New York SBDC Research Network

Do you want to know more about what you can do as a business owner during times of economic downturn? Below are links to articles with solutions and guidelines on how to survive and possibly thrive during the current financial crisis. Congressional Research Services: Economic Slowdown - Issues and Policies (PDF File) Entrepreneur.com: Surviving a Slowing Economy National Federation of Independent Business: Ten Ways to Reject the Recession and Build a Thriving Business Business Week: Surviving the Storm Small Business Trends: Four Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make in a Recession WomenEntrepreneur.com: Surviving an Economic Downturn

The Bed & Breakfast/Country Inns Industry Study of Operations and Finance 2007-2008 Professional Association of Innkeepers International Table of Contents Introduction About the Study Glossary of Terms Regions Chart of Accounts Bed & Breakfast Inns Inns and Innkeepers - industry study (2006 data) Bed & Breakfast Inn Amenities Bed & Breakfast Inn Occupancy & ADR Bed & Breakfast Inn Employees Bed & Breakfast inn - Income Statements Country Inns Inns & Innkeepers - industry study Country Inn Amenities Country Inn Occupancy & Avergae Rate Country Inn Restaurants Country Inn Employees Counutry Inn - Income Statements Capital Expenditures Renovation Cost Business of Art An Artist's Guide to Profitable Self-Employment Table of Contents Preface Introduction Center for Cultural Innovation Chapter 1: Work Like an Artist, Think Like an Entrepreneur Chapter 2: Getting the Most Out of the Public Relations Chapter 3: Managing Money...

How do you spot trends? What do you do about trends once they've been spotted? How will the financial crisis affect these trends and impact your business ? (For more answers to the latter, also check out this post from Alexis .) These are just some of the issues Trendwatching .com addresses in it's November briefing . A few weeks ago they asked readers to send in their questions, and they've set about to answer 15 of them. Among other things, they link to their trend watching tips , and their checklist of trendwatching tools , as well as updating some recently spotted trends in the face of our current economic situation. Some of their updated trend predictions: Indulgences? Big ones are out, small ones are in. Free stuff? People like free stuff, but advertising-supported businesses may suffer. Eco-chic? Look to " eco -cheap," efficiency and waste-reduction.

On a listserv I monitor, I saw a post about someone receiving notice that he or she had been given an award by the US Local Business Association . the question was, "Is this a VALID organization? or a 'scam' to get companies to buy their award plaque?" Frankly, I didn't want to spend an inordinate amount of time on the question, since it wouldn't count in my monthly statistics,. But I did venture to the Better Business Bureau website, went to the national page, and found this about USLBA: The BBB does not have a current report on this company, which means it has not had frequent enough inquiries or a reason to open a file. The red flags that the BBB sees with this organization's pitch are: *There is no way to contact this company other than via email. *Web site domain registration information is privately registered via Go Daddy. We consider this to be a red flag. *Organization states that you have been awarded, and then presents you with the option of p...

I've written about state rankings from the Milken Institute before. Here's another one, called the State Technology and Science Index . Published last June, this is their third version of this survey (they do it every four years). The survey attempts to rank each state by its level of investment and commitment to high technology and science. To understand how they do this, it's easier to quote from their site: "The State Technology and Science Index looks at 77 unique indicators that are categorized into five major components: * Human Capital Investment * Research and Development Inputs * Risk Capital and Entrepreneurial Infrastructure * Technology and Science Work Force * Technology Concentration and Dynamism" As you'll notice, New York ranks 15th in their list. This is where we ranked in 2004. Massachusetts ranks 1st, and they've held that spot in each of these surveys. If you click on New York on the map, you'll see a breakdown of where we rank am...

As a librarian, I am a voracious reader of all types of books. Although lately I have been on a James Patterson reading spree, every now and then I love an informative, non-fiction book. Booklist Online has published a list of the Top 10 Business Books of 2008 and although these are not the type of books that need to be purchased for a reference library, they may be of interest to our clientele that would like to learn about the history of business and some of the more successful businesses in the past, present, and future.

There are a few things you can do on Google to save a few steps: Type the airline and flight number into the search box and you can go straight to the departure and arrival times. Find out the currency exchange amount: type in 80 dollars in danish kroner and presto. This works for other measurements/conversions as well. The same goes for shipping tracking numbers. Type in temp in San Francisco and it will give you the latest. Type in a ticker in the search box and get price information. Try using your airport code: ALB airport and you can see local conditions. Use an area code to get a map of the area. Type define and the word you are looking up and you can get a quick definition. Use Google Image Search to gather information about a subject; like, for instance, looking up a name when you are not sure of the gender of the person holding it.