My wife gets this one, and that’s a good sign.

Occasionally I’ll do a cartoon on a more obscure or specific idea, like carpal tunnel syndrome, and that’s when I ask my wife “do you get this?”

My wife a great writer, and good humor editor, but she’s not a pop culture fan, political junkie, or sports aficionado.  She’s pretty much right in the middle of the zeitgeist road, and that makes her perfect for judging whether or not the general populace will get a gag.

Of course, I still retain veto power, but for the most part, she’s right.  (Nobody show her this.  Please!)

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About: Mark Anderson’s cartoons appear in publications including The Wall Street Journal and Harvard Business Review. Anderson is the creator of the popular cartoon website, Andertoons.com, where he licenses his cartoons for presentations, newsletters and other projects. He blogs at Andertoons Cartoon blog.

Every top performer — in whatever the industry — knows there is a “zone” they sometimes achieve when everything is rolling … a state of mind where success comes easily.  They can seemingly do no wrong when they’re in the zone. 

Many business owners I know have talked to me about being in the zone.  Usually “the zone” in business has a lot to do with operating in a frothy economy or in a white-hot industry.  Certainly it is easier for us as business owners to find the zone in a hot market.  But let’s face it, we ALL find ourselves in a challenging market at one time or another, even if we’re not all in the challenging market at the same time.  For example mortgage brokers might be up while repo men are down and vice versa.  You get the idea.

So, how do we as business owners find “the zone” in a tough economy? 

There’s no doubt that marketing expertise makes it easier to find the zone in a tough economy, but I want to focus on a characteristic that can quickly help anyone find the zone (even in tough times) if they’re willing to embrace it. 

I call it “Disciplined Optimism.” 

Disciplined Optimism is a combination of positive attitude, tenacity and hard work.  It requires the business owner to: 

• Constantly think positively (read Peale’s Power of Positive Thinking)
• Tenaciously pursue the success you have envisioned; and
• Work hard to remove obstacles, always believing you will achieve that success (google “Jim Collins Stockdale Paradox” for more on this) 

I believe Disciplined Optimism is the heart of entrepreneurship.  Unfortunately some small business owners are not entrepreneurs — they have not cultivated Disciplined Optimism.  And that’s too bad.  Because business owners who possess this trait are able to find the zone, even in tough economies … while those business owners who do not possess this trait struggle mightily to find the zone, especially in a tough market. 

If you’re finding yourself bogged down by the negativity surrounding you, I can’t recommend highly enough Peale’s book and Collins’ writings on the Stockdale Paradox.  I also recommend you follow the advice my Dad taught me many years ago.  It’s amazing how the power of positive thinking enables business owners to work tenaciously toward their goals… and find the zone that makes success come easily.

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About the Author: Clate Mask is the President and CEO of Infusionsoft. He loves to turn small businesses into big businesses. In addition to running the day-to-day operations of Infusionsoft, Clate also writes at the Infusion Blog about marketing and entrepreneurship topics.

A new report just released by the U.S. Small Business Administration examines the contribution of immigrant entrepreneurs to the U.S. economy. The report is very interesting, but it buries a fascinating puzzle about immigrant entrepreneurship.

The report examines data from the Consumer Population Survey and finds that immigrants are 30 percent more likely than the native born to transition from working for someone else into working for oneself (as one’s primary job).

But the report also examines data from the Census and finds that the percentage of immigrants who are working for themselves is almost the same as the percentage of the native born who are working for themselves (9.7 percent of immigrants versus 9.5 percent of the native born).

The data clearly show that the flow of immigrants into self-employment is higher than the flow of native born into self-employment but, at any point in time, the stock of immigrant self-employment and the stock of native born self-employment are close to the same. This indicates that immigrants have a higher rate of exit from self-employment than the native born.

But why are immigrants and the native born essentially equally likely to be entrepreneurs, but with immigrants achieving the proportion of self-employed through much higher entry into and exit from self-employment?

This is a bit of a puzzle; and nothing in the data seems to account for it. It’s not explained by differences in self-employment income. While immigrant-owned businesses make less on average ($46,614) than native born-owned businesses ($50,643), those differences disappear after demographic differences between the two groups are accounted for.

It also isn’t explained by differences in business growth. The study finds that immigrants are more likely to have high sales businesses, but are less likely to have high employment businesses and more likely to have zero employment businesses.

So what’s the explanation?

I don’t have an answer. I’m curious about your thoughts.

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About the Author: Scott Shane is A. Malachi Mixon III, Professor of Entrepreneurial Studies at Case Western Reserve University. He is the author of nine books, including Fool’s Gold: The Truth Behind Angel Investing in America; Illusions of Entrepreneurship: The Costly Myths that Entrepreneurs, Investors, and Policy Makers Live By; Finding Fertile Ground: Identifying Extraordinary Opportunities for New Ventures; Technology Strategy for Managers and Entrepreneurs; and From Ice Cream to the Internet: Using Franchising to Drive the Growth and Profits of Your Company.

As a follow-on to last week’s birthday giveaways, I have one bonus gift to point out.

The Profitability Channel, which is an online video channel for small businesses, is opening up all their programming for free for five days, starting today.

Ruth King, the CEO of Profitability Channel, was creating and distributing video programming online before it became trendy. Ruth has had me as a guest on her programs, and they are the kinds of video programming you won’t find elsewhere on the Web. The videos include PowerPoint slides alongside with the video. But it’s the topics that are so valuable — they’re small business programming on highly substantive topics. Examples include:

• How to compensate employees
• Inc or LLC?
• Easy Ways to Manage Cash
• Estate Planning for business owners
• Short term benchmarks

All 283 library programs will be free from November 19 - 23, 2008.

Go to www.profitabilitychannel.com

Click the “Join” button (in the dark blue area of the screen)

When it prompts you for the promo code use:  esp

A recent credit card article focused, in my view, disproportionately on the negative aspects of using a business credit card to help fund your small business. As its centerpiece, the article featured an entrepreneur who had over $10,000 on a business credit card, only to have the business venture go south, leading to missed payments and a jacked-up interest rate. 

As anyone who’s ever tried to start a business knows, a failed venture can lead to debt that haunts you long after the business is an unfortunate memory, regardless of where the financing came from. 

That said, many small businesses can and do benefit from business credit cards, especially businesses with a track record. Those who get into trouble are more likely to be startups who use credit cards to finance a dream. While this approach has led to some of the more celebrated and inspirational entrepreneurial triumphs, it also leads to many poor outcomes that don’t make the headlines. 

A Cash Flow Tool 

In my view, the most proper and best use of business credit cards is as a tool to manage cash flow. If there is one universal problem that frustrates small business owners, it is the tendency to have enough work to do but not enough cash on hand to finance the work until payment arrives. A business credit card can (at least partially) solve this problem, letting you buy goods today that you don’t pay for until next month. This “float” can significantly improve cash flow, making it more likely that you’ll receive payment from customers before the card’s bill comes due. 

Whether you’re a contractor floating building supplies or a service provider charging office equipment while making payroll, an extra month can be the difference between success and biting your fingernails to the bone. 

There are many other benefits a business credit card can provide, including rewards, documentation of business expenses, separation of personal and business spending, and more. I’ll tackle those more in depth in the future. For my money, though, using credit to smooth out cash flow is the strongest argument for having a card (or two) on hand.

Be Honest With Yourself 

Before you go out and sign up, though, be honest with yourself: will you use the card only to finance the most necessary parts of your business, paying it off each month with your business’ receipts? Or will you succumb to the urge for an office foosball table, like some lame remnant from the dot-com era? If it’s the former, go for it. If it’s the latter, you should not only avoid business credit cards, but maybe avoid running a business altogether. 

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About the Author:  Justin McHenry is president of credit card comparison site Index Credit Cards, and has been widely quoted on the subject of credit card issues by publications including the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, BusinessWeek, Money Magazine, Newsweek, U.S. News & World Report, the Chicago Tribune, and more. Of particular interest to Small Business Trends readers would be the section on Index Credit Cards devoted to business credit cards.

I’d like to introduce Justin McHenry, who is our newest expert here at Small Business Trends. Justin will be writing on the subject of business credit cards.

Justin is the president of a credit card comparison site called Index Credit Cards, a site frequently cited in the press for its detailed, easy-to-scan information about credit cards. He also writes a newsfeed about credit cards and offers.

With credit cards playing such a key role in financing so many small businesses, I thought Justin would bring some valuable expertise to the community here.

I have known Justin in the online world for a couple of years now. I first ran into him when I brought him on as the personal finance blogger over at Zen Personal Finance, a blog he wrote for over two years.

I know he is from the Cleveland area, but that is purely coincidence, as we’ve never actually met in person despite being from the same area — hopefully some day we will remedy that. Meanwhile, I look forward to reading his articles and learning even more about business credit cards. Justin’s first post is the Upside of Business Credit Cards, about their value in smoothing out cash flow dips.

Please welcome Justin.

I got an email over the weekend from an online retailer asking me to post about its new offer of donating “5-10% of the company’s profits to charity.” A press release explains that there’s a drop-down menu at the end of the online purchase process, offering a choice of charities including MADD, Teach for America, Doctors Without Borders, and so on.

Frankly, that’s not news. Local supermarkets and such have been doing that for years. Other websites do it.

But it interests me, so I ask you: does it work? Are you going to seek out the online retailer that does it? Is this real, or is it just a ruse, as in a cynical attempt to spin?

I’m quite cynical about giving a percent of profits. I think it’s kind of a ruse. I don’t doubt that they actually do it, but “profits” and “percent of profits” is a deceptive term. I think it’s often used to quietly trick people into thinking “percent of sales price” when it’s really just a percent of that tiny bit that’s left over after all costs and expenses are paid.

The whole illusory nature of profits comes to mind again after that annoying flap in the presidential debates. I’m sure a lot of people misunderstood how big a company has to be before it produces $250,000 of profits before tax. Profits sound like money, when they’re really just the leftovers.

In my mind, after 30 years of running my own business, profits are third priority, after cash flow as first, and growth as second. Even in good years, giving even 10 percent of profits in most businesses means less than a penny per dollar of sales price.

Furthermore, I really wonder, aside from the profits gambit, how much do people take greater good into their purchase decisions? Do you?

And, if you do, are you going to seek out retailers who offer up a percent of profits, as opposed to goods made in developing nations, or not made in sweat shops? How are you going to sort through that?

And, if you do, are you still going to be doing that these days, when you’re worried about your house value, or the threat of widespread recession hitting the sales or your own business?

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About the Author: Tim Berry is president and founder of Palo Alto Software, founder of bplans.com, and co-founder of Borland International. He is also the author of books and software on business planning including Business Plan Pro and The Plan-as-You-Go Business Plan; and a Stanford MBA. His blog hub is at timberry.com.