New York SBDC Research Network

I rather randomly came across this CNNMoney article this afternoon, but I thought it told a nice story about how one inventor managed to get her product into stores. In this case we’re talking about educational software, but the steps this entrepreneur took would likely be helpful in other fields. In a nutshell, the designer identified software publishers, and “stalked” them at trade shows. Deciding to self-publish instead she looked for major distributors and ultimatly chose to work with an aggregator. Read more here: How to get your video game into retail stores

I am already thinking about tax season and wanted to point out a couple of sources: How to Reduce Your Small Business Tax Bill A look at helpful year-end tax tips, advice on making smart elections, and good tax resources for the small business owner. By Elizabeth Wasserman Inc. Dec 1, 2009 Of course, the IRS has the Small Business and Self-Employed Tax Center . This page within the IRS site covers highlights and law changes as well frequently asked questions, forms, and workshops like the one for distinguishing betweeen an employee and an independent contractor. There is also a link to SBTV, and online TV network: SBTV.com SBTV.com is a television network on the Web devoted exclusively to providing engaging streaming video content to small businesses. It provides technical information on how to run your business, inspirational stories from entrepreneurs across the country, information about small business conferences and events, and resources to help solve day-to-day business challen

The New York State Contract Reporter is "New York’s official publication state procurement opportunities from state agencies, public authorities and public benefit corporations. The NYSCR is now free of charge for general access." Also check out OGS' Procurement Law, Guidelines and Procedures and Seller Information & Bid Opportunities . Just as important, when you find a contract that may be expiring in the next several months, TALK to the purchasing officer associated with that contract. There is a window during which they can help a prospective business, but another during which they cannot.

As I was using my usual translation sites to translate a block of text, I plugged in my paragraph and was disappointed to see half the words left untranslated and giving me a garbled mess. I remembered the Word Monkey gadget on my igoogle page and plugged the text in there and lo, it really worked. The entire paragraph made sense - a vast improvement on other translation tools. In this case, I was translating from Danish to English. Usually translation tools can get the nouns and verbs but are confounded by context. Looking at the Word Monkey site, they make clear that are not affilated in any way with Google yet are powered by Google Translate . In Google Translate, you can search for information on foreign language sites and translate the results back into your home language. There is also an option to contribute a better translation. This wiki feature may be part of the reason this translator is more accurate than others. With the ability to learn, I am liking this tool.

Surely you have tired by now of the whole Tiger Woods saga. All the articles about sex addiction, a world without privacy, being a role model, the future of professional golf, and whether we should care about any of it. But, from a business POV, here's one more article: The Ultimate Case Study In Brand Identity Vs Brand Image . It explains that brand identity really is "the heart and soul of who you are as a company or a person." Businesses can take a free "brand strength" test - go to the first link in the article - and that will be worth three minutes of a business' time.

I recently worked on a question about getting a business to want to contribute to a non-profit. (It was more complex than that, but that'll do for this purpose.) In researching the query, I came across Business Nonprofit CONNECTIONS, Inc. The About Us page poses this question: "Is your company’s giving making a difference in your community...and your bottom line?" The founder and CEO of the company, Susan Hyatt, "provides small and mid-sized companies with ideas and tools for actively managing their community impacts and giving strategies." Also, there's a lot of free, useful advice in blog articles and links to other resources at the site. And I've been getting some start-up e-mails from her that are commonsensical but useful; e.g., "Lesson One - Your Business is NEVER 'Too Small' To Make A Difference." One can sign up for a "free 12-page report, Great Gifts That Make a Difference, for ideas on alternative giving this holiday sea

Well, not really, but I needed a title to tie-in the season with this recent article from Small Business Trends , called the " Top 10 Homepreneur Trends for 2010 ". (Aside - why do so many year-end lists [or lists in general] come in a multiple of 10? Is it a common number of toes, or fingers? Anyway, it's not my list, so they can do what they like.) The article reveals the neologism "homepreneur," which I wasn't familiar with until today. Regardless, we frequently receive questions from advisors as to what home-based businesses are hot. Keep these in mind. Now, should a person enter into a home-based businesses because he or she is limited, for one reason or another, to the home, and that choosing amongst this list would yield something more promising than something that isn't hot? Or should this list be read by someone who has talent and experience in one of these fields, and decides to start out a career in the field by starting in the home? I rea