New York SBDC Research Network

Perceived pay fairness for employees is just as important as the reality of it. Employees need to feel that the hard work they put into their job matches what they get back from it—and pay is an important part of this evaluation. The importance of pay fairness to employees is obvious in its relationship to employee engagement, turnover intentions, work stress, psychological and physical health, and life satisfaction. But fair pay isn’t just important to employees—it’s also in your company’s best interest. Go HERE to download your complimentary WorkTrends Report, “Perception is Reality: The Importance of Pay Fairness to Employees and Organizations. *** To that end: New York Sushi Restaurant Eliminates Tipping Because It Pays Waiters A Salary With Benefits : Most restaurants use tips as an excuse to pay their servers less, even though surveys find employers often duck the federal requirement that only allows them to pay below minimum wage if tips make up the difference. As a resu

WASHINGTON – National Small Business Week 2013 will feature business industry leader Angie Hicks, the founder of Angie’s List®, who will take part in an arm chair forum with U.S. Small Business Administrator Karen Mills. This year’s National Small Business Week events will be June 17-21, and will take place across the country featuring events designed to help small businesses start, grow and succeed. Online registration for National Small Business Week opens today to take part in all the essential forums discussing the small business landscape, business coaching services, matchmaking events as well as networking opportunities and award ceremonies. Interested small business owners, business groups, and other aspiring entrepreneurs can now register for National Small Business Week online at www.sba.gov/smallbusinessweek . Small businesses that attend will interact with small business experts, federal government officials, representatives from national businesses and local elected l

From CBS News MoneyWatch : There is a proven way to stop the mediocrity pandemic: Perform a quick diagnosis of the biggest problem in the company. If the problem is systems, tightening up is the right thing to do. But if the problem is something else -- strategy, what the company offers to its customers or culture, "the way people talk about themselves, their work and each other" -- then tightening up creates an organizational death spiral. Tightening up is to companies what antibiotics are to a human body. Given the right diagnosis, antibiotics can save a life. Given to a person who has a different problem, they can make a person sicker and vulnerable to superbugs that science can't stop.

The purpose of the research study on states’ regulatory flexibility activity was to evaluate to what extent states went to mitigate the impact of state regulations on small businesses. The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) at the federal level requires agencies to minimize the impact of their regulations on small entities without compromising their regulatory objectives. States versions of the RFA, the research indicates, are/have been following different paths to the requirements and are having mixed results. Get the full report or summary . Should you need further information, please feel free to contact Radwan Saade at (202) 205-6533 or advocacy@sba.gov.

The client had extensive experience in the specialty tool and die industry, producing roll dies for radiator and automotive cooling components. After working for over a month without pay, the client was displaced when his former company became insolvent. Given his design and sales background he wanted to pursue this niche manufacturing market. The client needed help determining the feasibility of the proposed project and finding financing. Client was additionally challenged by a credit rating that had been impaired while working without pay – because he and remaining colleagues eventually left, they were initially denied unemployment benefits which further exacerbated the client’s personal credit issues. SBDC assisted client with a feasibility analysis, credit repair, and the development of a business plan. Many financing options were explored due to credit issues. The SBDC facilitated the client’s application process to local public loan funds. Other assistance included job cost

http://www.sba.gov/advocacy/7540/621871 This study investigates whether the age of a business is linked to innovation and productivity, specifically whether young firms have an edge on older firms. Previous research on innovation has shown that small businesses are more efficient at innovation than large businesses. Background/History Innovative productivity is closely related to the life cycles of firms: the flow from exuberant startup to mature firm. Large and older firms are expected to have an innovative advantage because of their resources (large labs, equipment, financing, experience, etc.); small and younger firms have a different kind of innovative advantage in the ease with which they may engage in unrestrained brainstorming (with no cost justification needed).

The idea for Slick Text was born in 2012 when founder Matt Baglia worked for a company that was considering adding text messaging to its marketing mix. After reviewing several providers Matt recognized some common flaws among all of them. Each platform was fairly difficult to understand and use. None of them placed emphasis on educating their customers on how to be successful with their product, and all lacked personal customer service. Matt and his partner Ryan Kinal realized that if they could create a service without those flaws, there would be an excellent opportunity for a piece of the industry’s pie. “When Slick Text first launched, the platform had very few features. It was intended to be a minimum viable product so we could get it in front of customers and start covering our costs. Even though it was relatively basic, we stuck tight to the core ideology of simplicity and it really resonated with the early adopters,” commented Matt Baglia. “Over the past year, new customers