New York SBDC Research Network

I was having a discussion with a an SBDC colleague about the term "microenterprise". I found some stats, then I came across this report Do Business Definition Decisions Distort Small Business Research Results? According to SBA: This working paper has two purposes. It presents special tabulations from the U.S. Census Bureau's Survey of Business Owners (SBO) to offer the public detailed information on businesses with and without employees and their owners (including owner age, home-based status, franchises and financing). Second, the authors consider the characteristics of nonemployer and employer businesses. Their examination shows that research results based on data on nonemployers are not necessarily applicable to employers and vice versa. A copy of the report is located here and the research summary can be found here . Should you need further information, please feel free to contact Brian Headd or Radwan Saade at (202) 205-6533 or advocacy@sba.gov.

Market research is essential to starting or expanding a business and the various sources that are available can be difficult to navigate. Rutgers University Libraries have a subject research guide section devoted to sources for various types of research. The guide devoted to Market Research "includes pointers to several important sources of statistical data on income, consumption, and demographics, to help you understand and define the market for your product or service." Another source for subject research guides, including Market Research Sources , is the Library of Congress Business Reference Services.

I heard about this site from my mother. She and my sister were enjoying stumbling and turned me on to it. I was familiar with some other similar sites like Digg and Delicious but like so many other comparable products, it's style that sets one apart from another. StumbleUpon allows you select your interests then you "stumble" and you will be led to one after another site on those topics. You can also review and save favorites and share them with a social network. So, if you are interested in graphic design and animation and buddhism, it will bring those sites to you. I had been using it for entertainment purposes mostly but then added topics like Internet Tools and Small Business and those categories are included in my random wanderings.

Last week, I received an e-mail from the CPM Industry Insider that had a link to the article Survey: American Small Businesses Not Prepared For Power Outages . Probably not coincidentally, on the very same day, SBA sent out a press release about September being National Preparedness Month, from which I will quote extensively: Homeowners, Renters and Businesses Are Encouraged to Plan Before Disaster Strikes WASHINGTON – Recent floods in the Midwest and hurricanes/tropical storms in Texas and Florida have cost homeowners, renters and businesses millions of dollars in damages. These events serve as reminders to the public to have a disaster preparedness plan in place. National Preparedness Month, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), is designed to enhance the public’s awareness of the necessity of having an emergency plan in place to respond to a natural or man-made disaster. The U.S. Small Business Administration is one of the many government and private sector co

Two years ago, I wrote a post that summarized a report written by Dr. James Chrisman, which provided data proving the economic impact of the New York State SBDC for clients seen during the year 2004. It's time for a follow-up. If you recall, we mail surveys to all long-term clients (i.e., those who received five hours or more of consulting). Dr. Chrisman compiled the data, and released his report to us in late August. Here's the details, taken directly from the report: * "There were 620 responses to two mailings (post and email) of a questionnaire, a 7.2% response rate. The clients surveyed (8,647) represented the entire population of long-term clients (received five hours or more of consulting) of the New York SBDC in 2006. Of these, 3,168 were established businesses and 5,479 were pre-ventures (a/k/a, "startups"). * "In aggregate, we estimate that the long-term clients of the New York SBDC generated $861.9 million in incremental sales and 11,764 new

Business Net, "the go-to place for management", has a section of their website that lists free business magazines for those that qualify. There are hundreds of magazines listed that can be subscribed to for no cost. Since it would take forever to list all of the publications that are available, the categories listed are: Agriculture Automotive Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals Computers Construction Education Engineering Executive & Management Finance Food & Beverage Government Health Care Human Resources Industrial & Manufacturing Internet Information Technology IT Data Management IT Security IT Software & Development IT Storage Insurance Mechanical/Machine Meetings & Travel Multimedia Network/Communications Purchasing & Procurement Retail Sales & Marketing Small & Medium Business Telecom & Wireless Trade/Professional Services Transportation & Logistics Utility & Energy With such an eclectic selection, there is sure to be a pu

Like a lot of struggling smaller cities, in our area, we see businesses that have survived severe changes downtown. There is a drive to increase the traffic to downtown areas and convince businesses to locate there over malls. But sometimes, the cityscape doesn't give an accurate picture of what is going on behind closed doors. Walking down the street, so many businesses that appear defunct from the street are actually viable. Now, I know word-of-mouth is great and all, but these businesses could do more to get someone not already familiar with them in the door. Improving signage, cleaning up window displays and generally smartening up their "face" would go a long way to improving business. Developing a unified image may help develop new business. An example of another way to improve a brand identity is with shopping bags. The lastest Entrepreneur Magazine has a short article by Gwen Moran entitled It's in the Bag that looks at how a business can take advantage of