New York SBDC Research Network

The Great Recession reset the world economic map. Suddenly, with the bulk of the world’s economic growth transferred beyond the borders of a recession-mired West and into emerging markets, American metropolitan areas and the nation as a whole were left to cast about for new sources of growth. Such a search for growth is why, in the months after the crash, a chorus of business leaders and economists called for a new emphasis on exports in a "rebalanced" American economy. ... And it is also why the Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings published in summer 2010 the initial edition of Export Nation — a first-of-its-kind analysis of both goods and services exports at the metropolitan level in the United States during the period from 2003 to 2008. ... This second edition of Export Nation updates and builds upon the results of the first analysis to examine changes across the metropolitan export landscape in 2010, the first year of the nation’s economic recovery.

I recently asked a struggling business owner how he thought he rated as a boss. He responded by asking, How do you know if you’re a good boss? What defines a good boss? No doubt, bosses and employees have different perspectives and can see things differently. To me, a good boss is someone who runs a good company and treats people well. Here are some questions that I think can help assess a boss’s performance:

Turns out successful businesses aren't concerned only with their bottom line. . Ethisphere Institute , which compiled the list, says it based its rankings on the following factors: ethics and compliance programs; reputation, leadership and innovation; governance; corporate citizenship and responsibility; and culture of ethics. (VIA here .)

From HERE : Are you doing business on the Internet? Selling on eBay? Promoting or advertising someone else’s products on your website or blog? Online money-making opportunities are plentiful – from selling your old books via online auction to promoting products and services for online merchants, or becoming an online merchant yourself. But at what point does this mean you are in business yourself and, since you are making money online, what are your tax and regulatory obligations?

From USA Today : Organized groups of do-gooders — "cash mobs," modeled after public-spectacle "flash mobs" — are descending upon small businesses, snapping up merchandise and rallying at pubs afterward to celebrate their pro-community mission. The shopping sprees have taken place in dozens of cities from San Diego to Buffalo. The packs organize on platforms such as Facebook or Twitter, where they get details on where and when a strike will occur. Farmers markets, toy retailers and hardware stores have been on the hit list. Mob members typically spend at least $10 to $20. The altruistic acts provide much-welcomed economic and emotional support for small-business owners

Great communication is a key to being a good leader. Communicating with the entire team can be a challenging thing to take on. An article posted in linked in highlights several key areas in which a leader can increase the level of communication with employees at all levels of the organization. The improvement in communication with employees will result in higher employee engagement. This blog post will highlight five key areas any leader can concentrate on to improve his or her ability to communicate more effectively. More HERE .

"Do you have a blog for your small business? You should consider it. Blogging enables you to build credibility, expertise and thought leadership in and around your business. It is also a great way to showcase information about your product or service in a way that provides you flexibility to add information on-line without having to make changes to your primary website. Given all of these advantages the biggest challenges in blogging typically revolve around generating ideas to write about and the time to create posts." More HERE . I would add that you can take your blog and post the link on your Twitter or Facebook page. You DO have one, right?