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For Veterans: Boots to Business REBOOT

Veterans: Thinking of starting your own business? The SBDC, VBOC, SBA & the Arsenal Business and Technology Partnership present a free one-week lunch time program for veterans who want to start, expand or purchase a small business. Meets Monday - Friday Sept. 28th – Oct. 2, 2015 From 11:30 am - 1:00 pm – lunch provided at no cost At the Michael R. McNulty Center for Veteran Entrepreneurial Activity, located at the Watervliet Arsenal. Registration required by September 23, 2015 Please contact Amy Amoroso / 518-380-5069 or Kathy Caruso / 518-326-5522

Help Navigating DOL Laws and Regulations

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is committed to providing America's workers, employers, job seekers, and retirees — with clear and easy-to-access information on how to comply with federal employment laws. This information is often referred to as "compliance assistance," which is an important part of the Department's efforts to protect the wages, health benefits, retirement security, employment rights, safety, and health of America's workforce. For example: Employee vs Independent Contractor

How Much Funding Should You Raise?

Most businesses need to raise external funding from investors to take their company to the next level. An early stage startup will want to access funds to help further validate its business proposition. A more established business that already has traction may be looking for funding to help accelerate growth. Whatever stage your business is in, if you are seeking investment, determining how much funding you should raise is absolutely critical. The dangers of raising too little : Incorrectly assessing your funding need has serious repercussions on your business. It will lead to inadequate validation of your proposition, or to executing growth initiatives that do not materially move the needle. Whatever the case, the business is left in limbo. The dangers of raising too much : So, raising more funds than are needed is the right approach to take, right? Not necessarily. Just as raising too little is risky, raising too much funding is fraught with its own dangers. More from Bplan

Using “Parks and Recreation” to Teach Economics

Economic educators are always trying to find new ways to breathe fresh air into the economics classroom and to get away from conventional “chalk talk” methods made famous in movies such as “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off ”  (1986). I know we all remember Ben Stein putting the class to sleep during a macroeconomics class. A new article  in the most recent edition of the Journal of Economics and Finance Education suggests a novel approach for capturing students’ attention: using the TV show “ Parks and Recreation ” to teach economics. The authors, L. Brooke Conaway and Christopher Clark, name this method “Swansonomics,”after Ron Swanson, a libertarian leaning character in the show.  “ Parks and Recreation,” a popular show on NBC, concluded after seven seasons in February. The idea of using TV shows as teaching methods for economics has been researched and blogged about before, specifically with “Seinfeld ,” “ The Simpsons ,”  and “The Office .”  These shows provide teachers with methods to mak

7 Tedious Office Tasks You Can and Should Automate

Why work harder when you can work smarter instead? Several office tasks are perfect candidates to automate -- without sacrificing the well being of your business. In fact, some of these tasks not only save time, but also can actually be done better through automation. Automation makes it less likely that (a) you’ll forget; (b) tasks will fall through the cracks if an employee leaves; (c) mistakes will occur through repetitive entry of information. Here are seven tasks that you can and probably should consider automating to get things done faster and more reliably: More from SBA

8 Creative Ways to Get More Customers

You’ve successfully launched your business, and built up a solid—if small—customer base. Starting small has its benefits; after all, it allowed you the opportunity to cultivate a loyal relationship with your customers. By now, you’ve had time to work out any kinks, and you’re confident that your product or service is truly the best your business can offer. Now, you’re eager to expand and grow your business. But, growing your customer base is much easier said than done. How do you get more customers for your business? I asked the Young Entrepreneur Council for their input, as well as Palo Alto Software’s Caroline Cummings and Tim Shoemaker. From marketing tactics to better networking, try these tips and watch your customer base grow quickly. Read more from Bplans

Sales: A Guide for the Small Business Owner

You have a great product or service. Now you have to sell it. This course will give you an overview of sales plans and other tools to get your product or service into your customer/consumer’s hands. Duration: 00:30:00 Go to SBA.gov

Preparing to Open a Franchise, from the Franchise King

In a previous post  we talked about deciding if a business is franchise worthy. The next step is the big one. It’s one thing to do market research on a business idea, it’s quite another to open your checkbook and put your money where your idea is. Here are a few things you’ll need to do to get your business going, and to get it franchise-ready. Open A Store In the case of Just Socks, my hypothetical idea, the next step assuming that the data found in the market research step was positive for a retail store like this, would be to open one up. And, unless you have the money needed to open a retail store, including furnishings, signage, and of course, inventory, you’re going to need to get a small business loan. The first step: Visit a local bank that offers small business lending, hopefully one that participates in programs administered by the SBA. Loans approved by the SBA offer certain guarantees for participating banks. Check out  SBA LINC , a free tool that connects borr

The Real Reason Your Employer Should Pay You More

Most of us aren't that engaged at work, as it turns out. Even a few years ago, we were wasting tens of billions in wasted meetings and unnecessary distractions at work. Today, some survey takers admit to wasting up to half the day on non-work-related distractions. If that's you, you may just be a bad employee — and admitting that is the first step. For the rest of us, those that are wasting a paltry 30 minutes or so, who feel generally disengaged, the solution may seem a lot more superficial: you're underpaid. This is a major shift from the sentiments of yesteryear, when boomers could pride in barely having two nickels to rub together but still work their way up to a leadership role. Today's reality is that while the economy has made strides toward recovery, wage growth over the last generation has taken a prolonged coffee break. More from Payscale

34 Educational Resources for Aspiring Entrepreneurs

When you’re ready to launch a startup, the name of the game is research. You need to tap every resource you can to learn the ins and outs of business. From securing funding to marketing your business, there’s a lot to consider. There are hundreds of resources online, but searching for worthwhile sites is time consuming and sometimes unsuccessful. So, we did the work for you. We’ve put together a list of 34 resources that will play a role in your startup. This list is broken into categories and is meant to be a one-stop-shop for aspiring entrepreneurs. Read more from Bplans

Upcoming SBA Webinars: Social Media, Affordable Care Act

Webinar | Social Media 101: A Roadmap to Winning Customers  Thursday, August 13, 2015 | 2:00 PM ET     Do you have questions about the best way to market your new or existing small business? Join the Small Business Administration (SBA) and AARP during a free hour-long webinar on August 13 to learn about:  Developing a marketing plan  Using social media  Building a website  Sizing up the competition  And more!  >>  Register Now    Webinars | Affordable Care Act 101

Not Every Business is Franchise-Worthy

By FranchiseKing (Joel Libava), SBA Guest Blogger Do you ever have ideas for a new business running through your head? I do. Most of the business ideas I come up with nowadays are marketing-related. It’s probably because I own a business and I’m always thinking of ways to market my services and products. But, once in a while, I come up with an idea that’s bigger than just a marketing tool. An Idea For A Franchise Many years ago, I don’t remember how many, exactly, I came up with an idea for a retail store. It was an idea that I was able to easily visualize-and still could today. I even had a name for the store. Stores plural, actually. I envisioned lots of stores. Franchises even. My idea was a niche-clothing store, for men, women and children. The name of the store: Just Socks. The business would specialize in one thing-you guessed it, socks. The latest search on Google revealed that as of today, the only business with that name is a little shop located in Perth, Aust

Starting a Business with a Young Family and a Day Job

In Mangawhai, located in the New Zealand countryside, lies a beautiful olive grove. This grove is the site of a family-run business that plants, grows, and harvests these olives and then uses them to manufacture premium quality extra virgin olive oil. This is the home of Divinity Olives, a company run by married couple Michael and Leanne Chinnery. The business, which also makes their own balsamic vinegar and strawberry compote, is streamlined and focused; with a small number of products and an even smaller team, the quality of the product takes top priority. Divinity currently sells their products in over 50 stores and online, and business is growing. I spoke with Michael about their experience, of raising their three kids while being entrepreneurs; and for Michael, of holding down a full-time day job as well. He also recounts which decisions were instrumental in his success, and what inspires him about not just the olive oil business, but New Zealand entrepreneurship in general.

Interested in Doing Business In Cuba? Join SBA Conference Call on July 29

By  Eileen Sánchez , SBA Official Small business owners often tell us that they have many questions about how to enter a new market - and those questions are magnified when it comes to doing business with Cuba.  There have been several changes to the bilateral relationship in recent months, and, to address your questions, I hope that you will join SBA Administrator Contreras-Sweet and other senior officials on July 29 at 4:00 p.m. ET to discuss the opportunities that exist for exporting to Cuba. Today’s re-establishment of diplomatic relations with Cuba and reopening of embassies in Washington and Havana is an historic step marking the new direction in U.S.-Cuba relations announced by President Obama last December. This step was preceded by a series of significant measures: in January, the Departments of Commerce and Treasury amended their regulations to increase travel, trade and the free flow of information to and from Cuba.  In April, during the Summit of the Americas in Pan

Andrew Cuomo On The State of New York Tourism

ust before the July 4th weekend, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo issued a press release on the state of tourism. The release covered tourism in its totality and did not address specific sectors like adventure tourism, winery tourism, historic tourism, and LGBT tourism, the four pillars of I Love NY promotions. It also did not differentiate between business, vacation, or shopping travelers. (Macy’s chief executive Terry Lundgren in 2013 called Macy’s “ a tourist place” with roughly 6,000,000 tourists a year). That being said, the number of travelers to the Empire State from elsewhere is impressive and the economic impact is substantial. The headline of the press release boldly declares: NYS Tourism Impact Exceeds $100 Billion Tourism Employment Increased By 16 Percent Since 2011 New York Remains Most Visited State by Overseas Travelers for 14th Year in a Row See more at New York History blog

Cybersecurity for Small Businesses

This self-paced training exercise provides an introduction to securing information in a small business. Topics include: Defining cybersecurity; Explaining the importance of securing information through best cybersecurity practices; Identifying types of information that should be secured; Identifying the types of cyber threats; Defining risk management; and Listing best practices for guarding against cyber threats. Duration: 30 minutes Take the course HERE .

The danger of using ZIP Codes alone for trying to determine sales tax

Retailers should be sure to register with the Tax Department and obtain a Certificate of Authority . "Your application (for a Certificate of Authority) will be processed, and, if approved, we'll mail your Certificate of Authority to you. You cannot legally make any taxable sales until you have received your Certificate of Authority." Based on the literature, I would HIGHLY recommend AGAINST using ZIP Codes alone for trying to determine sales tax, since ZIP Codes cross county boundaries. One needs to charge at the rate of the jurisdiction served . Is the item taxable? Probably . There are some free sales tax calculator online, e.g. TaxRates.com and Pitney Bowes for the US; NYS Tax Department and Earth Odyssey for New York only; there are undoubtedly others. And of course, there are paid sites, such as Strike Iron and the Sales Tax Clearinghouse . One can also Google sales tax calculator software and find a ton of these for sale. These, though, will not make t

How Fancy Do Consumers Want Their Wearables?

Wearable device awareness is high, but ownership—and purchase intent—remain low. Indeed, May 2015 polling by Altimeter Group found that just 7% of US internet users owned a wearable, and a March 2015 study by DigitasLBi put wearables penetration among internet users worldwide at 17%. What could urge consumers to take the plunge? When April 2015 polling by Chadwick Martin Bailey (CMB)—which found that six in 10 US smartphone owners were familiar to some extent with wearables—asked about the most desirable features, respondents stuck with three categories: fundamentals, health and point-of-sale payments—in other words, nothing overly fancy. See more at eMarketer

U.S. import prices decline 10 percent over the year

Import prices decreased 10.0 percent from June 2014 to June 2015. The import price index for fuels and lubricants (which makes up 12.0 percent of imports) declined 40.7 percent from June 2014 to June 2015. Over that period, petroleum prices decreased 41.3 percent and prices for natural gas declined 42.7 percent. In June 2015, prices for nonfuel imports declined 2.3 percent over the year. The decrease was led by a 6.7-percent drop in prices for nonfuel industrial supplies and materials (13.4 percent of imports). More from the Bureau of Labor Statistics .

One Potentially Humorous Way to Weed Out Job Applicants

From Inc. Jennifer Walzer, CEO of Backup My Info!, offers a strategic hiring tactic you probably haven't used before.