The latest Discover Small Business Watch of entrepreneurs reports that economic confidence among the Main Street business class has risen slightly in June, with its index rising to 80.9 from 78.1 last month.

The main culprit for the increase is cash flow, according to the data. The number of business owners who said they experienced temporary cash flow problems decreased from nearly half last month to 42 percent in June. read more...

Television pitchman and entrepreneur Billy Mays died Sunday, likely from heart disease, according to reports. An autopsy found that he suffered from hypertensive heart disease, and there was no sign head trauma from a head bump he reported following a rough flight to his hometown of Tampa, Florida.

The 50-year-old's complaints of being hit in the head, possibly with baggage, during the landing of that flight over the weekend led to speculation that Mays' death might have been related. Toxicology tests are pending. Mays is survived by his wife, 3-year-old daughter and adult stepson. read more...

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services today released a report about the rising cost of health care. Among its conclusions: "Employer-sponsored health insurance premiums have nearly doubled since 2000."

That increase in health care costs grew three times as fast as wage growth and cost employers' $12,680 for the average family plan -- nearly the same as a minimum wage salary for one year, according to the HHS. read more...

Starting a business is not for the risk averse. But in an effort to help entrepreneurs assess just how much risk is associated with launching or running their business, StartupNation.com, a website that provides business advice and networking for entrepreneurs, recently introduced an Odds of Success Calculator.

The business valuation device calculates a business owner's odds of success based on eight factors: amount of capital investment, difficulty in obtaining funds, quality of financial management, degree of business planning, annual industry growth rate, management experience, industry experience and timeframe. read more...

In his new book The Future Arrived Yesterday: The Rise of the Protean Corporation and What It Means for You (Crown Business), business and technology journalist Michael S. Malone argues that a new generation of young Americans entering the workforce -- Generation Y -- isn't the best choice if you want loyal, hard-working, long-hour employees on your team.

"Managing this generation may not only be a nightmare, it may actually be impossible," Malone writes. "It is quite likely that some sizable percentage of these new workers (and, being the  so- called "echo" of the Baby Boom, their numbers are huge) will never work in a steady job on the payroll of a single employer. And an equally large segment may never know a career different from that of a 'permanent part-timer,' contractor, or consultant." read more...

This spring a bigger problem than the bank-loan freeze has emerged for entrepreneurs: Credit card companies are slashing their limits, and small business owners are suffering because a majority of them rely on plastic to bolster cash flow and sustain operations.

The pullbacks are especially tough because more and more entrepreneurs are depending on the cards as their main source of credit. According to the National Small Business Association (PDF) 59 percent of small business relied on plastic for daily operations, up from 44 percent last year. read more...

If you assign mobile phones to employees, they might be liable for a quarter of the applicable taxes if new IRS rules under consideration go into effect.

The idea is to take some of the burden off business owners' backs. Already, a notice issued this week allows employers to forgo "minute-by-minute" documentation of employees' company phone use. read more...

The House Committee on Small Business today held a hearing on the state of credit for the small business community. Chairwoman Nydia M. Velázquez, a congressional Democrat from New York, stated that despite stimulus funds and loosened rules for U.S. Small Business Administration-backed loans, credit for Main Street business is still moving slow.

"From the start-up in Silicon Valley to the mom and pop restaurant on Main Street, small businesses everywhere are struggling to find the capital they need to keep their doors open," Velázquez states. "While the Recovery Act took important steps to help fix the credit markets, entrepreneurs still can't find the loans they will need to get the economy moving forward again." read more...

The buzz at Apple's Worldwide Developer's Conference in San Francisco continues to be apps, apps and more apps - for the iPhone of course. Those little programs that do everything from find friends to provide a virtual mug of beer are the hottest topic at the confab.

The New York Times is live-blogging the event while the Los Angeles Times is checking in with updates via Twitter. While there is much speculation about a possible new hardware version of the iPhone, so far the big news is about new apps that, for example, will allow iPhone users to get turn-by-turn map directions from TomTom. read more...

The Milken Institute, nonpartisan think tank based in Santa Monica, Calif., recently unveiled its annual list of top metropolitan areas for "high-tech industry." California dominated the list, with the Silicon Valley, Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange County and San Francisco making the top 10.

"Silicon Valley's unique ecosystem of collaborating agents has an unmatched ability to spawn entrepreneurial firms that create new products, services, and even entire industries,
while sustaining major high-tech anchor firms that remain at the leading edge of innovation in their industries," states the Milken report (PDF). The top 10: read more...