The NMSBA program provides New Mexico small businesses facing technical challenges
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Basic Financial Literacy Essential for Business Owners
By Carmen Martinez, director, Small Business Development Center at San Juan College
Business owners don’t need a degree in accounting, but they do need to know how to read basic financial statements and when to ask the accountants who prepare them to explain what they don’t understand.
No one wants to be like the business owner who believed she was making a profit because her checkbook had a positive balance. But even business owners who diligently record financial transactions using basic accounting software don’t always comprehend the reports their CPA generates based on these records.
That means they’re not using the expertise they pay for, and they’re not using the numbers as tools to build their business.
The three financial reports every business owner should understand are the profit and loss statement, the balance sheet and the cash flow statement. Continue reading
Innovators Learn the Benefits, Challenges of Crowdfunding
By Lisa Adkins, Director of the BioScience Center
“Crowdfunding” is a way that startups can raise money to get a project or enterprise off the ground without company founders having to surrender ownership, secure a loan or approach foundations for elusive grants.
Earlier incarnations of the practice didn’t have the advantage of instant access to a global fan base that can grow exponentially through social media. The Internet created that access, and crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter.com and IndieGoGo.com created platforms where people could pitch their projects.
Aqua Research, a resident company in the BioScienceCenter incubator in Albuquerque, is using IndieGoGo to raise $50,000 by May 10 to finance production of its H2gO water purifier, which can turn up to five gallons of unsafe water at a time into potable water using a solar-powered rechargeable cell-phone battery. Continue reading
Farmington Company Well-Schooled in Lean Manufacturing Techniques
By Denise Williams, Innovation Director, New Mexico Manufacturing Extension Partnership
Henry Production Inc. of Farmington puts a premium on training. The 51-year-old company is a one-stop oilfield service company, selling and maintaining compressors and pumps used in the oil and natural gas industry, servicing and overhauling engines and fabricating skids and piping, among other things.
Because machine technology is always changing, the company sponsors a 16-week class once a year to ensure its newer technicians understand the mechanical systems they’re working with. Even seasoned techs take refresher courses to stay on top of technological advances.
Know the Landscape Before Requesting a Small Business Loan
Jordan van Rijn, NM Loan Officer, Accion New Mexico ∙ Arizona ∙ Colorado
Many Americans long to see where their talents as inventors or craftsmen or cooks can take them. But businesses often struggle in their early years, and this makes some lenders wary of financing enterprises that don’t have an established track record. After repeated rejections from potential funders, many entrepreneurs simply give up.
Organizations like Accion are one option for the aspiring entrepreneur who can’t secure a loan through a more traditional financial institution, such as a bank or credit union. But getting a loan requires some groundwork, no matter where she looks.
Chattel
Movable property often accepted as loan collateral. Chattel includes autos, boats, jewelry and domestic animals. Chattel does not include immovable property such as real estate or intangibles such as securities.
Southeastern NM Economic Development District (SNMEDD)
Economic development organizations recruit new businesses and support existing businesses through relationships and programs Continue reading
Startup Weekends Set Ideas in Motion
Eric Renz-Whitmore, Founding Executive Director, New Mexico Tech Council
Developers, designers, marketers, product managers and startup enthusiasts gathered March 1-3 in Santa Fe for a marathon of brainstorming, team building and product testing aimed at transforming entrepreneurial impulses into viable ventures.
More than 60 people showed up for the inaugural Startup Weekend Santa Fe, a 48-hour intensive, immersive collaboration known to the tech world as a hackathon. Participants pitched 32 ideas for marketable products or services, formed 16 teams around the most feasible ideas and ended the weekend with 10 groups presenting projects to judges.
A proposal to develop a broadcast platform for amateur sporting events — dubbed SportXast by its Santa Fe and Los Alamos team members — emerged the winner. Continue reading
Grants Support Rural Business Development
Terry Brunner, State Director, USDA Rural Development Agency
The U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development agency is encouraging nonprofit organizations in rural communities to apply for a Rural Business Enterprise Grant to help them finance projects designed to develop small and emerging private businesses. State and local governments, Indian tribes, nonprofits and public and private nonprofit higher education institutions in communities with 50,000 or fewer residents are eligible to apply.
During the last fiscal year, the program provided $283,000 to six New Mexico recipients. It helped the Southwest Regional Housing and Community Development Corporation establish a revolving loan fund to benefit micro businesses in four New Mexico counties. And it awarded $50,000 to the Ramah Navajo School Board Inc. to pay for a preliminary architectural feasibility report and schematic design for CedarBluffTravelCenter and the Cedar Bluff Restaurant and Business Complex in Ramah, New Mexico. Continue reading
Seek Venture Capital When the Market is Hot
Tom Stephenson, Managing General Partner, Verge Fund
Raising equity capital for a business venture never happens in a vacuum. External forces inevitably affect when and how and where investors are found, just as they affect decisions about how much money is needed to support the company for a few years until it starts showing a profit.
External forces include the financing market — the universe of people and institutions that constitute funding sources for a company — as well as the larger business market in which it operates. Understanding these forces can help an entrepreneur develop a fundraising strategy.
Pure financial investors are in the game to make the most money they can from their investment in a company. But even they can make mistakes and act impulsively. Continue reading