New York SBDC Research Network

Every business owner knows that during a recession, it is difficult for any business to maintain previous levels of income. But after a recession ends, how does a company bounce back? Below are some articles that offer tips and success stories that will help your business exit the recession prepared for the turn around. 9% of Companies Emerge from the Recession Stronger - Here's How (BNET - Harvard Business) How to Reach an Audience Forever Changed by the Recession (Chief Marketer)

It’s all well and good to talk about the best business uses of Facebook and the best strategies for creating Facebook Fan Pages. But pictures and examples are worth a thousand words. That’s why this piece from Mashable is particularly helpful: 5 Fantastic Facebook Fan Page Ideas to Learn From Some tips: You can have a great looking fan page, but your fans are still going to want to DO something. Good example: Gap’s Baby Gap tab encourages parents to post pictures of their Gap-clad tykes. Remember that fans want to get something useful from your Page. You can customize your landing page to spell out the reasons to become a fan (like prizes!), just like Walgreens. If you’re not sure how to build a custom landing page for your Fan page, just follow the links to this article, How to Build a Facebook Landing Page for Your Business .

Take The Test . Twenty questions you need to ask yourself. Developed by Babson College professor Daniel Isenberg, this piece is from The View from Harvard Business . *** This is rather entrepreneurial: Caring for Pets Left Behind by the Rapture For a fee, this service will place your dog or cat in the home of a caring atheist on Judgment Day. By Mike Di Paola, Bloomburg Business Week Many people in the U.S.—perhaps 20 million to 40 million—believe there will be a Second Coming in their lifetimes, followed by the Rapture . In this event, they say, the righteous will be spirited away to a better place while the godless remain on Earth. But what will become of all the pets? Bart Centre, 61, a retired retail executive in New Hampshire, says many people are troubled by this question, and he wants to help. He started a service called Eternal Earth-Bound Pets that promises to rescue and care for animals left behind by the saved. (Hat tip to Steve Bissette .)

If you are a business in the renewable energy industry or your business has been looking for renewable energy company, then I suggest you bookmark The Source for Renewable Energy , "a comprehensive buyers guide and business directory to more than 16,000 renewable energy businesses and organizations worldwide". There are many different types of renewable energy businesses that have no clear NAICS or SIC code yet. With no clear classification code, it is difficult to create business lists using our business directory databases. The Source for Renewable Energy allows searchers to "locate renewable energy businesses by geographic location, by product type, by business type and by name, or search for renewable energy businesses using keywords". For example, I could create a list of US Electric Vehicle Battery Manufacturers, a list of US Renewable Energy Trade Associations by Business Name, or a list of Ocean Energy System Component Businesses in the World. As yet, I have...

I still get faxes, a technology that I'd given up for dead. Mind you, most of these are "blast" faxes, promoting fabulous six-day cruises, or great breaks on group health insurance. (In response to this sentence, we'll now likely get "blast" email comments.) Surely, I'm not alone, and this recent article from National Underwriter proves that. It quotes extensively from recent comments made by the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud , stating that small businesses, self-employed individuals, and recently-uninsured people are targeted by plans that prove to be ineffective or worthless. Periods of high unemployment are especially vulnerable times for those in need, making these scams even more reprehensible. A money quote: "Typically, the Coalition said, bogus plans promise full health coverage, affordable premiums, and easy signup regardless of preexisting conditions. Victims often must join a fake trade association or union. This ploy, it was exp...

The Microbusiness Research Institute (MRI)is an organization dedicated to examining the realities and challenges facing the smallest businesses. "Over eighty percent of the growth in the number of businesses in the United States between 1992 and 2002 came from a surge in the number of microbusinesses (firms with fewer than five employees). Right now, more than nine in ten U.S. firms are microbusinesses." There are white papers available on the site including one called Microbusiness and the Human Economy There is also a Profile of Microbusiness .

Looking for licensed purveyors of alcohol in New York State? I found my Reference USA search for wholesalers surprisingly unsatisfactory. Then I went to the source, the New York State Liquor Authority's web page. Specifically, the Public Query System is quite useful. One can search by: premises name or the trade name. license serial number. location of the premises. name of the principal for the license. One can also use the Advance Search Find a license according to the City, County, Zip Code, Dates, License Category (on-premise, off-premise, wholesale) and License Status. You may also download the search results, though I had more luck with the Excel than the text, which formatted strangely. A peculiarity in the system, though, is that out-of-state registrants all show up in the records for Albany County. Thus, the 690 cureent wholesale records are not actually applicable to Albany County.