New York SBDC Research Network

...someone stood up and asked a very interesting question about employees having too much freedom. His basic question (slightly paraphrased) was: “there are a lot of employees that are already screwing around at work and doing nothing when they should be working, why do we want to give them even more freedom?” The question got a lot of laughter from the audience, just imagine it being asked in a heavy English accent with a wee bit of profanity behind it. The answer from SmallBusinessNewz .

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is encouraging Americans across the country to shop small this November 30 as part of Small Business Saturday, a day that is dedicated to supporting the small businesses that anchor our local communities and strengthen our economy. “From the Main Street shops to the high-tech startups, small businesses are the backbone of our economy and the cornerstones of a diverse and thriving marketplace,” said Acting SBA Administrator Jeanne A. Hulit. “By shopping small and supporting local business, we all have a role to play in giving millions of families the opportunity to achieve the American dream.” America’s 28 million small businesses create two out of every three net new private sector jobs and are the backbone of our economy, with half of working Americans either owning or working for a small business. Small Business Saturday is a nation-wide initiative that brings Americans together to support small businesses, with the money you spend g

Apple customers are emerging as an important new demographic, accounting for a massive 89% of mobile commerce sales. When Orbitz admitted that it ranks products differently for Mac users, citing 20-30% higher average order values, much comment was made about the difference between Mac and PC customers. But that is only half the story. When you factor in mobile devices, the new Apple demographic begins to have significant implications for marketers. Read more from Marketing Profs .

Venture capitalists (VCs) make you work hard for their money by inundating you with question after question about your fundraising process, your company goals, your founding team, among other things. Many of these questions will seem reasonable. Some will seem ridiculous. But no matter the question, you must have an answer. And your answers better be good. Behind all of this interrogation, there is one key underlying question: what makes you different? Regardless of the variation on the theme, your potential VC is really asking why your business — as compared to others vying for their money — is worth their investment. If you’re ready to join the ranks of funded entrepreneurs, you need to be prepared to answer this key question. How? Read HOW from the ASBDC .

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Small Business Administration’s online portal is ready to accept nominations for its 2014 National Small Business Week Awards, including the annual Small Business Person of the Year award. Now in its second year, the dedicated web portal http://nationalsmallbusinessweek.sba.gov/ has made it easier to submit and track submissions of nominees for National Small Business Week. Since 1963, National Small Business Week has recognized the outstanding achievements of America’s small businesses for their contributions to their local communities, and to our nation’s economy. For over 50 years, SBA will continue its tradition in honoring the nation’s 28 million small businesses. SBA Awards given in celebration of National Small Business Week include the following awards: • National Small Business Person of the Year (chosen from among state award winners from each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Guam)

Using free social media tools is a great way to improve your business and increase your overall traffic. There are a lot of paid social media tools, but the next few are completely free and is extremely useful when it comes to managing, generating post, sharing content and improving inbound marketing overall. See them at Business Art of War . Small business owners often find themselves responsible for all aspects of their business, from sales and marketing to HR and, most importantly, keeping finances in order. Hiring an accountant is a luxury at first. Using mobile apps that help track business expenses is a great, cost-effective option. See them at David Kiger

The New York Public Library in conjunction with its sponsor, the Citi Foundation, is proud to announce the 5th Annual New York StartUP! Business Plan Competition for New York-based startup entrepreneurs with cash prizes totaling over $30,000. New York 2014 StartUP! gives aspiring entrepreneurs the opportunity to bolster their business acumen. Entrants gain practical insights about starting and growing a business, while learning about the comprehensive small business resources at NYPL's Science, Industry and Business Library (SIBL). Eligibility: • You must be 18 years of age or older, live in Manhattan, The Bronx, or Staten Island as a legal resident or US citizen, and wish to start a business in Manhattan, The Bronx, or Staten Island. • Start up businesses only. Operating businesses that have earned revenue and/or have paid taxes are not eligible. Any business incorporated prior to October 13, 2011 is not eligible to enter. • This competition is for For-Profit Businesse

I invite you to visit and follow the Pinterest page for the NYS SBDC Research Network . You've probably heard a lot about Pinterest lately and noticed that familiar little P popping up at the bottom of articles and in catalogs and so on. This visual venue lends itself very much to the sharing of ideas, in our case, ideas about business. Most people who go on may not be impressed initially because having a good experience on Pinterest requires a bit of cultivation. Browsing the "popular" page will only show you things you've likely already seen and are the common denominator, and not tailored to you. However if you search for specific topics of interest to you, then you can begin choosing carefully the people and boards you wish to follow. Using Pinterest to promote business is becoming more and more common although not everyone "gets" it. Authenticity is important in this medium and overt selling is out. But you can present the culture of a business

Michael Gragg, John Narciso, Amy Amoroso, John McKeone The NYS VBOC was recognized at the SBA National Business Awards Ceremony in Washington, DC on June 21, 2013 as the 2013 Veterans' Business Outreach Center of the Year. We are especially proud of the services these staff members deliver directly to veterans as well as the support they provide to other SBDC Advisors who regularly work with veteran clients. The sponsoring SBA Office of Veterans' Business Services made the selection from among its national network of 15 VBOC programs. The NYS SBDC network has been assisting veterans since its inception in 1984. For the first 15 years of its existence, the statewide program assisted veterans along with other entrepreneurial individuals in the state. In September 1999, assistance to veterans became a new priority when the NYS SBDC became one of four SBDCs in the nation to pilot the Veteran’s Business Outreach Center (VBOC) program that is funded through the SBA’s Office of

A report published by the Office of Advocacy analyzes the impact of an internet sales tax on small business. As the popularity of online shopping has grown, states have seen their sales tax revenues drop. Federal legislation has been introduced over the past several years to authorize online sales tax collection. With small business owners on both sides of the issue, the Office of Advocacy recognized the need for objective research for small businesses and policymakers. This report analyzes the number of firms that will be affected by the small seller exemption (SSE) if current legislation passes and how much e-commerce is likely to be affected. The report, An Analysis of Internet Sales Taxation and the Small Seller Exemption , was written by Donald Bruce and William F. Fox of the University of Tennessee’s Center for Business and Economic Research.

The Securities and Exchange Commission voted unanimously to propose rules under the JOBS Act to permit companies to offer and sell securities through crowdfunding. "Consistent with the JOBS Act, the proposed rules would among other things permit individuals to invest subject to certain thresholds, limit the amount of money a company can raise, require companies to disclose certain information about their offers, and create a regulatory framework for the intermediaries that would facilitate the crowdfunding transactions." Note the SEC is "seeking public comment on the proposed rules for a 90-day period," which will end sometime in mid-January. See more from the SEC .

Politicians, policy makers, parents and students assume that the straightest path to a great job is by majoring in what is often called a STEM discipline -- science, technology, engineering or math. Indeed, President Barack Obama has set a goal of creating a million new STEM college graduates in the next 10 years, along with 100,000 new teachers in those fields. Meanwhile some politicians are urging state universities to ditch unpopular liberal arts and embrace more STEM education instead. The popularity of STEM majors can be explained in large part by the belief that there are plenty of jobs in these fields. Under this view, these jobs that are going begging because not enough Americans have the skills to qualify for these positions. Americans also widely believe that students who graduate in STEM subjects will earn higher salaries. If many STEM majors aren't enjoying outsized salaries, maybe the assumption that there are many jobs available in these fields is wrong, too. In a

Think in an uncertain economy there's some safety in buying a franchise of an already-established brand? A new report suggests that's true only if you choose very, very carefully. Seeing a Pattern The report found that 11 franchises—more than half ice cream or fast food—had the highest rates of failure of their federally guaranteed loans used to buy them in the first place, according to analysis of U.S. Small Business Administration figures done by BlueMauMau.com, a franchising news website. This is the same list that the agency provides loan officers of its most trusted lenders and banks throughout the country, the site says. See the list on Open Forum

From MoneyWatch : Managers, you may rate 10 percent of your people "superior performers," 40 percent as "exceeds expectations," 40 percent as "meets expectations" and the remaining 10 percent as "below expectations." Sound familiar? This breakdown is known as a "stacked ranking" or "forced bell curve ranking." Microsoft (MSFT) was one of the many big companies that used this method to classify how their employees perform. No more. The software maker has declared that approach a failure and scrapped it at precisely the same moment that Yahoo (YHOO) is embracing it... But, what is so bad about stacked rankings?

From BoingBoing : In an Atlantic editorial , Bruce Schneier discusses the post-Snowden business-climate. The NSA relied on Internet giants to do surveillance for them (surveillance being a major part of the Big Data business model), and pre-Snowden, there was no real downside to cooperating with illegal NSA spying requests -- in some cases, spooks would shower your company with money if it went along with the gag. Post-Snowden, all surveillance cooperation should be presumed to be destined to be made public, and that's changed the corporate calculus.