New York SBDC Research Network

Following its September workshop on  Ransomware  – malicious software that denies access to computer files until the victim pays a ransom – the Federal Trade Commission is offering tips on how consumers and businesses can protect devices and respond to ransomware. The FTC offers  How to defend against ransomware  to help consumers. Businesses can find guidance in  Ransomware – A closer look  and the accompanying video,  Defend against Ransomware . From Ransomware - A closer look: Ransomware is a form of malicious software that infiltrates computer systems or networks and uses tools like encryption to deny access or hold data “hostage” until the victim pays a ransom, frequently demanding payment in Bitcoin. In the typical case, the criminals demand between $500 to $1,000, but some have demanded as much as $30,000. Panelists described a wide variety of ransomware variants. For instance, some hackers will delete the victim’s files if payment isn’t made within a specified period of ti

The Empire State Purchasing Group has updated its website. The original URL (empirestatebidsystem.com) will now take you to http://www.bidnetdirect.com/new-york , where your old vendor login and password should still work. "All participating local government purchasing departments invite vendors to register for exclusive access to RFPs, bids and awards on the bid system. Registered vendors benefit from more bid information in a central location, less paperwork and an easier method of doing business with New York local governments." Creating a new vendor account to be able to access bid information is simplified. It lets the user poke around and see what our clients see. To create a free account, simply DO NOT SELECT a paid program and hit NEXT. It will sign you up for the free account. You'll need to renew your subscription every six months, but it's free. The site now includes a search functionality for bids that should create more ease of use when trying to fi

From SBA : Every business owner should be aware of lean business planning. It’s a perfect compromise between the old-fashioned formal business plan that is too big and static, and the kind of small steps and analysis that is the watchword of lean manufacturing and lean startups. It’s all about taking small steps and evaluating results often. And planning, for real businesses, isn’t about the big plan; it’s about the management it causes. Why would you, as a business owner, care about planning? I hope that’s an obvious answer, related to focus, priorities, and getting things done. Planning, done right, is about managing your business better. Set expectations, track results, and manage the difference between what you expected and what happened. You know you can’t do everything.

Have you ever heard of DBE and DMWBD? DBE stands for Disadvantaged Business Enterprise. The DBE program is designed to remedy ongoing discrimination and the continuing effects of past discrimination in federally-assisted highway, transit, airport, and highway safety financial assistance transportation contracting markets nationwide. The primary remedial goal and objective of the DBE program is to level the playing field by providing small businesses owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals a fair opportunity to compete for federally funded transportation contracts. DMWBD is the abbreviation of the Department of Minority and Women's Business Development.

You’re back in the office after the show. You’ve thanked everyone, collected all the leads–and even collected more leads this year. The show was a success! As you prepare next year’s budget and you think about why it was a success, and why your budget should be increased (or not decreased), you’re forced to justify your participation in each show and simply increasing leads isn’t enough. So what’s next? Prepare in advance for budget justifications. SBA provides 4 steps to guide you prepare your budget justifications. See part 1 and part 2 .

You have probably known NAICS , the North American Industry Classification System, which was developed as the standard for use by Federal statistical agencies in classifying business establishments for the collection, analysis, and publication of statistical data related to the business economy of the U.S. With NAICS we can classify and search a specific industry very conveniently and accurately. However, there is no central government agency with the role of assigning, monitoring, or approving NAICS codes for establishments. NAICS Codes are self-assigned based on the establishment’s primary activity. Besides NAICS, there are lots of industry classifications in the world using by different countries. And there are also some similarities and differences between them.

From Watson CPA Group : Starting and running a small business can be very challenging, but very exciting. Probably more of a pain in the butt, yet most business owners start a company to do something they love. That passion can be a great motivator, but it can also be a detractor. Proper tax preparation and planning, recordkeeping of your small business tax deductions and money handling is a must. This is just the operational stuff- you also have to consider entity structure, exit strategies, risk mitigation, retirement planning and all that hoopla. From Quickbooks : Managing your business finances does not have to be eat-your-spinach drudgery. The key, of course, is to create a realistic plan with a budget, record your transactions correctly, review your results regularly and always keep good records. Your comfort level with the three basic financial reports that evaluate your fiscal health is also essential: the balance sheet, income statement and cash flow statement. LWS

From Smart Steps Greening Guide : As a small business, there are many opportunities to partner or benefit from EPA sustainability programs, tools and research. Whether your business is in need of reducing its energy, water and resource use or needs to better understand what green products are available for purchase, EPA can provide your small business with assistance in reaching your sustainability goals. Consider joining into a voluntary partnership with EPA. ENERGY STAR’s Small Business Network , which lists more than 12,000 small businesses, throughout the country, who have committed to improving their energy efficiency with ENERGY STAR. These leaders recognize that saving energy is not only good for the environment, it’s good for their bottom line. The small businesses that have joined this network are varied in size and in industry. Everything from an auto collision repair shop in Dover, Tennessee to a home improvement firm in Oxford, Massachusetts are proud to carry the EN

From Business 2 Community : You’ve raised capital, built a website, and opened the doors to your small business — now what? Raising awareness for your business and promoting it are essential for ensuring your success and thankfully that task is now easier than ever. With an estimated 78% of Americans now on social media these sites and apps have become go-tos for entrepreneurs looking to engage with customers and potential customers alike. However today it’s no longer enough to just be on social media. Recent changes made to how these platforms display content have been detrimental to small businesses — even those with large fanbases and followings. That’s why small business owners should seriously consider advertising on these networks in addition to their typical posting. Not only have many of the top social networks made it easy for entrepreneurs to target the right users and consumers for relatively little money but new opportunities for businesses to promote themselves are

From Washington Post : Census population data show that suburban America is, once again, outgrowing central cities. Even exurban counties, those beyond suburban areas, are gaining population faster than urban ones, for the second year in a row. And the growth that the densest places in the country have enjoyed since the housing bust is actually slowing down. See The Business Journals : After taking a hit during the recession, the suburban office market’s comeback is well underway — and businesses of all sizes are starting to take notice. Although there’s no shortage of available space in the suburbs — the national vacancy rate for suburban office properties was 15.1 percent in the second quarter of 2015, versus 10.6 percent for buildings downtown, according to CBRE — demand is on the rise. A total of 13.3 million square feet of suburban space was absorbed last quarter, more than double the quarterly average of 6 million square feet since 2010, allowing office landlords to push rents as

In August a review team from the America’s SBDC Accreditation Committee visited the Central Office and Regional Centers across New York State. The review team was led by Katie Sewell, Idaho SBDC State Director. The other team members were Arizona SBDC State Director Janice Washington, Kansas SBDC State Director Greg Panichello, and Georgia SBDC Associate State Director Beth Melnik (who also serves as the Chair of the Accreditation Committee). The team was in New York for a week, beginning with a review of the Central Office in Albany. The reviewers were then escorted by NY SBDC senior staff to the Albany Regional Center and departed to conduct separate tours of Regional Centers in the northern, western, central and eastern, and greater NYC and Long Island regions of the state. Reviewers met with Regional Center staff, Advisory Board members, SBA District (3) officials, and representatives of NY SBDC partners and allies. Three of the reviewers were accompanied by observers from SBDC

From Healthcare Trends Institute : Entrepreneurs and small businesses may still be looking at first quarter results and getting a feel for how their year will go. But that’s not the only thing they should be considering at this point, they need to start thinking about health insurance and not wait until the fall. Open enrollment always has a way of creeping up fast and taking the time to reconsider your health plan or consider offering health insurance for your group should be explored now. From AWANE : Health insurance continues to consume a large portion of a business' money and often payroll is the only expense that tops it. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in March 2016, health insurance benefits cost small businesses (with less than 50 employees) an extra $1.61 for every hour worked by an employee. Multiply that by a 40 hour work week, and that comes out to almost $65 a week, $260 a month or over $3,000 a year, per employee. In other words, health

From People's United Bank : Your business is growing, but not as quickly as it could and you know it. You need capital to fuel expansion - to move into new markets, hire more staff, increase service and product offerings and grow more profitable with ever-expanding margins. Instead of borrowing expansion capital, maybe it's time to consider going public - selling ownership shares of your business to the public. But going public isn't as easy as simply offering stock to outside investors. Your business needs a solid track record of profitability, increasing revenues and reasonable margins in a healthy, growing industry or market sector. Investors want to see a strong management team, a vibrant corporate culture, a sound business infrastructure and growth potential. Lots of growth potential!   From Investopedia : An initial public offering (IPO) is the first sale of stock by a company. Small companies looking to further the growth of their company often use an

From wikiHow : Corporate bonds are a financial tool that a corporation uses to raise funding. They are an alternative to acquiring loans from a bank or issuing shares of stock. Corporations use the money from bond sales to finance a variety of improvements, like business growth, new factories, or new equipment. When an investor buys a corporate bond, he is essentially buying an IOU from the corporation that is to be paid back after a pre-determined time (the maturity date). The bond will also typically pay coupon payments, which are interest-based payments made to the bondholder at regular intervals (usually semi-annually). Corporations usually enlist the help of investment banks, which function as underwriters, to organize the creation, marketing, and sale of the bonds.   From Chron , which also tells you how to issue bonds : Issuing bonds lets your corporation remain privately owned while you raise money to grow your business. You can sidestep most Securities and Exchan

From Go Digital : Consumer interest in the “sharing economy,” a popular term that’s been loosely defined as an economic ecosystem built around the sharing (renting) of assets, is exploding. Along with consumers, an increasing number of rising companies and small business owners are finding that they, too, can benefit from collaborative consumption. From big-name companies, such as Airbnb and Uber, to smaller marketplaces like DogVacay, Getaround, and LiquidSpace, businesses increasing in popularity and local merchants are exploring new ways to get in on the action.   According to a 2014 report by Nielsen, the consumer peer-to-peer rental market is now worth an estimated $26 billion. Sixty-eight percent of global consumers say they’re willing to share their own assets, and 66 percent say they’re willing to seek shares from others. Businesses are generating extra revenue by renting their own unused assets to consumers, and many are working with other merchants. By taking adv

From The Balance : If you are looking for a small business idea to kickstart your path to entrepreneurship, you are in the right place. This list of 101 small business ideas includes everything from personal services, to retail opportunities, to environmental services, to pet-related ideas, to technology businesses. Use this list to identify the business idea that is perfect for your situation. It's time to take the next step, and evaluate the business ideas that made it to the top of your list. Doing this research at the beginning of the process is vital to avoid wasting time and money on a business idea that flops.

On a business listserv, one librarian pointed out a good resource for global corporate tax rates, 2006 - current , a website called Trading Economics. But the page is great for so much more: There are real time currency and stock market data for all over the world. Plus it has data on several topics. For instance- Labor: Employed Persons, Job Vacancies, Minimum Wages, Payrolls, Population, Productivity, Retirement Age, Unemployment Rate, Wages Prices: Consumer Price Index, Export Prices, Inflation Rate, Producer Prices Also several other categories, including Markets, GDP, Money, Trade, Government, Business, Consumer, Housing, Taxes If you are involved in international trade or just want info for markets across the world, check out Trading Economics

From LinkedIn "I'll be online later," you say, grabbing your laptop as you head out the door. "Please don't," say a growing number of CEOs who are radically rethinking the modern workday. Prompted by Millennials who value work-life balance, an increasingly global workforce spanning time zones, and devices that allow us to connect anywhere, anytime, these CEOs recognize the value of redesigning business to accommodate life, and not the other way around... In a world that is always on, when does work stop? In one corner is the argument for flexible hours, the darling of the tech set. When executed well, this approach allows staff to work when they work best while navigating life events that don’t naturally fall before 9 a.m. or 6 p.m. However, probe a bit further and many employees admit that flexible hours often mean "always working," with little or no ability to shut off. In the other corner is the 9-to-5 (or 6...or 7...) model, which can

From BizWomen : When Heatherjean MacNeil launched her fashion startup, Proxy Apparel, several years ago, she applied to a prominent accelerator program. Two years in a row, she was accepted as a finalist. And two years in a row, she found herself pitching her business to the same room of older white men. The men had money to give, which was good. But there were misunderstandings about market opportunity, the vision behind the potential consumer demand and avenues for growth. “I think that [more broadly] represents the fact that, particularly in investment circles, there’s such a strong absence of women, so you feel as if you’re the other,” MacNeil told me recently. “And I think it’s harder to understand how to build relationship capital in that context.” Now, she’s part of a team of women working to create an alternate experience for other female entrepreneurs. MacNeil co-founded with Susan Duffy and Sharon Kan the Babson College Women Innovating Now Lab— or WIN Lab — an eigh

The New York Small Business Development Center (SBDC) is pleased to announce Christina Loggia , Business Advisor with the Farmingdale State College SBDC, has been awarded the 2016 State Star for New York. The State Star designation recognizes outstanding achievement in high-quality business counseling and distinguished, long-term service in terms of economic development. Loggia was recently honored during the America’s SBDC Annual Conference in Orlando. Loggia joined the SBDC in 2013 as an advisor helping Hurricane Sandy victims with NY Rising grant applications, and in 2015 started counseling non-disaster clients. To date, she has assisted more than 300 small business owners and entrepreneurs and has succeeded in helping them obtain more than $6.8 million dollars in small business grants and or loans. Loggia brings more than 30 years of business experience in the areas of retail, purchasing, human resources, marketing and education to the small business community.

The '8 Great' Tips For Marketing In A Category That Hasn't Existed Before   OCT 5, 2016 @ 05:12 PM   Each of these companies have shared the same hurdle  —  how do you market a solution people don't know exists to a problem they don't yet realize they have? "Walleye Dawn" Photo courtesy of Steve Wall on Flickr:   https://flic.kr/p/6Vvgqw  Some rights reserved. Forbes' Cheryl Conner writes about a problem we see from time to time  — being a field that does not have a marketing rule book.   For most businesses buying an ad and waiting for customers to rush the door is not enough, especially so for those categories that require a little explanation. We can bandy "social media" around as being the tools to gain new customers but business owners need to be able to speak about the problems their product or service solves. The new avenues need content and the content is expertise and storytelling. Most of the methods described in

From Bplans : The transition from the corporate world to entrepreneurship is jarring for anyone who takes the leap. The work, structure, and indicators of success are different in many ways. Things you became adept at while working at a company—like keeping your boss happy and navigating office politics—lose their utility when you’re on your own. It was an exciting environment with a steep learning curve. However, having grown up in a family of small business owners, the pull of entrepreneurship strengthened as I grew older. After several years in the corporate world, I realized it was never going to get easier to make the switch. Leveraging our financial skill sets, my partner and I started a tech-enabled factoring company that helps innovative B2B businesses and startups fund their working capital. The transition from a white-shoe Wall Street firm to the near absolute freedom of entrepreneurship required enormous adjustments in all aspects of my life.

From ConsumerAffairs : Many people log in to multiple online accounts every day, including financial, email and social media accounts. Having strong passwords for each websites helps protect consumers from identity thieves. A strong password is complex, long and unique, and, therefore, can be hard to create and/or remember. Password managers generate and securely store passwords so that consumers don’t have to remember them, but different ones offer slightly different services and levels of protection. Consumers who understand these features can choose one to meet their security needs. Link goes to: Top 10 Best Rated Password Managers What features matter most? What are different types of password managers?

From the Business Journals : The Supreme Court of the United States begins its 2016 term Monday. Virtually by definition, cases that reach the land's highest court are historic in nature, but there are plenty of prominent and divisive cases to go around this term. The session will be further complicated by the court still being down a member after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in February. If the court splits 4-4 on a ruling, the lower court's ruling effectively stands. Here are some of the key business cases before the court this term — with what's in dispute and what's at stake. Samsung Electronics v. Apple Inc...

From Bplans : It seems you can’t talk about business anymore without talking about disruption. What everybody can agree on is that the rate of change seen throughout almost every industry, due to new technologies and advanced rates at which ideas spread, is steadily increasing, and shows no signs of slowing down. The good news for small businesses and startups is that they shouldn’t be worried. In fact, they should be excited! Being small enough, and in the case of startups, fresh enough to take innovative leaps and try out radical new methods and ideas is why these organizations are the ones that drive disruption. Enterprise level businesses and other large organizations are taking notes, trying to learn from small businesses how best not only to respond to disruption but to instigate it themselves. For small businesses, this is great. Even if they’re not the ones driving change, they’re small and agile enough to adapt to it. For aspiring startups, this is even better. Establi

From Bplans : An early question among potential co-founders during discussions about commitment was always “have you raised money yet?” as if it’s a requirement of doing a tech startup. It seems like a common trend with first-time tech entrepreneurs—and even some more experienced entrepreneurs—to think of fundraising as a required step in the process of starting a technology company. They read articles on TechCrunch about how startups are raising huge, early rounds of funding from VCs, then begin putting together pitch decks and attempt to seek out funding for their own startup. However, if you look at the history of today’s biggest tech companies, nearly all of them started without raising outside funds. Facebook, Apple, and Microsoft all started in garages or dorms, and didn’t raise money until later on when they were ready to scale up operations. In fact, many companies are successful without ever raising outside money, including PlentyofFish, Balsamiq Mockups, and Shutterstoc

One may be barred from working in a job that is related to a criminal conviction. Understanding which jobs you can and cannot be hired for has been difficult for employer and potential employee. As this article from Minnesota states: The American Bar Association created the Collateral Consequences website to show how different types of criminal convictions affect employment and other resources. The rules about barred occupations and work restrictions are complicated. The collateral consequences of a criminal conviction—legal sanctions and restrictions imposed upon people because of their criminal record—are hard to find and harder to understand. Now it will be easier to do both. Congress directed the National Institute of Justice to collect and study collateral consequences in all U.S. jurisdictions, and NIJ selected the ABA Criminal Justice Section to perform the necessary research and analysis. The results are now being made available through this interactive tool. It has

From MarketProfs : Public relations is sometimes referred to as the "persuasion business," and that nickname says it all. PR campaigns are largely about convincing an audience that something (such as an event, a person, a company, or a transaction) is important and supporting that claim with clear reasons. However, it may be time for the PR industry to start campaigning on its own behalf. Global industry growth slowed to 5% in 2015 marking a significant downshift from its double-digit growth just two years prior. Meanwhile, spending on PR information and software is going up, reaching $2.9B in 2015—a 5.5% increase over 2014. The diverging dynamics show that in 2016 and beyond, PR needs to be a business of technologically powered proof—not just persuasion. For the PR industry to grow and thrive, it needs to prove its direct value in the most tangible ways possible. Amid the ever-evolving digital media landscape, the following best-practices will be integral to prov

By  Carmel Martin  and  Angela Hanks   Apprenticeships, paid training programs that combine on-the-job training and classroom instruction, are an effective yet underused strategy for training workers for in-demand jobs. In 2014, in an effort to increase the use of apprenticeship as a pathway to middle-class employment, President Obama set a national goal to double the number of U.S. apprenticeships within five years. Since then, the Department of Labor has made unprecedented investments to support the development and expansion of new and existing apprenticeship programs, announcing or awarding $265 million in funding, thanks, in part, to a historic, bipartisan agreement made by Congress and based on the president’s 2016 budget. As part of that initiative, the Department of Labor is  awarding 14 contracts  to industry and workforce intermediaries to advance two major goals for expanding apprenticeship programs in the United States: *expanding apprenticeships in new industr

From the American Institute for Economic Research Politicians love to talk about small business, but often use the topic for a quick photo op and feel-good story about the economy. However, both major presidential candidates are proposing policies that are highly relevant to small business owners. Hillary Clinton focuses on “leveling the playing field” between small and large businesses, while Donald Trump advocates policies intended to help businesses regardless of size. A comparison of these proposals highlights an interesting question: How differently should the government treat small and large businesses? Clinton’s website has a page dedicated to small business, including those photo ops, but also a sizable list of policy proposals. Virtually all of the proposals focus on the premise that small businesses face greater or different challenges related to taxation, financing and regulation than their large counterparts. Perhaps the proposal of Clinton’s that could have the most

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Improving Small Business Cyber Security Act of 2016 this week, to help small businesses protect themselves from cyberattacks. A companion bill is still working its way through the Senate. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Richard Hanna (R-NY), Chairman of the House Small Business Committee was approved by voice vote on a bipartisan basis. Here are the main nuggets from that press release : American small businesses are under cyberattack like never before. By one estimate, 71 percent of cyberattacks occurred in businesses with fewer than 100 employees. With America’s 28 million small businesses making up 54 percent of annual sales in the U.S., the frequency of such attacks and the high costs they create for small businesses could have ripple effects throughout our economy. Small businesses are often not prepared to prevent cyberattacks or easily recover from the damages of successful intrusions. A report by Internet security firm McAfe

From Bplans Almost every business has some form of insurance to protect it from fires, lawsuits, and vandalism—things that are 100 percent not boring. In fact, the first business insurance policies came from Lloyd’s of London, which used to be a coffee shop where sailors and merchants gathered. It was a perfect storm: Lloyd’s picked up on how dangerous sailing was and that merchants wanted insurance in case their sailors were thrown overboard, goods were lost at seas, or pirates did pirate-y things. This little coffee shop starting selling marine insurance and soon enough, it became the nexus of the insurance world. Three hundred years later, it still is. If you’re a small-business owner, chances are you don’t need pirate insurance. If you do, heaven help you. For most business owners, there are four non-pirate kinds of insurance that cover most major exposures.

From nectjobs : Screening for the right person for the job is always a challenge. You need someone not only qualified but with a passion for the work and a desire to serve. You do not always have the luxury of multiple interviews, following up with past employers, calling all character references, or reading through multi-page resumes to help you find the right candidate for the open position. What follows are 50 quick, easy-to-use, and immediately applied interview questions. These questions will help you to decide quickly whether the candidate you are interviewing is the right fit or not. Each question has been filtered through a vast array of human resources scenarios to determine if any are “questionable” or “offensive” based on current HR laws, regulations, and interviewing rules, (e.g., discriminatory questions based on violations of ADA, Title VI, etc.), and each one has passed the test in the US at the time of this writing.

The  Business Dynamics Statistics  provide annual statistics on establishments, firm startups, and job creation and loss from 1976 to 2014 by firm size, firm age, industrial sector, state and metropolitan statistical area. These statistics provide snapshots of current and historical U.S. entrepreneurial activity, plus geographic and industry detail about where jobs are being created and lost in the U.S. economy. Data tables are available by  firm characteristics  and  establishment characteristics , as well as through the  application programming interface .

If you are a small business siuccess, submit your nomination today for the 2017 National Small Business Week Awards. All nominations must be mailed or hand delivered to the nearest SBA Office no later than 3:00 PM ET on January 10, 2017. Consult the Awards Guidelines for a list of National Small Business Week Awards, eligibility criteria, selection process, evaluation criteria and how to submit a nomination package. National Small Business Week has served as our nation’s salute to small business owners. That’s more than 50 years of celebrating small business owners who create two out of every three new jobs for Americans. Many household names were previous National Small Business Week award winners, including Ben and Jerry’s, Calloway Golf, Chobani, Dogfish Head, Stoneyfield Farm, Pacifica and Tom’s of Maine. And in recognizing the changing face of America, the SBA’s National Small Business Week awards honor individuals and businesses that reflect our nation’s rich diversity. All n

By  Marco Carbajo , Guest Blogger For every business, the cash flowing into a company is essential for covering the day to day expenses necessary to operate a business. It keeps lights on and doors open; cash flow is truly the life blood of a business. Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon that companies of all shapes and sizes have to slow business growth due to lack of cash flow needed for expansion. To combat this, a business owner may increase the amount of cash coming in by generating more sales and converting those sales into cash as soon as possible. Another way is to conserve the company’s cash flow. While there are many ways to conserve cash flow such as cutting costs, bartering, re-negotiating with creditors, and cutting inventory; one method in particular is through Net 30 accounts. By asking for  credit terms from your suppliers  you enable your business to hold onto cash for a longer period of time. You can obtain products and services your business needs and defer the payment

From MarketingProfs : Marketing is impatient. We want more leads, more brand recognition, more social shares. We want a fatter pipeline, fuller funnel, more ideas, and (often) more credit. And we want it now. Yet, ironically, the companies that will have the biggest marketing wins this fall won't get there by going faster. Instead, they will get there by... wait for it... slowing down. In our fast-paced, always-on, agile, want-it-yesterday, mile-a-minute world... there is a critical need to slow down. Why? Because doing so allows you to achieve real results—faster. Or, rather, we need to identify those key moments when we need to slow down, because doing so allows the business to grow faster. (And better. And with more integrity.) We need to invite slow to fuel fast. Wasn't Ben Franklin spot-on when he said, "Remember that time is money"? Doesn't wisdom hold that when you slow down, you're roadkill? Nope. The opposite is true. Although th