America’s SBDC Blog

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Mastering the Art of Management

October 13, 2015

mastering-the-art-of-mgmt-google-blog-postMany small business owners are masters of their industry, but when it comes to managing a company, a new and different set of skills is necessary. According to the US Census, 38% of small businesses have 5 or more employees. That’s more than two million businesses that rely on strong leadership and employee relationships to keep their companies running smoothly. This month, in honor of National Boss’s Day, we’re taking a look at what it takes to be a great leader for your small business.

Make the right hires.
Laszlo Bock, the SVP of People Operations at Google and the author of Work Rules, has said the key to a company’s success is to “hire amazing people, give them more freedom than you’re comfortable with, provide targeted real-­time coaching, and forgive failure as long as people learn.” When hiring, look for people who not only have the necessary skills but also share the same vision and values as you.

Invest time in your employees.
In our Boss’s Day Q&A last year, we talked to a manager-employee pair at Google who admitted that the biggest challenge in building a good working relationship is making time for each other. One suggestion is to schedule a weekly or bi-weekly check-in, which can be used to talk about projects but also to catch up and get to know each other as people.  (more…)

New South Carolina Residents Cook Up Fresh Business in Rock Hill

October 7, 2015
The-Yolk-Cafe-South-CarolinaSuccess Story: South Carolina
  • Rock Hill Area SBDC, South Carolina SBDC network
  • SBDC Consultants: Larry Stephens and Carol Daly
  • Clients: Greg and Sabrina Collier, The Yolk Café – SBDC clients since 2013

“The Rock Hill Area SBDC was, and still is, one of the most essential components of the success of our restaurant.” Greg Collier, Chef and Owner, The Yolk Café, Rock Hill, SC

Impact of working with the South Carolina SBDC: General guidance and marketing. “Carol and Larry provided us with marketing tips particularly with our website and the social media we already had going. They also helped us find an accountant,” Collier said. One of the things that he found most helpful was the encouragement to take small steps and make small investments that can help their business grow over time. “Larry helped us to stay grounded, as well as motivated,” Collier recalled.

Read the whole story, and learn more about the South Carolina SBDC and The Yolk Café.

What Small Businesses Should Know about the EMV Fraud Liability Shift on Oct. 1, 2015

October 5, 2015
By Mary Hughes

credit-card-with-chipThe U.S. is the last developed country to migrate from magnetic-stripe (“mag-stripe”) cards to EMV¹ or chip cards.  This migration will affect credit, debit and prepaid cards issued by U.S. financial institutions.

The biggest benefit of chip card technology is the potential reduction in card fraud due to counterfeit and lost and stolen cards for card-present transactions (where the card is physically present at the point-of-sale).  Chip card transactions offer enhanced functionality in card authentication, cardholder verification, and transaction authorization, thus providing better security than magnetic-stripe cards.  A chip card has an embedded microprocessor chip (it looks like a small, metallic square on the front of the card) that stores information securely and performs cryptographic processing during the payment transaction.

When a financial institution issues a chip card, the chip is encoded with security credentials that are extremely difficult to counterfeit.  Plus, chip cards create dynamic data that are unique for each transaction and cannot be used again.  Because of these security features, countries that have implemented chip cards have seen a reduction in card-present fraud rates.  (more…)

Snowboarding Innovation

September 30, 2015
gilson-boards-PASuccess Story: Pennsylvania

“The Bucknell SBDC has been an invaluable resource. The folks there have rallied behind our effort, welcoming us to the community and guiding us with sound advice.” – Nick Gilson, Founder/CEO

Impact of working with the Pennsylvania SBDC: Excited to get their boards on the market, the Gilson Boards team came to the Bucknell University Small Business Development Center (SBDC) where they received guidance in business planning and capital formation. Building on that relationship, Gilson Boards tapped into the center’s Engineering Development Services, where they collaborated with students and faculty from Bucknell’s College of Engineering in research and product development. (more…)

Avoid These Common Mistakes That Get Your Email Marked As Spam

September 28, 2015
By Anissa Starnes, Director, National Organizations for Constant Contact

You work hard to build trust with your customer base and you value your relationships with your customers. Even so, you may be struggling with your emails being reported as spam along with so many other businesses. It’s frustrating when you spend time cultivating the right message for your audience, send your email, and are met with a handful of spam complaints in response. How can this be avoided?

The trouble is that many email users decide that your email is unwanted and automatically click to “report as spam.” Email spam reports are a matter of opinion, and laziness to unsubscribe causes many businesses to receive spam complaints. This makes it difficult to figure out what you’re doing wrong.

Although there is no guaranteed way to completely avoid spam reports, there are certainly actions that can be taken to lower your spam reports. Here are some bad email marketing practices to quit now and improve your spam reports:  (more…)