New York SBDC Research Network

Less companies are throwing holiday parties. Companies are planning their parties later in the year than usual. Companies are planning potlucks instead of hiring caterers. These are just a few of the methods that companies are using to save money this holiday season. Instead of scratching the holiday festivities altogether, read the below articles on ways to save money this holiday season while still celebrating with your employees and customers. Party Poopers - Holiday Parties Take a Hit in Hard Times Small Business - Partying simply with smaller events, iPods instead of DJs Small Businesses - Still giving holiday gifts to customers

NACS State of the Industry Report of 2008 Data New addition to our collection! "This comprehensive report provides the convenience and petroleum retailing industry with analysis of 2008 data and serves as a premier benchmarking resource." The 2008 edition does not include the CDROM unlike the 2007 edition but is still packed with lots of good data on the convenience store/forecourt and petroleum retailing industry.

Wait, there's a fee if I buy the tickets online or I stop by the box office ? Concert ticket handling costs are just one of the annoying ways that companies sneak in some profit-boosting fees into your bill. Cell phone plans, online airline tickets, and receiving a printed bill are all frequent offenders. According to a survey from the consumer privacy research group the Ponemon Institute, these "sneaky fees" add up to about $950 dollars a year for the average American. It's tricky to totally avoid these fees, but it's good to be on the lookout, and sometimes there are steps you can take to keep from paying. Read more in these two articles from PC World: Sneaky Fees Oct 27, 2009 Sneaky Fees: 7 New Ways You're Paying More Oct 28, 2008

From onlineclasses.org: If you’re preparing for a career in the business world, you’re undoubtedly devoting a lot of time and effort to your schoolwork, internships and networking. But keeping up with business news is equally important, and these websites can help you apply what you learn in class to real-world situations, from the stock market, to international business, to starting up your own company to social media marketing. Here are 100 best websites for your business news and know-how . The list includes General Media (Forbes, Fortune), Blogs (the Curious Capitalist), Social Media (Fast Pitch, PartnerUp), Stock Market and Finance (CNNmoney, Business Index), Entrepreneurship (Entrepreneurship.org, SBA), Business Education (Harvard Business Publishing, MIT Sloan School of Management), Tips, Tools and Tutorials (All Things Workplace, Business Owner’s Toolkit), Career (Penelope Trunk’s Brazen Careerist, Wisconsin School of Business Careers), and my favorite, of course, Green Busines

H1N1 is everywhere. By now, it is extremely likely that you know someone, or at least know of someone, that has contracted H1N1, or the swine flu. Getting the vaccine is not easy unless you are an individual that can be categorized as high-risk. Businesses are being faced with many decisions about how they should handle H1N1 if (some people might say when) it infects their business. Should managers send employees home that exhibit symptoms? What precautionary measures should be taken to alleviate the impact of the flu? How will employers know that their employee really has the flu and isn't lying to get time off? These and many other questions should be asked before the flu strikes. Below are links to resources on the H1N1 Flu and Small Business Preparedness. Guide - Planning for 2009 H1N1 Influenza: A Preparedness Guide for Small Business from Flu.gov Survey - Harvard School of Public Health National Survey of Businesses - Four-Fifths of Businesses Foresee Severe Problems Maint

Want your marketing efforts to reach moms on their iPhones ? There’s a new study , showing that mothers frequently let their children play with their phones , and use their phones to make purchasing decisions, particularly in price comparison, shopping list applications and locating the nearest store. Now I imagine that most of us are excellent and super-polite smartphone users, but just in case you need a refresher , if you must text during a holiday party, do it in the bathroom, and turn ‘em off during religious events, dates and social occasions .

A site I've come across only recently, but which may be of use to advisors and their clients without going to various locations. From the Census Bureau: USA Counties features over 6,500 data items for the United States, States and counties from a variety of sources. Files include data published for 2008 estimates and many items from the 2000 Census of Population and Housing, the 1990 census, the 1980 census and the 2002, 1997, 1992, 1987, 1982 and 1977 economic censuses. Information in USA Counties is derived from the following general topics: age, agriculture, ancestry, banking, building permits, business patterns, crime, earnings, education, elections, employment, government, health, households, housing, income, labor force, manufactures, population, poverty, retail trade, social programs, veterans, vital statistics, water use, and wholesale trade. Files contain a collection of data from the U. S. Census Bureau and other Federal agencies, such as the Bureau of Economic Analysis,

Last night, I watched the segment on "60 Minutes" that cast light on just how much vigilance is required to protect electronic sytems designed to operate critical financial, social and defense systems in this country (and elsewhere). It was sobering to watch, to say the least. News lives in an echo chamber, it seems. An article from last week's PCWorld dwelled on the proliferation of cyber theft into the world of small and medium-sized businesses and organizations. The bulk of the article focuses on the FBI's awareness of the growth in ACH (automated clearinghouse) fraud, where thieves manipulate online banking systems to create false payees, whereby significant sums can be then transferred out of the country by (sometimes unwitting) online payroll clearinghouse operations. Vigilance, again, is the key word here. Many of these scenarios unfold by an employee unknowingly triggering malware embedded into an email (the article cites the example of Microsoft sending out

I have read many articles dealing with the use of social media and employees. Some employees have been reprimanded and in some cases even fired for things they have said online about their workplace, pictures they have posted of them doing illegal activities, etc. The other day, I read an article about a boss who found himself in a sticky situation after posting pictures on his Facebook page of him attending the annual "weeklong anything-goes festival" Burning Man. The CEO of Joie de Vivre, a company that operates a collection of boutique hotels in California, posted pictures of himself (including one of him in a tutu) having a good time while off work. The reaction from his employees was less than favorable. In the end, he decided to keep the pictures online, despite the recommendations of some of his executive staff. It makes me wonder about rules for social media usage for both employees and the boss. Should your employer (or employees) dictate what you can and can't

I love that there is an association for just about everything. The National Association for Sick Child Daycare is one you may not have come across yet. This association has been around for a number of years and supports those running quality childcare services for sick children. With so much in the news about the challenges faced by workers with little or no sick time or single parents who bear the brunt of sick season, the issues are significant and the solutions thin on the ground. "Obstacles exist that hamper the development of needed sick child care programs. There is an absence of providers largely due to lack of information, lack of licensing procedures for sick child care, difficulty getting insurance, and funding challenges. " We have occasionally had requests for clients starting specialized daycare programs and this association offers a number of how-to documents for reasonable prices - most are about $30, with the directory of sick childcare facilities costing quit

You can find details on the religious composition of the United States, including religious makeup, religious beliefs and practices in the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey . More than a study of religion, the Pew survey also includes the social and political attitudes affiliated with religious traditions in the United States. The survey is based on interviews with more than 35,000 Americans. One element I found particularly interesting is A Brief History of Religion and the U.S. Census . From the document: The U.S. Census Bureau has not asked questions about religion since the 1950s, but the federal government did gather some information about religion for about a century before that. Starting in 1850, census takers began asking a few questions about religious organizations as part of the decennial census that collected demographic and social statistics from the general population as well as economic data from business establishments...Although the census takers did not interview indiv

We so often get requests for ideas to help market existing businesses and occasionally I see businesses that are doing little things that we can learn from. This Halloween weekend I took my daughter and a friend to breakfast and afterwards stopped into Candyland, a local candy shop, cake and candy supply retailer. I spoke with the owner, who told me about the classes they offer in candy and cake-making and decorating. shop was answering the question from more than one perspective. They offer a way for businesses to get themselves noticed and they share their expertise as well as their product, by offering classes and recipes both online and off. By giving a little away, they build goodwill. The owner showed me some beautiful and delicious chocolate favors in novel designs, explaining that she had corporate clients who ordered these gifts from her for employees or their clients. Another product that seemed like a clever alternative to the typical holiday card was a chocolate card with a

A recent article in the Albany Business Review brought to my attention an important program available through National Grid, the core business of transmission and distribution of electricity and natural gas to customers in New York, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The Small Business Program was designed for business customers with an average demand use of 200 kilowatts or less (or 40,300 kilowatt-hours or less) per month, National Grid can help you reduce your company's energy costs by installing energy efficient equipment. •National Grid can provide a free energy audit and report of recommended energy efficiency improvements •National Grid will pay 70% of the cost of the installation of energy efficient equipment and you can finance the remaining 30% interest free for up to 24 months. •Cost-cutting, energy efficient equipment available through this program include: ◦Lighting Upgrades ◦Energy Efficient Time Clocks ◦Photo Cells For Outdoor Lighting ◦Occupancy Sensors

It's getting a little chilly up here in Upstate! With that in mind, here are a few resources related to winter sports: SIA- SnowSports Industries America : Research includes sales by state and region of Nordic, Alpine and Snowboarding equipment. National Ski and Snowboard Retailers Association : The site offers participation figures and articles on industry trends (including the impact of the recession ) Transworld Business : "The leader in boardsports news and information" will keep you up-to-date in snowboarding equipment trends and the hottest cold-weather companies. National Ski Areas Association : Industry statistics include participation figures, number of ski areas by state, and helmet usage data.

From the description by Eric Olsen, Publisher of Blogcritics/Technorati Earlier this month, denizens of the blogosphere descended on Las Vegas for three days of networking and socializing at the 2009 BlogWorld & New Media Expo. Besides the conference and trade show, there was much to learn from the keynote speakers, and of particular interest was the 2009 State of the Blogosphere delivered by Technorati CEO Richard Jalichandra. The 2009 State of the Blogosphere Introduction : Why the results of the survey are displayed according to four different types of bloggers. Day 1: Who Are the Bloggers? We delve into the demographics. Day 2: The What and Why of Blogging : Why we do what we do. Day 3: The How of Blogging : How often we blog, what technologies we use, and whether or not we track our traffic. Day 4: Blogging Revenues, Brands and Blogs : Branding and monetizing our blogs. Day 5: 2009 Trends: Political Impact of Blogging, Twitter Usage . In addition to the survey results, you

Yesterday, the 12-year-old in my house reminded me that it was just two months until Christmas. It dawned on me that I'd not yet heard a single holiday song in a store, nor have I seen aisles of pharmacies or supermarkets turned over entirely to that season. I thought this to be a big change from recent years, when I began to think that the Halloween season had been absorbed in to Christmas, much like how small towns in the country wake up one morning to find out that they've become a suburb to a big city. Coincidentally, I would up reading this press release heralding the 2009 Online Buyer Economic Trends Study from Performics. This firm conducts consumer surveys every six months regarding their attitudes towards spending. This survey focused specifically on holiday shopping. Its findings include: - Almost 20% of the respondents had begun their holiday shopping in mid-September; - Nearly 75% of shoppers plan on buying fewer items overall; and - Friends, co-workers, and exte

In today's fast-paced world, eating out at restaurants has become a normal aspect of life, with convenience a main factor in choosing where to eat. According to Dun & Bradstreet's Million Dollar Total, there are over 30,000 eating places in New York State. With so many restaurants, is it a feasible option to choose a restaurant as the business that you want to start? In one word, yes. If you can fill a need or create a new and exciting option for locals to eat at, a restaurant can be a very viable business idea. Below are resources to help you start your restaurant. How to Start a Restaurant (Entrepreneur Start-up Guide) How to Run a Restaurant - Start-up Costs (Forbes) Evaluating Restaurant Opportunities (University of Wisconsin-Extension and the Wisconsin Main Street Program of the Wisconsin Department of Commerce) Food Services and Drinking Places Industry Snapshot (2007 Census) The National Restaurant Association

I think the trouble with a lot of marketing ideas is that they fall outside our comfort zone. I imagine that a lot of small business owners are good at making lasagna or tables or cleaning yards but the marketing of the business is where they are not comfortable. Especially when the business is home-based, the "business" doesn't feel that different from the individual. When we send a bunch of great marketing ideas on to the client, I wonder what proportion are useful in that they feel capable of executing them. What I notice in my daily travels are businesses who seem not have taken very simple steps to promoting their businesses. My biggest peave are shop windows that look so dark and uninviting that business appears closed. Lighting a window, improving a sign, finding a niche and capitalizing on it seem like steps even the shyest business owner can implement. While some suggestions sound modest and not necessarily worthy of a literature search, proposing that owners c

I'm pretty sure I've blogged about specific articles from Mashable - The Social Media Guide , but if you have any questions about social media and how to use it, this site has a lot of helpful information. Today I discovered their neat-o " How-To " section. Topics are diverse and include " How to Integrate Facebook with Your Blog ," " How to Get Started With Google Wave " " How To Customize Your YouTube Channel ," and even " How to Plan a Wedding on the Web " (I'll be reading that one on my own time). There are lots of comments and suggestions from other readers, so one way or another, you're likely to learn something pretty practical.

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