New York SBDC Research Network

From MarketingProfs : Imagine you just invested a lot of time and resources in your next content masterpiece. You did third-party research, interviewed industry experts, carefully crafted the copy with your target persona in mind, and pulled out all the stops to design a visually compelling piece. You then released it into the wild through all your Web and social channels and sat back, waiting for it to become the next viral sensation. But then the unthinkable happened: No one shared it (gasp!). What happened? Even the greatest content sometimes needs an early boost to gain traction in social media. Paid promotion and influencer marketing can certainly help, but those can be costly. Fortunately, virtually every organization has a captive audience that's willing—and even happy—to share content with their networks for free... Look to your left, look to your right, look at Bob in accounting: I'm talking about your fellow employees (bet you didn't know Bob has 3,000

From IBISWorld : The disruption caused by the rise of the internet and popularity of web-enabled devices is indisputable; industries have been completely flipped upside down as new, online businesses offer consumers products and services that were once unimaginable. As life is moving to the cloud, however, so are the criminals. The US Justice Department estimates that more than 4,000 ransomware attacks have occurred each day since the beginning of 2016, meaning hackers engineer software programs that prevent employees from accessing their computer systems until a ransom total is paid. In 2016, about 72.0% of large companies and 20.0% of small to midsize companies were targets of cyberattacks, according to CNBC and Microsoft, respectively, boosting demand for products and services protecting against cyberattacks. IBISWorld expects the US Security Software Publishing industry to grow 2.6% in 2017, to $12.0 billion. However, while companies are increasingly investing in defending a

From Entrepreneur magazine : Last year [Ross McCammon] was a guest on an NPR call-in talk show to discuss workplace etiquette. Most calls were about shaking hands, conducting meetings, asking for a raise... It was light and funny until one caller asked for advice about being shunned by her co-workers. They would gather near her desk, talking about work she was involved in without asking her to weigh in. They never invited her to lunch or after-work drinks. When she brought up her feelings, her colleagues dismissed and mocked her. She felt unimportant and ostracized. And she sounded deeply distressed. I felt ill-equipped to answer the question. I stammered out a reply. I made a joke. (She didn't laugh.) The show's host suggested that she record these instances and, if they continued, alert a supervisor. The host labeled the behavior as “bullying.” Which at first struck me as infantilizing. I hadn't felt bullied since middle school. And I certainly had never felt bu

From Rodon Group : Friday, October 6th is National Manufacturing Day. According to the MFG Day website, "MFG DAY addresses common misperceptions about manufacturing by giving manufacturers an opportunity to open their doors and show, in a coordinated effort, what manufacturing is — and what it isn’t. By working together during and after MFG DAY, manufacturers will begin to address the skilled labor shortage they face, connect with future generations, take charge of the public image of manufacturing, and ensure the ongoing prosperity of the whole industry. Supported by a group of industry sponsors and co-producers, MFG DAY is designed to amplify the voice of individual manufacturers and coordinate a collective chorus of manufacturers with common concerns and challenges." Census Bureau data

From BizWomen : Small businesses and startups can survive the so-called Amazon effect by being creative and innovative, said U.S. Small Business Administrator Linda McMahon. McMahon was in Denver Sept. 28 for the sixth annual Denver Startup Week, a week of free panel discussions, workshops and networking events for entrepreneurs in all stages. Metro Denver has recently attracted the eye of Amazon.com The e-commerce giant opened a 1 million-square-foot fulfillment center in suburb Aurora this month and has broken ground on a 2.4 million-square-foot fulfillment center in nearby Thornton, expected to open in August 2018. Now, the Seattle-based company is on the hunt for a city in which to build its second headquarters, expected to be a $5 billion project and employ as many as 50,000 people. Colorado and metro Denver leaders plan to bid on the facility. But it’s in no way doomsday for small businesses, McMahon said. “There is no way for a small business to compete against an Amaz

From the Small Business Administration : The Small Business Administration is hiring temporary employees to assist with disaster relief efforts this hurricane season from September 1st to December 31st, 2017. Bilingual language skills a plus. Jobs include: Damage Verifiers (Nationwide) Lawyers, Paralegals and Legal Assistants (Sacramento, CA, Dallas, TX, or Buffalo, NY) Loan Specialists (Sacramento, CA, Dallas, TX, or Buffalo, NY) Program Support Assistant and Call Center Specialist (Sacramento, CA, Atlanta, GA, or Buffalo, NY) Customer Service Representatives and Public Information Officers (Nationwide) Customer Service Representatives (Atlanta, GA, Buffalo, NY, Sacramento, CA) Customer Service Representatives, Bilingual (Orlando, FL) Information Technology Specialists - Customer support (Nationwide) Construction Analysts -Loss Verifiers (Nationwide) Administrative Support Assistants (Herndon, VA)

From ThomasNet : Recently unveiled during the National Safety Council’s Congress and Expo this week, are findings showing how a lack of proper rest is hurting the competitive efforts of U.S. companies. The research was conducted by the National Safety Council and Brigham Health Sleep Matters Initiative. The report’s findings show that a company with 1,000 workers stands to lose $1.4 million annually due to absenteeism, diminished productivity, and healthcare costs stemming from tired employees. A key point of the survey is the growing number of these individuals with undiagnosed and untreated sleep disorders. These conditions contribute significantly to the $80 million in fatigue-related costs that can accrue on an annual basis for the average Fortune 500 company. Additional data can be obtained by utilizing an online resource correlating with the research, entitled the Fatigue Cost Calculator for Employees .

From the Boston Globe : Kathie Florsheim is a committed environmentalist with a hybrid car and a set of rain-collection barrels outside her East Providence home. So when the ink in her Canon printer recently ran out, she immediately thought to recycle it, just like she does her light bulbs, batteries, and kitchen waste — which she feeds to the red wiggler worms who fertilize her vegetable garden. But what Florsheim learned on Canon’s website stopped her in her tracks. To send her clunky, foot-long cartridge back to Canon for recycling, she would have to submit her name, home address, telephone number, and e-mail address. [What are ] the issues around companies that collect personal data?

The U.S. Small Business Administration issued a final rule adopting the U.S. Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) revision for 2017 (NAICS 2017) for its table of small business size standards.  The final rule is published in the Federal Register at  https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2017-09-27/pdf/2017-20705.pdf NAICS 2017 created 21 new industries by reclassifying, combining, or splitting 29 existing industries under  NAICS in 2012 (NAICS 2012).  On April 18, 2017, SBA issued a proposed rule seeking comments on its proposed size standards for the 21 new industries.  The agency received three comments which were outside of the scope of the proposed rule.  Accordingly, SBA is adopting, without any change, the proposed size standards for the new industries. The change results in an increase to size standards for six NAICS 2012 industries: (one in Sector 21, Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction; three in Sector 31-33, Manuf

The National Restaurant Operations Report 2016 This is another item we get annually for our reference collection. If you are not familiar, it looks at the restaurant industry and provides details like: average check for full-service restaurants average check for limited service restaurants cost per dollar of sales ratio to total sales amount per seat and ratio to total sales annual employee turnover amount per square foot The National Coffee Drinking Trends Report 2017 daily, weekly, yearly consumption by age consumption by type of coffee consumption by region where and when coffee is consumed drinking coffee at home vs in restaurants consumer attitudes year to year trends The IHRSA Profiles of Success  The Annual Industry Data Survey of the Health and Fitness Industry This report provides an industry overview for fitness and health club including club operating benchmarks. membership and attendance leading club data & market share h

From the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance : A New York State business corporation may voluntarily dissolve. By doing so, the corporation ends its obligation to pay future taxes and fees to New York State. The dissolution process involves both the Tax Department and the  New York Department of State . The procedures for  Voluntary dissolution of New York State not-for-profit corporations  are different. Background New York business corporations must pay franchise and other taxes to New York State. The corporation pays the taxes in exchange for the privilege of exercising its corporate franchise, doing business, employing capital, owning or leasing property, or maintaining an office in the state. When a New York business corporation decides it will no longer conduct business in New York, it will want to be sure that it ends its obligation to pay state taxes and fees. The process of voluntary dissolution: brings the existence of the corporation to an end; and ends

From eMarketing : Small-business owners are often constrained by limits on resources as they balance different needs competing for a slice of finite budgets. But new research from business and marketing services provider G2 Crowd found that despite potential financial restrictions, marketing remains a priority for these decision-makers. In March, G2 Crowd surveyed small-business owners and managers in the US. (The company defined a small business as one with 250 or fewer employees.) Some 24% of respondents said they planned to prioritize investments toward marketing and advertising in 2017. That was more than the number who planned to concentrate funds on other areas such as sales personnel, new facilities, and software and other IT systems. Social media platforms have emerged as popular marketing channels for small businesses, according to G2 Crowd’s poll. It revealed that 80% of respondents used Facebook for marketing purposes, while a little more than half (51%) turned to Twit

We've received some new editions in the library. These are sources we use frequently. One of the latest is the HOST Almanac 2017 (with 2016 data). It is published by Smith Travel Inc. The report covers limited and full-service hotel operations, labor analysis, costs, and expenses such as wages, taxes, golf operations, and maintenance among others.  You can see how the lodging industry is performing overall, trends,  revenue and expense growth, and transaction volume. A map of profitability change by market offers a very broad view of the US. The markets are broadly by state with some more detailed market information in populous areas. For the summary tables, hotels are split out by "chain-affiliated" and "independent" and by region in our case, "Mid-Atlantic" as well as split between "full" and "limited" service. You can also see hotels by location types such as urban, suburban, interstate, resort, and small metro/town and cl

From eMarketer : Brick-and-mortar retailers may be able to wow shoppers with wonderful touch-and-feel experiences and in-person customer service, but they are still at a big disadvantage when it comes to price—a key purchase factor for many consumers. From apparel and furniture to televisions and sporting goods, prices of goods are declining. But online prices are dropping at a much faster rate than in-store price tags, according to Adobe’s Digital Price Index study, which compares the prices of baskets of comparable goods online against those in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) measured by the US Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. The study, which looks at a total of 18 product and service categories, suggests that price deflation can be seen in most categories, whether online or in physical stores, but the declines are more distinct online... For instance, online apparel prices in June fell 4.1% from a year earlier, compared with a 0.6% decline in-store during the

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