New York SBDC Research Network

At our staff training, this week we heard a series of presentations from Josepf Haslam of DragonSearch. "We are at the dawn of a new Age with social media. It’s both an evolutionary and revolutionary age. It’s a truly disruptive technology and social system for businesses and individuals. "I assert that you need to get social or die . If this is your view of social - and believe me, a couple years ago when I looked at Twitter, I had the idea [it was the] perfect combination of narcissism, ADHD, and stalking -... for you and for businesses, you need to change this. You need to make it your force for being found and getting business.

Headhunters, executive recruiters, employment agencies, executive search firms, staffing and personnel agencies are here to help you find that perfect career opportunity. Finally a directory of professionals that help real people find real jobs every single day, and it is absolutely free to use! Headhuntersdirectory.com is a great free tool out there to use.

Source: Heinrich Boll Foundation In June 2012, heads of state will gather at the Rio+20 conference in Brazil to explore the theme “The Future We Want.” The focus of the conference is the green economy. Exactly what a green economy is and should be, and with what measures and instruments it should be implemented, has not yet been defined and is the topic of intense political debate. Nevertheless, efforts are being made to develop a “Green Economy Roadmap.” Rio+20 should not simply be a repetition of previous international conferences. Instead it must offer a true breakthrough on the path to a social, just, low-carbon and resource-efficient world. The UN General Assembly called with Resolution 44/228 of December 22, 1989, for the convening of the first United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), also known as the Rio Summit, in 1992. The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development was assigned to promote the transition from an economic model

Being a small business owner can be rewarding in many ways but can be frustrating as well. You know the saying, “If I only knew then what I know now?” Leadership is important in your business whether you have 1 employee or over 50 employees. Hopefully, these tips will help you on how to be a good leader for your business if you are not already. All of these tips can’t be done just once, you need to practice them daily or weekly or monthly. Repetition of each task will get you in a routine and make your business run smoother. Tip One: Work on your Business, Not in It This actually sounds pretty ridiculous because you should know how to do the majority of aspects in your business. This means that you need to focus on your future plan and how your business is going to move forward and grow. You are the mastermind of starting your business. You can’t stop thinking and growing just because you are now open. Sometimes it is a lot easier to focus on the day-to-day operations of your b

As BoingBoing noted: Media coverage of successfully Kickstarted projects sometimes makes it look like an easy source of funds for any old half-baked idea. Nope . On the other hand, these were the #1 Kickstarter projects at various points.

Want to take your restaurant on the road? Interested in starting a food-service business that affords lower overhead costs than a bricks and mortar restaurant? Starting a mobile food concession business has its advantages – the rent is cheaper, staff overhead is lower, and you can move to follow the profits. But it also has its challenges – weather, vehicle breakdowns, and seasonality, to name a few. And don’t forget, starting a business or expanding into new markets, particularly with on-board food, means you’ll also have to heed laws and regulations that apply when you take your business to the streets. Here’s what you need to know about operating your concession business within the law: 1. Apply for Licenses and Permits Any business needs a license or permit to operate legally, but going mobile requires you to get permits for all the cities and counties where you operate, not just your static business address (which may be your main place of business or your home-based HQ).

Businesses move all the time. If a move is in the cards for your business, what should you do? Maybe you’re expanding and are out of capacity at your current location, or maybe a move is for personal reasons. Maybe you want relocate to a state that is more favorable to small businesses, such a state without any income taxes. Moving a business raises many questions, particularly questions about legal and regulatory matters. In fact, some of the most common questions posted by small business owners to the SBA.gov Community are about the ramifications a relocation has on taxes, registration and incorporation. If you’re thinking of moving or have already relocated your business, here are some answers to some of those questions: Q: I operate an LLC. What steps do I have to take when I relocate? A: It’s always best to consult an attorney if you are moving your LLC to a new state since there are several options open to you that require careful consideration. Here are your choices:

Your online presence is a vital part of any sales strategy. But is your website the sales powerhouse it should be? Replicating the effectiveness of the face-to-face sales process online -- and getting customers to go from clicking to buying -- can be difficult. The good news is that there are a few simple tricks and tweaks that can improve your site's revenue-generating capabilities. Here are five tips that can help turn a business website into a sales machine: 1. Build an effective shopping cart. Some small businesses use services such as PayPal for making and receiving online payments. But building a full-featured shopping cart directly into your website might be a better option. Shopping carts allow for more customization and the potential to provide more product information. (Check our our earlier post on setting up a PayPal account for your business here .) Austin, Texas-based Volusion is an all-in-one shopping-cart tool that starts at $19 per month and handles chec

One of our counselors asked: "I have a client who is looking for ways to cut her credit card processing expenses and is considering charging her credit card customers a $1 fee per transaction. I looked into this a couple years back when another client had a similar question and now can’t seem to find that information again. But, I recall that I had discovered that charging such a fee is against the merchant’s agreement with the credit card companies." This led to a vigorous online discussion. As it turned out, I did address this in the second half of this post , but that was five years ago. Has anything changed? I went to the sources, and included some related issues. MasterCard Rules (PDF) 5.8 Card Acceptance Requirements (start on p 122) 5.8.1 Honor All Cards A Merchant must honor all valid Cards without discrimination when properly presented for payment. A Merchant must maintain a policy that does not discriminate among customers seeking to make purchases wit

The Big Story: What’s the Fed To Do? The Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee says the economy is expanding moderately. A former chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation warns that the Fed is fueling a financial bubble. The Fed chairman, Ben S. Bernanke, and a Times columnist, Paul Krugman, battle it out. Josh Bivens says that the United Kingdom’s double-dip recession is proof austerity doesn’t work. Henry Blodget says it’s official: Keynes was right. Peter Diamond and Emmanuel Saez believe that increasing tax rates is part of a sensible deficit-reduction strategy. Jared Bernstein summarizes the economic impact of raising taxes on high-income households. Social Security’s projected shortfall date is moved up to 2033. President Obama slow jams the news. The Economy: The Shale Boom Russell Investments updates its state-of-the-economy dashboard. Among accountants, confidence in the global economy improved substantially in early 2012. USA Today reports that some econo

The Small Business Authority, announced today the next live radio broadcast focusing on job outlook, economic trends related to hiring and employment trends with recent graduates. The show will broadcast from "The Small Business Authority Studio" at 77WABC Radio in New York. National listeners can also tune in at www.wabcradio.com and click listen live. The program, The Small Business Authority Hour, will be broadcast on Saturday, May 5, 2012 at 4:00 p.m. EDT. The show, dedicated to independent business owners across the United States, will feature guest Maury Harris, Managing Director and Chief Economist for the Americas for the UBS investment bank. Maury has been named numerous times to the Institutional Investor (II) All-America Research Team over the past two decades. In the January 2012 edition of Bloomberg Markets magazine, Dr. Harris and his team were cited as having the most accurate week ahead forecasts of U.S. economic data among 78 US forecasters over the two yea

MakeUseOf How-To Articles How To Set Up A PayPal Account For Your Business April 26, 2012 By Tim Brookes PayPal has long been the leader in online payments. It offers a safe way for customers to pay for goods and services, as well move money around the globe. Most recently Chinese consumers are able to pay using PayPal. Especially for one-off purchases, I prefer PayPal to sharing my credit card details. It is also a good choice when you don't have your credit card handy. They offer services to students whereby parents set up an account with funds and the student gets a debit card they can use. For businesses, high-volume users are charged a fee of 1.9% This is a straightforward explanation of how you can set up an account with PayPal. It covers the various types of accounts and includes screen shots throughout.

Source: Congressional Research Service, via Federation of American Scientists A persistently high unemployment rate is of concern to Congress for a variety of reasons, including its negative consequences for the economic well-being of individuals and its impact on the federal budget (i.e., deficit growth due to lower revenue and higher expenditures). The unemployment rate was 9.5% when the economy emerged from the 11th postwar recession in June 2009. It climbed further to peak at 10.1% in October 2009. The rate then slowly declined before stalling at about 9.0% for most of 2011. Although the unemployment rate has resumed its decline, at slightly above 8.0% in early 2012, it remains at an historically high level. The slow rebound of the labor market has prompted calls for new measures to stimulate economic growth to avoid a so-called double-dip recession, such as occurred during the early 1980s. The economy contracted in July 1981, 12 months into the recovery from the Januar

From the SBA: It’s almost time for National Small Business Week 2012 - and to kick things off we are launching a video contest. Each week I travel around the country and hear from business owners about how SBA has helped them start, grow and succeed. I’m often inspired by each business’ ingenuity, and it’s the small business owners I meet each week that are making communities strong and keeping America competitive. I want to share these stories, and so many more, with everyone. The video contest is an opportunity for small business owners and entrepreneurs to share their success stories with a larger audience and emphasize how important they are to their local economy. How to Participate: Videos can be submitted through Challenge.gov from 12pm EDT April 16 through 5pm May 11. Contestants should produce a short (1-2 minutes), original video to share their story. The list of Contest Rules provides additional details on the required video content and format. All eligible vid

In order to form an LLC (Limited Liability Company) in the state of New York, there are a few steps you must follow before you are an established LLC. First, you must choose a business name for your LLC and check for availability. New York law requires that an LLC name contain the words "Limited Liability Company" or "LLC". Then, you must prepare and file articles of organization with the Department of State. After those papers have been submitted, you must publish for 6 consecutive weeks stating that you have formed an LLC. This process can require time to contact your county clerk's office to determine in which publications you are allowed to publish. Here at the NYS SBDC, we receive many inquiries about where new LLCs are allowed to publish about their small business, so we put together a list of all of the publications for every county in the state of New York. However, for those starting their LLC in the counties of Queens, New York, or Kings, must st