New York SBDC Research Network

By FranchiseKing (Joel Libava), SBA Guest Blogger Do you ever have ideas for a new business running through your head? I do. Most of the business ideas I come up with nowadays are marketing-related. It’s probably because I own a business and I’m always thinking of ways to market my services and products. But, once in a while, I come up with an idea that’s bigger than just a marketing tool. An Idea For A Franchise Many years ago, I don’t remember how many, exactly, I came up with an idea for a retail store. It was an idea that I was able to easily visualize-and still could today. I even had a name for the store. Stores plural, actually. I envisioned lots of stores. Franchises even. My idea was a niche-clothing store, for men, women and children. The name of the store: Just Socks. The business would specialize in one thing-you guessed it, socks. The latest search on Google revealed that as of today, the only business with that name is a little shop located in Perth, Aust...

In Mangawhai, located in the New Zealand countryside, lies a beautiful olive grove. This grove is the site of a family-run business that plants, grows, and harvests these olives and then uses them to manufacture premium quality extra virgin olive oil. This is the home of Divinity Olives, a company run by married couple Michael and Leanne Chinnery. The business, which also makes their own balsamic vinegar and strawberry compote, is streamlined and focused; with a small number of products and an even smaller team, the quality of the product takes top priority. Divinity currently sells their products in over 50 stores and online, and business is growing. I spoke with Michael about their experience, of raising their three kids while being entrepreneurs; and for Michael, of holding down a full-time day job as well. He also recounts which decisions were instrumental in his success, and what inspires him about not just the olive oil business, but New Zealand entrepreneurship in general. ...

By  Eileen Sánchez , SBA Official Small business owners often tell us that they have many questions about how to enter a new market - and those questions are magnified when it comes to doing business with Cuba.  There have been several changes to the bilateral relationship in recent months, and, to address your questions, I hope that you will join SBA Administrator Contreras-Sweet and other senior officials on July 29 at 4:00 p.m. ET to discuss the opportunities that exist for exporting to Cuba. Today’s re-establishment of diplomatic relations with Cuba and reopening of embassies in Washington and Havana is an historic step marking the new direction in U.S.-Cuba relations announced by President Obama last December. This step was preceded by a series of significant measures: in January, the Departments of Commerce and Treasury amended their regulations to increase travel, trade and the free flow of information to and from Cuba.  In April, during the Summit of the A...

ust before the July 4th weekend, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo issued a press release on the state of tourism. The release covered tourism in its totality and did not address specific sectors like adventure tourism, winery tourism, historic tourism, and LGBT tourism, the four pillars of I Love NY promotions. It also did not differentiate between business, vacation, or shopping travelers. (Macy’s chief executive Terry Lundgren in 2013 called Macy’s “ a tourist place” with roughly 6,000,000 tourists a year). That being said, the number of travelers to the Empire State from elsewhere is impressive and the economic impact is substantial. The headline of the press release boldly declares: NYS Tourism Impact Exceeds $100 Billion Tourism Employment Increased By 16 Percent Since 2011 New York Remains Most Visited State by Overseas Travelers for 14th Year in a Row See more at New York History blog

This self-paced training exercise provides an introduction to securing information in a small business. Topics include: Defining cybersecurity; Explaining the importance of securing information through best cybersecurity practices; Identifying types of information that should be secured; Identifying the types of cyber threats; Defining risk management; and Listing best practices for guarding against cyber threats. Duration: 30 minutes Take the course HERE .

Retailers should be sure to register with the Tax Department and obtain a Certificate of Authority . "Your application (for a Certificate of Authority) will be processed, and, if approved, we'll mail your Certificate of Authority to you. You cannot legally make any taxable sales until you have received your Certificate of Authority." Based on the literature, I would HIGHLY recommend AGAINST using ZIP Codes alone for trying to determine sales tax, since ZIP Codes cross county boundaries. One needs to charge at the rate of the jurisdiction served . Is the item taxable? Probably . There are some free sales tax calculator online, e.g. TaxRates.com and Pitney Bowes for the US; NYS Tax Department and Earth Odyssey for New York only; there are undoubtedly others. And of course, there are paid sites, such as Strike Iron and the Sales Tax Clearinghouse . One can also Google sales tax calculator software and find a ton of these for sale. These, though, will not make t...

Wearable device awareness is high, but ownership—and purchase intent—remain low. Indeed, May 2015 polling by Altimeter Group found that just 7% of US internet users owned a wearable, and a March 2015 study by DigitasLBi put wearables penetration among internet users worldwide at 17%. What could urge consumers to take the plunge? When April 2015 polling by Chadwick Martin Bailey (CMB)—which found that six in 10 US smartphone owners were familiar to some extent with wearables—asked about the most desirable features, respondents stuck with three categories: fundamentals, health and point-of-sale payments—in other words, nothing overly fancy. See more at eMarketer