New York SBDC Research Network

It will be interesting to see how innovators rethink how we do things that are currently in a state of flux. Improvements seem to come in stages, with a departure from how things have always been done (or not done) and the sometimes awkward stages before a new workable solution comes about. How we keep in touch, how we form communities, how we buy and enjoy music - all of these things are changing and perhaps we have not reached a long lasting solution yet. They are still in development. you have the converts, the skeptics, and at some point, we turn the corner and there is a new way of doing things that everyone just has to accept until the next sea change. This article making the rounds is an example of an innovation that looks promising: State of the Art A Simple Swipe on a Phone, and You’re Paid By DAVID POGUE Published: September 29, 2010 Of course, other places, cell phone users have found it commonplace to pay via their cellphones. This service offers another option for getting ...

In an email I received earlier this week from Portfolio.com , I read an article that taught me a lot about online coupon websites. Titled Coupon Clipped , the article discusses business owners and the mixed feelings they have about coupon sites. The article tells an interesting story about the business owner of a spa who posted a 60% off coupon for a hot stone massage to the coupon website Groupon . Within 24 hours, he sold 1,288 of the deals, exceeding his expectations and the expectations of "the trendy national couponing site". While the increase in sales was a good thing, the business was almost overwhelmed by the number of appointments made. The bottom line - advertising on a coupon website might be good for business, maybe even too good.

Includes extension of successful SBA Recovery loan programs, tax credits, other support for small business growth, job creation WASHINGTON – SBA Administrator Karen Mills today issued the following statement regarding the passage of the Small Business Jobs and Credit Act by the U.S. House of Representatives: “Today’s vote by the House to send the Small Business Jobs and Credit Act to the President for his signature is a key step forward in making sure small businesses have the resources they need to do what they do best – create jobs and drive economic growth. This bill includes billions in tax cuts specifically targeted to small businesses so they can put more of their own resources into growing their business. At the same time, this bill ensures those very businesses have access to the capital they need by extending SBA’s successful Recovery loan enhancements and putting local, community banks in a position to be a real partner for small businesses and entrepreneurs. This bill is t...

The exemption from New York State sales tax for clothing and footwear under $110 has been eliminated, for the period October 1, 2010, through March 31, 2011 . Beginning October 1, 2010, clothing and footwear costing less than $110 will be subject to the 4% New York State sales and use tax and, if applicable, the ⅜% tax in the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation District (MCTD) downstate. Local sales tax rates are not affected. This means: For jurisdictions that did not enact an exemption from the local sales tax, all sales of clothing and footwear are subject to the full state and local sales tax. For jurisdictions that provided for this exemption, only the New York State tax (and MCTD tax, if applicable) will be charged. These counties: Broome, Chautauqua, Chenango, Columbia, Delaware, Greene, Hamilton, Madison, Schuyler, Tioga County, Wayne will charge only the 4% state sales tax. New York City businesses will charge 4⅜% (the combined state tax and MCTD rate). *** The Office of th...

The key to providing good industry research is knowing where to look. Sometimes I start doing research on an industry and am not sure where to start looking. I have found the website ValuationResources.com to be incredibly helpful when I have difficulty locating information. According to the site, "ValuationResources.com is a free guide to business valuation resources, industry and company information, economic data, and more. Designed as a comprehensive resource guide for business appraisers, the site's audience includes a broad mix of business owners, professionals, students, and other parties interested in business valuation and industry information." Although the information listed in the guide isn't always available free of charge, knowing where to find the information is a step in the right direction. For resource guides specific to a particular industry, see Industry Information Resources , which covers more than 400 individual industries in the following ...

Products made in New York generate comparatively high levels of wages and spinoff economic activity, according to a new report prepared by the Rockefeller Institute for the Manufacturing Research Institute of New York State. Even after recent losses, the state ranks sixth in the nation in total manufacturing jobs, according to the report. Including other jobs that depend on manufacturing, the sector supports one in three payroll dollars in much of upstate New York. Yet New York City is the largest single center of manufacturing in the state, with more than 81,000 jobs and $4.2 billion of payroll in 2009. In economic terms, the wealth created and added to the economy through manufacturing processes represented 52.7 percent of the total value of products shipped from New York in 2008, compared to 41.5 percent nationally. The state’s largest manufacturing sector, computers and electronic products, employs nearly 65,000 New Yorkers, with total payroll of $5.5 billion and average salaries ...

Tad Hargrave is a self-described "hippy who developed a knack for marketing," and started Marketing For Hippies . From the site: We work with good businesses. That could mean: “green business”, local business, sustainable business, social entrepreneurs, holistic practitioners, life-affirming and otherwise conscious entrepreneurs. I find that, for the most part, they keep ‘meaning’ to handle their marketing but are a bit ‘allergic’ to notions of sales, marketing and self-promotion. They think it’s kind of gross. They look at what many of the bigger names in ‘conscious wealth’ do and secretly hate it (but sometimes do it because they think it’s the only way to grow their business). A lot of them have sort of given up hope that there’s any way to market what they do that resonates with them and feels in integrity. I found this guy through an e-mail someone sent me a link to Building a Customer Psychographic Profile . "Many entrepreneurs make the mistake of defining their ta...