New York SBDC Research Network

It’s Warren Buffett’s birthday today, so I thought I would look at advice he has offered. Warren Buffet Wikipedia Buffett has amassed an enormous fortune from astute investments managed through the holding company Berkshire Hathaway, of which he is the largest shareholder and CEO. With an estimated current net worth of around US$52 billion,[2] he was ranked by Forbes as the third-richest person in the world as of April 2007, behind Bill Gates and Mexican businessman Carlos Slim Helú.[4] Profile of Warren Buffet the free dictionary Investors Should Heed Warrens Buffett’s Free Advice SmartMoney By James B. Stewart July 10, 2007 In any event, Buffett has given away more free advice than just about any billionaire I can think of. He reports his stock holdings and discusses their merits and the reasons for his choices in his popular annual letter to shareholders. More fundamentally, he has laid out his investment philosophy repeatedly for all to see. Anyone can piggy-back his actual stoc...

When I stop at a roadside farm stand, my first assumption is that they are selling home-grown fruits and vegetables from their own fields. But when a New York farm stand has mangos and lemons? And sells t-shirts too? That's a totally different experience. This recent Treehugger blog post, Farm Stand Produce Not Always Local , refers to a Newsday article, Farm Stands on Long Island Undergoing an Evolution , and discusses that while Long Island is known for its local produce, many farm stands are importing their products from as far away as Florida and Mexico, and are not limited to selling only fruits and vegetables. Whether or not this is a good thing for local agriculture, retailers, or consumers, farm stands are an evolving business. With that in mind, here are some helpful resources for the farm stand owner or agricultural businessperson: Farmers' Market Federation of New York Planning the Farm Retail Market Cornell Cooperative Extension: Agriculture Business Resources...

Answering the office phone at the end of the day is often interesting. Last week, the Central office received a call from Michael Raptis, casting director of RDF Media Group . As the press release he subsequently sent me reads: "Key US RDF/Pangea shows include: Wife Swap (ABC); Shaq's Big Challenge (ABC); Two Coreys (A&E); Meadowlands (Showtime); Off The Charts (Fox); How to Look Good Naked (Lifetime); Banzai (G4); 3 Kings (MTV); Ice T's Rap School (VH1); Junkyard Wars (TLC); Faking It (TLC); Gene Simmons Rock School (VH1); Ladette to Lady (Sundance)." Now, the company is engaged in starting a new program: Have you always wondered how wonderful life could be if you started that business, took that hobby more seriously or changed your career? Is there anything you always said you'd do once your kids got older? For many people in their 40’s and 50’s, the time has come to restructure their life and do something they’ve always dreamed of...it could be anything fr...

Some clients have businesses that could benefit in knowing the names of newly-created companies. The Division of Corporations (within the New York Department of State) makes available a daily report of newly registered corporations, limited liability corporations, and limited partnerships. It's not EVERY new business in the state, but it's a start. Here's the service, in DOS' own words: "The Department of State publishes a daily report of new Corporations, Limited Liability Companies, Limited Partnerships and Registered Limited Liability Partnerships and amendatory certificates thereto. These reports are available only through e-mail. The subscription fees are: Annual subscription $125.00 Semi-annual subscription 75.00 Quarter-annual subscription 40.00 Your computer must have Adobe Acrobat Reader to review and print the report. You will be notified of the date of expiration of your subs...

Well, I am surprised to see that I have not written about this most favorite website. The Halfbakery is a wonderful site for innovative thinkers to run their ideas by other thinkers/would-be inventors. I have found this site useful especially for those - "the world has never seen a product like mine..." clients. For every idea presented, posters will then weigh in on whether they think it is a good idea(viable or not) and often present examples of similar or existing products. Many products are completely fantastical but then some ridiculous sounding ideas have actual examples out in the world. This was the case with the collapsing bollard, and I just read about the "dog jack" that I can imagine being a real product like the doggie stairs we see so often. Here's another that would probably be popular if it existed: School kid pick up express: "So what I thought of is a transponder for each family. When we arrive at the school driveway, our ID and our kid...

If you look to the right-hand side of this screen, you just might see a new feature we've added. There's a widget here that links to our new LibraryThing collection . LibraryThing is an online community that allows members to catalog their own book collections. You simply enter the title, or ISBN etc., and it finds the appropriate catalog record for your book, links you to others who own the same book, and can also make book recommendations and provide other user-advisory-type services. A user can enter up to 200 books for free. As our circulating collection isn't particularly large, we thought we'd give it a try. So, check out our library collection. The goal is to include all of our circulating books from this decade, but its a work in progress. Still, take a look, use the search feature, and if you find something you're interested in, send us an email and we'll send it your way.

Source: The Informant e-newsletter, Volume 4, Issue #243 -- Tuesday, August 21, 2007 Free From NASA: Rocket-science Expertise for Businesses NASA offers 40 hours of free technical advice to businesses. Overhaul by SBA to Help Fix System on Procurements Small Business Administration chief Steven Preston announced reforms aimed at cleaning up a broken system for keeping track of government procurements that has allowed federal agencies to classify billions in contracts to some of the world's largest companies as going to small businesses.