It's not long until the end of the first decade of the 21st century! Since the century began, there have been so many important financial events that it is hard to choose the ones that have impacted business the most.

We started the century with Y2K fears, which turned out to be a non-story, and ended it with the global recession, the largest story since the Great Depression. What's more dramatic than that!?

Here is my take on the Top Ten Financial Events of the Decade. Enjoy!

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Angel investors are resurfacing as the economy starts to rebound from the worst recession since the Great Depression. During the deepest points of the recession, both angel funding and venture capital funding more or less dried up in the U.S., with both types of investors funding only certain types of businesses in certain industries. Now interest is more widespread.

Take a look at this overview of angel investor funding and see if it fits your small business. You can offer up to 49% of the equity in your firm to investors without losing control.

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There are lots of things small business owners can't do anything about in the current economic climate. One thing they can control is inventory and supply chain management. If you manage you inventory properly, you can boost your bottom line almost immediately.

Inventory control is especially important for retailers during the holiday season. You want to have enough inventory on hand to satisfy your customers, but not so much that you are left holding the bag when the holiday season is over.

You have to balance the amount of inventory you hold against the cost of holding it. Quite a juggling act! Here's some help on how to do it:

How Retail Firms can Increase their Sales Through Inventory Control

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This is the season that retailers depend on to not only breakeven, but to make their yearly profit. This year, retailers are hoping for even the slimmest of profit margins. But first, they have to breakeven. In other words, retailers have to cover their expenses before making a profit.

When you, as a business owner, calculate your breakeven point, which variable in the breakeven point equation do you find most difficult to estimate? Fixed costs? Variable costs? Price? Help us out with your answer!

Thanks!

Small business owners and entrepreneurs are finding out that it is much easier for them to get loans from banks during this credit crunch if they have liquid assets.

Business owners are finding out that if they have equity in their homes that have not lost value during the recession, money in sure things like blue chip stocks or CDs, cash value in life insurance policies, or even just good old cash in the bank, they are much more likely to qualify for a bank loan.

Sit down with your portfolio, or with your portfolio and your investment advisor, and look at how liquid your investments are. If your investments are in collectibles, a mortgage that is underwater, or other investments that are not liquid, see if you can free up some liquidity in your portfolio before you file for a bank loan. You may be glad you did.

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The unemployment rate unexpectedly dropped slightly during November, the first time since the start of the recession in December 2007. The unemployment rate went down from 10.2% to 10% and job losses dropped by only 11,000 compared to 111,000 in October. The Labor Department said that the recovery is encouraging companies to retain workers.

The broader measure of unemployment, called under-employment, dropped even a little more, down to 17.2%. This measures includes those people who can't find full-time jobs or who have stopped looking for work altogether. Many feel that this is the "real" unemployment rate.

There is currently a jobs push underway by the White House after a high profile jobs summit on December 3. They are considering using TARP money to help fund employment initiatives such as tax credit and wage subsidies for small businesses. It will be interesting to see what they can put together for small businesses! Keep your eye on this ball! The President will give a speech on Tuesday night on his jobs initiative.

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Reports on small business consumer confidence, an important economic indicator, are mixed. Consumer confidence is a leading economic indicator concerning how consumers, in this case business owners, feel about the near-term future state of the economy as it affects their businesses.

According to the Consumer Confidence Board, the consumer confidence index increased only slightly in the month of November after declining slightly in the month of October. It remains at levels not seen in 26 years.

Income expectations remain pessimistic. Expectations regarding holiday spending remain low since businesses see consumers entering the holiday season in a frugal mood. The labor market outlook was also slightly less pessimistic. We'll know more about that tomorrow when the unemployment rate is released.

The consumer confidence picture is muddied by the Discover Small Business Watch as reported by Rasmussen Reports. Discover reported the economic confidence among small business owners fell dramatically, by 12 points, in November.

They are worried about holiday sales, cash flow, and worsening conditions for small businesses. This is the third year in a row that November consumer confidence has fallen among small business owners, according to this survey. 46% are forecasting decreasing sales. 53% of small business owners see the economy getting worse in the next six months.

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The well has run dry. The question that remains is whether the well helped very much in the first place and whether any more money will be added to the well or not!

Two stimulus programs, one that increased Small Business Administration (SBA) loan guarantees to 90% for small business and another that reduced or eliminated fees associated with SBA guaranteed loans, ran out of money on Monday, November 21. The SBA was aware that the programs, funded to the tune of $375 million, would run out of money before their 2010 deadlines.

There was a last minute rush for loans that generated more SBA loans that had been made in the previous six months. Some small businesses had to be put on a waiting list in case loans are canceled for other businesses. The House has voted to extend the stimulus money for these programs through September 11, but the bill has not yet moved on to the Senate.

SBA loan volume is likely to drop off until and unless the Senate extends the loan programs.

Did you miss the deadline for a stimulus-backed SBA loan?

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The latest issue of the Small Biz Finance Newsletter was just published! It's all about maximizing your holiday sales while minimizing your inventory. Check it out here!

Small Biz Finance Newsletter - Dec 1, 2009

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If you don't use Facebook, Twitter, or other social networking applications and you are a small retailer, rethink your strategy for holiday sales. Retailers are successfully reaching out and touching their customers from their social networking sites and generating online sales for their businesses this holiday season.

There is still time to get in on the action. Last year, the biggest shopping day of the year was not Black Friday or CyberMonday. It was December 9. There was a lot of online shopping activity as it came closer to the last shipping day of the year before Christmas. This year, as consumers receive emails about good deals from their favorite retail stores' social networking sites, it seems they are willing to shop 'til they drop right up until the shipping deadline.

In a report by The Wall Street Journal, Coremetrics, Inc., a Web sales tracking company, found that by 6:30 p.m. on CyberMonday, online sales increased 11% over the same period in 2008, although the average size of each sale decreased by 14%. Online sales are on track to account for about 10% of all holiday sales.

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