A weekly roundup of small-business developments.What’s affecting me, my clients and other small-business owners today.

<strong>Washington</strong>
Here are <a href="http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2013/09/update-four-charts-to-track-timing-for.html?" target="_blank">four charts</a> that will help you track whether the Federal Reserve will taper its quantitative easing.
It seems the sequestration budget cuts are hurting small consulting firms: “The $85 billion in budget cuts officially began March 1, but owners like LaJuanna Russell started feeling the effect last summer. Government employees cut contracts in advance, anticipating they’d lose funding. Among those badly hurt were businesses that provide training and consulting services not considered essential. Like Russell, they’ve had to lay off workers as their revenue plunged.”

<strong>Start-Ups</strong>
Mark Cuban’s <a href="http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/222524" target="_blank">12 rules</a> for starting a company.

<strong>Employees</strong>
This <a href="http://econintersect.com/b2evolution/blog1.php/2013/09/08/infographic-of-the-day-do-business-owners-and-employees-see-eye-to-eye" target="_blank">infographic</a> examines whether employees and business owners see eye-to-eye when it comes to how they view their companies.
An organization with 30 employees <a href="http://recruiterbox.com/blog/top-5-hr-time-savers/" target="_blank">wastes more than 150 hours</a> — or four weeks — every year tracking vacations.

<strong>Management</strong>
Research reveals that more business travelers are <a href="http://www.tourism-review.com/business-travelers-mix-work-with-vacations-news3834" target="_blank">taking time for themselves</a> as well.
Gregg S. Lipman says there is much management wisdom that <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gregg-s-lipman/risky-business-management_b_3868895.html" target="_blank">you can glean from ’80s movies</a> like “Stripes”: “What can I say about a movie whose tagline was, ‘The story of a man who wanted to keep the world safe for democracy … and meet girls’? Well, a lot actually. This quote is so fitting to what we do every day, because having realistic expectations for any given project is key to getting the job done, and done well.”

<strong>Around the Country</strong>
More than a thousand people near Los Angeles stood in a line on Saturday to get a taste of the <a href="http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/food/la-dd-ramen-burger-la-first-taste-20130907,0,682944.story" target="_blank">Ramen Burger</a>.

<strong>Social Media</strong>
Here are <a href="http://mashable.com/2013/09/06/vine-brands/" target="_blank">15 brands</a> doing great on Vine.
Belle Beth Cooper sums up <a href="http://thenextweb.com/socialmedia/2013/09/07/a-scientific-guide-to-posting-tweets-facebook-posts-emails-and-blog-posts-at-the-best-time/" target="_blank">the best times to tweet, post, blog and send your e-mails</a>. For example: “Seventy percent of users say they read blogs in the morning, and Mondays are the highest traffic days for an average blog.”

Technology
Apple’s new iPhone will <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2013/09/07/iphone-finger-print/2777849/" target="_blank">read your fingerprints</a>, but Amazon may be building a smartphone that will sell for … <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/06/amazon-smartphone-free_n_3882721.html" target="_blank">nothing</a>.

<a href="http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/09/today-in-small-business-mark-cubans-rules/?_r=1" target="_blank">http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/09/today-in-small-business-mark-cubans-rules/?_r=1</a>