New York SBDC Research Network

You have a great product or service. Now you have to sell it. This course will give you an overview of sales plans and other tools to get your product or service into your customer/consumer’s hands. Duration: 00:30:00 Go to SBA.gov

In a previous post  we talked about deciding if a business is franchise worthy. The next step is the big one. It’s one thing to do market research on a business idea, it’s quite another to open your checkbook and put your money where your idea is. Here are a few things you’ll need to do to get your business going, and to get it franchise-ready. Open A Store In the case of Just Socks, my hypothetical idea, the next step assuming that the data found in the market research step was positive for a retail store like this, would be to open one up. And, unless you have the money needed to open a retail store, including furnishings, signage, and of course, inventory, you’re going to need to get a small business loan. The first step: Visit a local bank that offers small business lending, hopefully one that participates in programs administered by the SBA. Loans approved by the SBA offer certain guarantees for participating banks. Check out  SBA LINC , a free tool that connects borr

Webinar | Social Media 101: A Roadmap to Winning Customers  Thursday, August 13, 2015 | 2:00 PM ET     Do you have questions about the best way to market your new or existing small business? Join the Small Business Administration (SBA) and AARP during a free hour-long webinar on August 13 to learn about:  Developing a marketing plan  Using social media  Building a website  Sizing up the competition  And more!  >>  Register Now    Webinars | Affordable Care Act 101

By FranchiseKing (Joel Libava), SBA Guest Blogger Do you ever have ideas for a new business running through your head? I do. Most of the business ideas I come up with nowadays are marketing-related. It’s probably because I own a business and I’m always thinking of ways to market my services and products. But, once in a while, I come up with an idea that’s bigger than just a marketing tool. An Idea For A Franchise Many years ago, I don’t remember how many, exactly, I came up with an idea for a retail store. It was an idea that I was able to easily visualize-and still could today. I even had a name for the store. Stores plural, actually. I envisioned lots of stores. Franchises even. My idea was a niche-clothing store, for men, women and children. The name of the store: Just Socks. The business would specialize in one thing-you guessed it, socks. The latest search on Google revealed that as of today, the only business with that name is a little shop located in Perth, Aust

By  Eileen Sánchez , SBA Official Small business owners often tell us that they have many questions about how to enter a new market - and those questions are magnified when it comes to doing business with Cuba.  There have been several changes to the bilateral relationship in recent months, and, to address your questions, I hope that you will join SBA Administrator Contreras-Sweet and other senior officials on July 29 at 4:00 p.m. ET to discuss the opportunities that exist for exporting to Cuba. Today’s re-establishment of diplomatic relations with Cuba and reopening of embassies in Washington and Havana is an historic step marking the new direction in U.S.-Cuba relations announced by President Obama last December. This step was preceded by a series of significant measures: in January, the Departments of Commerce and Treasury amended their regulations to increase travel, trade and the free flow of information to and from Cuba.  In April, during the Summit of the Americas in Pan

The Office of Advocacy, an independent office within the U.S. Small Business Administration, released an Issue Brief entitled “ Patenting and Innovative Startups: Putting the America Invents Act (AIA) in a Broader Economic Context. ” The issue brief summarizes some of the potential small business outcomes of the AIA and contextualizes those outcomes for innovative startups. This issue brief finds that policy changes that affect patenting could affect innovative startups as they may heavily utilize patents to raise funds to continue to innovate.

Starting a small business is not a one size fits all-process. However, one best practice that all small businesses should consider is liability insurance. It’s no surprise that most of the information out there about liability insurance comes directly from insurance providers, so it is important to do extensive research to ensure that you are relying on objective information to make business decisions. The SBA offers a wealth of information on liability insurance for small businesses that can help. Here are a few points to consider as you work to ensure that your business has complete protection: Liability insurance protects you from a variety of legal claims including bodily and personal injury as well as property damage that can occur during day-to-day business operations. If you do not have employees, you may not be required by law to have insurance, but you should still be prepared. A single incident can unravel all of the hard work that you have done to build your business. Wh

As a small business owner, you can show your support by implementing these best practices for an LGBT-inclusive work environment. Creating a safe space for LGBT employees and customers can make your business more appealing to a diverse group of employees and a growing market of consumers. The Business Case for Equality The pace of acceptance of the LGBT community has been driven in no small measure by the business community. While commonly identified with large corporations, small businesses have also participated in making equality part of their business model. Fostering an inclusive and friendly business environment is a way to hire and retain employees, as well as help you break into corporate supply chains. Furthermore, by projecting an inclusive business model, small businesses have the opportunity to sell to the LGBT community, which has an estimated $830 billion in buying power.* More from the Small Business Administration

The Office of Advocacy released a small business fact sheet, "Putting Recent Venture Capital Gains in Perspective," by Economist Jonathan Porat. According to the fact sheet, the first quarter of fiscal year 2015 had the highest level of venture capital investment in a first quarter since the year 2000. This upward trend is part of a sizeable post-recessionary rebound in venture capital. The fact sheet also examines the data on venture capital investment deals since 1995 and looks at the five biggest venture capital deals in Q1 2015, all of which are technology startups from California. The fact sheet can be found here .

By Rieva Lesonsky Marketing is crucial for small business owners. But all too often, we approach marketing in a haphazard fashion, adding a new element to our marketing mix “on the fly” without stopping to think about whether it makes sense for our overall business goals. It’s great to keep your marketing fresh and up-to-date by marketing your business in new avenues. But if you don’t take the time to assess each part of your marketing mix and how it fits into the larger scheme of things, you could be wasting time and money—and not getting the results you desire. Creating a marketing plan for your business can help ensure that you’re maximizing each marketing dollar you spend and that your marketing message is truly getting across to your target customers. So how do you get started? Think of your marketing plan as kind of a “business plan” for your marketing. In fact, if you are a startup, a marketing plan should be part of your overall business plan. If you’re beyond the start

The Office of Advocacy has released the May 2015 issue of The Small Business Advocate. This edition features the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) proposed rule governing small unmanned aircraft systems (small UAS), also known as small drones. Advocacy held a roundtable to gather small business input on the proposed rule and submitted a comment letter to FAA on the rule. In addition, the newsletter covers six comment letters that were submitted to federal agencies regarding proposed rulemakings, and three regulatory alerts on new rulemakings. The newsletter also features Advocacy's new graphic and data visualization designer, new economic issue briefs released by Advocacy's Office of Economic research, and requests for quotations. In This Issue Rule Proposed on Employer Wellness Programs; DHS and DOL Issue Changes to H-2B Visa Program; Proposal Expands Retirement Advice Covered by Fiduciary Protections The entire newsletter can be found on Advocacy's websi

SBA is acknowledging the outstanding work of Empire State Certified Development Corp. (Empire State CDC), a New-York-based CDC, as the winner of the first-ever National Small Business Week Community Advantage Lender of the Year Award. A subsidiary of the New York Business Development Corporation, Empire State CDC is New York’s largest SBA 504 lender and consistently ranks in the top five among the 242 certified development companies nationwide. In FY 2014, Empire State CDC led the nation in approving $8.6 million of Community Advantage (CA) Loans to 66 different small businesses. Empire State CDC President and CEO Patrick J. MacKrell will accept the award. The award will be presented as part of the National Small Business Week 2015 Celebrations in May. A table showing both the top 10 Microlenders and top 10 Community Advantage lenders with their respective rankings and loan production may be accessed at https://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/Top10-microloan-ca-lenders-fy14.pdf

WASHINGTON – A Pacific Northwest mayor who managed recovery efforts in the aftermath of a devastating mudslide, a Long Island college student who used social media to ignite volunteerism in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, and a New York marina owner who reopened his business less than six months after Hurricane Sandy nearly destroyed his property will be presented at the White House with a 2015 Phoenix Award on May 8 during a U.S. Small Business Administration National Small Business Week event. Since 1998, the SBA has presented Phoenix Awards to business owners, public officials and volunteers who displayed selflessness, ingenuity and tenacity in the aftermath of a disaster, while contributing to the rebuilding of their communities. Dan Rankin, Mayor of the Town of Darrington, Washington will receive the 2015 Phoenix Award for Outstanding Contributions to Disaster Recovery by a Public Official. On March 22, 2014, a major landslide occurred in Oso, Washington, killing 43, engul

By  Donna Butler The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has taken a dual approach to sustainability this Earth Day. The SBA is leading by example by reducing the environmental impact of our own operations while continuing to offer resources to small businesses who are interested in “going green.” Since 2008, the SBA has reduced its total greenhouse gas emissions by 17%. In addition, the agency has recycled over 1,000 lbs. of electronics through an innovative partnership with the U.S. Postal Service and increased the percentage of alternate fuel (hybrid, low greenhouse gas emitting and flex fuel) vehicles in the agency’s fleet up to 72% of the total fleet, among other successes. For more information on SBA’s sustainability activities please see the agency’s latest  Strategic Sustainability Performance Plan . For businesses interested in reducing their own environmental impact, the SBA has several resources.

From https://www.sba.gov/blogs/5-reasons-start-home-based-internet-business SBA By Marco Carbajo: According to Forbes, more than 52% of all small businesses in the U.S. are home based. If you're like most people who dream about starting their own business, now may be the best time to take the first step. Starting a home based business on the internet has never been easier and the opportunities have never been greater. Kevin Systrom, co-founder of Instagram, says, “If you’ve got an idea, start today. There’s no better time than now to get going.” The internet is a store that never closes. It operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week and gives a business with an online presence a global audience. It has truly leveled the playing field in the world of business; now home-based entrepreneurs have access to the same types of tools and marketing opportunities used by major corporations. Today, you don’t have to have a traditional brick and mortar business to have a profitable bus

By  Javier.Saade , SBA Official As yet another massive blizzard hit New England on Valentines Day, the jointly hosted Harvard Business School and Harvard Kennedy School gathering focused on social entrepreneurship and impact investing took place.   The dialogue was inspiring and the energy palpable amongst the 500+ people in attendance.  The Social Enterprise Conference, now in its 16th year, brings together academics, investors, public sector leaders, private sector entrepreneurs, non profit practitioners, and students passionate about all aspects of social enterprise - and this includes impact investing. This year the theme of last Saturday was the collective opportunity "to reflect on three critical stages of social enterprise: Intent. Action. Impact." The conference had keynote speakers, including Bill Drayton, CEO of Ashoka and the acknowledged father of social entrepreneurship globally - as well as topical panels, problem solving labs, and opportunities for interactiv

By  Caron_Beesley U.S. businesses are selling more goods and services abroad than ever before, reaching an all-time record of $2.3 trillion in 2013 – and 98 percent of American companies that export are small businesses. Despite the statistics, many small businesses still face big challenges when it comes to financing and managing their export business. A recent trade seminar, hosted by the Department of Commerce and several other federal agencies,  identified three commonly cited financial obstacles  small businesses have to going global: Don’t know how to obtain working capital and financing to support export transactions Don’t know where to seek assistance for entering, growing and succeeding in global markets Don’t know how to get paid by foreign buyers overseas Helping entrepreneurs overcome such challenges are key priorities for the  SBA , Business.USA.gov , and the  International Trade Administration  (which supports the President’s  National Export Initiative ).

By  Maria Contreras-Sweet , SBA Administrator If there’s broad agreement that small businesses are the engine that powers the American economy, shouldn’t it be easier to fuel the tank? Access to credit continues to bedevil too many U.S. entrepreneurs. Eighty percent of small business loan applications are rejected, according to some industry estimates, and more applications than we can count are never filed because of the difficulty of getting an appointment with a loan officer. There’s a hunger among entrepreneurs to find financing to get their business off the ground or take the next big step in their expansion plan. Across the country, thousands of small business owners pound the pavement every day looking for term loans, equipment financing, lines of credit, invoice financing, and real estate loans to help them hire and grow. But too often, they’re wasting time they don’t have cold-calling and door-knocking their way to a lucky break. It shouldn’t be this way.  If you hav

Gain insights about how to estimate your start-up costs, which will help you determine what financing you may need to get off the ground, what it will take to reach your break-even point and manage cash flow once you’re up and running! How to Estimate the Cost of Starting a Business from Scratch How much will it take to start that new business you’re thinking of? Use these simple steps to develop a good estimate. You don’t get to know for sure, but if you have the discipline to break things into meaningful pieces, and then research each of the pieces, you’ll have a good idea. How to Guesstimate Your Starting Costs  

No doubt, there are probably quite a few regulatory and administrative items on your new business checklist – getting a permit, registering your business name and more (check out these 10 steps to starting a business for a useful reference point). One of the key requirements for most new businesses (or businesses that are restructuring) is obtaining an Employer Identification Number, or EIN, from the IRS. Here’s what you need to know about EINs and how to go about getting one for your business. An EIN is a unique nine-digit number that identifies your business for tax purposes. Think of it as the business equivalent of a social security number (although it shouldn’t be used in place of it). As a business owner, you’ll need an EIN to open a business bank account, apply for business licenses and file your tax returns. It’s a good idea to apply for one as soon as you start planning your business. This will ensure there are no delays in getting the appropriate licenses or financing