New York SBDC Research Network

From the Small Business Administration at SBA.gov By  BarbaraWeltman , Guest Blogger For many small business owners, thinking about taxes occurs only twice a year … when returns are being prepared and perhaps at the end of the year. This is a mistake. With half of 2017 over, now is a great time to assess where you stand and to take action that will be helpful to your 2017 tax bill. 1. Meet with your tax advisor The vast majority of small business owners use CPAs or other tax advisors to prepare and file their returns. These tax pros can also serve as business advisors throughout the year, providing guidance on what the business can to do to optimize profitability while minimizing taxes. If your tax preparer doesn’t provide this service, consider finding one who will. Schedule a meeting with your advisor to review your profits or losses, and to craft a tax plan that you can implement going forward. 2. Assess your profitability If 2017 is shaping up to be a good year for you, co...

From  Bplans Starting a business  from scratch isn’t easy under any circumstances. But for members of the millennial generation, many of whom still sit atop a mountain of student loan debt, it can seem virtually impossible. Student debt has risen dramatically in recent years to become the largest single debt source among those under 40. In fact, the average class of 2016 graduate  will be saddled with $37,172 in student loan debt —enough to crush the entrepreneurial spirit of any would-be business owner. Even so, if you have a business idea you believe in, there’s no reason to put those dreams on hold. With some  careful planning  and financial management—and a bit of luck—you can overcome your debt burdens and turn that killer idea into a reality.

From SBA : Every business owner should be aware of lean business planning. It’s a perfect compromise between the old-fashioned formal business plan that is too big and static, and the kind of small steps and analysis that is the watchword of lean manufacturing and lean startups. It’s all about taking small steps and evaluating results often. And planning, for real businesses, isn’t about the big plan; it’s about the management it causes. Why would you, as a business owner, care about planning? I hope that’s an obvious answer, related to focus, priorities, and getting things done. Planning, done right, is about managing your business better. Set expectations, track results, and manage the difference between what you expected and what happened. You know you can’t do everything.

by Felix Tarcomnicu at Bplans.com This article offers a number of ideas on concrete steps to take to grow your business with some real world examples of successful businesses who survived their expansion. Running a small business is a daunting challenge. Statistically, less than 50 percent of small businesses are still operational after five years. Globalization has increased the level of competition and introduced more turmoil to the business environment. If you want to take your business to the next level, you’ll need to be open to the current realities of the new global economy, and get more creative. Read more at Bplans

Your company is running smoothly enough, but you know things could be better. Sometimes, a project gets hung up a few days too long, or meetings that once felt productive and useful now seem to drag on for hours. It can feel like wheels spinning in the mud, and it’s hard to get that traction back. How can you fix these kinds of issues? By focusing on improving the efficiency of your business. I asked members of the Young Entrepreneur Council for their tips on how they keep their businesses running efficiently, which in turn helps them be more productive. Read more at Bplans

Business team and spouses Colleen and Stephen Sheehan started small, then went big. Tired of working for someone else, in 2010 they opened a Northwest-style-meets-Southern-cuisine food cart in downtown Eugene, Oregon. Their cart Delacata quickly became a local favorite, garnering multiple “Best of Eugene” accolades in annual people’s choice contests from local newspaper “Eugene Weekly.” But in 2013, the Sheehans set their sights higher. Riding the current national craft beer boom, the Sheehans remodeled a two-story, 5,580-square-foot former Carl’s Jr. restaurant into Elk Horn Brewery. The brewpub opened in 2014 and is gaining renown for its unique food menu, beers, and ciders. Elk Horn also won “Best New Restaurant” in Eugene Weekly Best of Eugene 2014-2015. In the midst of managing employees, running two businesses, handling suppliers, discussing beer styles with their brewer, and taking on all the other challenges of running a brewery and restaurant, the Sheehans took some time t...

Now that you’ve solved your cash flow problems, it’s time to figure out how exactly you want to approach growing your business. Unfortunately, since the needs and strengths of every organization are different, there isn’t really a cookie-cutter approach you can take to ensure your business will expand effectively. As such, it’s important that you do your due diligence prior to investing your capital. After all, you don’t want to find yourself overwhelmed with cash flow problems right after you’ve solved them. 1. Expand to new locations Whether you’re running a retail shop, a medical practice, a restaurant, or even a business-to-business tech company, you may be able to generate higher profits by expanding your organization to new physical (or even digital) locations. But, it’s important to remember that you can’t expect to simply open a second location, sit back, and watch your bank account get fatter. Believe it or not, the success of one location doesn’t really have any bearing o...

As someone that has started several small businesses over the years and advised many small business owners, one challenging area for a lot of people is the idea that you need to set a strategy. Business owners need a strategy that will enable them to understand the value that they bring to the market, and to ultimately target an audience of buyers that will need and buy their products and services. Setting your strategy Like most challenges we face as business owners, the challenge of strategy comes down to one of focus. Not so much focus on achieving activities or doing so many things, but focus when it comes to understanding the key drivers that will propel your business forward. Read more at bplans

Starting your own business may sound like an undertaking of epic proportions. The truth is, it’s not. Yes, you’re going to have to work hard, and commit to working on it at all hours of the day, but actually getting set up is simply down to making sure you’ve “checked all the boxes,” which is exactly what this business startup checklist aims to help you do. 1. Find a good business idea A good business idea isn’t just one that turns a profit. It’s one that’s a good fit for you personally, for your target market, and for your location. You’re going to be in business for the long haul, so you really should pick something you can live and breathe. Identify your strengths and weaknesses Conduct a SWOT analysis on yourself Come up with a business idea that caters to your strengths Define what success looks like for you Do your research: What are popular businesses today? Read more at bplans

Even savvy Business Owners realize that reacting to a disaster scenario requires employees to take a certain level of personal responsibility. Employees that know and adhere to their business disaster plan will still want to secure their families and cannot help your organization until they have stabilized their own survival needs. All italicized notes are mine~ BDS " Spies and certain military personnel have them. Even mobsters and other criminals have them. And you should have one too. I’m talking about a “Bug-Out Bag,” a ready-to-grab-at-anytime kit that gets you out the door and long gone, quickly and safely, when things go south. Even though you probably aren't going to have a foreign hit squad on your trail, or Federal agents ready to kick in your door, there are still a number of situations where the Average Joe needs to have a bug-out bag — or a “Get Home Bag” ( see below ) — packed and ready to go."

FDespite improvements in disaster response for recent, major occurrences like Hurricane Sandy, more work remains to be done so as not to adversely impact citizens, businesses and governments devastated by a disaster's effects for greatly prolonged periods of time. In this insightful observation piece, Rockefeller Institute Senior Fellow Dr. James Fossett indicates that improved disaster recovery from natural and man-made occurrences is possible through strategic planning, careful coordination between various levels of government, and the development of easily accessible response mechanisms. Dr. Fossett outlines several steps available to governments that will enable the development of cash reserves and the release of money necessary to assure a speedy return to normalcy after a major, catastrophic event. To read this observation, go to www.rockinst.org .

By John Jantsch, from SmallBusinessNewz It's great to have a plan. Even better to charge out and begin to execute the plan. But, to keep your plan alive day in and day out, you've got to have a routine that holds everyone accountable for all things big and small. To keep commitment high and reinforce a culture based on your objectives you need to install a systematic approach to meetings that allows people to be heard, get help, pose ideas, participate, learn, grow, move projects forward, and stay connected. This will include annual, quarterly, monthly, weekly and even daily planned sessions designed to accomplish specific tasks. I can almost hear some collective groaning coming from my readers, but trust me on this. If you do this right, you'll wonder how you ever succeeded without it. You may find that more gets done in terms of actual work and real team building in a month using this system than at any time in your business.