GoFaxer Blog

MSN.com reports that many millions of families are going to be receiving a tax rebate this year.

“The one-time tax rebates are at the center of a hard-won agreement to pump about $150 billion into the economy this year and perhaps stave off the first recession since 2001.”

This comes as good news to business people worried about a sketchy economic forecast. The hope is that a huge influx of cash given to lower to middle income families will give the economy a needed boost. The assumption is that giving the money to these groups where it will get spent will prime the pump so to speak and get things moving along.

Many economists question whether such a move will really do the trick. Will an extra 600 bucks in your pocket really prevent a recession? If anything, the act by the government creates a feeling of optimism about the future, and investors like optimism. And when investors invest more money into the economy it’s likely to continue growing.

It was also announced that “Businesses would get $50 billion in incentives to invest in new plants and equipment.”

Hopefully many small businesses will receive this cash and take advantage of new technological advances like fax to email, making them more competitive in the world market, and more profitable.

A recent article on msn.com points out that with a weakening economy, consumers are pulling back and spending less. The article outlines the story of an Atlanta, Georgia dentist, Joi Freemont:

“Patients who used to get their teeth whitened all the time “now want to think about it a bit,” she said. Braces? “People were getting them for the kids, for themselves, but now they’re waiting,” she added. And when people get cavities, they have their fillings done one a month, not five or six at a time, she said.”

This is of course a bad thing for the economy. As people stop consuming, less products are sold, and then companies total sales are hurt. And when the economy on the whole sells and buys less, we find ourselves in a recession.

It’s a vicious cycle. Small businesses find themselves in the same situation, wanting to decrease their overall expenses. The key to making it through the slow down while keeping your business intact is to decrease your expenses that are not necessary, and maintain or increase your spending on items where you’ll see a return on your investment.

The first and best thing to go is your fax machine. It’s one of many office costs that is now unnecessary with Internet fax. So go ahead and cut those costs that make your business more efficient. And spend the savings on a great new marketing strategy or product innovation that will increase or maintain your revenue during this unstable period.

With a potential recession on the horizon, both President Bush and the Fed Chairman, Ben Bernanke, are speaking about creating an economic stimulus package that should hopefully mitigate the effects of the slowdown.

Quoting from msn.com, quoting Mr. Bernanke:

“. . . efforts that involve “putting money into the hands of households and firms that would spend it in the near term” would be more effective than other provisions, such as making Bush’s tax cut permanent. “Again, I’m not taking a view one way or the other on the desirability of those long-term tax cuts being made permanent,” he said.”

He emphasized that this package should be temporary, but not long-term to avoid the risk of long-term problems. He emphasized that it should go to middle to low-income households because they will be the most likely to spend it. Wealthier households may or may not spend it.

This could also apply to small businesses that would be most likely to spend extra cash. One of the best ways for small businesses to generate extra cash during this time is to begin using Internet fax services. These services allow businesses to send and receive faxes through the internet, avoiding the expenses of fax machines, paper, and toner.

It’s scary to consider, but we may be looking at a recession in the coming months. A recent article in Newsweek by Daniel Gross says:

Just two years ago, Wall Street economists spoke of a Goldilocks economy, in which everything was just right. These days, it’s the three bears. As of this week, the economists at Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs are all predicting a recession for 2008.

The last recession came in 2001 after the tech bubble burst, causing businesses to stop investing. Prior to that was in 1990 as a response to the commercial real estate/savings-and-loan implosion.

Home prices declined 6.1 percent in 2007, which makes economist and business people think that we’re facing our next big slowdown here shortly.

In this time of potential recession, companies need to be aggressive at cutting business costs. If your business hasn’t converted to fax to email, now is the time. It’s less expensive than using a fax machine and it will save you time. It’s also wonderfully convenient. You can send and receive a fax from anywhere that you have an Internet connection.

We hate to spread doom and gloom about the economy. One hopes that the slow-down will be short and minimal in scope. But regardless of the extent of the damage, now is the time to prepare with smart business decisions.

Ben Bernanke announced today his desire to cut interest rates to try to curb a possible economic slowdown. He was careful not to characterize the economic situation as the beginnings of a recession. MSN.com quoted Bernanke as saying:

“The Federal Reserve is not currently forecasting a recession.” It is, however, “forecasting slow growth.”

The fed is expected to cut interest rates by as much as one half of a percentage point to bolster the slowing economy. This will follow three interest rate decreases in 2007.

Retail sales were unexpectedly low in December, hiring has decreased, and unemployment is up to 5 percent. All of these factors come after months of a slowing housing market, which does not seem to bode well for 2008. The Fed’s efforts to bolster the floundering market seems to be appropriately necessary to prevent a full scale recession. In fact, Bernanke has come under criticism for not acting bolder, sooner.

With an economic slowdown eminent, small businesses are sure to take a major hit. Any reduction in overhead expenses will be helpful through what’s likely to be a tough 2008. Internet fax provided by gofaxer is a great option to reduce those expenses, allowing small businesses to stay competitive with bigger companies that have already gone paperless.