New York SBDC Research Network

Written by Peter J. Cazamias  Article from Small Business Administration Recently the United States Government announced several new tariff increases. The U.S. Department of Commerce implemented tariffs on steel and aluminum imports for national security reasons.  Separately, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced tariffs to combat unfair trade practices on certain Chinese goods. Additional tariffs on a larger list of goods from China are expected in the future.  Small businesses should become familiar with what imported products are impacted to make informed business decisions as tariffs could increase the total cost of certain imported goods.  What are tariffs? Tariffs are a taxes, levies, or duties on a particular category of imports. These fees are charged as a percentage of the price of an imported good paid for by a U.S. buyer. These charges are collected by U.S. Custom and Border Protection agents at all U.S. ports of entry.  Ho...

Written by Adam Grundy Article from US Census Bureau You could look at the total number of establishments in the United States using just the U.S. Census Bureau’s County Business Patterns (CBP) data. But if you did, you would only be getting a partial view of the economic landscape. That’s because CBP only provides data on businesses that have employees on their payroll. But, in 2016, only 23.8 percent of the 32,570,855 establishments in the United States had paid employees. That means the remaining 76.2 percent of establishments were nonemployers or establishments that don’t have any paid employees. And those data come from the 2016 Nonemployer Statistics (NES). The majority of all business establishments in the United States are nonemployers, yet these nonemployer establishments average less than 4 percent of all sales and receipts nationally. So, to get a full picture of U.S. businesses in 2016, you have to look at both CBP and NES data programs. The U.S. Census Bureau...

Excerpt from an article by Krista Garcia To read more, visit  eMarketer "Based on the titles of two new studies, “Stress Shopping” and “Retail Nightmares,” it’s a sad state of affairs for shoppers, in-store and online. Emotions play a role in shopping behavior even if consumers don't think that they do. According to a recent survey of UK and US internet users by analytics firm Clicktale, 78% of respondents believe they are rational when they shop. Yet 40% said they shop to calm down, and 74% said they have "stress-shopped" in the past. Younger shoppers and women were more likely to engage in this behavior; 62% of those ages 16 to 24 stress-shop and women were 12% likelier than men to shop for this reason."

The principal author is Kathleen McCormick For the full report, go to the Urban Land Institute Inspired by a growing body of evidence that healthy buildings can have a positive effect on human health and real estate performance, as well as the corporate bottom line, this report highlights the key certification standards in use in the marketplace, explores recent research on the impact of health-promoting design, and offers profiles of five projects that have been early adopters of healthy building and workplace design and management practices. It reviews the evidence and profiles some early-adopter projects that have been shown—quantitatively and qualitatively—to have had a positive impact on people’s lives and companies’ finances through healthy building design, construction, and management. The emphasis on health and wellness is a growing global phenomenon. The global wellness real estate industry, valued at $134 billion in 2017, has increased 6.4 percent annually since 2015...

Excerpt from an article by Arihant Patni To read more, visit  LinkedIn "Managing Director at Hive Technologies Key employee retention is critical to the long-term health and success of your business. Retaining best employees ensures customer satisfaction, product sales, satisfied coworkers and reporting staff, effective succession planning and organizational knowledge and learning. As job hopping is increasingly becoming the norm, thanks in part to a workforce comprised of more millennial's who are likely to have twice as many jobs over their lifetimes as their predecessors, the baby boomers, let’s take a look at some key takeaways on how you can retain your best employees. Financial stability motivates people to stay in a job, that’s human nature. Apart from this, health care and insurance concerns also add to the list. What you offer your employees must be comparable to other businesses in your industry."

An offer for the free eBook "Step-By-Step Guide To Creating A Winning Email Marketing Campaign" From ThomasNet Email marketing is one of the best ways to connect with prospects and grow your business. However, it takes a lot of planning and preparation to get it right. "Whether you are new to email marketing and want to set up your first campaign, or if you’ve been doing it awhile but need to improve your results, this step-by-step guide will help you achieve winning results. - Learn the best way to build your contact list - Find out how to choose the email platform that's right for you - Get expert writing and design tips - Find out about different tools and apps that can make your job easier And more."

Excerpt from an article by Remie Arena To read more, visit  eMarketer "A global survey by marketing platform Hubspot found that among a variety of emerging concepts, cryptocurrencies and their underlying technology, blockchain, leave the most people scratching their heads. Interestingly, though, those surveyed seemed to perceive that blockchain and cryptocurrencies were not one in the same, because while more than one-quarter of respondents called cryptocurrencies overhyped, only 10% said the same about blockchain. Two other emerging technologies that were also fairly widely perceived as being overhyped were driverless cars and artificial intelligence (AI). In fact, the survey found that half of respondents did not expect AI to ever have an impact on their jobs."