New York SBDC Research Network

Sales Tax 101 for Small Business Owners and Online Retailers How to Start a Retail Business; A Step-by-Step Guide Ultimate Guide to the Retail Industry 4 Tips for Getting Large Retailers to Stock Your Products  for inventors and entrepreneurs Monthly and Annual Retail Trade statistics  from the U.S. Census Bureau

At the Federal Trade Commission’s request, a federal court has temporarily halted and frozen the assets of an operation that bilked nonprofits, businesses, and municipalities out of millions of dollars by deceptively sending them overpriced light bulbs and cleaning supplies that they never ordered. The FTC seeks to permanently stop the illegal practices and make the defendants return victims’ money... According to a  complaint filed by the FTC, the defendants called organizations throughout the country  and falsely indicated that they had previously done business with them; that the call was to confirm a shipping or mailing address or follow up on a supposed previous order; that they were offering a free sample, catalog or gift; or that they needed an employee’s name and contact information for some purpose other than a sale. The defendants often did not identify themselves accurately or clearly disclose that it was a sales call, and sent consumers merchandise after misleading the

Fundraising is key to success as a nonprofit.  But fundraising is a complicated process.  The Free Management Library provides a wealth of information that can teach you All About Nonprofit Funding . This website will help nonprofit leaders and staff learn and understand the various/varied elements of fundraising, to recognize the importance of the relationship between an organization and its potential donors, and to construct and implement a strong fundraising plan/program for their nonprofits. In addition, much of the subject matter will help nonprofit leaders and staff recognize what it is that they don't know about fundraising, and how to remedy that situation.

As July ends, so does  Independent Retailer Month , - celebrate the successful family-owned, mom-and-pop, independent stores out there by using some resources on BusinessUSA to help you  Grow your Business , including: Forecasting for Growth Check out the competition in your area with our  SizeUp Tool Developing a Marketing Plan Using Technology to Stay Competitive Financing Growth Building your own Franchise

They say the eyes tell all. Now thanks to eye-tracking technology we can tell what they're saying. Tracking eye movements can reveal a few things about human tendencies. Read more from Business Insider .

The first set of detailed statistics from the Industry Series for the following sectors has been released on the Census Bureau's American FactFinder web site: Sector 22: Utilities Data for these sectors will be released on a flow basis. Click here to view a release schedule, see what has been released, or take a sneak peak at what’s projected to be released in the next 30 days. For more information about the Industry Series, click here .

The SBA Administrator recently announced a transformative new plan to automate SBA lending and streamline and simplify the agency’s underwriting process to attract more lending partners and open up new markets for small business owners who need capital to expand and grow. Days after this announcement, which will ease the burdens on lenders approving small-dollar loans to entrepreneurs, she appeared at a Clinton Global Initiative conference in Denver to help announce an exciting commitment called the Century Club. Eight Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) each pledged to make at least 100 small business loans a year for the next 10 years, which will inject $1 billion of additional capital into America’s small business ecosystem. More HERE .

From Real Business : A new study has revealed that 59 per cent of Britons would not use a company that had obvious grammatical or spelling mistakes on its website or marketing material, and 82 per cent would not use a company that had not correctly translated its material into English. The research, conducted by Global Lingo, polled 1,029 UK adults on their online purchasing and browsing habits. *** Wonder how Americans would react?

If you’re about to start a business, you’ve probably read several how-to books looking for advice on how to be successful. While researching is a great first step, there are some lessons that you won’t find in a book. You need to hear from business owners who have been in your position, who started a business with a great idea, a lot of enthusiasm, and a shoestring budget. To give you a few business tips, we asked several entrepreneurs, including Kelly Costello, who was featured on ABC’s “Shark Tank,” to tell us what they wish they’d known before they started their businesses. Read more in Bplans.com >

Carmen Sognonvi writes : I know too many business owners who are going broke paying for expensive mastermind programs, business coaches, and info products. They think they're "investing" in themselves. They want their businesses to succeed, and they keep searching for the magic pill that will help make it happen. Unfortunately in the process, they're being financially irresponsible and spending far more than they can afford. I know, because I used to be one of them. Watch my latest video, because in it I come clean about the mistakes I've personally made when it comes to professional development.

From bplans.com : Whether you’re a startup or an up-and-running business, you should know what your total potential market opportunity is for your products or services. Caroline Cummings has coached many companies over the years, as well as judged several business plan competitions, and she's always surprised by how most business owners can’t confidently tell you their total market potential. They tell her things like, “My market is everyone who eats dessert,” or, “Everyone in my community who drives a car,” or, “Anyone in the world who uses social networks.” You may think these are your markets, but you need to drill-down and get more realistic and specific about the true size of your market, or lenders and investors will question your credibility.

From the Wall Street Journal : By   ERIC R. DANTON ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic premieres ‘Mission Statement’ video on WSJ   Robert Trachtenberg “Weird Al” Yankovic  wraps up his eight-day string of video releases with  “Mission Statement,”  which premieres today on Speakeasy. The song, from Yankovic’s new album “ Mandatory Fun ,”  is in the style of “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes”  by  Crosby, Stills & Nash . The song features Yankovic harmonizing with himself on lyrics constructed of corporate jargon, like “operationalize our strategies” and “leverage our core competencies,” while the animated whiteboard video depicts a live-action hand that is drawing illustrations to go with the words.

Did you know that 95% of consumers live outside the United States? And a whopping two thirds of the world’s purchasing power is in foreign countries! Exporting can mean big things for your small business, and SBA is here with resources and information to help you succeed!

What nightspots trend on Twitter? Heineken helps young people find out. You’ll also learn what people really share on social networks, how to write like a spy, why word crimes are way worse than blurred lines, and why joining Instagram may be the smartest thing the TSA ever did. Skim for your share of state secrets. Weird Al - YES! Read more at MarketingProfs .

Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, and others rave about Business Adventures, by the late John Brooks. It was written in 1971, and consists of 12 stories from The New Yorker. The print edition has been out of print for a while, but it is now available as an e-book. It sounds great! Details from BoingBoing .

From Vox.com : The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is probably the most widely used personality test in the world. An  estimated  2 million people   take it annually, at the bequest of corporate HR departments, colleges, and even government agencies.  The company  that makes and markets the test makes somewhere  around $20 million  each year. The only problem? The test is completely meaningless. "There's just no evidence behind it," says Adam Grant, an organizational psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania who's  written about the shortcomings of the Myers-Briggs  previously. " The characteristics measured by the test  have almost no predictive power  on how happy you'll be in a situation, how you'll perform at your job, or how happy you'll be in your marriage."

As the lean startup method quickly gains popularity among the high-tech startups of Silicon Valley, many entrepreneurs may question the necessity of a business plan. But statistics prove that businesses are overwhelmingly better off when they set goals and implement a plan for how to achieve those goals. The report, based on a survey of almost 400 small businesses conducted in January 2014 by Palo Alto Software, found that small business owners who regularly plan and track their business’s financial metrics expect more growth in 2014 than business that don’t plan. According to the survey, 79 percent of companies with a business plan say they are better off financially compared to a year ago, while only a third of small businesses without a business plan can say the same thing. Additionally, nearly 75 percent of established companies that have a business plan in place expect to grow more than 10 percent in 2014, compared to only 17 percent of companies that don’t have a business plan

The premier funder database, Foundation Directory Online , now includes a free search tool that has replaced Foundation Finder, providing public access to essential information about nearly 90,000 foundations and over 250,000 IRS Forms 990-PF . Funder profiles include: Address and contact information Fields of interest Program areas Fiscal information

Chart 1. Private sector gross job gains and gross job losses, seasonally adjusted Chart 2. Components of private sector gross job gains and gross job losses, seasonally adjusted Chart 3. Private sector gross job gains and gross job losses as a percent of total employment, seasonally adjusted Chart 4. Employment from private sector births and deaths, seasonally adjusted Chart 5. Percent of employment from private sector births and deaths, seasonally adjusted Chart 6. Employment from private sector openings, closings, births and deaths, seasonally adjusted Table 1. Private sector gross job gains and job losses, seasonally adjusted Table 2. Private sector gross job gains and job losses, not seasonally adjusted Table 3. Private sector gross job gains and losses as a percent of total employment, seasonally adjusted Table 4. Private sector gross job gains and losses as a percent of total employment, not seasonally adjusted Table 5. Number of private sector establishments by direct

After almost five years of gradual economic recovery, we are seeing increasingly positive signs from small businesses. The establishment birth rate (the share of the average of the previous and current total number of establishments) has been showing slow, relatively steady increases. And the number of employers is on the rise, which is apparent in the increasing gap between establishment birth and death rates. Above all, prosperity is most evident in the upward trend of proprietors’ income, which has increased more than a third in recent years after a lackluster performance earlier in the decade. More from The Office of Advocacy's Small Business Quarterly Bulletin for First Quarter 2014 .