New York SBDC Research Network

From Bplans : If you feel restless working for someone else and have come up with your own idea for starting a business, you should consider the challenges that you will face ahead of time. Owning and running a business is incredibly rewarding—but it comes at a price. Stress, painful mistakes, and sacrifice all accompany the pride, excitement, and sense of accomplishment that comes with creating your own money making machine. By knowing and preparing for these potential pain points, you will be better equipped to deal with complications when they arise. For an entrepreneur, challenges are almost guaranteed. Even so, no matter how prepared you are, you will need to use your own creativity and innovative skills to overcome some of the difficulties that you will encounter.

From the Bureau of Labor Statistics U.S. export prices experienced a major decline in 2015, as evidenced by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) export price index. Prices for U.S. exports, published in dollar terms, decreased 6.6 percent in 2015, the largest calendar-year decline since the index was first published in 1983. However, the large decline in the U.S. dollar export price index did not tell the entire story. When measured in foreign currency terms, export prices were actually higher because of the strong dollar. The value of the dollar strengthened against the euro, Japanese yen, Chinese yuan, and Canadian dollar. Continued slow global economic and trade growth dampened demand for U.S. exports and influenced U.S. export price trends. The meeting of the strong dollar and lackluster demand for U.S. exports was particularly challenging for the U.S. agricultural industry. This Beyond the Numbers article analyzes what impact the strengthening dollar had on certain agricultura

From Patreon : When I got to PatreCon— Patreon’s first conference for creators— I’d hit a wall in my career. My novel trilogy had just been rejected by publishers. Not because it wasn’t good, but because almost no one wanted to commit until all three volumes were finished. Which meant I’d just spent three years writing for free, and was looking at two more years of doing the same. I arrived at PatreCon feeling pretty helpless. The first night of the conference, we got a tour of Patreon headquarters. As soon as we started walking around, I felt better, though I couldn’t say exactly why. I just felt like I’d come to a safe space... In talking to other creators, I realized that everyone had stories like mine. Everyone had hit a wall—realizing that even if they were talented, worked hard, and did everything “right,” the game was rigged against them. In fact, that’s how musician Jack Conte came up with Patreon in the first place: he’d once spent $10,000 of his own money building a set

Here’s a link for a curated list on Pinterest: Funny Business : from academic lessons about humor to corporate blunders, to university journal abstracts on laughter research, to that all-important emergency clown nose. Business and academic use of humor. Humorous stories of real-world blunders, and cartoons with business-related themes, photos, videos, and books. Humorous stories of real-world blunders,and cartoons with business-related themes, photos, videos, and books. The new Pinterest board has racked up more than 10k views in less than two weeks.

As our nation prepares to ring in the new year, the U.S. Census Bureau projected the U.S. population will be 324,310,011 on Jan. 1, 2017. This represents an increase of 2,245,347, or 0.70 percent, from New Year’s Day 2016. Since Census Day (April 1) 2010, the population has grown by 15,564,473, or 5.04 percent. In January 2017, the United States is expected to experience one birth every 8 seconds and one death every 11 seconds. Meanwhile, net international migration is expected to add one person to the U.S. population every 33 seconds. The combination of births, deaths and net international migration will increase the U.S. population by one person every 16 seconds. The projected world population on Jan. 1, 2017, is 7,362,350,168, an increase of 77,849,375, or 1.07 percent, from New Year’s Day 2016. During January 2017, 4.3 births and 1.8 deaths are expected worldwide every second. The Census Bureau’s U.S. and World Population Clock simulates real-time growth of the United States

From SBA : Access to cash via a line of credit is an important safety net for a small business. Although there are various types of credit lines available, it is the flexibility it provides that makes it so popular among small business owners. A line of credit is more like cash on demand for a set amount. You can draw funds up to the credit limit set when your company needs it, and you only pay interest on the funds you withdraw. Best of all, every dollar of principle you pay back becomes available for the company to use again. The important thing to remember is credit lines for businesses have received an overhaul in the past several years. No longer is a credit line being issued just by banks down the road. Today, there are completely different lines of credit issued to businesses from alternative lenders rather than by banks alone. In addition, small business owners can also get credit lines secured by specific types of collateral such as equipment and accounts receivables.

Go here to get information provided by the New York State Workers' Compensation Board to give businesses quick and direct access to workers' compensation information. It is not intended to serve as an endorsement of the State Insurance Fund or any other insurance carrier. This includes: The Players in the System Who Is and Is Not Covered by the Law Who Is An Employee? Who Is an Independent Contractor? Business Permits - Licenses - Contracts Out-of-State Employers Working in NYS Employers' Rights and Responsibilities Complying with the Law Obtaining Insurance Penalties for Not Having Insurance Understanding Insurance When an Accident Happens Return to Work Construction Employment Payroll Limitation Workplace Safety State Insurance Fund Information

From the Social Security Administration: The new tax filing deadline for both paper and electronic W-2s is now January 31st. Don’t wait until the last minute. Start filing early since Business Services Online (BSO) experiences delays when there is a high volume, especially at the end of the month. Specifications for Filing Forms W-2 and W-2c Electronically (EFW2/EFW2C) Dates to Remember December 12, 2016 - BSO is available for accepting Tax Year 2016, prior year files, and W-2 Online inputs. January 1, 2017 - Update payroll systems to reflect the 2017 wage base rates. Visit 2017 Cola Factsheet January 31, 2017 -Deadline for filing paper and electronic W-2s, AND Deadline for providing W-2s to employees. Use AccuWage to Test Your Wage Reports before Filing with Social Security AccuWage is Social Security's free service that allows you to test your wage reports before you upload them to Social Security. AccuWage reads the file and informs you of any formatting errors i

From the Bureau of Labor Statistics A total of 4,836 fatal work injuries were recorded in the United States in 2015, a slight increase from the 4,821 fatal injuries reported in 2014. There were 2,054 fatal work injuries involving transportation incidents, an increase from the previous year. Within the transportation category, roadway incidents increased in 2015. Roadway incidents accounted for 26 percent of all fatal work injuries. Almost half of these fatalities involved some kind of tractor-trailer truck. Fatal injuries involving pedestrians were lower in 2015, as were rail and water vehicle incidents. There were 800 work fatalities due to falls, slips or trips in 2015. Falls to a lower level accounted for 81 percent of all fatal falls.

This festive season, or simply the holidays, is a time for gathering and celebrating with family and friends, gift giving, reflection and thanks. To commemorate this time of year, the U.S.  Census  Bureau presents the following holiday-related facts and figures from its collection of statistics.           Rush to the Stores $23.8 billion The estimated retail sales by the nation’s department stores (including leased departments) in December 2015. A decrease of $0.4 billion in retail sales from December of the previous year.  Source: U.S.  Census  Bureau, Monthly Retail Trade Survey www. census .gov/econ/ currentdata/dbsearch?program= MRTS&startYear=2014&endYear= 2015&categories=4521I& dataType=SM&geoLevel=US& notAdjusted=1&submit=GET+DATA& releaseScheduleId Note: Leased departments are separately owned businesses operated as departments or concessions of other service establishments or of retail businesses, such as a separately ow

From BizJournal : The unexpected resignation of a valued staffer can feel like a gut punch. Even as you’re reading her resignation letter, your head is filling with questions. What about that upcoming deadline? Who’ll take over her projects? What about her clients? How am I going to explain this to my boss? They’re all worth careful consideration, but as you ponder your options, there’s one you can reject immediately... While it’s tempting to focus on averting a departure, your best approach is to vow to never be surprised by an employee’s resignation again. That means asking questions focused on the people who remain and learning what job satisfaction means to them.

A gentleman from the Better Business Bureau gave an online talk to NY SBDC advisers about how BBB will get businesses in their database if ther business applies to do so, even if the business is NOT a BBB member. The obvious advantage is greater visibility. So if your business gets an A rating from BBB, it'll be listed on the BBB site right below the members who get an A. For folks in the Metropolitan New York, Long Island, and the Mid-Hudson Region, go to http://www.bbb.org/new-york-city , hover over FOR BUSINESS, click on Update Your Business Information , then click on the like-named picture . For folks in the Albany, Buffalo, Rochester & Syracuse regions, go to http://www.bbb.org/upstate-new-york/ , then click on Update Business Information . Also, check out the Non-Accredited Business Resources .

From Biz Journals : 'Tis the season for year-end lists. With that in mind, here's one you can read — about reading. It's a selection of books that have been published in the past year that caught our eye. They're books published by women authors and with women readers in mind, but perhaps for a male audience as well. The list features TV personalities and accomplished academics among the authors. Their efforts got people talking about their work and perspectives over the past 12 months. So, if you're looking for a book to read in the holiday weeks ahead — or, perhaps as a last-minute gift? — here are 10 titles you might want to check out. 1. “How to Have a Good Day: Harness the Power of Behavioral Science to Transform Your Working Life” by Caroline Webb

The United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) launched an internet-based data service for the global user community. It brings UN statistical databases within easy reach of users through a single entry point. Users can now search and download a variety of statistical resources of the UN system. Users are often unaware of the full array of statistical information that the UN system has in its data libraries. UNdata addresses pools major UN databases and those of several international into one single internet environment. The innovative design allows a user to access a large number of UN databases either by browsing the data series or through a keyword search. Useful features like Country Profiles, Advanced Search and Glossaries are also provided to aid research. The numerous databases, tables and glossaries containing over 60 million data points cover a wide range of themes including Agriculture, Crime, Education, Employment,

From Marketing Profs : To many retailers today, Amazon.com seems unstoppable. The website that ate retail has overtaken a fellow titan, Wal-Mart, as the second-largest seller of consumer electronics, and it has category No. 1 Best Buy in its sights. As retail witnesses the shuttering of former retail heavyweights, including Sports Authority and Sports Chalet, and the slimming of long-term players, including Macy's, Walgreens, and the Gap, smaller retailers are often left wondering whether there is, in fact, a path to success when you don't have millions to spend on marketing. Here's the key: An underdog doesn't win by beating a giant at its own game, but by outwitting, outmaneuvering, and out-strategizing it. Offering hope to retail are the stories of nimble retailers, including Ulta, TJ Maxx, and H&M, which are continuing to grow and open new stores year after year. Those successes prove that although midmarket retailers might not be able to compete with Am

Some are barely more than a minute. Some take an hour or more. While some are highly technical, others are very user-friendly. There are talking heads; they are graphic intensive. We're talking about learning about bookkeeping online. Even if one delegates the day-to-day task to someone else, every entrepreneur needs to understand the basics about the financials of the business. Enter YouTube, which has about 66,000 videos that help businessperson with bookkeeping and accounting. Peruse at your leisure to see which ones resonate the most with you. I DO need to mention Introduction to Accounting from SBA.

From Bplans : Your logo is the key to your small business brand. Whether you are setting up shop or rebranding, designing your logo is just as important as getting things right on other aspects of your business. However, that doesn’t mean you have an unlimited budget. With today’s logo design crowdsourcing services, you still have lots of options for good small business logo design. Many startups and small businesses turn to the web for crowdsourcing their logos, so let’s start with a basic understanding of what crowdsourcing is in this context: Crowdsourcing is using the internet to obtain services by approaching an online community. A good rule of thumb is this: The designer’s work is only as good as the information and direction you give them.

From Marketing Profs Only 15% of Americans say the emails they receive from marketers are frequently or always useful, according to recent research from Fluent. The report was based on data from a survey of 1,900 consumers age 18 and older who live in the United States. Some 7% of respondents say the marketing emails they receive are always useful, and 8% say they are frequently useful. In addition, 29% of respondents say marketing emails are sometimes useful, 33% say they are rarely useful, and 24% say they are never useful. Younger respondents, those age 18-29, find marketing emails more useful in general than do older respondents (age 30+).

From The Simple Dollar : What was the last great business idea you had? Do you remember it? What did you do with it? Did you write it down? If you’re like most people, you had a great idea, never wrote it down, told a couple of co-workers or your spouse, and let the idea fade away without taking any meaningful action to pursue it. Or maybe you were worried about other people stealing your idea, so you kept it to yourself thinking you’ll pursue it later. But for most of us, that someday never comes. Maybe you even went as far as laying out your idea into a business plan. Whether you’re a seasoned entrepreneur or someone who has been eyeing a startup or side project to generate some additional income, good ideas often come and go like the seasons in the Midwest. But what if they didn’t? What if you actually took steps to pursue your ideas and see if they were good? According to sales expert and personal development guru Brian Tracy, “The average person has four ideas a yea

From The Balance : The end of the calendar year means a lot of things for small businesses. It's time to start thinking about what you want to achieve next year and work on your formal goal setting process. Your are probably in the midst of holiday shopping for your employees, vendors, clients and colleagues. And, of course, it's time to start closing out your books for this calendar year. In fact, right now is the time to check-in with your accountant to see if there is anything you should be doing to make sure your business ends the year fiscally healthy. A few small changes can make a big difference in your total income and tax liability for the year. To get you started, here are a few important year-end tax preparation steps you can take in order to close out the year financially and take advantage of additional deductions.