New York SBDC Research Network

By Catherine Metcalf When you run a business, it’s important to control expenses so that you can remain profitable. However, unexpected costs can arise that throw off the balance. Employee injuries can be one of the most disruptive things that happen to a company. According to one work injury lawyer in Philadelphia, “When an employee suffers an injury at work, the employer’s workers compensation coverage will pay benefits to the injured employee.” However, the initial payout is only the beginning of financial effects that can be felt from this type of injury. Having an effective safety management system in place can help you to maintain your bottom line and keep you in business. Increased Premiums In many states, workers compensation insurance is mandatory for businesses with more than one employee. This insurance covers employees for rehabilitation, costly medical expenses, and wages lost as a result of a work-related incident. However, companies pay premiums based on th

From eMarketer The 26-year-old law that exempted online retailers from collecting sales tax in states where they have no physical presence has been overturned, per a US Supreme Court ruling Thursday. This practice was a holdover from a 1992 case, Quill Corp. v. North Dakota, when ecommerce looked very different from today. States looking to make up lost revenues have been pushing for reform for years. This case was brought by the state of South Dakota, but it has greater implications for the 45 states that rely on sales tax, as well as online retailers like Wayfair, Overstock.com and Newegg.com (all were involved in this case) that have argued that tax collection would be a logistical challenge and an unfair burden, particularly on smaller merchants.

From MarketingProfs Email subject lines that express gratitude tend to outperform email subject lines that do not, according to recent research from Cheetah Digital. The report was based on 2017 data from email campaigns sent by Cheetah Digital clients in a wide range of verticals. The researchers found email subject lines that included terms such as "with heartfelt thanks" and "thank you!" had average unique open and unique click rates that were 69% and 38% higher, respectively, than subject lines which did not express gratitude.

From eMarketer According to a February 2018 Nanigans survey of retail marketers, a vast majority (83%) think they would’ve achieved the same sales results if they hadn’t used retargeting. And yet, just 28% said they had the ability to measure whether sales occurred, organically or not. Even so, 53% of these retail marketers planned to spend more on performance ads in the next 12 months—on average, 24% more. This theme held true when respondents were asked about their biggest digital advertising challenges. More than half (55%) cited measuring true business impact. That sentiment was felt more strongly by larger companies (63%) than smaller ones (43%). Visibility into how ad budgets are being spent (39%) and ad fraud and viewability concerns (39%) were also challenges for respondents overall.

From NewHope A founder wears many hats: leader, evangelist, visionary and more. One of the heaviest of those hats is as a fundraiser. Great ideas don’t become good businesses without money. Too often, this chase for capital becomes all-consuming. There are alternatives to friends and family, angels and venture capitalists. Crowdfunding, both rewards-based and equity, is a growing avenue for early-stage food startups. Cheryl Clements, founder and CEO of PieShell, a rewards-based food and beverage crowdfunding platform, shared, “There is currently an appetite for funding food. Investment in food and beverage has tripled since 2013 and the crowd wants in on the action.” Stating the obvious, reward-based crowdfunding campaigns provide product samples, brand swag and recognition in exchange for investment dollars. Equity crowdfunding is a democratized way to sell shares of the company.

From eMarketer An April 2018 study of US retailers by Retail Systems Research (RSR) found that pricing concerns far outstripped other issues. Keeping up with the competition’s prices was the No. 1 challenge, cited by 58% of respondents. When asked about their top three business challenges, 65% of retailers cited "aggressive competitors of like items make price our primary demand driver." And 60% cited "increased consumer price sensitivity." Those two challenges were the only ones cited by more than half of the respondents. But pricing pressures were more acute in some sectors than others. In particular, the study noted that fashion and apparel retailers were much less likely to be focused on pricing parity (at 39%) and tended to be more concerned about minimizing markdown spend (48%).

From MarketingProfs Most small business owners worked a full-time job while starting their own firm, according to recent research from Paychex. The report was based on data from a survey of 413 people in the United States who own a business that has fewer than 500 employees. Some 59% of respondents say they worked a full-time job while initially building their own business. The reasons small business owners started their own firms range widely by industry, the survey found.