NYC Small Business Tech Coalition partner ShopKeep POS recently announced a small business incubator program that will award $15,000 in grants to help hard working small business owners make their ‘Big Ideas’ a reality.
The competition, titled ‘Small Biz, Big Ideas,’ asks small business owners to submit 500 characters and an image of their small business via Facebook about the ‘Big Idea’ they would most like to implement in their business. A combination of public voting and a panel of ShopKeep judges will decide a Grand Prize winner of $10,000 and five Runner-Ups who will each receive $1,000.
The competition comes as ShopKeep launches a new initiative for small businesses – ‘Counter Culture' – an online resource center and community dedicated to small business innovation.
The weather is warming up…and so will your kitchen. Check out this food holding temperature video and remind your staff to follow the proper procedures for storing hot and cold foods.
“[Owner Jake] Dell was grateful to all the city agencies who were on the scene yesterday and today, ‘They all came together … the Small Business Services and Office of Emergency Management are the only reason why we’re open.’””
Earlier this month, Governor Cuomo announced the launch of a new online platform for Business Mentor NY, the state’s first large-scale, hands-on mentoring program designed to help entrepreneurs and small businesses across New York State grow their businesses.
The platform – www.businessmentor.ny.gov– is designed to streamline the free mentoring process so that small business owners throughout New York State may receive assistance from a variety of experienced professionals who represent a vast range of disciplines and are volunteering their time and expertise. Through the website, participants may register online, review the profiles of potential mentors to find a suitable match and communicate directly with them on an as-needed basis and at no charge.
Unemployed and receiving disability payments since 2010, Tracey Hamilton was determined to weave her knitted and crocheted beaded necklaces and bracelets into a steady income stream.
So, recently, she took a five-session course to learn the how-tos of building a business around them.
"It’s a tough market, and if you have any kind of gift, you need to know how to market it, said the Bronx resident.
On May 12, 2014, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo signed the Service Disabled Veteran-Owned Business Act into law, establishing a six percent goal for participation on state contracts by these businesses in addition to other measures to support disabled veteran-owned companies.
Is your business interested in receiving a free technology that will help prepare it for future storms?
If your NYC small business was impacted by Hurricane Sandy, please join RISE : NYC on June 18th to meet technology providers that could help prepare your business for future storms.
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view. NYC Dept. of Small Business Services Commissioner Maria Torres-Springer
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view. Bob Annibale, Global Director of Citi Community Development and Microfinance
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view. Nisha Agarwal, Commissioner of the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view. The Immigrant Business Initiative will include a community-based marketing campaign to raise awareness of free services available to help immigrant-owned businesses start, operate, and grow.
In celebration of Small Business Week, NYC Department of Small Business Services (SBS) Commissioner Maria Torres-Springer, in partnership with Citi, today announced the Immigrant Business Initiative, a new initiative funded by a $250,000 contribution from Citi Community Development, that will work with Community Based Organizations to find and execute solutions to help immigrant-owned businesses start, operate, and grow. Nisha Agarwal, Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs (nycimmigrants), and Bob Annibale, Global Director of Citi Community Development and Microfinance, joined as well.
This summer, through the Immigrant Business Initiative, SBS will solicit ideas from Community Based Organizations across the five boroughs, and choose up to five proposals for new city services to help immigrant-owned businesses. The Immigrant Business Initiative will also fund the design and execution of business services in five languages – Chinese, Russian, Haitian-Creole, Spanish, and Korean. These services will include business education courses and one-on-one counseling, as well as other solutions identified by the five community partners. The Initiative also creates a community-based marketing campaign to raise awareness of free services available to help immigrant-owned businesses start, operate, and grow. Services are expected to be available this fall.
The Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce today hosted the second edition of its Brooklyn Economic Exchange – or BKEX – series event, featuring the City’s Department Small Business Services (SBS) Commissioner Maria Torres-Springer, who addressed a packed room on her vision for small business and the goals she has for her administration.
Held in at Borough Hall, in partnership with the Brooklyn Borough President’s Office, BKEX is our quarterly convening of BIDS, LDCs, and other economic interests throughout the borough. The purpose is to give a forum for interaction between organizations that are on the ground doing economic development, business support and promotion, and the heads of government agencies on both the City and the State level that are guiding and creating policy and implementing programs that impact our organizations and Brooklyn’s economy.
During this webinar, the Financing Team of the NYC Business Solutions Bronx Center will review the credit and financing opportunities available for your business.
Additionally, the course will give insight and best practices on what lenders are looking for in the current credit environment so you can be best prepared when applying for financing.
Additional topics include:
The five Cs of lending
Basic criteria, products, and options for small business owners looking to obtain financing.
What to consider when preparing a financing application
How lenders will evaluate your application
How you can best meet the requirements for today’s lenders
What additional resources exist for understanding and improving your credit history
You may have seen in the news that the Washington Redskins had its trademark registration canceled on the grounds that it was “disparaging to Native Americans.”
But what is a trademark, anyway? And who should get one?
According to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, a trademark is, “a word, phrase, symbol, or design or combination thereof that identifies and distinguishes the source of the goods of one party from those of others.”
While you don’t necessarily have to register your trademark, owning a federal trademark on the Principal Register (the registry of trademarks maintained by the USPTO) has important benefits like:
Public notice of your claim of ownership of the mark
A legal presumption of your ownership of the mark and your exclusive right to use the mark nationwide on or in connection with the goods/services listed in the registration
The ability to bring an action concerning the mark in federal court
The use of the U.S. registration as a basis to obtain registration in foreign countries
The ability to record the U.S. registration with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Service to prevent importation of infringing foreign goods
The right to use the federal registration symbol ®
Listing in the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s online databases.
Businesses often consider registering for trademarks to better protect intellectual property and products.
You can file for a trademark through the online TEAS system. Keep in mind, the registration process requires you to satisfy strict requirements and deadlines, so you may want to consider working with an attorney on this.
To get the basics on all things trademark, check out this video. You can also share your ideas about how to improve the Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure.
For decades New York City has been at the center of global innovation, entrepreneurship, culture, and creativity. From innovative new tech and media companies to trendsetting fashions and world-class cuisine, New York City is home to some of the world’s most dynamic new businesses and game-changing ideas. An important ingredient in our City’s ingenuity and economic success are New York’s foreign-born entrepreneurs who own more than a third of the City’s more than 200,000 small businesses and 1 in 6 businesses nationally.
Immigrant entrepreneurs are more than twice as likely as native-born residents to choose self-employment and start their own business. Small businesses serve as an equalizer and a pathway to the middle class, which is why many immigrants choose to start their own business. These businesses not only help the owner, but entire neighborhoods– providing local jobs, economic activity, language and cultural accessibility, and retail or personal services that may be preferred by the neighborhood’s specific ethnic groups.
In supporting immigrant entrepreneurs, policy-makers must look toward building solutions that leverage both public and private resources and involve immigrant communities at every step of the way. This is why the NYC Department of Small Business Services (SBS) and Citi Community Development are proud to launch a set of initiatives designed to work with immigrant communities in delivering culturally-appropriate, tailor-made small business solutions that seek to solve a unique challenge faced by New York’s immigrant entrepreneurial community.
SBS is now accepting proposals from organizations with strong ties to New York City’s immigrant entrepreneurial community to provide insights and solutions to helping immigrant entrepreneurs in their community. By tapping into the creativity and social entrepreneurship of immigrant communities, the City of New York will join forces with some of the City’s most tested innovators in tackling the challenges that immigrant small business owners face and creating a City where everyone rises together regardless of where they were born.
