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5 Ways To Increase Your Productivity

February 25, 2015
From the Google Small Business Community

As a small business owner, you juggle a lot of daily tasks. Making a concrete plan to achieve them can help you stay productive throughout the day. In addition to starting your day right with a morning ritual, increase your productivity by setting limits on meetings, and using technology and apps to streamline your business.

5 Ways to Increase Your ProductivityStart your day right with a quick agenda overview

Do you check your email or your calendar first thing in the morning? Why not do both at the same time? Mentally prepare for the day with a quick snapshot of your daily tasks every morning by having Google Calendar email you a snapshot of your full agenda at 5 a.m. Do this by accessing the Reminders and Notifications menu, and checking the box next to Daily Agenda. First access the Reminders and Notifications menu and then check the box next to Daily Agenda.

Be alerted of interruptions to your commute before you leave

Once you’ve set up your commute destinations in Google Maps, Google Now (part of the Google Search app) will send you a notification with real-time traffic updates, including incidents, before you hit the road. You can even sync Google Now with your Calendar to get traffic updates before your meetings, and make sure you’re not late for appointments with your vendors and customers.  (more…)

Success Story: Alaska

February 23, 2015
Knik Tire & AutoKnik Tire & Auto

– SBDC: Alaska, Mat-Su Valley SBDC
– SBDC Counselor: Julie Nolen
– Client: Knik Tire & Auto, SBDC client since 2014

“Working with the SBDC in Wasilla has been an enjoyable and invaluable learning experience. Julie Nolen has been a tremendous support and assisted us with so many things that we were very unfamiliar with as new business owners (how to advertise, how to register the business, how to obtain business license, how to work with QuickBooks, and the list goes on!). (more…)

Success Story: Illinois

February 9, 2015
Blind Chef Restaurant Startup

La Diosa restaurantIllinois SBDC at NORBIC
SBDC Advisor – Andrew Fogaty
SBDC Client – Chef Laura Martinez, La Diosa Restaurant

Chef Laura Martinez was born in Mexico and has been completely blind since infancy. She learned to love cooking in her grandmother’s kitchen and years later, through hard work and determination, became the first blind student at Chicago’s prestigious Le Cordon Bleu.

Shortly after graduation, while serving an internship at an area non-profit, local celebrity Chef Charlie Trotter tasted her cooking and immediately offered her a job in his restaurant.

Chef Martinez thrived in the position until August of 2012, when Trotter closed the restaurant and she found herself unemployed.  (more…)

To License or Assign: An Intellectual Property Conundrum

February 2, 2015
By Mrigrank Mishra

Traklight_post_2015-02-02As a small business owner with intellectual property (IP), you have to leverage your assets to work for you. We have talked a number of times about the importance of protecting your IP and the necessary steps to achieve that end. The next step involves making the IP generate capital in more ways than just product sales. You may at times need to enter into an agreement with a third party with respect to that intellectual property. There are a number of different types of agreements that affect IP.

Assignment

Just like tangible property, intellectual property can be conveyed, or assigned, to a new owner. If you are selling your business, you will need to convey the associated intellectual property to the new owner. Assigning IP entails transferring all rights associated with it to the assignee. You cannot then use the IP and claim creating it originally as a defense against infringement. Furthermore you cannot resell the same IP to another person if specifically mentioned in the agreement. Another scenario involving possible assignment is in the case of infringement. In many such cases, as part of a settlement, the party infringing the IP will be made to assign any rights it accrued to the rightful owner.

License Agreements

All types of IP can be assigned to others to use. With respect to patents, for instance, the inventor often never manufacturers anything. Instead, they license the patent to third parties to manufacture the product. They then collect licensing fees and, most likely, goes on to patent their next invention, repeating the process as much as possible. These agreements control how the licensor can use the IP, stipulate the fees associated with the license (if any), and assure that all use by the licensor inures to the benefit of the licensee.  (more…)