New York SBDC Research Network

From SmallBusinessNewz : Okay, maybe spy is a little strong but experience tells me that most small business don’t know much at all about what their greatest competitors are up to when it comes to marketing. I know you don’t really have any competition because you provide such a superior product and experience, but setting up a competitor specific listening station can uncover some useful insights.

The Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity is a leading indicator of new business creation in the United States. Capturing new business owners in their first month of significant business activity, this measure provides the earliest documentation of new business development across the country. The percentage of the adult, non-business owner population that starts a business each month is measured using data from the Current Population Survey (CPS). In addition to this overall rate of entrepreneurial activity, separate estimates for specific demographic groups, states, and select metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) are presented. The Index provides the only national measure of business creation by specific demographic groups. New 2012 data allow for an update to previous reports, with consideration of trends in the rates of entrepreneurial activity over the seventeen-year period between 1996 and 2012. The Kauffman Index reveals important shifts in the national level of entrep

From NPR .

Small businesses saw gradual strengthening in the overall economy in the first quarter of 2013 as borrowing conditions continued to improve. Borrowing by small firms contracted slightly during December 2012 and March 2013. In general, bankers reported stronger demand along with eased bank lending policies for business loans. Find the study here .

Measure of America provides easy-to-use yet methodologically sound tools for understanding the distribution of well-being and opportunity in America and stimulating fact-based dialogue about issues we all care about: health, education, and living standards. The hallmark of this work is the American Human Development Index, an alternative to GDP and other money metrics that tells the story of how ordinary Americans are faring and empowers communities with a tool to track progress over time. The Index is comprised of health, education, and income indicators and allows for well-being rankings of the 50 states, 435 congressional districts, county groups within states, women and men, and racial and ethnic groups. Through national and state reports, thematic briefs, and the project’s interactive website, Measure of America aims to breathe life into numbers, using data to create compelling narratives that foster greater understanding of our shared challenges and greater support for peopl

If you share responsibility for the care of historical records, or you care about records held by particular organizations, you will want to learn more about emergency preparedness. The following resources from around the state and nation offer information for historical records keepers on disaster planning and recovery. • The Disaster Assistance page of the New York State Archives provides information on emergency preparedness and recovering from a disaster and describes the services it can provide to State Agencies, to Local Governments, and to Historical Records Repositories. The New York State Archives has also been playing a leadership role in a national effort, coordinated by the Council of State Archivists (CoSA), to help all state archives and records management programs prepare for natural disasters and other records-related emergencies. •The Pocket Response Plan (PReP)™ is a concise document for recording essential information needed by staff in case of a disaster. It w

In today’s age of ubiquitous connectivity, many small businesses have implemented a variety of online marketing efforts to attract new customers and increase overall sales. Unfortunately, results can vary significantly because tools are only as good as the expertise of the person using them. The lure of the “next big thing” can create online marketing inefficiencies when small business owners try to be a marketing “jack of all trades and master to none”. For example, the rapid growth and adoption of the social web can be overwhelming for small business marketers. Consider these social network growth statistics: Google sites handle about 100 billion searches each month (SEL) YouTube hosts nearly 14 billion videos (comScore) Facebook is now over 1 billion users (Mark Zuckerberg) Google+ has over 500 million users (Google) Twitter has over 550 million accounts (Statistics Brain) LinkedIn is at 225 million users (LinkedIn) Pinterest grew 4,377% in 20

From Small Business Newz : Ninety-seven dollars for that? Heck, I can find the information for free on the interwebs. Yep. The number changes, but the “I can do it myself” virus just keeps sticking. (Yes, I’m guilty too.) Admit it. You’ve probably said that yourself in the last week or so. We’re all guilty of it. Doing things ourselves was one of the reasons we became our own boss — so we could do it our way. Right? But continuing to do things yourself instead of hiring staff or outsourcing the work won’t help you grow your business. And on top of that, if you are doing all the work, you have hired the most expensive person in your company. That doesn’t help the bottom line, does it?

Small businesses often struggle to survive. In fact, 50% of American small businesses close up shop within their first year. So what are the secrets to staying in business and locking down success? This infographic from Intuit takes a look at small businesses— what industries they’re in, what cities they thrive in, and what they’re doing to stay in business. When it comes to longevity, small business is often the tortoise in the race. And we all know how that particular story turned out.

From the GALLUP Business Journal : Since the financial meltdown of 2008 and the recession that followed, the American workforce has struggled to adapt to an uncertain economic climate. Sluggish growth, persistently high unemployment, and sharp spending cuts by businesses and consumers alike have taken a toll. The Three Types of EmployeesThough the state of the U.S. economy has changed substantially, the state of its workplace has not. According to Gallup's State of the American Workplace: 2010-2012 report , employee engagement levels remain stagnant among U.S. workers. By the end of 2012, as the U.S. inched toward a modest economic recovery, only 30% of American workers were engaged, or involved in, enthusiastic about, and committed to their workplace. Though this figure matches the all-time high since Gallup began tracking the U.S. working population's engagement levels in 2000, U.S. business leaders shouldn't be patting themselves on the back. An alarming 70% of Am

From CBS News MoneyWatch : In its 13 years, my company has been unusually fortunate in that we have had -- as hard as it may be to believe -- only two or three bad debt write-offs (for very small amounts) and perhaps four or five credit card chargebacks (money taken back by card issuers, typically due to customer disputes or fraud). Other than that, our receivables have always been current. I attribute this partially to good luck, but mostly to careful, disciplined processes and practices, from making open-account decisions, to manually reviewing any suspicious credit card charges before shipping (obviously not possible for all businesses), to being willing to pass up any order if we are concerned about getting paid. Unfortunately, it happens that right now we are dealing with our first-ever serious collection challenge, for a relatively large amount of money, from an otherwise great and longtime customer.

In response to a query at BUSLIB: MaRS Discovery District's online resource, The Startup Library , helps entrepreneurs in different tech industries answer common market research questions. All links are to free resources. Bizstats.com has free business statistics and financial ratios. This is a partner site of BizMiner.com; BizMiner is not free, but has more up-to-date, detailed, and much more granular industry statistical reports. Another list of free online business resources that entrepreneurs and the like might appreciate is bizologie.com/favoriteresources . Manta.com is available free; a registration is required for optimal access, but that's free, too). It will give competitors, contacts, and other useful info for small, privately held businesses around the country. Have a look at the Small Business Accelerator . While tailored to meet the needs of British Columbia entrepreneurs, you will find much valuable, transferable information.

The winner of the 2013 Veterans Business Outreach Center Excellence in Service Award is John A. Narciso, small business adviser at the New York State Veterans Business Outreach Center through The Research Foundation of the State University of New York. Narciso, who works out of the Farmingdale SBDC office, has had a 30-year career as a talented and successful U.S. Naval officer and decorated combat veteran, followed by two decades advising veterans in entrepreneurship. This was announced last week the during National Small Business Week in the Entrepreneurial Development category.

From ASBDC : What do established companies looking to expand and start-ups in the earliest planning stages have in common? They want access to money and credit without having to provide a personal guarantee. This sentiment is consistently and strongly expressed by entrepreneurs... It’s no secret that building and expanding a business credit profile has become a greater challenge over the last few years. Many established small companies’ cash flow sheets were hit hard during the recession and as a result, many lenders and suppliers have either added a personal guarantee policy or modified their current policy. Most business owners know Experian, Equifax and TransUnion as the three major credit bureaus that provide information about their personal credit; however, they also may provide a credit profile about your company's creditworthiness.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Small Business Administration issued four final rules in the Federal Register, increasing size standards for firms in four North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Sectors and one Subsector: Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting (Sector 11), Finance and Insurance (Sector 52), Management of Companies and Enterprises (Sector 55), Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation (Sector 71) and Support Services for Mining (Subsector 213). Size standards define the maximum size a firm can be and still be considered a small business. The revised standards reflect changes in marketplace conditions and public comments that SBA received to the proposed rules. New size standards will enable more businesses in these sectors to obtain or retain small business status; will give federal agencies a larger pool of small businesses from which to choose for their procurement programs; and will make more small businesses eligible for SBA’s loan programs. SBA increased