Tag Archives: New Mexico business

Loan Keeps Bakery at Top of Critics’ Lists

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Pratt and Chris Morales in their Albuquerque bakery, Golden Crown Panaderia. Article by Sandy Nelson.

It’s one thing for a bakery to boast about its own tasty products, but it’s quite another for the publisher of a foodie blog to broadcast rave reviews from around the world and add a few superlatives of his own.

Gil Garduño, publisher of Gil’s Thrilling (and Filling) Blog, has eaten at more than 1,000 New Mexico restaurants over the past decade and calls Golden Crown Panaderia “the very best bakery in Albuquerque.” In a mouth-watering 2016 review, Garduño describes the artisan breads, pizzas and pastries that the family-owned, Old Town-area business has been making since 1972 and adds, “This humble Panaderia has been consistently ranked by TripAdvisor, the world’s largest travel community, as one of the top five out of 1,235 restaurants in the Duke City. Golden Crown receives similar praise from Yelp, while Lonely Planet, a French publication, calls Golden Crown ‘Albuquerque’s best place to eat.’ ” Continue reading →

Delegation Equals Liberation for Small Business Owners

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Product shipment preparation is one task that could be delegated. Article by Sandy Nelson.

Sooner or later, an entrepreneur has to know his limits and acknowledge that some tasks can and should be done by others to allow him to focus on the bigger picture. That requires delegation — trusting others, whether subordinates, partners or independent contractors, to complete an assignment as directed.

As obvious as that sounds, an entrepreneur can have a hard time trusting others with his “baby,” ultimately defeating many business objectives and stunting the company’s natural growth.

Many businesses in New Mexico start small, with the owner doing all the work that’s required to get off the ground. Success only increases the workload, and the owner who doesn’t delegate eventually will find her attention pulled away from mission-critical decisions into fussing with day-to-day minutia — answering phones or emails from clients or vendors, filing, blogging — or running in place trying to accomplish tasks outside her expertise. Continue reading →

Even a Small Management Team is Essential to Startup Success

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Article by Sandy Nelson

While it’s normal for the owner of a new business to go the do-it-yourself route, either for lack of money or sparse human resources, no one individual can perform every task associated with nurturing a startup and do all of them well.

The person who sets the idea in motion might not have a clue how to keep books and end up avoiding this essential skill in pursuit of more interesting or gratifying activities, such as networking and prototype creation. Continue reading →

Innovation Vouchers help NM technology businesses thrive

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Image of Teeniors. Article by Jason Gibbs.

Early-stage science and technology companies in New Mexico occasionally need a little boost, and the state’s Innovation Vouchers program, first launched in 2017, is there to lend a hand.

Managed by the New Mexico Economic Development Department’s (EDD) Office of Science and Technology, the program offers competitive grants of small amounts — $2,000 per individual per award — to help a company during critical moments of growth and development.  According to Jessica Mraz, communications and marketing coordinator for the EDD, Innovation Vouchers build on the state’s history of successful research and development and help to commercialize innovative technologies from the state’s research universities and federal laboratories. Continue reading →

Businesses Needed to Support New Mexico’s Growing Film Industry

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Lights, Camera, Profit: The film industry provides ample opportunities for NM businesses. Article by Jason Gibbs.

With New Mexico gaining a reputation among film production companies, local businesses are needed to help fill a growing demand for services as more television shows and movies shoot in the Land of Enchantment.

The New Mexico Film Office reports nearly $506 million in direct spending in the state during 2017, and productions including “Godless” and “Waco” are racking up Emmy nominations by the fistful. This has put the state in the spotlight and local businesses are increasingly needed to provide an array of goods and services in addition to locations and crews. Continue reading →

NMSBA Program Brings Small Businesses, National Laboratories Together

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Visit Honeymoon Brewery Dec. 8 for their grand opening in Santa Fe. Article by Jason Gibbs.

The crew from Santa Fe’s Honeymoon Brewery is raising a glass to the New Mexico Small Business Assistance Program and offering a hearty “salud” to David Fox of Los Alamos National Laboratories.

The cause for celebration? The successful pairing of a small-scale kombucha brewing business and a scientist at one of the nation’s premier research laboratories that was made possible through the NMSBA, a free program that gives small business owners in New Mexico access to the resources available at both LANL and Sandia National Laboratory.

For Honeymoon founders Ayla Bystrom-Williams and James Hill, working with LANL’s Fox allowed them to refine their brewing process and scientifically cut through a trial-and-error development process to better understand how to achieve the particular flavors they sought. Continue reading →

Startup Resources Intrinsic to Business Success

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With help from Accion, ‘magic,’ passion, comfort with risk are other key ingredients.

Daven Lee, Owner of Love+Leche; Article by Sandy Nelson

Borrowing money to start or build a business entails taking risk — not just for the lender but also the borrower. But unless the entrepreneur has rich relatives or massive savings to draw on, securing capital usually requires multiple loans over many years to start and expand a business.

Daven Lee has tapped into New Mexico’s many small-business resources over nearly two decades to turn Love + Leche from a home-based maker of handmade soaps and lotion bars — made with milk from her own goat herd and other natural products — for retail sale into a viable year-round business that gets about half its revenue from wholesale markets throughout the U.S. and in Mexico, England and Australia. Continue reading →

Historic Farm Pursues Innovation with Help from NM MEP

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Los Poblanos’ Lavender Hand Salve; Article by Jason Gibbs

With a history of agricultural experimentation dating back to the 1930s and a storied tradition reaching into the depths of New Mexico’s territorial history, Los Poblanos has bridged the centuries and now, with the assistance of New Mexico Manufacturing Extension Partnership (NM MEP), continues to preserve the past and pursue innovation.

The land surrounding Los Poblanos was, sometime around 1716, made a part of the Elena Gallegos Land Grant which surrounded and shaped what is now Albuquerque and was first mentioned in the 1790 Census as one of six settlements in Albuquerque’s North Valley. Continue reading →

SEC rules allow everyone to invest in small businesses

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By Karl Dakin, Owner, Dakin Capital Guild LLC

Owners of startups and early-stage businesses can now look beyond traditional financing and equity sources when searching for growth capital. Changes in federal and state laws make it possible for everyone — not just the top three percent of income earners known as accredited investors — to invest in small businesses.

Crowdfunding is the activity of raising money from everyone. Organizations have used it since the late 1990s to obtain a large number of small donations for art and philanthropic projects. Rules adopted by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2015 allow the general public to participate in securities-based crowdfunding. Instead of receiving a tee shirt or other gift of appreciation for a donation, crowdfunding investors get equity in the company they help fund. Continue reading →

Define Need Before Applying for Business Loan

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Cabra Coffee in Cedar Crest, New Mexico

Cabra Coffee in Cedar Crest financed growth through The Loan Fund

Most New Mexico entrepreneurs can’t start or operate a small business without occasionally borrowing money. And that requires preparation and a methodical approach.

It begins by identifying why the money is needed and the most appropriate loan to fulfill that need. It continues with finding a lender that offers optimal terms and fees for clients with the borrower’s credit score and financial resources and gathering documents the lender needs to review.

Define the need: Businesses may need loans for daily operating expenses or to build reserves, renovate a commercial building or buy equipment. The specific need typically drives the decision about what type of loan to shop for. Continue reading →