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The Treasury Dept. held a forum on Thursday to address how the economy has affected small business. Specifically, the forum addressed how to help small businesses weather the bad economy. ABC News reports that an Obama administration focused on how to increase small business access to financing.

In fact, the press release about the forum from the Treasury Dept. details what Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner wanted to convey, stating: "Small businesses, in particular, are still facing a very challenging credit environment." This is very true with small business lenders like CIT Group and Advanta  filing for bankruptcy in recent news. Geithner wanted to give small business owners some hope about how to get financing.

Goldman Sachs and Warren Buffett are working together in order help small businesses gain access to capital. The partnership also provides small business owners with college scholarships. Goldman Sachs will provide the monetary resources. Warren Buffett is not planning to use any of his own money towards the program. He plans on mentoring small business owners.

ABC News reports that the company will contribute $200 million dollars to a project called 10,000 Small Businesses which will help small business owners get a higher education through grants.

An additional $300 million dollars will be given to small businesses though a blend of lending and charitable support. Goldman Sachs executives will also mentor small business owners with advice, technical help, and through networking.

The Federal Reserve Board released a press release that announced that proposed rules to restrict fees and expiration dates would also apply to gift cards. The rules were put in place in order to protect consumers from hidden costs in gift cards. The rules also require that the terms and conditions must be stated on the gift cards.

Will These Rules Affect My Small Business?

As a small business owner, please be aware that these gift card rules may apply to you. The rules are meant to cover retail gift cards which can be used to buy good or services at a single merchant (such as yourself) or an affiliated group of merchants (like your local business association). You are also supposed to keep a close watch of any gift cards that are given out by credit card companies if you happen to accept that credit card company's cards.

So if you are planning to give out gift cards during the holiday season (and in the future) for your small business, just make sure you keep these guidelines in mind.

The economy has left many small businesses in the dust when it comes to unfair trade practices. Bigger and more powerful businesses have started scalping the talent from smaller businesses. The scary part? Sometimes there is nothing that small business owners can do about it.

CNN  reports how one small business owner almost lost it all because her employees were stolen away from her by a larger rival. Ms. Debra Killian details how she lost 10 of her employees to her rival. Not only did her rival allegedly steal her employees, but it also allegedly stole her pending loans which were worth close to a $1 million dollars, her client lists, and her confidential files.

The worst part was that after fighting a lengthy legal battle that lasted four years, she ended up with a losing verdict on all counts.

Burger King's franchisees are up in arms about the new promotion for a dollar burger -- specifically a $1 double cheeseburger. They claim that the company does not have the right to set maximum prices on their menus.

AP reports that the National Franchise Association which represents more than 80% of Burger King's United States franchise owners stated that the deal on the double cheeseburgers actually forces the franchisees to take a 10 cent loss on each burger. The raw cost of the dollar burger is 55 cents but when you add on royalties, overhead costs, and worker wages, it typically costs a franchisee $1.10 to make a double cheeseburger.

As we have discussed in previous posts on Free Enterprise, online social media outlets can be a powerful marketing tool for you. They can help you gain word of mouth buzz that you would not ordinarily be able to get. And the best part? It's typically free.

The problem is when small business owners start sending their products out to bloggers or online reviewers, or paying them a fee in order to acheive that word of mouth buzz.

It is important that you are aware of the new guidelines set out by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that govern endorsements and testimonials.

With the recession cutting into the pockets of many small businesses, it hurts even more when you realize that you lose even more because of inventory loss. According to CNN, this loss is 25% more than the losses that small businesses face from shoplifting. Stealing from employers is not that uncommon.

Employees actually stole an estimated $15 billion dollars from retailers last year according to Univ. of FL criminologist Richard Hollinger. The scary part? The closed circuit TV monitoring system never pinpointed the crime occurring.

It seems that many small business owners just don't have the time, patience and resources to sift through all of those hours of footage in order to catch the perpetrators.

Now they have a solution to their problem.

News has been pretty dismal on the lending front of small business. With the news of bankruptcy filings of CIT Group and Advanta, it seems like there are little if any options for small business financing.

But the NYT is reporting that smaller local banks are moving in to fill that void. With charming slogans such as "Policies to serve your street, not Wall Street," these banks are aiming to keep your business on Main Street alive.

Perhaps turning to the local bank on your street for your small business may not be such a bad idea. A small bank may be more likely to provide stability in today's more somber economy. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) thinks that small banks are the best capitalized in the industry right now. That means they have the adequate cash on hand to absorb loan defaults.

No matter how successful your family business currently is, it is hard to maintain that success over several generations. So many family businesses fade over time due to family feuds, fights about money, financial hard times, and a lack of consistency with business operations.

In fact, Inc. calls this the rule of thirds. Only a third of family businesses make it to the second generation, a third of that makes it to the third generation, and so on.

So how do you give your small family business a chance against the odds? It seems that successful family businesses have a few characteristics that define them: they make or sell things that last, keep manufacturing in the United States, and are able to deal with setbacks. They also stick to the morals and values that the company started with.

Another essential part of keeping up a family business is working out the succession plan.

The Wall Street Journal did a piece about how to approach succession.

Here are some tips for dealing with this sometimes touchy topic:

Another blow to small businesses came in the form of Advanta's bankruptcy filing this week. This news coupled with CIT's bankruptcy means that getting credit lines and loans that small businesses need will just get harder and harder.

Advanta is a small business credit card lender. They filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this past Sunday CNN reports. Its lending arm called Advanta Bank Corp. was not including in this filing.

News of the Advanta bankruptcy is not surprising. It had stopped giving out new loans earlier this year. It has also seen a very sudden rise in defaults on the loans it had already given out to small businesses. Advanta had listed out its assets as valuing $363 million while its debts are $331 million.