool. New U.S.
Bank Visa Travel Rewards Cardmembers receive 0% APR**
for the first six months on purchases and a great
variable rate even after the introductory rate
expires. Apply today!
Check 21: What Does It Mean for Small Business Customers?
In October 2003, President Bush signed into law the
Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act, also known
as Check 21. The law goes into effect for the entire
United States banking system on Oct. 28, 2004. The
intent of the law is to increase the efficiency of
the nation's check clearing system by permitting
banks to remove original paper checks very early in
the settlement process, and make electronic
processing of checks much easier.
Find out how Check 21 will affect you.
Coming Soon: Image Technology!
U.S. Bank is paving the way to providing greater
service and convenience to small businesses with
state-of-the-art image technology. Beginning in
August, our small business customers can choose to
receive a formatted page of the front of cleared
checks in their monthly statements. The new format
is crisp, easy-to-read and makes organizing cancelled
checks simple. Learn more about image technology or
find a U.S. Bank team member to help answer your
questions.
Succession Planning: Who Controls the Key to Your Company's Future?
Many business owners neglect an important step in
the long-term planning of their business: ownership
transition. Business succession planning may be one
of the most crucial elements to the long-term
survival and continued success of your business.
Only 35% of successful family businesses survive
through the next generation, so it's important to
plan carefully for the inevitable transition.
Get details.
Economic Update
by John Mitchell, Ph.D., U.S. Bank Economist
The late spring of 2004 has seen a surge in employment including a 248,000-job gain in May and
upward revisions to the already strong numbers in April and March. The April to May job net job
growth was widespread with all sectors gaining except government. The GDP growth rate for the
first quarter was revised up to 4.4%. Leading indicators, the Institute of Supply Management
indices and low inventories, suggest that the growth will continue.
Get the whole story.
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How to Avoid Common Decision-Making Mistakes
Recently, the Small Business Administration (SBA)*
published an article with information to help small
business owners become better decision-makers. One
of their tips was identifying common decision-making
mistakes and how to avoid them. By learning about
these pitfalls now, you will be able to avoid them
in the future.
- Relying too much on "expert" information. Remember,
experts have biases and prejudices just like the
rest of us.
- Overestimating the value of information received
from others. People have a tendency to overestimate
the value of certain individuals in our society and
underestimate the value of others.
- Underestimating the value of information received
from others. Whether we realize it or not, we also
have a tendency to discount information we get from
individuals such as children, low status groups,
women, the elderly, homemakers, blue-collar
workers, artists, etc. If you find yourself
discounting the information you receive from
anyone, ask yourself "why."
- Only hearing what you want to hear or seeing what
you want to see. If we have expectations or biases
that we are not aware of, we tend to see what we
want to see (or not see what we don't want to see).
The key is remaining open to everything that comes
your way.
- Not listening to your feelings or gut reactions.
This is your body talking to you. By tuning into
your intuition, you'll make much better decisions
in the long run.
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