The Internet is a major disruption for businesses, both large and small. Small retailers, in particular, have a lot to consider when the power of the Internet begins to change their business. A lot of focus lately has been on the Internet sales tax, and the advantage that online companies have over brick-and-mortar stores, leading to proposals to require online companies to collect the sales tax. But Jay Goltz, blogger for the New York Times, points out that that's not the only factor. Many online businesses are not making a profit, he says, and that's intentional. They price below cost to gain market share and brand value, hoping to make it back in the long run. But right now, it's changing the calculus for small business owners dramatically.

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To be a successful small business owner, you have to learn to listen. You have to learn when to be bold, and when to be patient. You have to know when to act, and when to observe. David Steinberg is the CEO of XL Marketing, and he talked about his growth as a leader in an interview with the New York Times. He talks about what he looks for in fellow entrepreneurs, and how he encourages a culture of innovation at his own company--by letting his people pursue their ideas, so they are free to succeed or fail. They are not strictly tasked and forbidden from trying something just because it might not work.

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Practice makes perfect, or so the saying goes. You have to train and prepare and get ready for whatever you're doing. But in his latest article for the New York Times, Bryan Burkhart asks why things are often different in business. Training is rare. So he set up an "H. Bloom University" to help people pick up and refine skills they need for their job, as well as a more extensive training program for people moving into new positions.

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Warren Buffett is one of the most successful, celebrated businessmen of all time--but that doesn't mean he thinks he knows everything. One of his key values, as the Wall Street Journal discussed in a profile after the latest annual meeting for Berkshire Hathaway, is finding people who disagree with you, who doubt you. At his latest meeting, Buffett invited Doug Kass, who has publicly bet against Buffett's company, to ask questions of leadership. You have to ask: What am I doing wrong? What could I improve? What do others see that I can't see? We have to keep improving, and that won't happen if we ignore all of our critics and only look at the good news. We have to be open and honest with ourselves to see real improvement

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