Merchant Cash and Capital (MCC), recognized finance lenders, conducted a survey to understand financing trends of small business firms. The results of the survey were an eye-opener. The findings revealed that small business merchants were unwilling to resort to banks for their financing requirements since most of them thought that either they were ineligible or the bank processes were too tedious to manage. 57% of the respondents described that they had applied for bank loan, of which 80% of the small business firms were declined the loan or the merchants had to withdraw their applications for some or the other reason. In contrast to this, about 76% of the respondents mentioned the process of availing bank loan as "Difficult" or "Very Difficult".

The survey also indicated that majority of the small businesses were looking for funding mainly for purchasing raw material, for expansion, for growth purposes, for Payroll, Paying Taxes/Bills and Marketing. The survey clearly reflects the challenges and requirements of small business firms with regard to their finances. In such times, financiers such as MCC who have less stringent qualification criteria and can supplement the monetary requirements of small business firms in much quicker way, are coming up to help out.

Small businesses stand to gain or lose a lot depending on the state tax systems in place. Now the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council has released a Business Tax Index to help all the small businesses in picking a state for their business.
The index covered a comprehensive number of factors across the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The parameters which were used were the tax environments, income, property, unemployment, gas and diesel levies, capital gains and consumption based taxes. Considering all these factors, South Dakota has been ranked the best place to set up small businesses. Raymond Keating, chief economist for the SBE Council and author of the report has stated that the state and local taxes can affect the competitiveness of the states for hosting small businesses. These taxes matter across all levels including the consumers, entrepreneurs and businesses. The top 10 states for setting up a business are: South Dakota, Texas, Nevada, Wyoming, Washington, Florida, Alaska, Alabama, Ohio and Colorado. States like Ohio and Indiana are making moves in the positive direction to instill economic growth and create new jobs.
The worst destinations for small businesses are: District of Columbia, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Iowa, Maine, California, Vermont, Hawaii and Connecticut. Out of these, New York has hiked taxes and is therefore becoming less competitive as a favorable destination.

The Alleviating Poverty Through Entrepreneurship (APTE) Summit for 2012 to be held at Ohio State University will host renowned social entrepreneur, John Shegerian. He is the Chairman and CEO of Electronic Recyclers International (ERI), which is the leading recycler of electronic waste in the U.S.

John Shegerian is not the only speaker at the meet on entrepreneurship as he will be joined by a panel of experts in entrepreneurship from the Gates Foundation, Endeavor, ReWork and g.maarifa. Shegerian will be sharing his personal experience with his business which helps the community. He has realized his dream of leading a green business and helping the community in different ways. He has also employed military heroes and others who are in need of a good job. He has been awarded the "Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Award" for providing solutions for the problems faced by the community.

The 2012 Alleviating Poverty Through Entrepreneurship Summit aims to educate, impassion and empower budding entrepreneurs to set up business solutions which also help the community across various levels. The APTE is a student body and is totally organized and operated by students. The Summit brings together students, policy makers, society and the business class to enable a change in the society.