New York SBDC Research Network

About a week after Google announced its plan to launch an open-source operating system, Microsoft announced it will launch a “free version of its dominant Office software that users can access over the Web,” according to Jim Finkle’s article from www.wired.com . The web-based operating systems and applications will allow users to create, store and share information quicker and for less money. This is a great concept but there may be a downside. Is there enough bandwidth to support more people accessing the Internet and more people participating in bandwidth-demanding activities?

Is small business the key to the economic recovery? Past recessions have shown that small business tends to bounce back quicker than big business. Individuals who have been laid-off or fired turn to entrepreneurship to get back into the workforce, in turn creating more jobs and more money for the economy. In my opinion, small business bounces back quicker due to a resiliency that big business does not have. Small business tends to weather difficult times better than big businesses. These points lead to the conclusion that small business IS the key to an economic turnaround. Below is information that supports my opinion. Will Small Business Lead the Jobs Recovery? Why Small Business Will Win in this Economy Small Businesses Most Likely to Lead Economic Recovery Small Business Role in Economic Recovery

Last week, I heard a really interesting story on NPR. As part of a series on legislating, lobbying and money, NPR posted a photograph of a room full of lobbyists during a recent Senate session on health care reform on its website. The reporters then asked viewers to help identify faces in the crowd- to give names and organizations for the lobbyists in the room. Folks had a lot to say about how all these lobbyists made them feel about our legislative system, but they also provided many of these names, a process NPR identified as “crowd sourcing.” Check out the story and the interactive image here . "Crowdsourcing" is a new term for me, but not for many in the business world. According to Wikipedia , crowdsourcing is “the act of taking a task traditionally performed by an employee or contractor, and outsourcing it to an undefined, generally large group of people or community in the form of an open call.” Now usually, I wouldn’t turn to Wikipedia for a definition, but in this ca

There is a great deal of great information on the NYFA website for artists: job listings, grants opportunities, goings-on. Added to that are podcasts (video presentation vignettes) on a variety of subjects of interest to artists. There is one in particular that most artists would find useful: Protecting Your Art with Paper: Consignment Agreements, Invoices, and Other Basic Legal Forms and another entitled How to Get through the Recession . In the Business of Art area, artists can find advice on finding funding, legal guidance, web marketing, NYS tax issues, and exhibiting or performing. You can also find affordable seminars on the grant process.

An SBDC client is considering forming a corporation to operate his potential business. By incorporating, will he lose eligibility for the NYS unemployment benefits he is now collecting? What if the corporation is dormant for a period of time as he get his business together - can he collect benefits during this start-up period? The answer is...it depends: From http://www.labor.state.ny.us/ui/claimantinfo/beforeyouapplyfaq.shtm Q: What if I want to start my own business? A: Notify the Telephone Claims Center before you take any steps to start a business. Unless you are enrolled in the Self Employment Assistance Program (SEAP), these activities may result in the loss of unemployment insurance benefits. For more information on SEAP, click here . You are considered to be employed if you are engaged in operating or starting a business either by yourself, with a partner or in a corporate arrangement. Time spent during the day or evening or on weekends preparing to start or actually operating

Last May, the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics released Motorcycle Trends in the United States . While I'm not sure how many of our clients are venturing into the currently-dicey transportation market, this report would provide them with current data on sales (in units), demographics, accident figures, and registration figures. If you do have a client, send them this link. Helmet is optional.

"Speed, simplicity and security are the key aspects of the Google Chrome OS according to Google's blog Post, " Introducing the Google Chrome OS ." "Google positioned the new Chrome Operating System as the 'natural extension' of Chrome, the Internet browser Google introduced to acclaim in 2008 and which now has 30 million users" according to " Google vs. Microsoft: Net giant readies own operating system ," a USA Today article. Google Chrome OS is an open-source operating system with clear goals: provide easy, fast access to the Internet, where computer users spend a lot of time. Google plans to release the open-source code later this year and the operating system might be seen on netbooks in 2010.

You've probably seen some silly or entertaining tidbit on youtube but the amount of truly useful information on there is growing. I was happy to find a demonstration of how to put my lawnmower together after I re-read the instructions and still wasn't clear on what they wanted me to do. I searched for the brand on youtube and up popped a video showing the thing. When I wanted to understand how cement patios were repaired I could watch someone talk through the process and explain the differences between the different products. It is a great resource for businesses to demonstrate how a product is used or assembled. Instead of leaving a help desk number as the only recourse when there is a problem, a web address for an informational video might be more useful. Complementary health practitioners could show how ear candling or neti pots work or a autobody work specialist can demonstrate how they remove dents. Instructional videos can be another loop in the business-owner's marke

Did you know that most entrepreneurs were married and had children when they started their businesses? Would you guess that a little more than half of new business owners had interest in becoming entrepreneurs during their college years? How about that the average birth order of entrepreneurs is 2.2 and the average number of siblings is 3.1? These are just some of the interesting factoids from the July 2009 Kauffman report, “ The Anatomy of an Entrepreneur : Family Background and Motivation .” This study examined the backgrounds, life histories and motivations of 549 company founders from a variety of industries, generating a different perspective on today’s entrepreneur . But what’s the future of entrepreneurialism in the U.S.? We’re counting on small businesses to help us out of the recession, but the age distribution of our population is getting older. What’s going to happen to entrepreneurialism in this country when there are fewer young people to start businesses? Do

"What was once known colloquially as Cash for Clunkers has been given the official government name of CARS – Car Allowance Rebate System . As soon as President Obama signed the bill, scammers were already thinking up ways to take advantage of the system. Here’s an explanation of how the new law works and how you can take advantage of it legally." Also From the official website - primary color, not shockingly, is green. While the CARS Act makes transactions on and after July 1 potentially eligible for credits under the CARS program, interested dealers and consumers may want to wait until all of the detailed issues that must be addressed in the implementing regulations are resolved and the final rule is issued. Issuance will occur around July 23. Important Things to Know *Your vehicle must be less than 25 years old on the trade-in date *Only purchase or lease of new vehicles qualify *Generally, trade-in vehicles must get 18 or less MPG (some very large pick-up trucks and cargo

For many months after learning about the social networking tool Twitter, I failed to see its benefit for small business owners. I have since developed a new outlook on Twitter and its usefulness. In the past, when I discovered information that was not only incredibly pertinent to our clients and business advisors but also time-sensitive, I would ponder ways to distribute the information in a useful and timely manner. Now I "tweet". Below are articles that will help you "tweet" to the maximum effect. How to Tweet to be Useful, Helpful, and Get Re-Tweeted" Social Media is How You Need to Communicate A Businessperson's Guide to Using Twitter

I read an article in USA Today Written by Edward C. Baig, " Google vs. Bing: Bing holds its own in search-off ." In the article, Baig compares Bing and Google and identifies some pros and cons of each. He admitted he " Googled 'Bing versus Google'" but it did not occur to him to Bing the search. It seems Google users are conditioned; Googling is a way of life. It is, after all, a verb in the Merriam-Webster dictionary . When Bing entered the playing field, about a month ago, I ignored it due to my instinct to Google and my comfort with Google's familiarity. After reading Baig's article, I decided to take a closer look at Bing. To start, I Binged "Bing versus Google" and came across www.google-vs-bing.com . This site offers a side by side comparison of each search engine for users. After some time on both Google and Bing, Bing is starting to grow on me. I prefer the layout of Bing over Google; it is easy to navigate with fewer

Inc. Magazine has a tool called the Profitability Report or How Does Your Company Stack Up?, a calculator to determine whether or not your company is measuring up as compared to their compiled financial data on privately held companies across a number of industries. Put in your annual revenue and it will calculate what your numbers should look like. If you click on any of the industry links, it will run down gross profit margin, EBITDA margin, return on equity/assets, accounts receivable days, operating profit/sales. It is guide created by Sageworks who do benchmarks for private companies.

"Do I love books or do I love reading?" That's the question Ann Kirschner asks herself in this piece, " Reading Dickens Four Ways " published in the Chronicle of Higher Education. When discussing Little Dorrit in her book club, the author decides to experience the book in four ways: paperback, audiobook , Kindle, and iPhone. You'll have to read the article to discover her preferences, but what are yours? This discussion also reminds me of how we get information out to you all - how do you like to read what we send? How about your clients? I've done a lot of reading from the computer screen (grad school = no money for printing articles I only needed once), but not everyone is comfortable with that. Do you have the capability of just saving a few of the PDFs we send instead of the whole package? You probably do, but if you're not sure how, please give us a call. Do you find that you're printing out a lot of information for less techno- s

Each of the 94 federal judicial districts handles bankruptcy matters, and in almost all districts, bankruptcy cases are filed in the bankruptcy court. But if you were trying to figure out which court had jurisdiction over which county in states that have more than one court, such as New York, which has four, you won't find the info in the bankruptcy section, only an annoyingly overbroad map. Instead, look in the general federal district court section where you'll find this link for all counties in a district. The Eastern is Long Island plus three NYC boroughs. The Southern is Manhattan, Bronx up to Dutchess, but not Ulster County. The Northern extends due north of there. The Western is the, er, western part of the state.

Here's an interesting article from a researcher who also founded two different tech firms. He argues that, in certain industries, getting venture capital funding for startup firms isn't all that it's cracked up to be. Even if the funding helps a business achieve its self-identified funding goal, there's pressure inherent in receiving the money - pressure to hire an A-list (and expensive) staff, and pressure to produce *right now* (in lieu of pursuing long-term growth). He argues that there's virtue in being undercapitalized, in that it forces a company's management team to be that much more creative (and honest) in what it needs to kick-start growth. I cite this article because, as I've written recently, we've seen a bump in the number of requests seeking venture capital firms for our clients. There are certainly merits in seeking out this type of financing. However, obvious as it might sound, have your clients be careful what they wish for.

The sun is shining (finally), the grass is plush and as green as green gets, and now is the perfect time to grab a book and head to your local beach, lake, river, or pool. Below are lists of great reads for you to bring with you when you go. Summer Reading for Business Students - For the perpetual student at heart. 100 Best Business Books of All Time 5 (More) Great Books on Entrepreneurship 2009 Summer Reading Lists for AbeBooks.com - For thos of you who would like to spend your down time not thinking about business. Enjoy your summer reading!

I was reading an article about how Booz Allen & Hamilton have created an "Enterprise Facebook" social networking site called Hello for their employees that is enjoying a high adoption rate. Years ago I worked for BAH and they were very forward thinking in the area of knowledge management with information professionals dedicated to developing a system for sharing expertise. They also had a very simple tool that I've wished for in other jobs - they used to have a ring-bound, paper, book with a page for each employee, with a photograph, a brief resume and contact details. Such a simple tool that was so useful. I can see how this early face book could develop into an intranet maintained by the individuals with the infromation they wish to share - personal profiles, wikis, RSS feeds, blogs, or potentially a list of publications that consultant has been involved in creating, skills, etc. Many organizations have intranets but I wonder if those begun recently giving users

Today we have two bits of Twitter /social media news for you: From USAToday: “ Businesses use Twitter to communicate with customers ” We all know that many companies are on Twitter. But what are they doing there? This article provides some nice examples: Comcast let viewers know that their cable coverage of the Stanley cup was interrupted by a lightning storm in Atlanta, Dell says they’ve sold more than $2 million in PCs through their @DellOutlet Twitter account (with over 710,000 followers) since 2007, and a variety of companies use Twitter for problem solving consumer questions and/or complaints. But what about the CEOs? Are they tweeting for their brand? If they are included in Fortune's list of the top 100 CEOs, probably not. According to a report from UberCEO , only 2 in the top 100 had personal Twitter accounts. While there is some discussion about how these leaders are missing opportunities to increase their own visibility and communicate with their customers, there’s also t

I happened to answer the phones one Friday afternoon and someone, who had been obviously been talking to other people, wanted a definitive answer to a simple question, "How is a small business defined?" I said, "Well, it depends." If we're talking about New York State law, then you'll want to look for the state laws under COM: Economic Development Law, Article 4-B, § 131. Definition of a small business. For the purposes of this chapter, a small business shall be deemed to be one which is resident in this state, independently owned and operated, not dominant in its field and employs one hundred or less persons. But if we're talking federal law, it's a bit more complicated. If one were to look at TITLE 13 of the Code of Federal Regulations, one would want to go to Part 121--SMALL BUSINESS SIZE REGULATIONS , with a plethora of information about the process. Still, for the bottom line, go to §121.201: What size standards has SBA identified by North Amer