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Wednesday, August 7, 2013

4 Ways to Safeguard and Protect Your Small Business Data

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Are you doing enough to safeguard and protect your small business data?

Small businesses are widely adopting data back-up practices to ensure data is retrievable should a disaster occur, but gaps remain. According to a July 2012 study by accounting software company Sage, the bulk of small businesses are backing up key data such as financial information, but most businesses back up that data on-site only. Furthermore, the study found that only 38 percent of surveyed small businesses have a formal emergency or disaster preparedness plan.

Given the brutal impact of Superstorm Sandy and other disasters that affect small businesses on a regular basis, these are worrying statistics.

“Backing up on-site may not be sufficient to protect small businesses from natural disasters – particularly if the business is located in an area prone to earthquakes, hurricanes, fires or flooding – or more common crises, such as theft or hardware malfunction,” said Connie Certusi, executive vice president and general manager of Sage Small Business Solutions, in a company press release.

“The development of a preparedness plan that includes solutions for protecting critical information, such us backing up off-site, could be the difference between getting a business on its way to recovery and worrying about its survival.”

So what’s the best way to make sure your small business data is secure and available at all times? Here are four tips:

1. Automate Your Back-Ups and Build in Redundancy

Whether you’re a freelancer or a 50-person firm, an automated back-up system is a must. Many of us know the value of backing up to a local hard drive (you can buy one that will store terabytes of data for under $100) or server. But you should also consider backing up to a third party or off-site service. If your business property (along with your back-up device) is destroyed in a disaster, you’ll have the peace of mind of knowing that your data is retrievable.

Cloud back-ups are increasingly popular, whereby companies such as DropBox, Symantec and Carbonite will securely replicate, back up and store your data in the cloud (basically a shared computer hosted by a third party on the Internet). Cloud services are particularly beneficial for small business owners who may not have an in-house IT team to help them manage and administer server back-ups.

To help you determine the best approach for your business, read this blog: Finding the Best Backup Option for Your Small Business Data.

2. Consider Server Virtualization

According to a survey by CDW, 25 percent of small businesses have virtualized at least some of their servers, with improved data protection cited as a direct benefit. But what is server virtualization? Server virtualization allows you to take one physical server machine and run several virtual server environments (for example, your email, database, and web servers) on it. Essentially, one server performs the work of many. Along with cost benefits, virtualization also makes disaster recovery easier. Read more about the ins and outs of server virtualization in this Server Virtualization Guide for Small Business on Small Business Computing.com.

3. Run a Full Service Security Suite

Safeguarding data is about more than backing it up. Intrusion attempts, computer viruses and malware all can compromise business data and threaten your systems.

Consider installing a hardware firewall. Most firewall systems protect your software, but by the time most firewalls are activated, the threat is already inside your network. But a secure appliance-based firewall between the Internet and your business data will block intruders and threats before they enter your network.

Anti-virus and spam filters represent another security layer that protects incoming and outgoing data. Use content filters; they protect local computers from malware threats by blocking entry to potentially harmful websites.

4. Have a Big Picture Disaster Preparedness Plan

Approximately 40-60 percent of small businesses never reopen their doors after a disaster (source). While the value of our business data is incalculable, protecting your business and your employees by ensuring you are prepared for the eventuality of a natural or man-made disaster is equally critical. Create a plan of action to lessen the impact of disasters, and a disaster recovery plan to ensure you are up and ready for business sooner.

Check out SBA’s guides, tools and templates to help you prepare and improve your chances of recovering quickly should the worst happen – Small Business Emergency Preparedness Guide. You can also visit the SBA Learning Center for online courses, webinars and other tips to help you with your disaster planning.

Related Blogs

Caron Beesley is a small business owner, a writer, and marketing communications consultant. Caron works with the SBA.gov team to promote essential government resources that help entrepreneurs and small business owners start-up, grow and succeed. Follow Caron on Twitter: @caronbeesleyTags: Community Blogs, Small Business Matters, Emergency Planning, Managing

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Grow Your Business This Summer – 7 Marketing Tips that Won’t Break the Bank

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Looking for ideas to incorporate the summer season into your marketing plans this year? Whether it’s a busy or quiet time for your business, here are some things you can do to take advantage of the summer months!

Take Your Business Into the Fresh Air

Don’t wait for your customers to come to you; look for ways to get in front of them. Whether you run a retail store, restaurant or provide a service to customers, consider the following:

Host a Cookout – Invite your customers (past and present) to join your business for a celebration of summer. Use your parking lot or public park and plan on catering yourself (a grill, hot dogs, hamburgers, salad, and cold drinks are fine). Look for ways to make this a worthwhile event for folks to want to join – hire a magician, moon bounce, or give away prizes. Don’t forget to offer incentives (demos or special offers) to those who attend so that they have a good reason to keep frequenting your business over the summer.Take Your Food Business on the Road - If you are in the food business, taking a concession stand on the road is a great way to earn money and give new customers a taste of what you’ve got to offer back at your restaurant or store. This article can help you understand how to start up a concession business: Starting a Mobile Food Concession Business.

Spoil Your Customers

I mentioned hosting a cookout above, but what about treating a select group of loyal customers to an appreciation event like an afternoon at a winery, a round of golf, or an afternoon of fishing? Don’t forget, as long as there is a business purpose for these activities—and substantial business discussions occur before, during or afterwards—you can claim the cost of customer entertainment expenses (including meals) as a tax deduction (typically up to 50 percent of the cost).

Hold a Themed Week or Day

Like restaurant week or Small Business Saturday, think of ways to really showcase what your business does for one week or one-day only. You might want to use some of the tips in this blog – events, community charity participation, promotions, and giveaways – or combine them to maximize visibility and interest in what you do. You could even partner up with complementary businesses or those in the same district as you and co-market each other’s products, services and specials with fliers, coupons and teasers. Try to come up with a theme, something like “ABC Town Small Business Week,” “Take a Staycation with Us,” or “Back to School Week” and weave it into all your marketing and advertising.

Give Back to the Community

Community projects are a great way to build your brand and give back to the community. Why not organize or sponsor a community service day or charitable event? Pick a cause that’s a good fit for your business and reach out to the media, in addition to your own marketing, to publicize it. You can also deduct certain expenses related to any volunteer work or charitable giving.

Summer-ize your Marketing Activities

From your website to your email newsletter, look for ways to incorporate summer themes and information that are relevant to your customers. Send out newsletters that showcase your summer specials, but mix it up with good content—summer fashion tips, recipes, or pet care in the heat.

Pre-order low-cost summer promotional items now. Branded goods such as Frisbees, beach balls and drink coolers will ensure your logo is in front of customers all summer long.

Drum Up Business with Promotions

If summer is a slow season for your business, consider offering financial incentives to increase foot traffic. Don’t just dive in with a wholesale across-the-board discount; instead, consider some of the following options:

Discount Certain Products and Services – Test the market to see if you can shift slower selling products with a limited-time discount (say, for the month of July). Promote your offer to a select segment of your email list, perhaps those who haven’t purchased from you for some time. Monitor the results. If the offer works, then consider extending it to other products and consumers next month.Package Promotions – Offer a discount if customers buy more than one product or service. For example, buy a coffee and a donut for $3.50 instead of $5.Off-Peak Specials – Many people have more flexible schedules during the summer months. Consider ways to draw people in during your off-peak hours, whether it’s a time-bound discount or another incentive (free corkage, bring a friend for half price, or a free consultation).

Plan for Your High Season – Take the Pulse of your Market

Again, if summer is your slow season, use the time wisely and start planning your marketing activities for the rest of the year. Conduct market research to gauge what your customers think of your business and the products and services you offer. What could you do better/more of/change? Is there a certain product that they’d like to see you carry? Are there any market or demographic trends that might impact your business in the coming year? Market research doesn’t have to cost much money; this blog explains some free resources that can help: Conducting Market Research? Here are 5 Official Sources of Free Data That Can Help.

SBA’s SizeUp Tool can also help you benchmark your business against competitors, map your customers and locate the best places to advertise.

You can also use surveys to gauge customer buying and spending habits. Use this data to inform your product marketing strategy and any other changes you may need to make in your business before your high season starts.

View the original article here

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

7 Ways to Increase Foot Traffic to Your Small Business

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Late last year, I hosted a web chat with the SBA offering holiday marketing tips and ideas to small business owners. And while many business owners submitted questions relating specifically to the holidays, a large percentage of the questions centered on that age-old question: “How do I get more foot traffic to my store?”

Here are seven tried and tested steps you might want to consider:

1. Start from the outside and look in

If you are in a pedestrianized area, get to know who passes by your store. Literally, sit outside or close by your window and assess the demographic of who comes and goes. Do they window shop? Have they come from another store close by first?

Next, take an objective look at your signage and window display–does it appeal to your target demographic or buyer? For example, if you run a coffee shop and most of your business is done during the hours of 8 AM to 10 AM, think of ways to optimize your merchandising and window display to attract more buyers during these times. This could be as simple as using this time to hand out coupons outside, offering bakery samples to passersby, or promoting your latest offers using sidewalk signage.

2. Host a community event with a newsworthy tie-in

One of the best ways to increase foot traffic is to host a community or charity event. A great way to do this and get noticed is to tie it to a topical event. Say, for example, your local NFL or high school team is playing a critical game. Consider teaming up with other businesses nearby to offer game-day promotions/offers or a tie-in event. Host the event as a block party or at a central location downtown (even if you have to take your business on the road for a few hours). Don’t forget to be community-oriented—consider donating a portion of your profits to charity.

Feature the event ahead of time on your website and social media. For maximum impact, don’t forget to contact local media outlets—including radio channels—and email and mail out fliers to your contact list.

3. Host a seminar or workshop

Both retail and service-based businesses can generate a good deal of foot traffic by educating their customers about how to get more out of what they are buying (even if you don’t make a sale that day). Florist shops could host a flower arranging class or realtors could host a house-staging workshop to attract potential sellers. And of course, publicize your event—in-store, online, via press releases and advertising.

4. Use location-based services to attract passersby

You don’t have to be a tech wizard to promote your small business using mobile apps that target consumers in the vicinity of your business. Groupon, Living Social, FourSquare and ThinkNear among others let you post information about your latest offers and limited-time deals to consumers within a certain distance of your business. You can also schedule deals to get delivered during key hours, for example, if you’re looking to boost foot traffic during off-peak times.

5. Engage old customers in new ways

It’s always refreshing when a store or restaurant you’ve frequented for some time starts doing something new. And thanks to the power of social media, doing something new or different and doing it well can quickly go viral.

So think about ways you can get the attention of older or existing customers. It could be as simple as offering a new type of discount (it may sound obvious, but offering something of value at a discount for a limited period of time can be attention-grabbing) or letting customers know about a new product or service you’ve added.

A straight-out sale is always a great way to bring old customers out of the woodwork. Send out an email or e-newsletter to your contact database and post it on social media. You might even host a secret sale first for a hand-selected group of customers.

If your business is service-oriented, consider offering a referral fee to existing customers who bring in new clients for you.

6. Put on your small business customer service hat

There’s a reason why consumers opt to frequent small businesses over larger chains—personal relationships. A smile, great service, product knowledge and enthusiasm will bring customers through your door and keep them coming back. So as you host new events, sales or workshops, use your small business advantage to the max!

7. Stay in touch

Staying top of mind with new and existing customers who you’ve engaged through your new efforts is not just about offering great products and services. It’s also about staying in touch.

If you host an event that brings in new customers, encourage them to sign up for your emails. A little incentive, such as a free giveaway in exchange for an email address, is always effective. Then stay in touch, set-up an e-newsletter program, send out regular updates about new product lines, company news, and events and start to engage with your customers via social media. (For tips, check out this blog).

What tactics have you used to increase foot traffic to your small business? Leave a comment below.

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Is Your Business Moving? 6 Tips for Attracting Customers To Your New Location

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by Caron_Beesley, Community Moderator

Created: March 21, 2013, 7:25 amUpdated: March 21, 2013, 2:37 pm

Businesses move for all sorts of reasons. Existing rents may be too high; neighboring anchor tenants may have left; or perhaps you just need a bigger premise for your growing business!

But how can you ensure your existing customers move with you and how can you go about attracting new customers to your new location? Here are six tips:

1. Communicate Pre-Move and Post-Move

First, be sure to use every available touch point to communicate with existing customers about your impending move—and well in advance. Utilize e-mail lists, your website, direct mail, flyers, blog, social media, advertising, press releases, in-store signage—the works. Be sure to include directions, information about what else is going on in that neighborhood and, if your move is for positive reasons, be bold and share those details. For example, if you are expanding, include a message that thanks your customers for their patronage and stresses your commitment to providing top notch service.

If you haven’t been keeping a record of your customer emails and mailing addresses, use the news media and other avenues (see below) to spread the word about your move.

Don’t forget to leave flyers with your neighbors after you’ve moved and request that they display them in their windows or at the point of sale.

2. Update Your Online Listings

Search engines are increasingly locally-centric in their search results. For example, if you enter “Italian restaurant” into a Google search, it will automatically display local businesses in your area first. So update (or create if you don’t have them) your online listings, whether they are on Google+ Local, Yelp, Yellow Pages, Facebook, Trip Advisor or others. And, of course, don’t forget to update your own website “Contact Us”, “About Us” or “Find Us” page.

Google Search

3. Use Location-Based Services to Attract Passersby

Don’t forget to take advantage of mobile technology. Promoting your small business to passersby using mobile apps that target consumers in the vicinity of your business isn’t that difficult. Groupon, Living Social, FourSquare and ThinkNear, among others, let you post information about your latest offers and limited-time deals to consumers within a certain distance of your business. You can also schedule deals to get delivered during key hours—for example, if you’re looking to boost foot traffic during off-peak times.

4. Give Existing Customers an Incentive to Visit You at Your New Location

Your customers are your livelihood, treat them that way. Offer them incentives to stop by your new location. Make sure the offer is time-bound so they have a reason to check out your new digs soon!

5. Host an Event to Attract New and Existing Customers

Give customers a reason to fall in love with your store—not just for its products, but as a place to get together. Retail stores, bars, restaurants and other food service businesses, in particular, can benefit from hosting events. These can be educational in nature (bring in a guest speaker from a vendor or supplier if you don’t have much to say yourself) or appreciation events (offer a sneak preview of your new location to your top customers). Events can also be tied to themes (date night or wine night) or holidays.

6. Don’t Forget Customers That May Not Have Checked You Out for a While

Your new location might be more convenient to some of your older customers. So consider running a campaign that targets not only your active customer base, but those who may not have purchased from you in a while. Special offers or other incentives specifically targeted at that group and paired with a, “we’d love to see you again,” message may just do the trick.

For more tips about attracting customers to your new business location read: 7 Ways to Increase Foot Traffic to your Small Business.

Useful Resources

SBA SizeUp Tool – Want to know how your business stacks up against the competition? Where your potential competitors are located? Where the best places are to advertise your business? Use SBA’s SizeUp tool to help you crunch millions of data points and get customizable reports and statistics about your business and its competition. Just enter your industry, city, state and other details. SizeUp then runs various reports and provides maps and data related to your competition, suppliers and customers. It also highlights potential advertising opportunities.

Related Articles

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6 Tips for a Fiscally Fit and Successful Freelance Business in 2013

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by Caron_Beesley, Community Moderator

Created: January 24, 2013, 8:30 amUpdated: January 24, 2013, 8:30 am

Thinking of becoming a freelancer or hoping to make this year’s freelancing more fiscally fruitful than last? Freelancing is a money game and cash flow is king. And while there may be times when your cup runs over, there will no doubt be other times when it looks ominously dry.

To be a successful freelancer—in addition to being good at what you do—you need to be agile, tenacious, a consummate planner and equipped to deal with fiscal downtimes.

Here are some money-saving and business growth strategies that you can use to ensure the fiscal fitness of your freelancing business this year.

Have a Financial Cushion

Every freelancer needs a financial cushion; in fact, you shouldn’t quit your day job unless you have one. It can take up to six months to build your client base and develop consistent income. Instead, start your freelancing activities “on the side” until you are ready to transition to full time business ownership.

How big should your cushion be? Start by factoring in your living expenses for the next six months and allow for any emergencies that may arise. Next, assess what percentage of your income you’ll need to put aside to make your estimated taxes, social security and Medicare payments. Consider setting up a separate bank account and allocate 30-35 percent of every check you receive for work done into that account. This will help you avoid any day-to-day temptation to dip into it while ensuring you have the money to pay your estimated tax requirements when the time comes.

Reduce Your Overheads

Most freelancers can work from home. If you really need social interaction or want to leverage the brainpower of fellow freelancers, consider a co-working space (now available for a low-cost in many cities) or even your local coffee shop.

Likewise, buy as little as you need. If you’re not commuting anymore, do you really need an expensive 4-wheel-drive SUV or truck in the driveway? Do you really need the latest high-end smartphone or laptop or could a cut-price one do the job just as well? What about computer software—could you cut costs by using a free email service or a low-cost word processing app? What about buying surplus office furniture?

For more lean spending tips, read: 6 Tips to Rein in Spending and Be a Lean Start-Up.

Invest in Good Back-Up and Use it

If there’s one thing that any freelancer can be sure if in their business, it’s that one day your PC will succumb to the dreaded “blue screen of death,” be infected by a virus or taken over by malware. Without an IT department to turn to, you’ll end up throwing cash at an expensive fix and risk losing all your work and business records in the process. Regularly backing up your work, both to a standalone hard drive and to an online location (providers like DropBox, Symantec, and Carbonite offer free or low-cost services) will ensure your data is protected and always accessible. Get more tips here: Finding the Best Backup Option for Your Small Business Data.

Look for Ways to Expand Your Business on the Back of Existing Work

Growing a freelancing business is a challenge. Networking often takes you away from existing work, while developing and nurturing new relationships into profitable clients takes time. Instead, look for to expand your business and earn more money with existing clients, based on the work and track record that you already have. Check out some tips for doing just this in my earlier blog, 5 Ways to Become an Indispensable Freelancer and Earn More Money from Your Clients.

Collaborate with Others

Growing existing business is good, but it’s also important to have multiple streams of income. One option for growing your business this way is to team with complementary businesses. For freelancers, for example, work on building relationships with those who serve your target customers. Photographers could collaborate with wedding planners, or graphic designers could team with marketing consultants.

Don’t Be Afraid to Ditch Unprofitable Clients

Freelancers often price their services at different rates in order to secure business. But if a low-paying client is also your most demanding and tricky client—whether based on the work you are required to do or the nature of the relationship—it might be time to cut your losses, walk away from this type of low-margin work and concentrate on deepening other relationships.

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Monday, August 5, 2013

Give Your Small Business a Spring Clean – 8 Tips That May Inspire You

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Did you give your business a spring clean this year? Are you looking for new ways to boost sales, build your brand or get your business plan back on track?

This is the topic of one of SBA’s monthly web chats – Small Business Spring Clean: How to Keep Your Business Ideas Fresh – hosted by Octavia Kuransky, Program Development Manager at Central Alabama Women’s Business Center (and archived on SBA’s Learning Center).

Check out some of these great suggestions from Octavia’s session and be inspired!

Q: When should a small business website be updated?

A: “Great question. An outdated website sends the wrong message to potential clients. Recently, we had an expert in to talk on web development. He recommended a monthly sprucing and the inclusion of a blog in order to make your website more attractive to Google.”

Q: What's one of the best ways to get your press releases picked up by the media?

A: “I notice greater success in generating press coverage when I can connect to a breaking news story or some issue that is of interest already. Cultivate a relationship with a reporter so that you can call them directly and not have to reinvent the wheel each time. Collaborations always seem to be of interest to the press especially if the outcome can be shown to have some real impact. That should be your aim—to show impact. Impact equals news.”

I'd also add another point - try and target reporters who have influence on social media. Check their Klout score (a measure of influence), the kind of stories they write about and share. Look for a match with your product/industry.

Q: As business development specialists, most of our business involves providing a service to our clients (i.e.: consultations, training, etc.). How can we combine our services with technology to better conduct business? How can we take advantage of technology as service providers? And, is it prudent to do so?

A: “Let me share with you a strategy we are currently launching here at The Women's Business Center. The most requested workshops—usually those containing basic building block type information—we’ll be putting online. This frees our rather small staff to do more sophisticated work and workshops because we aren't continually having to do ALL workshops. And the basic ones can be self-tutored. We believe this to be a good strategy because, in effect, we can provide more and more varied workshops to the general public.”

Q: What is the best format to utilize social media to grow your business?

A: “The short answer is, it depends on the business. Some businesses should stay away from certain forms of social media. For example, a Facebook page might not be appropriate for a medical doctor. A review of your target market and a short consultation with a professional can help you determine what kind of social media is appropriate and most effective for you.”

Q: What are some easy ways to spring clean my expenses related to my business?

A: “Great question. I would pick a number, say $200 or so, and any expenditures with an annual outlay of above this amount would have to either show a benefit—meaning the expenditure is directly parlaying into revenue—or absolute necessity. If the expenditure cannot do that, eliminate it or find a less costly way. You might even set some goals for expenditures—like how much you will spend on advertising for the year.”

Q: I own a franchise business. It's been open for 7 years, and I need some capital infused to help me grow. I am a sole proprietor. Any suggestions?

A: “Yes, I have a suggestion. Gather up all your financial reporting, including tax returns, and make an appointment with someone at SCORE or an SBDC. Did you know that it might be possible to get a coach at SCORE who has experience in your industry and can mentor you? You can, of course, also make an appointment for an informal meeting with your original funder. If your cash flow is marginal, ask about a SBA (loan) guarantee.”

Q: How do you get started with marketing in a service-oriented business?

A: “I always recommend to any business, regardless whether it’s a product or service, that it be informed by the target market which has been previously identified in the marketing section of your business plan. This is because we know that certain demographics have certain shopping habits. For example, girls 18-25 tend to shop online. So if you're marketing to that age group for merchandise, I would advertise online. It helps to pay attention to where your competition is marketing; they may have done the research for you.”

Q: How do you fine tune your elevator pitch after you do your spring cleaning?

A: “Here is a general rule of thumb for composing elevator speeches. Name (you'd be surprised how often people forget to say their name in the press of the moment), the name of your company (again, people forget), the purpose of your service or product (this should just be a sentence or two) and last but not least, something that adds a sense of urgency or uniqueness about your firm or product.”

More Information about SBA Web Chats

SBA’s monthly web chats provide small business owners with the opportunity to submit questions live or in advance to experts in fields such as business law, tax, marketing and more. If you’re looking for an opportunity to get your questions answered, find out about upcoming web chats by signing up for SBA email updates or follow SBA on Twitter and Facebook. You can view the web chat archives on the SBA Learning Center.

View the original article here

Building a Business Plan – New SBA Online Tool Can Help You Get Started

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Having a business plan is a must for small business owners, but finding the time to put pen to paper often means putting them on hold until the very last minute, such as right before that big meeting with a loan officer or bank manager.

But business planning does not have to be that way.

Every smart entrepreneur and business owner should already have a firm grasp of key information about their business and on what will influence the path they take and decisions they make over the course of 1-3 years.

Putting this information together into a concrete plan is essential if you want to secure a business loan or outside financing, of course. But the planning and mental exercise of writing it down is just as important to the success of your business. Writing a plan will not only help you succeed, but it will open your eyes to what it’s going to take to get there.

One of the big challenges for smaller businesses is actually building a business plan. What format should it take? What numbers should you pull together to demonstrate that you have a rock solid financial foundation?

SBA has just launched a new online tool that can help.

“Build a Business Plan” Online Tool

To simplify the process, SBA has just launched a new “Build a Business Plan” online tool that guides small business owners through the process of creating a basic, downloadable business plan. The great thing about this tool is you can build a plan in smaller bites, save your progress and return at your leisure.

To use the tool, you’ll need to be a member of the SBA Community (register here) and then log in. The tool offers a tab-based step-by-step guide that lets you enter information into a template for each section of the business plan, including market analysis, company description and financial projections. The tool is secure and confidential and will keep your plan on record for up to six months. You can also save, download or email the plan at any time.

Business Plan Tool

Discuss Your Plan with a Small Business Advisor

Don’t forget: you can also use your completed business plan to discuss your next steps with a mentor or counselor from an SBA resource partner such as SCORE, a Small Business Development Center or a Women's Business Center.

Then be sure to keep your plan fresh, revisit it, and measure progress against it. As your business grows, your plan – and your benchmarks for success – will grow with it.

Related Articles

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Sunday, August 4, 2013

Free Sources of Market Data and How to use that Data for Business Planning

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by Caron_Beesley, Community Moderator

Created: December 20, 2012, 7:14 amUpdated: December 20, 2012, 7:16 am

The federal government offers many tools to help small business owners understand their markets, but where do go to find that data, and how do you use it once you’ve got your hands on it?

First, conducting market research doesn’t always have to involve hiring a research firm or commissioning focus groups; much of the information you need may be at your fingertips.

This research can impact and inform all areas of your business, from where you locate your business to the color of your logo. Even a small amount of analysis can help you gauge the receptivity of your target market to your idea. Check out this blog for a quick overview of the type of data you can draw from these sources: Conducting Market Research? Here are 5 Official Sources of Free Data That Can Help.

But how will you use this data effectively? Here are some tips for finding data you need and translating it into information you can use in a business plan or simply to inform your strategy:

Sources of Market Data

So, where do you look?

Free Government Market Data – One of the best sources of data is the U.S. Census Bureau. The information there is vast, and among the easiest to navigate. Thanks to a variety of Data Access Tools such as the 2010 Census Interactive Population Map, you can pinpoint census data to the block level and compare one community to another. Census data can help you answer many questions that come up during the business planning process, such as:

o How do we know the size of industries and businesses?

o How can we determine the economic activity of communities large and small?

o Where should I place a new business?

o What products in my industry are growing?

o What materials are purchased by my industry?

o What industries purchase my products?

Competitive Data - Want to know how your business stacks up against the competition? Where your potential competitors located? The best places to advertise? These are all critical inputs for your business plan and can also support your financing applications. SBA’s new SizeUp tool lets you crunch millions of data points to get customizable reports and statistics about your business and its competition. Enter your industry, city, state and other details. The tool then runs various reports and provides maps and data related to your competition, suppliers and customers. It also highlights potential advertising opportunities.Use Your Own Data – Don’t just rely on external data sources. As your business grows, use your own data to analyze consumer profiles, buying behaviors and so on.

How to Use the Data

Here are some ways you can use the data you uncover in your market research to build your business plan or inform your strategy:

Get to know your target market – If you are seeking investors, they will want to know that your market is sizable and that you have researched and understand its opportunities and its limitations. Is your market definable? Is it sufficiently large that you can reach it efficiently (for example, are population or demographic shifts likely to play to your advantage)? Where do your competitors fit in? Can you segment that market further? Above all, is there a niche you can carve for yourself?

As you prepare your business plan, think about providing: 1) A description of your target market, 2) the trends that impact that market and 3) strategic opportunities for your business in this market.

What is going on in your industry? – Few businesses are immune to industry trends. If consumer spending is down or unemployment is on the rise, this may affect your plans and your budget. Use economic indicator data to assess trends and market forces that can help you succeed. If your industry is in flux, could you use this fact to your advantage and position your business for future growth? Investors will want to see that you understand the factors that affect your business’ success. Be sure to include in your plan: 1) a description of your industry, 2) industry trends and 3) strategic opportunities in your industry.Analyzing the competition – SBA’s SizeUp Tool can help you zoom in on exactly who your competitors are – use this information wisely. Include a description of your competition in your business plan. What market share do they command? Who are their customers? What barriers to entry do they represent for your business? What opportunities are there? The SizeUp tool is very visual; consider using screen caps or charts to back up your data. Knowing your competition will help you better position yourself against them and reach your target market more effectively.

Bonus Tip: use SBA’s Build a Business Plan tool to help guide you through the process of creating a basic, downloadable business plan

Related Blogs

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4 New SBA Online Tools That Can Take Your Small Business to New Levels

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by Caron_Beesley, Community Moderator

Created: November 29, 2012, 7:08 amUpdated: December 4, 2012, 11:59 am

The old adage “time is money” is perhaps one of the most pertinent statements that you can apply to small business owners. Whether you’re starting a business or managing a growing one, entrepreneurs and business owners wear many hats and have many questions:

What laws and regulations apply to my business?How do I start to write a business plan?Where can I get help with X, Y and Z?

Many of us invariably turn to our networks and the Internet to find answers. But how can you trust that the information you are getting is truly applicable to your business and, let’s face it, even accurate?

As part of its mission to help business owners start, succeed and grow, SBA, through the SBA.gov website has developed numerous online tools and guides to help small businesses get information and answers they need quickly and efficiently. For example, these 10 Steps to Starting a Business and these 10 Steps to Hiring your First Employee guides are essential reading. SBA Direct is another useful tool that personalizes business owners’ experience on the SBA.gov website. Then there are the Licenses and Permits Search Tool and the Loans and Grants Search Tool.

New Online Tools to Help Business Owners Plan, Manage and Grow

Over the past couple of months, SBA has expanded its capacity and selection of tools and information business owners need by developing a whole range of new online features! Check them out:

1. Get to Know Your Market and Competition Better with the SizeUp Tool

Want to know how your business stacks up against the competition? Where your potential competitors are located? Where the best places are to advertise your business? These are all critical inputs for your business plan and can also help back up any financing applications.

Now with the new SizeUp tool you can crunch millions of data points and get customizable reports and statistics about your business and its competition. Just enter your industry, city, state and other details. SizeUp then runs various reports and provides maps and data related to your competition, suppliers and customers. It also highlights potential advertising opportunities.

2. Build a Business Plan Tool

Business planning can seem a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be that way. To help you plan and steer your business, this new “Build a Business Plan” tool guides you through the process of creating a basic, downloadable business plan. The great thing about it is you can build a plan in smaller chunks of time, save your progress and return at your leisure.

To use the tool, simply log into SBA.gov (registration is free, sign up here) and enter information into a template for each section of the business plan including, market analysis, company description and financial projections. The tool is secure and confidential and will keep your plan on record for up to six months. You can also save, download or email the plan at any time.

3. Size Standards Tool –Find Out Fast if You Qualify for Government Contracts

In order to be eligible to sell to the government and compete for small business “set-aside” contracts, business owners had to rummage through various rules and matrices to find out if their business is truly “small” according to SBA size standards. Now, with this new Size Standards Tool, you can follow three simple steps to cut through the guesswork and quickly find out if you qualify for government contracting opportunities. SBA also offers other resources including government contracting training courses, and guides to help you register as a contractor.

4. Events Calendar – Locate Business Training and Seminars

SBA and its partners, including Small Business Development Centers, Women’s Business Centers, and SCORE, hold hundreds of small business training seminars and workshops across the country. Until now, there was no single repository for these events. Now, with SBA’s Events Calendar, you can quickly find and sign up for training. Enter a date range and/or zip code to locate events in your area. Results are filtered by topic such as “starting a business,” “managing a business,” “business planning,” and “financing a business.”

Tell us what you think about the new tools below. You can also Tweet @SBAgov or post your feedback on the SBA Facebook page.

View the original article here

Newly Graduated? – 10+ Tools and Resources to Help You Start Your First Business

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por Caron_Beesley, moderador de la comunidad

Creado: 30 De mayo de 2013, 6:56actualizado: 30 de mayo de 2013, 6:59

Graduates ¿Sólo se graduó de la Universidad y mirando para comenzar tu propio negocio? Con la economía todavía en modo de recuperación, muchos estudiantes están buscando activamente una alternativa a los tradicionales carreras post-universitaria.

Según la Fundación Kauffman, jóvenes emprendedores en los Estados Unidos estáen en alza, con el grupo de edad de 20-34 que comprende 29 por ciento de la actividad total de emprendimiento nuevo en 2011.

A partir de un negocio no es fácil, y claramente para muchos jóvenes es un camino riesgoso tomar. Se refiere a la gama de la preocupación de ser capaz de obtener un préstamo o línea de crédito; no tener las habilidades o conocimiento para comenzar; y no saber cómo manejar un negocio (fuente: iHonest.com).

Pero para aquellos con grandes ideas y un deseo de ser su propio jefe (y generador de empleo), el apoyo es a mano. Tanto online como en centros de asistencia de pequeños negocios en todo el país, SBA y sus socios ofrecen una variedad de herramientas, programas y recursos para ayudar a jóvenes emprendedores a planificar, iniciar y crecer en sus negocios.

Aquí son sólo algunas herramientas que pueden ayudar a hacer la diferencia entre éxito y fracaso como piensas tu sueño empresarial graduado:

Capacitación gratuita en línea para jóvenes emprendedores

Para un útil Resumen de los pasos que debes tomar para empezar, así como algunas consideraciones que pueden ayudarle a entender si es un negocio para usted, eche un vistazo en este curso Online gratuito – jóvenes emprendedores: una guía esencial para comenzar su propio negocio. Este curso de formación a su ritmo le guía a través de los pasos de convertir una idea de negocio en realidad. Incluye consejos sobre su investigación, decidir sobre un modelo de negocio, opciones de financiación para jóvenes emprendedores y seis de comprensión "debe-hacer" para comenzar.

Obtenga ayuda y asesoramiento

Como se mencionó anteriormente, no saber cómo iniciar o administrar un negocio es una gran preocupación para jóvenes emprendedores. Pero ¿sabía que usted puede obtener los servicios de un mentor – alguien que ha caminado en sus zapatos – gratis? Puntuación es una de esas organizaciones que te pares con un mentor para la dirección general de negocios, o ayudar en áreas específicas tales como finanzas o marketing. Centros de desarrollo local pequeñas empresas, centros de negocios de mujeres y otras organizaciones también ofrecen asesoría, capacitación y asistencia. Aquí encontrar uno cerca de usted. También puede utilizar Calendario de eventos de la SBA para encontrar y para inscribirse para el entrenamiento en su área.

Herramientas en línea que ayuden en cada etapa

¿Pensando en cómo crear un plan de negocios? ¿Necesita ayuda para determinar cómo su negocio se apila contra la competencia? ¿Clara de los pasos necesarios para comenzar su negocio?

El sitio web de SBA.gov ha desarrollado numerosas herramientas en línea y guías para ayudar a las pequeñas empresas a obtener información y respuestas que necesitan rápidamente y eficientemente. Por ejemplo, son esenciales estos 10 pasos para comenzar un negocio y estos 10 pasos para contratar a sus primer empleado guías de lectura. ¿Sabías que necesitas una licencia o permiso para operar legalmente? Este las licencias y permisos de herramienta de búsqueda pueden apuntar a lo que usted necesita.

Otras herramientas que los dueños de negocios están encontrando muy valiosos incluyen:

Construir una herramienta de Plan de negocios – muchos de nosotros poner business planning, pensando que regresaremos a ella cuando necesitamos poner algo oficial frente a un potencial inversionista. Pero es vital que jóvenes emprendedores plan sus negocios, establecer metas y definen planes para lograrlos. Para ayudar a crear tu plan, revisa la herramienta interactiva "construir un Plan de negocios" de la SBA, que le guía a través del proceso de creación de un plan de negocio básico, descargables. La gran cosa sobre ella es que puede construir un plan en trozos más pequeños de tiempo, guardar tu progreso y regresar a su antojo.Concurso tu "SizeUp" – ¿cómo funciona su negocio pila contra la terminación? ¿Dónde se encuentran sus competidores? ¿Cuáles son los mejores lugares para comercializar su negocio? Uso de la SBA "SizeUp" de la herramienta a crunch millones de puntos de datos y obtener informes personalizables y estadísticas sobre su negocio y su competencia. Introduce tu industria, ciudad, estado y otros detalles. SizeUp entonces ejecuta diversos informes y proporciona mapas y datos relacionados a su competencia, proveedores y clientes. También destaca las oportunidades potenciales de la publicidad.Quiere vender al tío Sam? Para ayudarle a determinar si su nuevo negocio puede calificar con el comprador más grande del mundo – el gobierno federal de Estados Unidos – de la SBA de uso Tamaño estándares Tool para ver si califica para retirada especial contratos para pequeñas empresas.

Recursos adicionales

Imagen cortesía de Steven Depolo via Flickr

Caron Beesley es dueño de un negocio pequeño, un escritor y asesor de comunicaciones de marketing. Caron trabaja con el equipo de SBA.gov para promover los recursos gubernamentales esenciales que ayudan a empresarios y arranque de los dueños de negocios pequeños, crecen y tener éxito. Caron de seguir en Twitter: @caronbeesleyTags: Blogs de la comunidad, asuntos de negocios pequeños, tutoría y capacitación, a partir

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Saturday, August 3, 2013

Is Your Business Ready for the next Hurricane Sandy?

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Even before the big storm hits, small businesses start losing money once the severe weather advisories go out. The cost of shutting down, even for a few hours, is a huge expense most small businesses aren’t prepared to cover.

Hurricane Sandy caught most people off guard. The late-season storm brought flooding and power outages that caused billions in losses. The SBA approved more than 3,600 disaster loans for $393 million to businesses affected by Sandy. When you add the home disaster loans made by SBA, more than 35,400 loans were approved for a total of $2.3 billion.

The Atlantic Hurricane Season begins June 1. Now’s a good time to start working on a plan to protect your company from any risk—be it large-scale disasters like floods and hurricanes, or the sprinkler system failure in your office space.

Join the SBA and Agility Recovery on Tuesday, May 28 for a free webinar on the topic of hurricane season preparedness for businesses. Dr. Gerry Bell, a climate expert from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will present the 2013 Atlantic Hurricane Season forecast. After his presentation, Agility Recovery President & CEO Bob Boyd will give tips on how any company can protect themselves from the physical and financial losses that occur when a disaster strikes.

The discussion will include tips about:

Please sign up soon, since space is limited. The webinar will be recorded and archived on Agility’s website.

Date: Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Time: 2 – 3 p.m. ET

Tags: Official SBA News and Views, Open For Business, Emergency Planning

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Let’s Celebrate National Small Business Week – Together, Online and in your Community!

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SBA is gearing up for National Small Business Week, June 17-21. This year we are taking the show on the road offering educational panels and workshops on topics like how to start business, social media 101, how to protect your business against cyber security threats, how to start exporting, just to name a few.

The week will kick off in Seattle on June 17, followed by events in Dallas, St. Louis and Pittsburgh. We’ll end the week in Washington, DC were we will honor small businesses from across the United States and culminate in the announcement of the National Small Business Person of the Year.

Check out the full conference schedule here.

Hang Out with SBA and Industry Experts

As part of National Small Business Week, SBA will host a series of Google+ Hangouts which will be streamed live at www.sba.gov/smallbusinessweek, http://www.youtube.com/sba, and http://plus.google.com/+sbagov. All Hangouts will start at 4pm ET. Topics and panelists include:

Panelists from Twitter, Constant Contact, W20 Group and Google will hang out. Bill Murphy Jr., author and columnist for Inc.com will moderate the Hangout.

Panelists from Yelp, LinkedIn, OpenSky, Dun and Bradstreet Credibility Corp., Google and Manta will hang out. Rieva Lesonsky, CEO of GrowBiz Media will moderate the Hangout.

Panelists from the SBA's Office of Entrepreneurial Development, America's Small Business Development Centers, and Women’s Business Centers will hang out. Fran Tarkenton, NFL legend and entrepreneur will moderate the Hangout.

Panelists from Wells Fargo, SCORE, SBA Office of Capital Access, and SBA loan recipient Ninkasi Brewing Company will hang out. Calvin Goings, SBA regional administrator will moderate the Hangout.

How can you get Involved?

You can still register for events in St. Louis, and Washington, DC. If you can't travel, you can still take part by joining live streaming webcasts of all events and Hangouts as they happen (keep an eye on the event website and follow SBA on Twitter and Facebook for more details as the event approaches). If you are tweeting, the official hashtag is #SBW2013.

Hi, my name is Natale and I'm serving as a Moderator for the SBA Community. Our goal is to continually improve this site to meet your needs, so we appreciate your feedback and participation.Tags: Official SBA News and Views, Open For Business, Financing, Managing, Mentoring and Training, SBA News and Views, Starting

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Let’s Continue the Conversation- Nat’l Small Business Week Twitter Q&A

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If you missed out on National Small Business Week (June 17-21), you are in luck. We’re keeping the conversation alive via a Twitter Q&A on July 9 at 2 p.m. ET. How small businesses can break into supply chains was among one of the more popular topics covered this year. So during this Twitter Q&A, we will be taking your questions about how small businesses can sell their products or services to larger companies.

What:

Twitter Q&A- How to Break Into a Supply Chain

When:

July 9 | 2 p.m. ET

Who:

SBABusinessUSASupplier Connection - A consortium of large corporations, powered by IBM, that provides a single point of entry for small businesses looking to network with potential buyers. Participating corporations include IBM, Caterpillar, Citi, Facebook, UPS, Johns Hopkins University and ManpowerGroup.ZeroChaos- The world’s largest vendor-neutral managed services provider and a member of Supplier Connection.Dell- A member of Supplier Connection.

How you can participate:

Submit your questions on Twitter using the hashtag #SBW2013 and tune in on July 9 at 2 p.m. ET as we answer your questions.

View the original article here

Friday, August 2, 2013

Strengthening America’s Small Business Supply Chain

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SBA kündigt Ausschreibung durchzuführen Supply-Chain Mapping Analyse und Matchmaking

Wie baue wir Ökosysteme des Unternehmertums, die regionale Wirtschaft wettbewerbsfähiger machen und mehr Fertigung zurück in die Vereinigten Staaten zu gewinnen kann?

Heute, viele Städte und Gemeinden suchen vorbei an der alten Praxis einfach "Schornsteine jagen" (mit steuerliche und andere Anreize um zu Unternehmen, um ihre Städte zu locken). Stattdessen, sie konzentrieren sich auf das Erstellen der Arten von langfristigen, lokale unternehmerische Ökosysteme und Lieferketten von Kleinunternehmen, die als ein natürlicher Magnet für diese Unternehmen zu dienen.

Die Realität ist, dass die großen Hersteller ein vielfältiges und flinke Netz von kleinen Lieferanten benötigen. Diese Lieferanten machen Großunternehmen, effizienter, produktiver und mehr global wettbewerbsfähig. Eine starke Lieferkette von Kleinunternehmen kann ein entscheidender Faktor für die Produktion in einem bestimmten Gebiet suchen. Und es ist wirklich eine Win-win-Situation. Die Erschließung einer großen kommerziellen Supply Chain kann auch ein Spiel-Wechsler für einen kleinen Lieferanten sein. Ein kürzlich veröffentlichter Bericht zeigte, dass Lieferanten nur wenige Jahre nach dem Verkauf ihrer Produkte zu einem großen Unternehmen und Beschäftigung stieg um mehr als 150 Prozent im Durchschnitt ein Umsatzplus von mehr als 250 Prozent gemeldet.

Bundesweit sehen wir Produktion, die Rückkehr in die Vereinigten Staaten. Und dieser Trend dürfte sich fortsetzen, da Unternehmen höhere US-Arbeitnehmer-Produktivität, geringere Energiekosten, steigende Lohnkosten im Ausland und andere logistische Vorteile der US-amerikanischen Produktion erkennen.

Heute Unternehmen auf der ganzen Welt sind Amerikas Wettbewerbslandschaft zu sehen und sie sind die Investitionen und Ausbau in den Vereinigten Staaten. Dies schafft gute amerikanische Arbeitsplätze und wirtschaftliche Chancen. Ein kürzlich erschienenen Artikel im Wall Street Journal hervorgehoben in der Tat eine jährliche Erhebung von Führungskräften, die zeigen, dass die Vereinigten Staaten als Top-Destination für künftige ausländische Direktinvestitionen angesehen wurde. Dies war das erste Mal die Vereinigten Staaten diese Umfrage seit 2001 gekrönt.

Also wie kann wir diesen Schwung aufbauen?

U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) hat vor kurzem der amerikanischen Lieferanten Initiative (ASI). Das Ziel des ASI ist, Zugang zum Markt für kleine Lieferanten, Beratung und mentoring-Dienstleistungen anbieten und bereit Quellen von Betriebskapital zu zunehmenden Vertriebsunterstützung bieten zu erhöhen. Und als Teil dieser Bemühungen, die SBA hilft führen die Administration-weite-Investing in Manufacturing Gemeinschaften Partnerschaft (IMCP), schießt aufs Gemeinschaften zu unterstützen, die best Practices bei der Entwicklung eines nachhaltigen Fertigung-Ökosystems zu veranschaulichen soll.

Um die Partnerschaft zu erstellen, sucht die SBA Vorschläge zur Supply Chain-Analyse der gestörte oder gefährdeten regionalen Produktion Gemeinschaften führen. Darüber hinaus rufen Sie diese Vorschläge für die Schaffung von Kooperationsbörsen entwickelt, um kleine Unternehmen besser in kommerzieller Lieferketten zu integrieren. Ein Link zu der Ausschreibung finden Sie hier.

In Zukunft werden wir weiterhin den Typ des öffentlich-private Partnerschaften zu erstellen, die die Onshoring mehr amerikanische Herstellung und den Ausbau des Amerikas unternehmerische Infrastruktur um sicherzustellen, dass mehr kleine Unternehmen die Werkzeuge, die sie benötigen haben, zu wachsen, um Arbeitsplätze zu schaffen und das Wirtschaftswachstum Amerikas Kraftstoff zu unterstützen.

Karen Gordon Mills ist der Administrator der U.S. Small Business Administration. Die SBA hilft beiden Main Street und wachstumsstarke kleine Unternehmen erhalten Zugang zu Kapital, Beratung, Bundes Verträge, Notfall-Hilfe und vieles mehr.Tags: offizielle SBA-Neuigkeiten und Ansichten, offen für den Handel, SBA-Nachrichten und Ansichten

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Thursday, August 1, 2013

A Wealth of International Resources for the American Small Business

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One of the biggest challenges to both current and potential exporters is access to accurate, reliable information about the markets they want to tap. One of the most common ways large exporters address this issue is by contracting “expert” help in each country or region where they do business, that is, a local representative or source in position to provide both information and market analysis. This type of service can be -and usually is- costly. If you happen to be a large exporter, cost may not be a major issue, but for small exporters this challenge can be daunting.

Enter Direct Line. The State Department’s Direct Line to American Business program allows small businesses direct access to U.S. Ambassadors, mission teams and foreign government officials to explore market opportunities in their respective countries. Through one-on-one conference calls with U.S. officials abroad, Direct Line provides important and timely information to interested American exporters about how to do business in any particular country. Discussions range from what the best investment opportunities are in the current climate, to analysis of subsector activities in your business area. After a brief overview and guided discussion, participants ask questions to get further insights from experts in the field and the foreign government officials directly responsible for planning and procurement in specific areas. Whatever your focus, Direct Line has the answers to your questions.

Exporting is increasingly becoming one of the most important factors in the U.S economic recovery, as clearly reflected by the priority given the National Export Initiative. It is in that context that the U.S. government, through several agencies, provides a wealth of information, resources, counseling and many other services to help U.S. exporters expand their share of the international market.

One such resource is the new Business Tab found at the top of every U.S. Embassy and Consulate homepage, which offers further support to U.S. small businesses interested in expanding their international portfolio. Business Tab provides a wealth of country-specific information, from key financial reports to news on other agency programs, such as what the International Trade Administration and U.S. Department of Agriculture are doing to assist U.S. businesses overseas. Explore where your business fits in by visiting http://www.state.gov for links to all embassy and consulate websites.

Also, be sure to watch out for the launch of a new interactive platform known as the Business Information Database System (BIDS), which is likely to rollout in the next six months. BIDS will internally manage and deliver information on foreign government business and procurement opportunities to U.S. companies, expediting and informing your business decisions.

As always, visit http://www.sba.gov/about-offices-content/1/2889 to learn more about the SBA Office of International Trade and see the various types of export assistance that are available to your small business.

Tags: Official SBA News and Views, Open For Business, International

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Let Us Know About Innovators and Leaders in Small Business Financing

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This blog is by Don Graves, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Small Business, Housing, and Community Development Policy at the U.S. Department of Treasury and has served as Executive Director of the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. This blog first appeared at Treasury.Gov.

President Obama and Secretary Lew are committed to creating an environment where America’s small businesses can grow and prosper. An essential aspect of making sure these engines of job creation succeed is ensuring that entrepreneurs and small business owners have access to the capital and credit needed to turn their ideas into successful enterprises. The Department of the Treasury, the Small Business Administration (SBA), and agencies across the Administration have taken many steps over the last four years to support small business growth and enable innovation and expansion of small business financing.

But there is more work to do. On June 10, 2013, Treasury and SBA will host a Capital Access Innovation Summit. The day-long event will convene innovators in the field of small business financing with the goal of sharing innovative practices in the private sector and learning how the Administration can enable or encourage increased access to capital for small businesses. Building on the success of two previous capital access conferences, we will focus primarily on three areas: (1) Public and Private Capital Markets Access for Small Businesses - including innovative solutions to address any remaining gaps, (2) Small Business Financing: Data and Innovation - how the delivery of small business capital could be enhanced through emerging technology-enabled platforms and other innovations, and (3) Engaging Large Companies to Promote Small Business Growth.

To inform this conversation about small business growth, and help set the agenda for this year’s Capital Access Innovation Summit, we want to hear from you. Do you know leaders and innovators in small business financing? At Treasury.Gov, tell us about (a) leading innovators using technology and data to expand capital access; (b) effective partnerships between large and small businesses, and (c) thought leaders who have identified gaps in small business financing and effective solutions to fill these gaps.?

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Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Small Businesses Receive 22.25 Percent of Small Business Contracts in FY 2012

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In FY 2012, the federal government made real progress toward delivering 23 percent of eligible federal contracting dollars to small businesses, with 22.25 percent going to small businesses compared to 21.65 percent in FY 2011. We also made significant impact in several key areas of small business contracting, including exceeding the goal for service disabled veterans for the first time and delivering the highest percentage of contracts to small disadvantaged businesses to date. In addition, more agencies than ever before reached or surpassed all of their prime contracting goals.

As a result of a government wide focus on increasing small business contracting opportunities, during the first term of the Obama administration, $376.2 billion in contracting dollars went to small businesses. This is a $48.1 billion increase over the four preceding years even as we have reduced contracting spending overall.

Federal contracting with small businesses remains a win-win. Small businesses get the revenue they need to grow their revenues and create jobs. Meanwhile, the federal government gets the chance to work with some of the most responsive, innovative and nimble companies in the U.S. —often with a direct line to their CEO.

SBA is required to report to the President and Congress on achievements by federal agencies and departments against their annual procurement goals to ensure greater accountability. The Small Business Procurement Scorecard provides an assessment of federal achievement in prime contracting and subcontracting to small businesses by the 24 Chief Financial Officers Act agencies. It also measures progress that departments are making to ensure small business opportunities remain an integral part of their acquisition of goods and services to meet mission objectives. The FY 2012 Small Business Procurement Scorecard is now available on sba.gov.

The SBA continues to focus on a number of initiatives to help the government meet the 23 percent goal, ensure the accuracy of data, and prevent fraud, waste and abuse, including:

Significantly improving the quality of small business procurement data;Collaborating with White House and Administration Senior Officials to help ensure top-level leadership commitment from across the federal government to utilize small businesses;Training prospective and existing small businesses to acquire the confidence and skills needed to successfully compete for and win federal contracts through GC Classroom;Strengthening, building capacity and increasing opportunities in America's supply chains for small businesses through the American Supplier Initiative (ASI); andConducting outreach and matchmaking events across the country to ensure that small businesses everywhere have direct access to federal buyers.

In particular, SBA recently launched a strategic HUBZone and 8(a) Business Development Program Recruitment Initiative to recruit new firms into both programs that better meet the needs of the federal procurement marketplace. SBA also recently joined with Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP) and American Express OPEN to launch the ChallengeHER initiative, to inform Woman-Owned Small Businesses about the opportunities available within the federal supply chain.

Small businesses are the backbone of our economy. SBA and the Obama Administration will continue to provide small business owners the necessary tools to ensure they have the wind at their back, enabling them to grow and create jobs.

For more information about the Small Business Procurement Scorecard, visit SBA.gov.

John Shoraka is the Associate Administrator for Government Contracting and Business Development at the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Tags: Official SBA News and Views, Open For Business, Government Contracting

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RFP-EZ Delivers Savings for Taxpayers, New Opportunities for Small Business

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America’s small information technology firms are some of the most innovative in the world. They are nimble, creative and can get the job done. And thanks to a new online government platform, it is getting easier for them to address some of the Federal Government’s most pressing IT needs. It’s a win-win: Small technology companies get easier access to the Federal Government’s nearly $77 billion information technology supply chain, providing a potentially critical revenue stream as they build their operations. And government agencies get to work with innovative small firms with solutions that can help make government agencies more efficient and streamlined.

The catalyst for these connections is an exciting new pilot project called RFP-EZ. And the results we are seeing from this program highlight what is possible when you unleash the power of American entrepreneurs.

RFP-EZ is a new and easy way for companies to learn about and compete for government contracts – in particular, small companies that lack the experience or administrative support generally needed to take full advantage of the Government’s Request for Proposals (RFP) process, the means by which many government contract offerings are presented to the business community. The RFP-EZ platform was developed jointly by Federal innovators working in the SBA and private-sector entrepreneurs serving temporary stints in the Federal Government through the Presidential Innovation Fellows program, launched by the U.S Chief Technology Officer and Chief Information Officer team last year. Sharing their private- and public-sector insights, the team developed RFP-EZ as a simplified platform aimed at opening up the Government marketplace to a wider range of companies and saving taxpayer money.

Applying agile development principles, the Fellows team designed RFP-EZ over a six-month period, publishing the platform’s code openly on GitHub. The team then launched the pilot by posting five relatively simple website development and database contract offerings, four of which were also announced via the standard government portal, FedBizOps. On a per-project basis, bids received through RFP-EZ were consistently lower than those received through FedBizOps—19% to 41% lower, and over 30% lower on average. Bids made through RFP-EZ also showed less overall variation. In addition, during the pilot period, RFP-EZ attracted more than 270 businesses that until now had never approached the world of Federal contracting.

Average of All Bids Received for RFP-EZ vs FedBizOps (FBO)

According to Office of Management and Budget’s IT Dashboard, the Federal Government will spend more than $1.4 billion on Web Infrastructure and Web Content Management Systems in FY 2014. Based on 2011 and 2012 results, we can expect about half of these projects to be under the $150,000 “Simplified Acquisition Threshold” that would make them eligible for contracting through RFP-EZ. As we refine and expand the use of RFP-EZ, we are confident that its success will grow, delivering better value for taxpayers and opening new opportunities for small businesses.

Leveraging feedback we received from entrepreneurs and Federal contracting officers, the next class of Presidential Innovation Fellows will begin work on version 2.0 of RFP-EZ, which will focus on improving the platform, scaling its initial results across the Federal Government, and adding innovative new capabilities. If your business would like to participate, we encourage you to get started by setting up a profile on RFP-EZ today. To all the businesses that submitted proposals through RFP-EZ and everyone who has given us feedback on the project, thank you for helping to bring this new capability to life – and we very much look forward to the path ahead.

Karen Gordon Mills is the Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration. The SBA helps both Main Street and high-growth small businesses get access to capital, counseling, federal contracts, disaster assistance and more.Tags: Official SBA News and Views, Open For Business, Government Contracting, SBA News and Views

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50 Years of National Small Business Week

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AppId is over the quota

by Karen Mills, SBA Administrator

Created: June 14, 2013, 10:13 pmUpdated: June 17, 2013, 10:16 am

This year marks the 50th anniversary of National Small Business Week. Although things have certainly changed since President Kennedy signed the first Presidential Proclamation in 1963, one thing that hasn’t changed is America’s entrepreneurial spirit and the important role that small business owners play in our economy and our communities.

This week, President Obama has continued America’s tradition of honoring the spirit and success of American small business owners by proclaiming June 17 - 21 to be 2013’s National Small Business Week. Small businesses have always been the backbone of our economy, and we know that the success of America’s small businesses is critical to growing our economy and increasing our nation’s global competitiveness.

Small businesses create two out of three net new private sector jobs in our economy. And today, half of all working Americans either own or work for a small business. Over the past five years, the Obama Administration has worked to rebuild the economy and ensure that small businesses are able to do what they do best: grow and create jobs.

This year, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has revamped and redesigned our efforts to bring more tools, tips and resources to America’s 28 million small businesses, in conjunction with Administration-wide efforts to make government smarter, more responsive and more streamlined. And throughout National Small Business Week, we’ll be focused on workshops, hands-on assistance, matchmaking and mentoring for small business owners in the following cities:

June 17 - Seattle, Wa.June 18 - Dallas/Ft. Worth, TexasJune 19 - St. Louis, Mo.June 20 - Pittsburgh, Pa.June 21 - Washington, D.C.

Throughout the week, we’ll be joined by entrepreneurs and experts including Jack Dorsey (Square and Twitter co-founder), Angie Hicks (founder of Angie’s List), David Steward (founder and chairman of Worldwide Technologies) and Fran Tarkenton (former NFL quarterback and entrepreneur).

If you don’t live in these cities, you can tune into our events via live stream at www.sba.gov/smallbusinessweek, and by joining our daily Google + Hangouts with additional business and social media experts. During National Small Business Week, we also encourage you to visit your favorite local small business and tell us about it on Twitter with the official hashtag #SBW2013.

In Washington, D.C., we’ll finish the week by honoring outstanding entrepreneurs from every state and U.S. territory and announcing our 2013 National Small Business Person of the Year. This year’s winners represent the incredible diversity of small businesses; from technological start-ups and health care providers, to a helicopter pilot training school and an organic vegetable farm. And they are all inspiring examples of the drive and creativity that makes America’s small businesses the true engine of our economy.

For generations, Americans have pursued the dream of owning their own small business. During National Small Business Week, we recognize the critical role that these small businesses play in America’s economic growth and global competitiveness.

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Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Launch of U.S. Global Business Solutions Pilot: U.S. Government Solutions for Small Business Exporters

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AppId is over the quota

When the President challenged the nation to double exports in five years, U.S. government agencies worked closely together to increase access to export financing and foreign market opportunities.

Under a new, multi-agency initiative, several federal agencies collaborated to combine their trade finance programs and export marketing services into a one-stop platform. U.S. Global Business Solutions, a new approach for assessing and meeting the business needs of small business exporters, will be piloted for six months beginning this week. A group of diverse lenders will test the program throughout the country.

Global Business Solutions will:

Reduce complexity for both exporters and lenders by packaging trade financing and marketing options from several agencies that seamlessly meet exporter needs;Streamline access to international experts, financial products, and business services for exporters;Establish a network of lending partners that are prepared and committed to meeting the financing needs of small business exporters.

This new, ‘whole-of-government’ approach for meeting small business exporter needs is exciting for SBA, our sister agencies and our lending partners. We’re pleased to have such innovative partners in the lending community who have risen to the challenge to provide the export financing necessary for small businesses to succeed in the global marketplace.

Lenders are being trained in seven financial products and seven marketing services that will meet most small business exporters’ needs, with additional information on six other financing options for specialized needs. Together, six federal agencies are behind this initiative, including SBA, Export-Import Bank, Department of Commerce's Commercial Service, U.S. Trade and Development Agency, U.S. Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agriculture Service and Overseas Private Investment Corporation.

A full-scale rollout of the pilot is expected in early 2014. For more information on the U.S. Global Business Solutions initiative, please contact the SBA representative in your local U.S. Export Assistance Center.

Tags: Official SBA News and Views, Open For Business, International, SBA News and Views

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