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Webcasts offered by NH-DRED for business owners

Want some professional development training without going anywhere?

New Hampshire’s Division of Economic Development is offering a new monthly series of free business-centered webcasts called NH BizCast.

  The upcoming webcasts are:

• Feb. 17, noon to 1 p.m., "New Mediums, New Messages - How Social Media is Transforming Communication," presented by Allen Voivod of Epiphanies, Inc.;
• March 17, noon to 1 p.m., "Best Business Practices for the Next Century," presented by Dr. Russ Ouellette of Sojourn Partners;
• Other webcasts will be announced on the NH BizCast web site.

To participate in the live audience at the Comfort Inn, pre-register with Leslie Sherman at 271-2591 or leslie.sherman@dred.state.nh.us.

Rise in home-based businesses expected to continue in struggling economy

Home-based businesses have been on the rise for some time and now account for nearly half of all businesses in the United States, according to this article. These businesses are not just hobbies, but are providing a significant or majority share of household income. With a struggling economy, technological advancements and the lower costs of operating out of one’s home, it’s expected that more and more people will choose self-employment at home.

The article identifies 10 trends for home-based entrepreneurs in 2010: 1. A job-challenged economy 2. Bootstrapping (cost containment; cash flow adjustments) 3. Home-based artisans 4. Cloud computing (access to advanced computer capabilities) 5. Mobile computing 6. Social computing 7. Analytics—Tools are becoming more sophisticated; easier to use 8. The New Local movement 9. Boomers—Aging baby boomers are flocking to home-based businesses 10. Work/life balance.

Are you home-based or planning to be?

Write us with your comments using the “comment” feature just below.

Do you use your iPhone or iPod Touch for business? Tell us your favorite “apps”

Seems like everyone we know got an iPhone or an iPod touch for Christmas. Have you been using yours to discover applications (“apps”) that help you in your small business?

We’d love to hear about your favorites here.  Have you tried ones that really haven’t lived up to their hype? 

Drop us a line!  Whatever you’ve learned and can share will be helpful to your fellow New Hampshire small business owners. Just click onto "comments" just below to leave your opinions.

A checklist of sorts to plan not to fail in your small business

This article gives quite a succinct view of the elements that go into making any business a success.  It may serve as a handy checklist as you think about starting a business or as you undertake a review of what you are already doing. The basic premise is that success in a small business takes more than just a good idea or service to offer—you need a solid plan, adequate resources, good management skills and perseverance.  How to Avoid Small Business Failure: Avoid the Pitfalls and Become a Successful Entrepreneur lists these key ingredients to avoid failure. Some of them may seem obvious, but it’s always good to brush up and reassess.  Click through to the full article for the full scoop:

·        Know the business in depth

·        Prepare a business plan (See NHSBDC resources for doing this.)

·        Manage financial resources

·        Understand financial statements

·        Learn to manage people effectively

·        Set the business apart from the competition

·        Maintain a positive attitude

What types of things do you do every day to ensure success? Send us your tips and tricks here, by clicking onto "comments" just below.

NH Small Business Day at the State House January 27

The New Hampshire Small Business Development Center and the New Hampshire Business and Industry Association, along with local and regional chambers of commerce,  will host the 5th Annual Small Business Day at the State House on January 27, 7:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., at the Holiday Inn in Concord. The purpose of the event is to bring small business owners face to face with state leaders for public policy discussion and debate.

Cost is $15 per person. To register, call 603-224-5388 x116 or visit www.nhbia.org and click on January 27 on the events calendar. 

Three panel discussions will be held in the morning:

1.  A panel discussion with the state's elected leaders Sylvia Larsen, House Speaker Terie Norelli, Senate Republican Leader Peter Bragdon and House Republican Leader Sherm Packard will focus specifically on top small business issues of 2010 and how state elected leaders seek to resolve them.

2. Taxing Distributions from LLCs will focus on New Hampshire’s extension of the 5 percent interest and dividends tax to distributions from LLC’s and partnerships. 

3. Recovery to Growth:  Where are the Opportunities? Discover new strategies and opportunities in three areas:  Improving Your Bottom Line, Doing Business with the Government, and Effective Marketing on a Small Business Budget.  Participants include Rudy Bazelmans, Expense Reduction Analysts; Rachael Roderick, US Small Business Administration; David Pease, NH Procurement Technical Assistance Program; and Sara Adams, ska works.  Moderated by Mary Collins, State Director, NH-SBDC.

This event is sponsored by Public Service of New Hampshire, NH Division of Economic Development, and media sponsor NH Business Review.

Nearly half of businesses are using social media

According to this article from  Business.gov, 45 percent of small businesses surveyed report they are now using social media to market their business.  Social media includes any of the many online, interactive tools such as blogs, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and customized online communities.  While skepticism still exists about whether social media shows a return on investment, business owners are feeling they need to be involved online in some way. 

The article suggests three ways to make social media pay off for your business, either in building your reputation or actually building your bottom line:

1)      social media for brand building

2)      social media as a lead generation tool

3)      monitoring social media and return on investment

See the full article for more details.

Are you using social media to market your business? Write us here with your comments.

 

The new year is a good time to conduct a business review

The new year is a good time to conduct a thorough review of your business, with a focus on the previous year’s activities. It may help you plan for and position your business for the year ahead and, in this case, for the potential economic recovery that is to come.

This article recommends starting by focusing on your accomplishments to give yourself a virtual pat on the back. (Read more on this idea here.

Next, here are the steps to follow to give your business a thorough, annual review:

1. Assess your Core Activities (i.e. what you do and who your market is)

2. Conduct a sales and marketing review. An efficient way to do this is to conduct a SWOT analysis—something we often suggest each new business do before starting and when planning for new products/services or new markets. 

3. Evaluate your employees. This is something you should be doing annually anyway.

4. Review your business' finances, including budget, cash flow, profit, borrowing, taxes.

This might be a good time to review your existing business plan and make adjustments or write an entirely new one.  NHSBDC management advisors would be glad to talk with you about your vision and business plan review.  Contact them at the office nearest you:  North Country (444-1053), Keene (358-2602), Seacoast(330-1929), Manchester (624-2000), or Nashua (546-1551).  Be sure to mention that you read about this service in our blog.

Do you make it a point to do an annual review of your business? Write us here with your comments.

Want to improve your web site marketing? Workshop January 13

The Seacoast office of the New Hampshire Small Business Development Center will host a workshop "Improve Your Web Site Marketing", 9 a.m. to  noon, January 13 at the Dover, New Hampshire Chamber of Commerce.

This workshop is an introduction to methods and tactics for improving your online marketing efforts. It is intended to provide an overview of search engine optimization, blogging, social media sites and other tools with real-life examples. It will be best suited for the business owner who wants to gain a better understanding of these topics in order to make better-informed decisions when speaking with their web development provider or optimizing their web site directly.

Cost is $29. To register, call the NHSBDC office in Dover at

Registration is required. Register here or by contacting Sue Browning, Program Assistant, 330-1929 or susan.browning@unh.edu.

The Dover Chamber is located at 550 Central Avenue, Dover.

 

How will New Hampshire's small businesses do in 2010? Take our poll

In this end-of-the-year article from the New Hampshire Business Review, business owners proclaim that "Flat is the new up"--meaning if they don't lose money or business in the new year, it will be a good thing. The economic recovery is slow and sputtering. Housing sales in New Hampshire are up, a fact that most experts agree is a good sign. Will your business benefit this year? Take our two mini-polls, above and below, and let us know how you're feeling as 2010 opens.