New York SBDC Research Network

Excerpt from an article by Krista Garcia To read more, visit  eMarketer "Amazon Go got a lot of attention, but it could be downplayed since there was only one small store near the company’s headquarters in Seattle. Could it even scale? That looks like a tentative "yes" as Amazon appears to be expanding the convenience store concept to Chicago and San Francisco. Walmart's answer, Scan & Go, debuted in August 2017 and worked with in-store devices or an app on a shopper's smartphone. However, it was reported that the retailer had shelved this trial. According to CBC News, after rolling out this service to about 120 US locations over eight months ago, the adoption rates were still low. The goal was to provide convenience, but it appears customers didn’t like scanning and bagging their own items. There has always been a degree of skepticism about self-checkout, whether because it’s too complicated, shopper preference for human interaction or resistance to

From the Census Bureau Women-owned employer firms in the United States increased by approximately 2.8 percent in 2016 to 1,118,863 from 1,088,466 in 2015, according to findings from the U.S. Census Bureau’s  2016 Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs . The data also shows that women-owned approximately 20.0 percent (1,118,863) of all employer businesses (5,601,758) nationwide. Additionally, about one-quarter (289,326 or 25.9 percent) of all women-owned employer firms were minority owned. More than half (approximately 153,177 or 52.9 percent) of these minority women-owned firms were Asian -owned.  The  Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs  provides a demographic portrait of the nation’s employer businesses by gender, ethnicity, race and veteran status. Tables released today provide estimates on the number of firms, receipts, payroll and employment for the nation, the states and the District of Columbia, and the 50 most populous metropolitan statistical areas. The Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs is

Excerpt from an article by Jackie Dana To read more, visit  NameCheap "Every business needs happy customers and clients to be successful. From repeat business to word of mouth, satisfied customers sustain your business and help it to grow. But not every customer or client is going to be happy all the time. Your quest, should you choose to accept it, is to view each complaint you receive as an opportunity to build your business and improve your customer relationships. Let’s take a look at how you can transform your angry customers into your biggest fans and become their hero."

Excerpt from an article by Ayaz Nanji To read more, visit  MarketingProfs "Marketers are using original research primarily to create blog posts, infographics, and PDFs, according to a recent report from Mantis Research and BuzzSumo. The report was based on data from a survey conducted in January and February 2018 among 698 marketers from around the world (53% work for B2B firms, 16% for B2C firms, 26% for hybrid B2B-B2C firms, and 5% for governments/nonprofits). Respondents were surveyed on how their firms are using original research, which was defined as research published to gain attention from external audiences (benchmarks, salary guides, etc.), not research conducted to meet internal needs (marketing plans, competitive analyses, etc.)."

Blog post from SBA.gov by Anita Campbell "Good software can enable your small business to increase sales by saving time and money while expanding capacity. But you must choose wisely — because the wrong software can be an expensive mistake. Here is my tried-and-true checklist for choosing software to support your business operations: Testimonials from Businesses Like Mine Find vendors with a meaningful number of testimonials from other small business owners. Look for testimonials from businesses like yours — businesses of roughly the same size, in similar industries and trying to solve similar problems. A software package might work just fine for some businesses, however, it may not help fix your problem. Financially Strong Vendor For mission critical processes, I hesitate to put my company’s future in the hands of software or an app that may or may not be updated a year from now. You see this problem with some mobile apps and content management system plugins.

From the Cornell Food Venture Center : The Cornell Food Venture Center provides assistance to validate safety and stability of food products entering the marketplace including: -Lab Analysis for pH, water activity, and Brix of food and beverage products -Process Authority approval and Scheduled Process: Product Review, Documentation, and Process Validation -Resources for Nutrition Analysis, Co-packers, Packaging Suppliers, Shelf-Life Studies, and More! -Regulatory Compliance: Registration and Licensing with State and FDA agencies -Small Scale Food Entrepreneurship: A Technical Guide for Food Ventures -Better Process Control School: Necessary certification for Acidified and Low Acid Food manufacturers. -Food Science 101 -Presentations and workshops: Interested? Contact Shannon Prozeller The Cornell dropbox link includes everything you will need to work with the university, register with the State and FDA, information on Small Scale Food Production and more. Services su

I received a question regarding the announced $12 billion farmer aide program recently announced as a result with the tariff war. Naturally, I called my Congressman's office. One of his aides reaached out to the USDA Congressional Liaison with the questions I asked. (Her questions in italics ). They informed her that most of the responses will be included in the NOFA and the Regulation that is published by OMB by Labor Day, and that they cannot share additional details while it’s being deliberated at this time. I will follow up after Labor Day. 1- How will farmers have access to the funds? Dependent on what commodities the farmer produces, if they grow something eligible for the Market Facilitation Program (soybeans, cotton, sorghum, wheat, dairy, or pork) then they’ll have to come into their USDA FSA county office to complete the necessary paperwork. More details to be released in the Regulation by OMB later this month. 2- Qualifications/Criteria for eligibility? More de