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.

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.

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:

While many small businesses want to hire more employees, many small business owners feel that they can not afford the benefits that come with a new hire.

A press release from Intuit, Inc. states that: "The latest Intuit Payroll survey from Intuit Inc. (Nasdaq:INTU) finds that nearly half of the small business owners surveyed, 44 percent, are planning to hire new employees within the next 12 months. At the same time, many small business owners believe that benefits are key to attracting new hires but are finding them difficult to afford."

Many small business owners say that they are in a bind. In order to attract the talent that they need in order to succeed, they need to offer benefits such as healthcare and retirement benefits.

As you have read in our previous posts in Small Business Social Media 101, 102, and 103, Facebook plays a pretty vital role in growing your small business.

However, it can also bring about some issues of oversharing from you, your employees, and even your customers. 

Using Facebook to vet job applicants is becoming more common too. In fact, 30% of today's employers are using the social media site to do just that.

This can be seen as harsh, but when the economy is tough it can seem like a necessary measure. You may do it in order to protect your business from job applicants who have illegal recreational activities, may potentially embarass you and your business, or just have a poor work ethic.

Here are five tips that you can learn for yourself and pass along to your employees in order to put your business' best face forward on Facebook.

The New York Times does a great job of outlining these tips.

As we wrote about in previous post called Small Business Social Media 101, keeping an eye online about what people are saying about your business is crucial.

Two of the main social media sites right now are Twitter and Facebook. However, a lot of small business just don't have the resources, skills or patience to tap into the large potential in those sites.

According to the Wall Street Journal, "While business owners across the country have glommed onto social networking as a marketing tool, there are thousands of entrepreneurs who can't seem to "get" social networking.

Small business toymakers are having a hard time with new safety legislation that requires extensive testing of toys.

Congress passed the laws after a rash of tainted toys manufactured by large toy companies in China forced recalls of over 45 million toys.

The law passed is called the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act. It was passed in August 2008 and sets out mandatory safety standards for products used by children under the age of 12, such as levels of lead in toys. It also requires toy manufacturers to test their toys in order to ensure that they are safe.

Small toymakers argue that the laws are simply not feasible for them. The New York Times reports that the legislation is made with big toymakers in mind and that big toymakers have more money to stay compliant.

In this economic downturn, charities have increasingly attempted to find alternative ways to help fund themselves. Sometimes these charities have thought outside the box. They have spun off into for-profit organizations that help fund their charitable ventures. But what is so special about these small businesses? They are small businesses that are embracing green initiatives.