New York SBDC Research Network

From the website: 411SmallBusinessFacts.com is a searchable data base of approximately 2,000 facts about American small businesses and their owners (or managers) produced by the NFIB Research Foundation. The Foundation developed this information from telephone surveys of small employers – those employing from one person in addition to the owner(s) to 250. Data collection began in 2001 and continues through the present. The data are gathered regularly for a series of publications known as NFIB’s National Small Business Poll. New Poll data are added to 411SmallBusinessFacts.com eight times annually. The small business facts presented in the data base address a wide range of subject matter and include material which typically cannot be found in other sources. You can do a quick search, but it's easier to search by keyword, category, or poll. From HillSearch.org : If you're looking for a centralized location to access government forms, try Forms.gov . Forms.gov provides access

An article titled " Perform Due Diligence on Potential Investors " appeared recently on Business Week's website. Its author (Tom Taulli) reminds those pursuing venture capital and/or angel financing that, despite current lending conditions, there's still an obligation to review the qualifications and histories of potential investors. Just because traditional lending sources have tightened is no reason to act desperate, and give away too much during negotiations. Several suggestions are then offered as to what "due diligence" should be done. In addition to these, I recommend these two sites (both of which I've recommended in previous blog posts): 1) TheFunded (written about here on 5/21/07) 2) Punctuative - the Venture Capital Database (written about here on 8/6/08) Both sites are useful in that they enable those seeking investment to comment, critique, and/or condemn the performance of some funds out there. A little background, then, can only help.

We’ve had some nice articles in the national press recently. In case you missed them, here’s a few of the pieces: Entrepreneurs turn to small business centers for free help Geri Kavanah, Jerry Kobre and Tom Morley of the Rockland SBDC (and Tee Rowe, the new CEO at ASBDC) are all featured in this USA Today piece. When the CEO heads back to the mail room Our beloved State Director, Jim King highlights the importance of being a hands-on owner, and staying familiar with many aspects of business operation for CNNMoney.com. Staff cuts: 'This was the last resort' Lucille Wesnofske, Director of the Farmingdale Small Business Development Center discusses the efforts of small business owners to hold on to their staff during difficult economic periods (also at CNNMoney.com). I’ll use this as an opportunity to remind you all to send me an email (and a link when possible) when your center is in the news! If you'd like to see more NYS SBDC press, check out this page on our website: h

So much of effective marketing is just good timing. I think it is the difference between the waitress coming over while you are mid-bite to ask how satisfied you are with your meal and receiving a call or a reminder card at just the time you would need the nudge. I called a pest control service in the summer and they came and did their thing. Last week, I received a call asking if there was anything else they could do for the fall or winter service. I hesitated over a wasp's nest but that call made the difference. Unlike the politicians who inundate their audience with so many posters and sorry-we-missed-you cards that you can't stand the sight of them, an infrequent but well-timed mailing can be very effective.

The NYS SBDC Central office has been getting an inordinate number of pre-recorded phone calls lately. Many of them are apparently random-number generated and have messages that start: "We're pleased to let you know that you are eligible for our debt reduction service..." Quoting Simon & Garfunkel: "And blah, blah, blah." Since someone has recently asked us about how to build their credit, here are some do's and don'ts. DO establish credit by getting at least one credit card. DO choose a credit card wisely . DON'T, if you do get into credit difficulty, hide the overdue bills in a drawer, but rather talk with your creditors. DO get your credit report . You can get it for free . DO dispute credit report errors - yes, they do make mistakes, especially if your name is common. DON'T believe claims such as "We can erase your bad credit — 100% guaranteed" . DON'T try to hide unfavorable credit information by establishing a new credit

Last month, the Economic Research Service (part of the US Department of Agriculture) released a 33-page report titled " Marketing U.S. Organic Foods ". It spells out the continued growth in demand in the U.S. for organically-grown products. It identifies which distribution channels have proven the most successful for farmers to pursue, but also notes that supply sometimes cannot keep up with demand. An interesting read for our organically-minded clients.

The research network at the NYSSBDC has updated a document that can be used as a guide and information source for our clients in today's rough economy. Originally created in July 2008, this is the fifth version of the paper. The guide combines facts and figures regarding the current state of the economy as well as tips and strategies for surviving in down times. In order to create the document, we visited major and business news websites and found the most recent articles and blogs that are applicable to our client base. We would be happy to send the document to any advisor or NYSSBDC employee who requests a copy. Feel free to call, email, or leave a comment and we will send you what we are calling the "white paper".