New York SBDC Research Network

The advisors of the Mid-Hudson SBDC regularly contribute business advice articles to the Times Record Herald.  Check out the wide variety of subjects that they cover here: http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=BIZ1011

From SmallBusinessNewz It is no secret that mobile applications have changed everyday life. People do business, set family reminders, deposit checks, track workouts and spend hours and hours of leisure time in mobile app platforms. Mobile software developer Flurry reported more than a trillion unique app events in November – a number simply unheard of even two years ago. Some food for thought: in January of 2011, around 100 billion mobile applications existed. At this writing, that number has just passed the 1,000 billion mark. Is it time for your business to have a mobile app? Consumers spend more time with mobile apps than they do watching television. Flurry reports that mobile apps are quickly closing in on Web browsing, which has stayed stable over the past year at an average of 168 minutes per day per consumer, while mobile applications rose from 94 to 127 minutes. Television watching has stayed steady at between 70 to 72 minutes per day for the past three years. It makes se...

As 2012 comes to a close, individuals and businesses need to remember some key tax provisions for making contributions to charity. The IRS offers these reminders for year-end giving: To deduct monetary donations you must have a bank record or written document from the charity stating the name of the charity, the contribution amount and the date. Contributions are deductible in the year made, even if the credit card bill isn't paid or the check isn't cashed until 2013. Only donations made to qualified organizations are tax deductible. Make sure the organization you want to donate to is qualified before making any contribution. Individuals must itemize their deductions on Form 1040 Schedule A or use a short form (Form 1040A and 1040EZ) to claim the standard deduction. Find more year-end giving tips from the IRS.

Learn how to dramatically improve your business by determining which of these vital four factors is most in need of repair.

Steps to Starting a Business, Writing a Business Plan, and More

During software engineer Ryan McGeary’s nine years working at seven startups, he has weathered contentious dramas, legal battles, and broken friendships stemming from arguments about how equity should be shared among founders and early investors... "There’s got to be a better way" to handle equity stakes, McGeary says. Recently he stumbled across just that: so-called dynamic equity splits, an idea making the rounds among Chicago startups. The concept is described in a book called Slicing Pie, by Mike Moyer, an adjunct professor of entrepreneurship at Northwestern University and founder of venture capital firm Lake Shark Ventures. More from Business Week .

The November-December issue of The Small Business Advocate reflects on many of the Office of Advocacy’s 2012 activities and scans the 2013 horizon. It includes reports on the office’s fall regulatory activities, new research on small business retirement planning, innovation events in Region III, and a tip of the hat to outgoing members of Congress, Senator Olympia Snowe, and Rep. Donald Manzullo. In This Issue: 2012 Accomplishments, 2013 Horizons Fall Regulatory Roundup Mortgage Rules Patent Revisions Critical Habitat Analyses Basel III Standards Small Business Set-Asides Reports Examine Small Business Retirement Preparation