Portfolio Ideas From Small Business Owners

Small business is a key driver of U.S. economic health according to the Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy (SBA Office of Advocacy). New college graduates, former corporate cubicle warriors and seasoned self employed business owners operating or deciding to incorporate small businesses have communication and client interaction needs investors can follow towards building a portfolio of investments. Let's take a look at a couple of small business tech toys and hangouts as possibilities.

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Setting the Appointment
Unless an individual is omnipotent they will have to call on colleagues and services providers to meet the demands of their business. Two ways to play this idea are from the standpoint of wireless service providers and wireless device manufacturers. Popular choices based on my observation suggest Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ) and the Blackberry from Research in Motion Ltd. (Nasdaq:RIMM) as clear choices to consider.

Wireless Growth
Verizon completed its purchase of Alltel on January 9, 2009 creating the nations largest wireless carrier with more than 83.7 million customers as of the third quarter of 2008. A compliment to the far-reaching coverage of Verizon's service are the multiple variations of the ubiquitous Blackberry Smartphone ranging from the BlackBerry Pearl 8130 up to the futuristic touch screen enabled BlackBerry Storm 9530. Research in Motion's revenues increased 7.9% to $2.58 billion third fiscal quarter ended November 29, 2008 driven by strong sales of its mobile communications products.

Where Shall We Meet?
According to the SBA Office of Advocacy 53% of all small businesses are based out of the home. The convenience of setting up meetings or brainstorming sessions at comfortable, Wi-Fi enabled locations makes Panera Bread (Nasdaq:PNRA) another choice to consider. Panera Bread's comparable Bakery-Café sales grew 3.4% in 2008 over the previous year led by a 5.3% increase in prices, which offset a 1.5% decline in transactions.

Can I Take a Look at Your Portfolio?
The meeting is set and has made its way into your Blackberry. All that remains is plugging in your laptop in order to display samples of your work. Two laptop brands I've noticed popping up on customers tables are Hewlett Packard (NYSE:HPQ) notebooks and Apple (Nasdaq:AAPL) Mac Books. HP net revenues for the first quarter of 2009 were up just 1% over the same period a year ago despite a 13% decline in Notebook revenues. HP service revenues, due to the acquisition of EDS, helped support HP's revenues for the quarter. Meanwhile Apple reported record revenue of $10.17 billion for its fiscal 2009 first quarter ended December 27last year led by sales of its Macintosh computers, iPods and iPhones.

Final Thoughts
The companies mentioned are a good starting point for investors interested in building a portfolio focused on the needs of small business owners. The list is not exhaustive, but rather a primer for the self employed to examine their spending habits or for the employed person to initiate the conversation with a small business owner.

Do you have the best mix of investments in your portfolio? Read Major Blunders In Portfolio Construction.