By Susan Kinsler

Wow! Last month's idea of an Annual "Small Business Hawaii Hall of Shame Award" has skyrocketed and it's going to become a reality. Last month's nominee GTE Hawaiian Tel Everything Pages also met with an astounding response. My little fax machine used up three rolls of paper in the first two days. I don't know if that's the good or bad news but it appears that everyone has a GTE directories horror story of their own.

Some other nominees and/or suggestions as to who's taken the "biting the hand that feed them syndrome" to new heights were:

* Janice Togashi, Communications Director of the State Department of Business and Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT).

It seems that when the report by the Small Business Survival Foundation compared business environments for small-business owners across the nation and Hawaii ranked "a pathetic 48th among the 50 states in terms of its hospitality toward entrepreneurs," Ms. Togashi publicly denied the situation. "If the State denies that a horrible situation exists there's no hope that they'll ever make it better." "Let her survive without small business contributions." "I wonder if she puts perfume over body odor too?" Biting the hand that feeds them????

* Mayor Jeremy Harris

It seems that one of his pet projects is the City Store. You know - the one that pays $1 per year rent to Ala Moana and still can't make it. His answer to that scenario is to open another store. Who expands their operation while losing money? "What makes him different than T-Shirt Vendors?" "Do you think Clothestime, et al would be closing if they paid $1 per year rent?" "Everyone should check out their council member to see if they voted for this store and then vote accordingly." Biting the hand that feeds them?"

More on Mayor Harris...

Have you ever noticed that Commercial Realtors are allowed to place gigantic signs in places that we're not allowed to touch? Have you noticed that there's no time limit for these signs as with the rest of us? Some of them have been in place for years. Have you ever called a number off of these signs to inquire about space just to find that there's no space available in that particular location „ but they have something else they'll show you a few miles away? Have you ever asked WHY????

* GTE Hawaiian Tel - Warren Haruki

"Why stop with the yellow pages? What about GTE charging businesses more just because the same phone and same equipment are housed in a commercial location? Pretty soon markets will charge more for milk if it's going to be used in coffee at the workplace. Where will it stop?" Biting the hand that feeds them????

* Lieutenant Governor Mazie Hirono

While the Gov. was out of town the Lt. Gov. signed into law the Child Care Bill. This was created because child care is too expensive when the business is operated legally. Now children can be cared for in private homes and community associations where they were once outlawed. "How many existing child care facilities will now be forced out of business?" "How long will it take before most small businesses will be forced out because of commercial enterprises opening up in homes?" "How many of these home care facilities will report the actual amount of children cared for and how many state workers will it take to monitor and/or investigate this dilemma?" "Without a commercial lease to pay for „ I too could operate successfully while charging my customer's less. Why does this State hate us?" "Let the Governor work without our tax money...." Biting the hand that feeds them????

* GTE Hawaiian Tel Everything Pages - Earl Goode

It was suggested that I didn't go far enough. It was suggested that "luck of the draw" has nothing to do with placement of ads. Have you ever wondered why GTE Directories puts several of their own ads in the middle of some columns on some pages and nothing of theirs appears in other columns on other pages? Some believe that this is a GTE trick to get certain ads placed in certain positions. Some believe that money exchanges hands in consideration of such placements. What do you believe? Either way - GTE seems to be the competition to its own advertisers. Biting the hand that feeds them????

* Hawaii Civil Rights Commission - Dr. Amy Agbayani and Linda Tseu

With an incredible backlog of people attempting to use the HCRC for the purpose for which it was intended and an incredibly poor record of accomplishment on the HCRC's part (not many resolved cases) some small business owners and attorneys believe that all any one individual has to do to win a case against a small business owner is bring it to the HCRC. I for one believe that the old bumper sticker, "My mind is made up - don't confuse me with facts" was coined after the HCRC. When asked, "What do you have to do to sue the HCRC - one attorney (Eric Seitz) replied, "stand in line." Biting the hand that feeds them????

* Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) - Karen Cunningham, President Hawaii Chapter

There seems to be a major controversy as to which commercial realtor and/or commercial realty company is the small business owner's biggest nightmare. Soooo, how about if we just have one nominee representing all commercial realtors? It seem fitting that Karen Cunningham be that person as she was very instrumental in me losing my lease while handing me her card and telling me that she could find me an alternative site. She just happens to be president of the local chapter of CCIM. Don't you just love it when things work out????? I'm still receiving commercial realty horror stories and still have not received one good word on anyone in the industry. Biting the hand that feeds them????

* The Honolulu Advertiser - Larry Fuller

I received so many nominations on The Advertiser that it merits a column unto itself. It'll be forthcoming. Many want to boycott them with their ads. Not a bad idea. Biting the hand that feeds them - doesn't begin to cover them.

THE COMPUTER CORNER**

The World Wide Web is out there, but what can it do for you? Plenty. The Internet is many things and one of them is a business tool.

I'm new to the net. I just signed up 4 weeks ago, but I've already found it to be a wonderful source of information.

For instance, one of my clients (and SBH member), Clarice Johnson of Johnson Property Management is writing a book about how to be a happy, successful landlord in Hawaii. The L.A. Times (http://www.latimes.com) has a monthly Q & A column on landlord-tenant relations. Their archives are available on-line back to 1990 and at the moment, are free. Last week I downloaded over 60 of those columns. "The information is very useful to me," Clarice said, "because it brought to my attention problems landlords and tenants have that I've never encountered before. My book will be more comprehensive because of this information."

Hundreds of local and world newspapers and magazines are already on-line. The Electric Library (http://www.elibrary.com) offers the ability to search through more than 150 newspapers, 800 magazines, and two international news wires for $10 a month.

Phone books from around the world are also available on-line. Switchboard (http://www2.switchboard.com) let's you search for individuals or businesses. If you've lost track of someone, you might find them this way. Considering a new business name? Search the nation's phone books to see if others are already using that name.

One of the first things you'll encounter on the Internet are the Search Engines, such as Yahoo (http://www.yahoo.com) or Alta Vista (http://www.altavista.digital.com). These companies search out the Internet and compile the results so you can type a word or phrase and in seconds, it presents you with dozens of hits. Often more than dozens.

A search for "Business Consulting" (my business) yielded 300,000 listings. Fortunately it only gives me 25 at a time.

Many of your competitors have developed Home Pages and the search engines will list them for you. One click will take you to those pages. You may find that someone in Minneapolis gives you an idea you can use in your business here in Hawaii.

Then there are the discussion groups, or newsgroups as they are called. There are now over 13,000 newsgroups on, as you can imagine, every conceivable topic, including business. These are like bulletin boards. You can read the messages others post and post messages of your own. Anyone may join in. They're a great place to ask questions.

Consultant Bob Rogers, who designs custom databases and web sites for Hawaii businesses, posts questions to newsgroups and shares information with others in the group. He's even e-mailed other businesses that he's "met" in the newsgroups and asked for advice on their solutions to problems he's facing. "Through my daily interaction with these newsgroups," Rogers says, "I've discovered other people across the globe with similar situations, issues, and objectives."

Generally, he's found, if your questions are concise, people are happy to respond, especially since you're not a competitor in their market. "We are seeing a global sharing of information," Rogers says "which, when properly used, creates an interactive support network for the small to medium-sized business."

Deja News (http://www.dejanews.com), is the premier Search Engine for newsgroups. It can find people or topics in messages that have been posted in newsgroups. What has been written about you? Or others? I typed in Sandy Brodie, another client, and it brought us to a message posted in a motorcycle discussion group, in which Sandy was mentioned.

I'm sure there are thousands of other business uses for the Internet than I've covered here. Fortunately, the Internet is simpler to learn than a word-processor - far simpler. If you can point and click, you can navigate your way around 3 million sites.

You can even read the SB News on-line. Find it at (http://www.hotspotshawaii.com/SBH.html)

What you need to get started: All you need is a computer, modem, Internet provider and software. Several local providers allow you unlimited access for less than $20-30 a month.

**WEBMASTER's NOTE: Policy with our web server provider precludes us from using active links to outside sources at this site.