New York SBDC Research Network

Tuesday, July 17 from 2:30pm to 4:00pm Eastern time -learn about FDIC and SBA’s newly-released Money Smart for Small Business. They will discuss this new curriculum in detail and how it can be utilized to serve entrepreneurs and aspiring business owners in your community. If you are interested in delivering Money Smart for Small Business training and becoming a member of the Training Alliance, this session is for you! Please join the webcast on Tuesday, July 17 from 2:30pm to 4:00pm Eastern time. This event is free, but advance registration is required. The last day to register is TODAY, July 13 at 5pm EDT. Register online for this event.

County Business Patterns (CBP) is an annual series that provides subnational economic data by industry. This series includes the number of establishments, employment during the week of March 12, first quarter payroll, and annual payroll. This data is useful for studying the economic activity of small areas; analyzing economic changes over time; and as a benchmark for other statistical series, surveys, and databases between economic censuses. Businesses use the data for analyzing market potential, measuring the effectiveness of sales and advertising programs, setting sales quotas, and developing budgets. Government agencies use the data for administration and planning. ZIP Code Business Patterns data are available shortly after the release of County Business Patterns. It provides the number of establishments by employment-size classes by detailed industry in the U.S. These two programs cover most of the country's economic activity based on establishments.

By John Jantsch, from SmallBusinessNewz It's great to have a plan. Even better to charge out and begin to execute the plan. But, to keep your plan alive day in and day out, you've got to have a routine that holds everyone accountable for all things big and small. To keep commitment high and reinforce a culture based on your objectives you need to install a systematic approach to meetings that allows people to be heard, get help, pose ideas, participate, learn, grow, move projects forward, and stay connected. This will include annual, quarterly, monthly, weekly and even daily planned sessions designed to accomplish specific tasks. I can almost hear some collective groaning coming from my readers, but trust me on this. If you do this right, you'll wonder how you ever succeeded without it. You may find that more gets done in terms of actual work and real team building in a month using this system than at any time in your business.

New statistics showing the industrial specialization and diversification of U.S. businesses are now available from the Census Bureau's Enterprise Statistics Program . In developing a complete series of reports to be published with the 2012 Economic Census results, Census Bureau researchers have created an Enterprise Classification System and prototype tables based on the 2007 Business Register. The statistics provide a new perspective for the analysis of enterprises, businesses and their establishments under common ownership or control.

From starting and growing a business to managing operations day-to-day, one thing is certain in business – dealing with laws and regulations. Whether you are hiring your first employee, formalizing your business structure, or applying for a license, you’ll encounter a hairball of ever-changing federal, state and local rules and regulations. To help business owners unravel the hairball and get answers, SBA.gov offers a variety of helpful tools and resources.

Do you know how much privacy your employees are entitled to? For example, if you feel employees are abusing their work privileges, is it legal to intercept emails or phone conversations to find out what they’re up to and confirm your suspicions? Can you ask potential job candidates for their Facebook profile log-on information? Here are some general guidelines that can help.

Do you know your business credit score? Do you rely on your personal credit score for business transactions? Taking steps to separate your personal and business finances is a smart strategy. Here are tips to help you implement a strategy to build good credit in your company’s name.