New York SBDC Research Network

Over the years, I've gone to at least three workshops by Joel Saltzman. My recent trip to Chicago was no different. He did three different presentations there: CHANGING THE WAY WE REACT TO CHANGE, Shaking that ETHICS Brain and Shaking That INNOVATION Brain. I had gone to the first two before, so I went to the innovation session. It's difficult to capture the essence of the talk, but the notion of taking some item and repositioning it for another use - wax paper was microwave safe, even before there were microwaves - at least touches on it. Check out some of Joel Saltzman's articles on assumption busting, reframing the question, persistence in the midst of mistakes, and the value of bad ideas. He uses this quote that, modified, is useful for baseball, racquetball, other sports and life in general: "I skate to where the puck is GOING to be, not where it has been." -- Wayne Gretzky. Photos (c)2008 by Mary Hoffman.

See what JJ Hill Library says about this NYS SBDC website: If you run a retail shop or have an office to meet with clients, what's the first thing your customers see when they get to your location? Your sign! So you want to make sure it presents the same good face for your business as you do. The What's Your Signage? site includes articles detailing the importance of signage to a business and provides background on the elements of a well-designed sign. You can use this information to become an informed partner with the sign-maker of your choosing, or use the site's manufacturer locator to find recommendations. What's the most important thing a good sign will do for your business? Reassure your customers that they've found the right place.

Google seems to be adding new products daily and this is one I was unaware of until now: GoogleSites . It is a product that can serve as a mini-intranet for personal or commercial use. It looks like a wiki with project management capabilities. It's free unless you want extra storage space but you can use other Google gadgets through it. So it can store documents, have community files. You can limit the access to your set users, who can view only or have owner-rights. You can check out the various applications a product like this could be used for here.

Sites I've come across recently: The StartUp Blog at PartnerUp , with common-sense pieces such as "An Introvert’s Guide to Networking" and "Delegating Work: Don’t Panic, Everything Will Be Fine". The Entrepreneurial Mind , affiliated with Belmont University's Center for Entrepreneurship. Also, Alltop , actually a gateway to business blogs of the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business, Entrepreneur magazine and many more. Not a blog, but a how-to site: My Own Business , "An Entrepreneurial Guide for both Start-ups and Operating Businesses."

I came across this site earlier this week, featuring articles written (and podcasts recorded by) the faculty at the Wharton School of Business. I don't pretend to understand the entirety of the ripple effect of recent events, so I went here looking for a primer. Here's some of the articles found there: * Will the Levee Break? An Ocean of Bad Debt Rises despite Government Rescues * After the Bailout: How Can the Fed Clean Up the Fannie and Freddie Mess? * Eyes on the Wrong Prize: Leadership Lapses That Fueled Wall Street's Fall * Note to Investors: Don't Play Games with Asset Allocation I've read a few. I'm still not an expert, but it's helped me understand some of the issues a bit better.

While most of the research we provide here at the Research Network centers around industry data and information, sometimes we are asked to provide research regarding a certain occupation. One of the common requests we recieve when asked about a specific occupation is the average salary. A website that I use to find salary data based on location, experience and education is Salary Expert . For more salary information, I also use the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Outlook Handbook .

Here's the text to a recent interview (" Main Street Spared ?") by Reuters with William Dunkelberg, the chief economist for the National Federation of Independent Businesses (as well as chairman of a small commercial bank serving southern New Jersey). He doesn't see recent developments on Wall Street, as well those with AIG, as having any immediate effect on small business owners in the U.S. Some of the reader comments at the bottom of the page don't agree with him. What are your clients saying?