by Linda Ruckel, Advance Tax Services, on behalf of the Santa Fe SBDC
Multilevel marketing (MLM) is one way an ambitious person can supplement his or her income or even create a full-time job during an economic recovery in which job creation isn’t keeping pace with employment needs. An existing business can even use MLM to expand its product line by leveraging existing business and personal contacts.
Simon Brackley, President & CEO, Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce
The past few years have been difficult for many businesses, with a protracted recession forcing consumers to change their buying habits and postpone nonessential expenditures. Business owners feel the pinch of these conservative spending habits and sometimes feel they have no place to turn for advice. That’s where chambers of commerce can help.
Especially during a recession, business leaders need to stick together, and the chamber of commerce is one way to do that. Larger chambers provide confidential counseling and business assistance at no charge to members.
Betsy Gillette, Director of Market Research & Planning, TVC
A business trying to market an industrial product has a smaller customer base than one selling mass-market products, which means the entrepreneur must capitalize on each sales opportunity by investing in market research.
Industrial customers do not buy on whim and generally have a structured buying process. An entrepreneur with a product he believes customers will want needs to know what problems potential customers must solve and how they’re currently solving them. What machinery does the client use? What manual processes are involved? How much does this cost (not just labor and supplies but lower production or revenues, environmental penalties or other costs)? Many industrial customers simply want to do things faster and more efficiently.
Michelle Mang, Promotions & Advertising Analyst, TVC
Technology Ventures Corporation and New Mexico WIRED (Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development) host their third virtual high tech job fair September 20-24. Because the setting is cyberspace, applicants can participate from anywhere in the world without standing in long lines.
New Mexico-based high tech and green tech companies that want to participate can register for their virtual booth by contacting Metta-Marie Stahl at 505-843-4143. The fair is limited to these industries because job-fair organizers say they offer opportunities for professional growth and better-than-average pay. (And they’re not all technical jobs, either: Many companies seek sales and marketing personnel and administrative staff.)
Monica Abeita, Regional Development Corp. for Northern NM Connect
In 2009, Scott Laidlaw and Jennifer Harris founded Imagine Education as a New Mexico-based startup company to develop and market educational games. Since then they’ve been assisted by numerous business and community resources, including a Las Vegas, N.M., charter school and other New Mexico educators, Los Alamos National Laboratory summer interns and LANL’s Northern New Mexico Connect.
John E. Barraclough, Jr., CPA and Managing Principal, Barraclough & Associates, P.C.
Recessions tend to stress-test many businesses. When financing is tight and customers are pinching pennies, a business that was treading water despite poor management, chaotic cash flow or short-term planning might find itself going under. In some cases, the problems are insurmountable, and the owner is forced to sell or close a business.
As long as the failure wasn’t due to industry-wide crises, such as depletion of raw materials or a massive turn away from a product or service, one businessman’s failure can be another’s success. In fact, an entrepreneur with a sharp head for business can find many opportunities in a sluggish economy to turn a poorly run company into a profitable venture.
Marie C. Johns, Deputy Administrator, U.S. Small Business Administration
In July 2010, the Census Bureau reported that the number of minority-owned businesses increased by 46 percent from 2002 to 2007. This is good news. These new businesses are creating jobs and driving local economic growth all across the country.
However, this is no time to lessen the commitment or resources available to help minority small businesses grow and create jobs.
J. Roy Miller, State Director, NMSBDC Network
A business doesn’t have to be big to benefit from the advice and expertise of other professionals. A savvy entrepreneur will assemble a board of trusted advisers to provide feedback and suggestions for leading the organization.
Unlike a board of directors, an advisory board comprises people with no legal authority, fiduciary responsibilities or other obligations to the business.
John Woosley, District Director, SBA NM District Office
Summer is prime disaster season in New Mexico, whether the disaster is a wildfire, flood or tornado. Two years ago saw the Manzano Fire in Estancia, tornadoes in Clovis and flooding in Ruidoso. Three years ago, floods hit Doña Ana County.
For a small business, closing for just one day due to an unforeseen disaster can often mean huge financial losses — especially at a time when small businesses are investing time and money into creating jobs to lead America’s economic recovery.
George "Twig" Segura, Senior Account Executive, Daniels Insurance
Entrepreneurs do everything they can to control the elements that contribute to their business’s success, but some events are out of their control. That’s where business insurance comes in: to ensure that an unpredictable event doesn’t destroy everything the company’s owner has worked for.
Business insurance — also called commercial insurance — is an umbrella term for a variety of products designed to protect business or commercial interests. Some businesses require insurance that targets industry-specific challenges, but other types of insurance address risks common to all businesses.
Commercial property insurance covers buildings, contents, inventory and equipment against physical loss or damage. It typically comes with “business income and extra expense coverage,” which compensates a business owner for the money that’s lost while the business is closed because of an insured loss.
Commercial general liability insurance protects a business from claims for bodily injury or property damage to customers and clients. It covers claims that result from a customer or visitor getting hurt on the business’s property or from an employee damaging property at a client’s home or business.
Professional liability coverage, sometimes called “errors and omissions” (E&O) insurance, can help businesses that deal with customers who potentially could claim that something the business or its employees did for them was done incorrectly and cost them money or caused them harm.
Workers’ compensation and employers liability coverage is required of all New Mexico businesses — with limited exceptions — that employ three or more workers; for the construction trades, no minimum number of employees applies. This insurance provides benefits in the wake of occupational injuries or disease suffered by an employee, regardless of fault. Benefits include payment of medical services and lost wages, subject to a limit set by state law. Workers’ compensation is the exclusive remedy for the coverage of work-related injuries.
Accounts receivable coverage protects a business when its records are destroyed by an insured peril and the business cannot collect the money owed. The policy covers these uncollectible sums plus the expense of record reconstruction and extra collection fees. It does not insure the physical value of the records themselves, such as the paper, computer disks and tapes on which they’re stored.
Crime coverage and fidelity bonds protect a business from crime-related losses, whether it’s burglary, robbery or theft. Fidelity bonds specifically cover theft perpetrated by a business’s employees who steal money, equipment or other assets from the business (first-party fidelity) or a client (third-party liability)
Given all these insurances choices, a business owner should view an insurance agent as a business partner who can help her tailor coverage to her business’s specific risks and needs.
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