Here are the top 2 home-based customer service jobs with benefits:

1. Alpine Access | After working for the company for approximately 3 months, you are eligible for the benefits plan. The benefits plans offers great medical benefits for both you and your family. They also have a matching 401k plan for qualifying employees. Notice: This job will hire you as an employee rather than an independent contractor.
2. DexComm | DexComm offers life, health, and disability benefits to their employees after working for the company for 6 months. They also give paid vacations!

For other home-based customer service jobs, read “Real Customer Service Jobs from Home.”

examiner.com

Top 2 Home-based Customer Service Jobs with Benefits is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

But at least one small-business group says the proposals now being considered by the Obama administration and Senate leaders could save small companies tens of billions of dollars a year in health care costs — even if there is a mandate for employer coverage.

An analysis by the group, the nonprofit Small Business Majority, to be released Thursday, concludes that the changes would be better for small employers than continuing the current system, which leaves many of those businesses struggling to afford health benefits for their workers. Half of companies with nine or fewer workers do not currently provide employee coverage.

“Small businesses want to be part of the system,” said John Arensmeyer, the group’s chief executive. “They don’t want to shirk their responsibilities.” But “we need comprehensive reform,” he added. “The entire system needs to be fixed.”

Small businesses would save in two major ways, Mr. Gruber said. Because small companies traditionally pay much more than large corporations for the same coverage for an employee, they would benefit from proposals streamlining the purchase of insurance and lowering the administrative expenses associated with the policies. The companies, he said, would also benefit from the success of any legislative efforts to contain the rapidly escalating cost of health care.

Over all, the study estimates that the proposals under debate could save small businesses anywhere from $546 billion to $855 billion over the next decade.

If nothing is done, on the other hand, the study says the health care bill for small businesses — estimated at $156 billion this year — would more than double, to $339 billion in 2018.

nytimes.com

Savings for Small Business in Health Plan is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Fish pedicures are creating something of a splash in the D.C. area, where a northern Virginia spa has been offering them for the past four months. John Ho, who runs the Yvonne Hair and Nails salon with his wife, Yvonne Le, said 5,000 people have taken the plunge so far.

“This is a good treatment for everyone who likes to have nice feet,” Ho said.

He said he wanted to come up with something unique while finding a replacement for pedicures that use razors to scrape off dead skin. The razors have fallen out of favor with state regulators because of concerns about whether they’re sanitary.

Ho was skeptical at first about the fish, which are called garra rufa but typically known as doctor fish. They were first used in Turkey and have become popular in some Asian countries.

But Ho doubted they would thrive in the warm water needed for a comfortable footbath. And he didn’t know if customers would like the idea.

“I know people were a little intimidated at first,” Ho said. “But I just said, ‘Let’s give it a shot.’ “

Customers were quickly hooked.

Tracy Roberts, 33, of Rockville, Md., heard about it on a local radio show. She said it was “the best pedicure I ever had” and has spread the word to friends and co-workers.

“I’d been an athlete all my life, so I’ve always had calluses on my feet. This was the first time somebody got rid of my calluses completely,” she said.

First time customer KaNin Reese, 32, of Washington, described the tingling sensation created by the toothless fish: “It kind of feels like your foot’s asleep,” she said.

The fish don’t do the job alone. After 15 to 30 minutes in the tank, customers get a standard pedicure, made easier by the soft skin the doctor fish leave behind.

Ho believes his is the only salon in the country to offer the treatment, which costs $35 for 15 minutes and $50 for 30 minutes. The spa has more than 1,000 fish, with about 100 in each individual pedicure tank at any given time.

In addition to offering pedicures, Ho hopes to establish a network of Doctor Fish Massage franchises and is evaluating a full-body fish treatment that, among other things, could treat psoriasis and other skin ailments.

Fish pedicures is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Researchers grow heart in lab is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Almost nine out of 10 small business owners surveyed said the current health care system is in need of change, with six of 10 saying a complete overhaul is in order.

The survey found 55 percent of small business owners do not offer any health insurance to their employees, citing high cost as the No. 1 reason. Of these business owners, 55 percent said they would be more likely to offer such benefits if the federal government provided some financial incentives for this coverage.

A third of small business owners said they were cutting back on noncapital investments so they could provide health care for their employees.

Results were based on telephone interviews with 603 small business owners nationwide conducted July 12-23 for the Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index. The margin of sampling error is plus-4 percentage points.

Small business owners were asked what effect adequate health insurance has on a company’s employees. Eighty-four percent said that adequate coverage attracts the best qualified employees, and 81 percent agreed that it improves employee loyalty. Eighty-three percent believed it reduced an employee’s likelihood to leave a company.

Portland Business Journal

Health Care Big Worry For Small Biz is a post from: Top Business Opportunities