New York SBDC Research Network

From the US Census Bureau:  In 2015, the nation’s 414,000 startup firms created 2.5 million new jobs according to data from the Census Bureau’s  Business Dynamics Statistics . In contrast, this level of startup activity is well below the pre-Great Recession average of 524,000 startup firms and 3.3 million new jobs per year for the period 2002-2006. Other highlights include: ·   Job creation in the United States totaled 16.8 million with job destruction equaling 13.7 million. Job creation minus job destruction equaled net job creation of 3.1 million in 2015. ·   Young firms (those less than 6 years old) accounted for 11 percent of employment and 27 percent of job creation. ·   Old firms (those more than 25 years old) comprised 62 percent of employment and 48 percent of job creation. ·   The job creation rate for young firms, excluding startups, was 20 percent in 2015. This rate is above the Great Recession low of 15 percent in 2009, and it has recovered to its average level of 20 perce

From BizJournals : An Atlanta firm filed the first class action suit brought against Equifax on behalf of 28 million American small businesses. The suit, filed on Sept. 19 by the Atlanta division of The Doss Firm LLC, claims that small business owners were disproportionally affected by the breach, as the availability of small business credit is often directly linked to its owners’ creditworthiness. The suit notes that “about 60 percent of small businesses use loans to finance their operations… from maintaining cash flow to purchasing equipment,” making the loss of credit of particular concern to these individuals and their businesses. From the lawsuit : Many of the 143 million individuals whose PII [personally identifiable information] was hacked are also owners of small businesses that heavily rely on personal and business credit to operate and provide for families across this country. Any business with fewer than 500 employees is generally defined as a small business – a defi

From Inc : Amazon's recent purchase of Whole Foods has spawned much speculation about the company's ultimate intentions. Probably the most perceptive and comprehensive is a recent article in the Harvard Business Review. Here's the money shot: What Amazon will now study in the brick-and-mortar world - and more importantly, what it learns and how it applies the insights - can transform consumer retail in the United States. By buying Whole Foods, Amazon gets virtually limitless possibilities to test products and services, test price points and assortment interactions, redefine the price perception for organic and healthier foods, merge offline and online shopping experiences, and perhaps test home delivery or store pickup with ideal early adopters. If that's true..., the acquisition is very bad news for the grocery giants, which may end up going the way of Borders, the once-huge chain that Amazon's original business model ran out of business. However, if Amazon

From Marketing Profs : If you live in the world of marketing, you've likely wanted to find someone's contact information but had no idea where to start looking. Whether you're trying to cold-call a lead, pitch an investor, email a press release to an editor, or strike up a conversation with a potential employer, there are plenty of reasons to dig up contact information. Email is one of the best ways to reach someone you're trying to connect with for the first time. It's less intrusive than a phone call and gives the recipient a chance to chew over whatever you're proposing. Knowing where and how to look for information is the first step in finding critical contact information. In 2017, there's no better tool for finding information than Google—which processes over 40,000 search queries every second (see this nifty Google search counter ). With the help of a few tools, you'll be able to find just about anybody's email address. Most users don

From The Customer Service Issues That Annoy Consumers Most : Consumers say the customer service issues most likely to make them stop doing business with a company are uninformed agents and long wait times, according to recent research from The Northridge Group. The report was based on data from a survey of 1,000 consumers in the United States age 18 and older. Respondents rate uninformed agents as the customer service issue most likely to result abandoning a company; long wait times to reach an agent ranks second, followed by unfriendly agents and difficult-to-use automated systems.

From Hiscox : A study released this month by Hiscox, the international specialist insurer, reveals a confident and promising growth trend among US small businesses, with 72 percent of respondents reporting increased top-line revenue in the past year – the highest amount of any country surveyed. As both investment spending and export activities surge, profits are also on the rise, with 31 percent of US respondents reporting growth in the double-digits. Now in its ninth year, The Hiscox DNA of an Entrepreneur report is a global study that surveyed more than 1,000 small and medium-sized US business owners about the financial pressures, stresses, opportunities and challenges they currently face. Millennials Hitting Their Stride This year’s findings show younger entrepreneurs are finding success and confidence as business owners. In fact, 56 percent of respondents under age 30 said their personal financial situation is better now than it was a year ago; 59 percent of respondents ages

From MarketingProfs Many Americans say technology has made them more impatient today than they were five years ago, according to recent research from Fetch and YouGov. The report was based on data from a survey of a YouGov poll conducted in May 2017 among 2,489 US adults age 18 and older. Some 41% of respondents say technology has made them more impatient than they were five years ago. Among Millennials, the proportion is 45%. Only 26% of respondents say they would wait longer than 30 minutes for takeout food, and 41% of consumers say they would not wait longer than 15 minutes for a ride requested via a mobile app. Check out the infographic for more findings from the poll...