(Evian, France) Sitting here at the World Entrepreneur Forum I see that Barack Obama may be the best entrepreneur on the planet.

The World Entrepreneurship Forum is both inspiring and impressive. Created by KPMG and the Emlyon Business School, and “under the high patronage of Mr. Nicolas Sarkozy, President of France,” the World Entrepreneurship Forum has brought together entrepreneurs and academics from across the globe to share ideas and learn from one another.

And what is the one phrase I have heard most often? The phrase that sums up the entrepreneurial life?

“Yes we can!”

To say that Obama has resurrected the American brand would be a vast understatement. But his entrepreneurial skills really have little to do with that welcome fact. Far more salient is that he embodies the skills and traits of a great entrepreneur.

When the 80 or so participants of this group met last night to see what entrepreneurial traits we share, no matter the continent (and all are accounted for here), the list was interesting:

* Entrepreneurs are risk takers
* They are creative and innovative
* They are proactive
* They create value to society
* They see problems as opportunities

Indeed, what has been very enlightening here is that entrepreneurship is seen, not only as a way to foster economic vitality, but social justice as well. These ’social justice’ entrepreneurs (my favorite — the woman entrepreneur from Cameroon who employs 70% African women) see risk taking and entrepreneurship as a way to change their lives, and in the process, that of their community.

But what about other small business issues, who is the stronger small business candidate there?

It’s Barack again.

The point of the last post, and this one, is to look beyond labels and see which presidential candidate is actually best for small business. When I began this exercise, I didn’t know whether Obama or McCain would look better for small business. So who is right? Am I, or are my detractors? I am confident I am, and who wants to be a detractor anyway?

The economy: It is no secret that one of the main factors in the economic meltdown we are facing is a lack of regulation. Given that, I don’t see how someone who calls himself “fundamentally a deregulator” can be the right choice right now.

Yes, I know, you hate regulations. We all hate regulations…

Or do we? I certainly wish someone was better regulating Wall Street, and I bet you do too. Combined with an admission that economic matters are not his strong suit, I cannot help but to conclude that for small business and the economy, Obama is the 21st Century, and McCain is the 20th.

The Small Business Administration: Either candidate will be an improvement over the Bush administration, which has slashed the SBA budget by about 50 percent over the past 8 years. Moreover, SBA loan funding has also been severely curtailed.

Senator Obama wants to restore and expand SBA loans. Further, he is also calling for an increase in public-private business incubator funding, as well as strengthening minority and women-owned business assistance programs.

McCain? He has said zilch about restoring the SBA budget or loans.

Health care: There is not a more vital issue to small businesses than this one. The McCain plan would would un-hook health insurance from employment by giving families a $5,000 refundable tax credit. But will his plan lower premiums? That is the question.

Obama is offering a tax credit of up to 50% of the premiums to employers. He is also calling for a new national health exchange that is supposed to offer low-cost, high-quality health care plans. He also will create mandates for larger employers.

Minimum wage: Both candidates voted to increase the minimum wage.

Intangibles: I have admired John McCain, and even voted for him before, but who is this guy running? He is different in this campaign, different and not better. Obama is far from perfect; too inexperienced, but he inspires, is very smart, is thoughtful, and on a policy level, he’s top for small business.

Bottom line:John McCain is the big business guy, and But Barack Obama is the small business guy.

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Small Business Bible!

In this post, and the next, I compare their proposals. I’ll say up front that traditionally, Democrats favor small business and Republicans favor big business, generally speaking. True again? Let’s see. Let’s take a look at the major issues that separate Obama and McCain on small business.

Taxes: The McCain campaign claims that Obama will raise taxes on the 25 million small businesses in this country. Not true, for the most part. Yes, Obama plans on raising taxes on people making $250,000 a year or more, but most small business people do not net that amount. Actually, most small businesspeople would probably be eligible for Obama’s proposed $1,000 tax break for the middle class.

McCain’ has two basic tax plans: First, he wants to make permanent the Bush tax cuts. Second, he wants to cut the corporate tax rate from35% to 25%. But most small business would be unaffected by that because they are S corporations, or LLCs or sole proprietorships.

Overall, on taxes at least, once again, Democrats tend to favor small business and Republicans tend to favor big business.

So, so far, Obama seems better from a small business perspective.

• Green Businesses
• Succeeding in a Global Economy
• Making Technology Work for You
• E-Marketing
• Launching a Killer Website

Of course, all of the other great stuff (if I do say so myself) is still there - legal-ease, business plans made easy, small business success tips, hiring and firing, marketing on a shoestring, and so on.

In the next few posts, I will be previewing some of these ideas. If you like them, well, I say - buy the book!

already made the mistakes for you. In fact, the whole idea is that some other entrepreneur came up with an idea, vetted it, and turned it into a system that almost anyone can follow. That is what you are buying - that knowledge, that system (and the brand and product of course)

It doesn’t always work out that way. Not all franchises are created equal.

Some systems are new and yet untried, other franchisors are not scrupulous. Franchisee lawsuits are not uncommon. So what do you do? How do you choose a great franchise?

Here’s the franchise secret: Speak with other franchisees. The very best thing you can do when picking a franchise is to speak with franchisees already in the system. They are the ones who know the franchisor best and they are the ones who know what the system is really like.

Do your homework. Speak with a lot of franchisees. It is the usual, yet unusual, franchise success secret.

(Learn more at my franchise column - www.FranchiseOne.com)

…with Steve Strauss!
Simply purchase for $29.00 and you will have access to view this insightful webinar!

1. The P-Touch 1280 Label Maker: I knew about this product even before I got to the event as it is my brother’s favorite tool. He uses it to label everything in his office — from files and documents to computer cords. Its very easy to use, prints laminated labels, and they look great!

2. The MFC-5890 all-in-one inkjet printer. There were two things I especially liked about this printer. First was the price point - $199. Very hard to beat. Second was that it printed 11×17 - in color! I don’t know about you, but that would save me a lot of trips to Kinkos.

And that brings me to the point of today’s post: Here’s the secret: If you want to succeed, especially in this economy, you simply have to keep your overhead low. It’s so simple, its deceptive. But whether it is an all in one printer, working from home, voice mail, or whatever, keeping a low overhead means surviving the tough times and thriving in good times.

I also suggest that you check out the blogs of the people who were invited to participate in the event (I’ll have a video to show you soon) - these are all top notch small business bloggers who are dedicated to helping you succeed in your small business:

Mogulette: http://mogulette.blogspot.com (Carmina Perez)

Bob Phibbs Retail Sales Blog:   http://bobphibbs.wordpress.com

Marks Group:   http://marksgroup.blogspot.com (Gene Marks)

Lip-Sticking:   http://www.lipsticking.com (Yvonne DiVita)

About.com:   http://printscan.about.com (Peter Piazza)

All You Need Is A Good Idea:   http://allyouneedisagoodidea.typepad.com (Jay Heyman)

Business Blogging Bootcamp:    http://www.businessbloggingbootcamp.com (Tom Collins)

Begin with just the cultural differences. Needless to say, business is conducted differently in different parts of the world. On a business trip to Mongolia, I learned about the value (and challenge!) of drinking Ghengis Khan Vodka with your hosts…

Customs that we take for granted may be entirely missing in the region where you may want to do business, and vice versa. Things they find vital may be unknown to you, and not knowing may be the difference between deal or no deal.

So you have to begin by learning more about business in your desired country.

• There are plenty of websites that offer international travelers tips on doing business in different countries and regions. Start there. It cannot be stressed enough how even the slightest misunderstanding can have severe ramifications that could torpedo any possible deal.

• Speak with anyone you know from a host country where you plan on doing business and get their take. That is the sort of “insider info” that can not only warn you of any potential landmines, but similarly, let you know what will play and what to expect.

Next, once you know what is expected of you, you have to get your website ready for international sales. Surf to other websites that are selling internationally and see what they offer, how they do business, and what practices you may need to adopt.

Questions to consider are:

• Do you need to have your site in more than one language? And if so, what do you need to consider as you translate your offerings for an international audience?

• What sorts of terms do you need to consider for international transactions? Will your sales be in dollars, and does the country in question even conduct business in dollars? If you are going to accept international currency, you have to have a merchant solution that accepts that kind of currency, and you better be sure that the conversion rate works out for you.

Next, you need customers. Finding them is always an issue, no matter where you do business.

A good place to start is with online advertising, and if you are going to be relying on your website to generate leads, then you also have to figure out where people in the new country go to search for information. Although search ads are not the only way to generate leads, they are a main one, and different regions rely on different search engines. Google, Yahoo, and MSN are not the only games in town. Many countries have home-grown solutions that you need to discover.

Once you have your site ready and get people to visit, and once they start to buy, then the question is: How do you ship internationally, what sorts of regulations do you need to be aware of, and what other major considerations should you consider?

To answer that, tune in next time!

I am writing to you today from Cleveland, Ohio’s Zagara’s Marketplace. Why? 5 years ago tomorrow, August 14 2003, the nation suffered from the worst power outage in its history - 50 million people lost power in the great 03 blackout. 

But Zagara’s did not? Why not? A little forethought, that’s why.

Zagara’s had a backup power system in place - a switch made by Emerson Network Power and a generator. So, when all other businesses went dark, Zagara’s did not. They stayed open, didn’t lose any inventory, no ice cream melted, and in fact, the store became a neighborhood hero. Imagine - a market open in the middle of a blackout!

If you don’t have a backup power system for your business or office, get one! Even a backup battery (called an uninterruptible power supply, or UPS) is enough to keep your computers up and running. Losing data is no fun, and is easily avoided.

Technology works for your small business in many great ways.

10. Jeff Bezos

9. Juan Trippe (Pan Am)

8. Walt Disney

7. Sam Walton

6. Asa Candler (Coca-Cola)

5. John D. Rockefeller

4. Amadeo Giannini (Bank of America)

3. Bill Gates

2. Ray Kroc (McDonald’s)

1. Henry Ford

So, what do they have in common, what unusual, creative business ideas do they have to share? A few things actually.

1. They were all innovaters: Every one of these guys had a creative, different, unique business idea and ran with it. Ford invented the assembly line. Giannini invented banking for regular folks. Bill Gates envisioned a computer on every desktop at a time when that seemed like the stuff of fiction.

2. They were risk-takers: Great entrepreneurs are willing to go where their vision leads them.

3. They tapped a market need: Bezos realized that people just might want to shop online. Walton saw that rural folk needed choices and good prices.

The Lesson: You do not have to be a Great Entrepreneur to be a great entrepreneur. Find a need and fill it. Do so in a creative way. Take a smart, calculated risk. You may not start a new business trend for 2008, but then again, you may. It just may pay off big time!