New York SBDC Research Network

From the American Institute for Economic Research In an article published in AIER’s January 1996 Research Report, Thomas Lehman wrote, “The present immigration policy of the United States amounts to nothing less than a tariff or barrier to entry on the commodity of labor, and harms American consumers in the same manner as tariffs and trade barriers on other capital or consumer goods.” In over 20 years, the picture has not improved. Immigration laws restrict such voluntary cooperation by preventing some of those best qualified from fulfilling their most useful economic roles. Calls for immigration restrictions have long been a part of American politics. In 2006, 54 Republican and 26 Democratic senators, including Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, voted for the Secure Fence Act, which authorized 700 miles of physical barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border. Still, it is clear from rhetoric and recent executive orders that President Donald Trump intends to restrict immigration more than...

From the Small Business Administration It’s awards season! Here at SBA, we believe that small businesses should also set aside some time annually to honor their "shining stars." Just like the Oscars, you can create categories that will award the various aspects that exist within your small business. From the "behind the scenes" nominees in Human Resources to the "frontline" nominees in Sales, the opportunities to celebrate your team are endless. Below are a few categories to help you get started: Best Picture – Think over the last year and ask yourself the following: What was your company’s biggest accomplishment and who was responsible for it? Was it an internal or external initiative? Did you connect with your target audience as you hoped? Once you decide what it is, be sure to award this individual or team with the "big picture" award for a job well done! Best Director – When it comes to gaining sound advice or feedback, whom do your ...

From MarketingProfs For employees, the most important job benefit is health, dental, and vision insurance, according to recent research from Fractl. The report was based on data from a survey of 2,000 adults. Respondents were given a list of 17 benefits and asked how heavily they would weigh each when deciding between a high-paying job and a lower-paying job with more benefits. After health insurance, the most valued benefits are flexible hours, vacation time, work-from-home options, and student loan/tuition assistance.

From MarketingProfs Legendary Baseball Hall of Famer and Yankees catcher Yogi Berra once said, "You can observe a lot by watching." The humor aside, there's a lot of truth in that statement. As marketing professionals, we should always be observing our customers: Their habits, behavior, and feedback serve as a yardstick for measuring the strength of your company's relationship with its customers. And if you're not watching your customers, someone else—probably your competition—is. One way to understand customer metrics is to compare it to driving your car. When you're behind the wheel, there's a lot happening: You're constantly monitoring the vehicle's metrics, such as speed, engine temperature, and fuel levels, along with observing traffic and road conditions. There's no justification for not bringing the same level of monitoring to your customers. So how can marketing professionals turn Mr. Berra's quip into an actionable plan? ...

From The Balance Feeling like you’re treading water with your small business and not making progress towards your goals? Or are you having trouble choosing business goals to work towards this year in the first place? We all want to be successful owners of profitable small businesses, but how do you get there from where you are? If you want your small business to be more profitable than ever before, here are some suggestions for how to make it happen. And remember; building a successful business is a marathon, not a sprint!

Food Companies May Say Goodbye To "Sell-By" And "Expiration" Labels : The Salt : NPR Years ago, the UK had similar rules regarding sell-by and use-by dates. They also had a habit of wrapping fresh produce, so a bunch of bananas would be wrapped in a thin plastic bag or 2 zucchini would be on a styrofoam plate wrapped in plastic - with a sell-by date. (So much packaging of produce was a contentious issue then too.) I remember a bomb had gone off in Ealing in West London and had blown out all the windows of a supermarket. On the news we watched as fresh, yellow bananas filled the backs of garbage trucks. Piles of fruit was discarded because, by law, the grocer had to throw away any food that was past its sell-by date. It caused an uproar but I don't think anything changed at that point. It seemed a simple enough solution to take the produce out of the bag. But laws are laws and instead it was piled into garbage trucks and hauled off. Expiration dates are often...

From eMarketing : Despite Americans’ broad embrace of smartphones, mobile coupon usage has not become as widely and commonly used as might be expected. According to eMarketer’s most recent estimates, only about half of all mobile device users in the US have redeemed a mobile coupon even once in the past year. While the number of US mobile coupon users is expected to increase 10.2% to total 123.0 million this year, modest growth is projected in the coming years. Meanwhile, paper coupons are still far more commonly used.

The U.S. Senate confirmed on Tuesday, February 14 the nomination of Linda E. McMahon as the 25th Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration . "Small businesses are the engine of our national economy," McMahon said upon her confirmation. "I will work to revitalize a spirit of entrepreneurship in America. Small businesses want to feel they can take a risk on an expansion or a new hire without fearing onerous new regulations or unexpected taxes, fees and fines that will make such growth unaffordable. We want to renew optimism in our economy.

From eMarketing There are lots reasons consumers don’t like shopping at physical stores, including challenges with comparison shopping and long checkout lines. But if there’s one thing people do prefer to do in a brick-and-mortar setting, it’s to make impulse purchases. However, recent trends in e-commerce suggest this could change in the near future. A January 2017 survey by CreditCards.com found that 68% of US consumers said their primary location for making impulse buys was “in person in a store.” Digital methods were much less preferred.

From here : Don't miss Microsoft's National Entrepreneurship Week , February 20-24th, 2017. Don't miss their free webinars and you can follow on Twitter at #WININBIZ. 2/22 at 9am PT: The Power of Referral Marketing: How to get your customers talking Tapping into your existing customer base could be the key to new business growth.  On the next episode of Office Small Business Academy, learn about the power of referral marketing, and how to design a program that works for your business. Register Now  2/22 at 10am PT: Staying Ahead of the Curve: Technologies that Adapt with your  business .  It used to be that as your business grew, you'd have to increase your technology budget to meet your growth needs. Not anymore. Join the Microsoft's presentation the Staying Ahead of the Curve: Technologies That Adapt with. Register Now  2/23 at 10am PT: Small Business Webinar: 3 Tips for remaking your online professional presence Learn how Yelp and Office 365 ca...

Because of a Republican-held Congress, and the new Trump administration, there has been talk on a new tax reform. In fact, according to Steven Mnuchin , Trump's [now confirmed] pick to head the Treasury department[now confirmed],that there will be   two comprehensive tax reform plans under this administration. But how will all this affect small business?  President Trump has repeatedly said that he will cut corporate taxes down to 15%. But most small businesses are in the form of S-corps- partnerships and limited liability corporations (LLC). In response to this, the two plans propose three tax brackets- 12%,25%,and 33%. And to repeal the Net Investment Income Tax (NIIT)- which, according to the IRS , "   applies at a rate of 3.8% to certain net investment income of individuals, estates and trusts that have income above the statutory threshold amounts." With the Trump plan,businesses will be able to elect a max rate for business income at 15%. "The Blueprint...

From eMarketer : When it comes to shopping online, consumers have a variety of different payment methods they can choose from. Most prefer PayPal—or something equivalent to it, like Stripe, Google Wallet or Amazon Payments. October 2016 research from postal industry service provider International Post Corporation surveyed cross-border digital buyers across 26 countries. More than four in 10 respondents—who purchased goods online in the past three months and made a cross-border purchase online in the past year—said they prefer to pay for their online purchases via PayPal, or an equivalent service.

Recently, a client asked Judy Wolf, the NY SBDC's Government Contracting Coordinator , if there was a source the compiled information on all matchmaker events taking place in NY, CT, MA, NH, and VT.  Unfortunately, she wasn't aware of such a resource. Fortunately (for the rest of us), she pulled together some really useful information for those states. From Judy: In NYS, matchmaker events tend to be coordinated on an agency-by-agency basis. For NY, I'd recommend getting on the mailing lists for the agencies that most frequently organize them, such as the regional PTACs and the SBA. I do know of the following: •    March 28 North Country PTAC Matchmaker in Watertown: http://www.wbenc.org/calendar-all/2017/3/28/2017-north-county-ptac-matchmaker-ny •    The SBA Albany Matchmaker this year is June 20: https://www.sba.gov/offices/district/ny/syracuse/resources/albany-matchmaker-expo •    The SBA Buffalo Matchmaker looks like it's...

There are numerous advantages and challenges to introduce Bitcoin and Blockchain technology to your small business. Today we see companies like Dish, Overstock, Microsoft, Dell, and more start to accept bitcoin as a payment. Though these giants have made the introduction, should your small business?  A cryptocurrency made in 2009, Bitcoin is a decentralized form of digital currency, w hich means that there is little to no government or bank involvement  through any transaction being made . According to Fortune.com Blockchain is a "  coding breakthrough—which consists of concatenated blocks of transactions—allows competitors to share a digital ledger across a network of computers without need for a central authority." For the entire analysis of the advantages and challenges of bitcoin technology follow this link to Entrepreneur.com. Here are just some of the advantages:  Compared to traditional two and three percent merchant transaction fees,...

From eMarketer A new survey reveals that more marketers and agencies are beginning to adopt native advertising. However, the data hints that they aren’t necessarily ready to truly commit to native. According to a report from Advertiser Perceptions, nine out of 10 marketers and agencies in the US had at least gotten started with native in 2016. Just 10% had not tried it. Interestingly, though, while the number of marketers who had tried native rose over 2015 levels, there was no increase at all in terms of committed users. From Wikipedia : Native advertising is a type of advertising, mostly online, that matches the form and function of the platform upon which it appears.

From the IRS : In an unprecedented partnership, the IRS, the states and the tax industry are working together to protect your federal and state tax accounts from identity thieves. We are asking you - taxpayers, tax preparers and businesses - to join with us to create an even stronger partnership in the face of this constantly evolving enemy. Our "Taxes. Security. Together" awareness campaign is an effort to better inform you about the need to protect your personal, tax and financial data online and at home. People continue to fall prey to clever cybercriminals who trick them into giving up Social Security numbers, account numbers or password information. In turn, criminals use this information a variety of ways, including filing fraudulent tax returns. As part of the "Taxes. Security. Together" effort, we launched a Protect your Clients; Protect Yourself campaign to raise awareness among tax professionals that they increasingly are targets of cybercriminals an...

To streamline the process of starting a business in New York State, the state is pleased to offer citizens and businesses access to a comprehensive resource for starting, running, and growing a business in New York. Using a redesigned platform with new functions, NY Business Express helps a user to quickly learn about and access what they need in one central location. New York Business Express is open to all citizens, along with current and prospective business owners, without a login. Here are some of the key innovative features offered through this website: • To get started, visit the Business Wizard , which leads users through a series of questions to create a Custom Business Checklist that helps determine which New York State, as well as federal and local, requirements apply to their business. • New and returning users are encouraged to utilize the Incentive Guide to find out what New York State incentives and support programs they may be eligible for. • Those who know ...

The Census Bureau released updated editions of Census  Business  Builder that provide major updates and features, mobile-optimization, and performance improvements to this popular suite of tools.  Census  Business  Builder:  Small   Business  Edition  and  Census  Business  Builder: Regional Analyst Edition  include the following new features: ·         An expanded and customizable dashboard with charts that allow users to compare data at   national, state and local area levels and to compare current data to historical trends. ·         New map features, including the ability to download the data directly from the map. ·         Access to information at the state level as well as for counties, cities/towns, zip codes and census tracts. ·         New age category of 21 and older....

From the Small Business Administration : Between 1994 and 2015, self-employment rose substantially among those born abroad, and, by 2015, self-employment was much higher among those born abroad than among those born in the United States. This report explains the rise in self-employment among those born abroad and the difference in self-employment in 2015 by birthplace. The prevalence of self-employment varies with age. Between 1994 and 2015, the population born abroad shifted toward ages with higher self-employment. If the age distribution of those born abroad had not changed, self-employment would not have risen among those born abroad, and self-employment in 2015 would not have differed significantly by birthplace.

From Marketing Profs : In content marketing and in journalism, the word jargon has come to be used mostly as an insult. It's a label that people put on unfamiliar language they dismiss as gibberish. Jargon has another meaning, though, and it doesn't have an inherently negative connotation: the specialized vocabulary or language that a profession or group uses. Often riddled with industry-specific acronyms and colloquialisms, industry jargon is difficult for outsiders to understand. Content marketers contemplating whether to use that sort of jargon need to note whether their target audience is general and broad, or specialized and narrow. If you're targeting a general audience (say, you're writing a beer commercial), you should comply with conventional wisdom and avoid jargon. But if you're writing or speaking to a highly specialized group, as content developers are increasingly doing, you should consider embracing jargon. Don't avoid jargon reflexivel...

From BizWomen The result of this baby boomer retirement surge? A massive brain drain that threatens to destabilize American business. Many companies are unprepared for the challenge... A recent study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill reveals that less than 40 percent of employers have taken action to address the imminent loss of detailed know-how. Adding even well-trained millennials to the workforce may not be enough to restore the balance when your company is hemorrhaging its veteran employees... Dorothy Leonard, a professor of business administration at Harvard Business School, says there is a big difference between information and knowledge. Information is something you can get from Google. Knowledge is the critically important stuff in your head that has never been written down. And companies often fail to retain it. It is critical that longtime workers transfer the knowledge they’ve gained from decades of experience to employees who will be taking on th...

From the Office of the New York State Comptroller : Among the more than 455,000 businesses in New York, over 451,000 are small businesses. In addition, there are over 1.6 million non-employer businesses in New York, which are primarily self-employed individuals. Of the small businesses with paid employees in 2013, almost two-thirds had fewer than five employees, with over 80 percent having fewer than ten employees. These 369,000 microbusinesses provided nearly 943,000 jobs with total payroll close to $40 billion. Businesses with fewer than 20 employees reported total employment of nearly 1.5 million, with total payroll of $63.2 billion. Over the most recent decade for which figures are available, New York’s small businesses fared better than the nation’s on three key metrics – number of firms, employment, and total payroll. Small business employment in the State rose by a net 1.6 percent, or 59,000 jobs, in the ten-year period through 2013, while declining nationally by 1.1 percent...