MicroBiz Buffalo, Inc. has been asked to participate in the distribution of the quoted email below.   If you see a place for your business or organization in this vision, please take the time to take the survey.  We did.

A number of efforts have begun to come together around the idea of a high quality shared space and service facility for non-profits, community groups and like-minded entrepreneurial activity (small businesses) in Buffalo. PUSH Buffalo, Grassroots Gardens, Green Options Buffalo, and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) have joined forces to investigate this possibility in the City of Buffalo. The Urban Design Project at the University at Buffalo (UB) has been engaged to conduct research to assess the feasibility of the concept, market demand within the community, the specific needs of the market, and the ideal scenarios for implementing such a center. This survey is the first part of that research and we need your input!

Please complete an online survey (approximately 15 minutes long) at the link below. We hope that each organization that receives the survey fills it out once, so please check with your co-workers to make sure work is not duplicated.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/9PKDN9P

Additional Project Information:

The Center for Social Progress, Arts, Community and Environment, Buffalo (Center SPACE Buffalo) is an emerging concept based on the efforts described above. If feasible, Center SPACE Buffalo will be an actual building in which non-profits and community-minded entrepreneurs can work together to better achieve their missions. By sharing high quality, secure, and affordable office space, technology, back office services, and administration, costs are reduced as economies of scale are achieved. Models such as the Centre for Social Innovation in Toronto have proven that high quality shared facilities, support, and services can be a viable, cost effective, and flexible means to achieve these ends. As important, if not more important, are the daily cross-collaborative interactions that these centers make possible.

A summary of the survey results will be shared with all respondents and potential project funders but your individual responses will remain anonymous. Please contact Anthony Armstrong (AArmstrong@lisc.org) from LISC if you have any questions regarding the project, or contact Jajean Rose-Burney (jr58@buffalo.edu) at the Urban Design Project if you have any problems completing the survey.

NPR aired an interesting story during today’s All Things Considered. The story focused on the tight credit market and its effects on community bank lending and small businesses in Georgia.

When Georgia Banks Fail, Small Businesses Fail

by KATHY LOHR

As with many stories related to small business lending, there is very little mention of the value of a solid business concept, nor of a concise written business plan - each of which are critical to sustainable business.

As you advance towards a business start-up, keep the following in mind…

1. Talk to your friends, family and those you trust to supply an honest evaluation of your business concept.
2. Meet with free business counselors in your community. In Buffalo, look to SCORE and the Small Business Development Center.
3. Take the advice that makes sense to you.
4. Know your credit (free reports here).
5. Research your concept at your community’s library.  The central library in Buffalo and its reference librarians are an excellent small business resource.
6. Ask questions, listen to answers and evaluate them.
7. Write your business plan.  Sample plans and templates can be found in many places on the internet, including at SCORE.
8. Share your business plan with your counselor(s), family, friends and others who can give you critical advice to enhance your plan.
9. Perfect the elevator speech.
10. If it looks like you will need to finance your start-up, talk to your existing bank to see whether they typically lend to businesses like the one you want to start; if they don’t, your counselor may have some additional advice.

In addition to face-to-face counseling, SCORE Buffalo-Niagara offers counseling in multiple web mediums, including email and Skype.

One of the advantages to small business counseling on the web - especially email - is the ability for your counselor to consider the question and to provide links to information.

SCORE Website Counseling Requests

[A survey of] 549 successful entrepreneurs… found that the majority didn’t have entrepreneurial parents. They didn’t even have entrepreneurial aspirations while going to school.

The education and training of entrepreneurs is something that the Kauffman Foundation has been researching extensively. Over the last six years, it has invested around $50 million on academic research to understand what makes entrepreneurs tick and what policies are most conducive to entrepreneurship and to construct data bases to permit analyses of these subjects.

For the complete article:  Can Entrepreneurs Be Made?

SCORE Buffalo-Niagara receives high marks and words of praise from its December clients.  As part of the Chapter’s on-going self-improvement measures, the chapter asks its clients to evaluate its counselors.  The chair of the chapter’s evaluation committee records the responses and reports the data.

Below is a sampling of written responses from clients:

“Counselor quickly identified problem areas”

“informative…experienced…insightful”

“steared us toward CPA, lawyer…

“organizing  my business”

“helped…in the right direction”

“informative regarding pros & cons of different business structures.”

“Specific tips not so obvious otherwise and from just reading about it.”

SCORE Buffalo-Niagara is one of more than 300 chapters nationally.  We have dozens of active counselors locally and are currently in growth phase as we seek greater involvement in self-employment growth projects in the region.  Contact the chapter if you want to be part of one of the largest volunteer movements in the country.

SCORE Buffalo – Niagara has 42 Qualified Counselors, who serve nearly 2,400 clients annually. The Buffalo - Niagara SCORE chapter roster includes businessmen and women who have been or are now successful entrepreneurs, small business owners, senior corporate executives and experienced professionals. They are ready to put that experience and expertise to work for individuals as they have for business owners and would-be owners in service operations, manufacturing, retailing, consulting, food service, communications and more.

This month’s issue has a lot details about this Saturday’s 14th Annual Straight Talk.  Also included in this issue… Additional Funding for SBA Recovery Lending Programs will Support $4.5 Billion in Small Business Lending

For more information about Straight Talk visit wnystraighttalk.org.

Does your agency, organization or association commit resources to promote economic stability and self-sufficiency for its clients?  Would you like it to do more?

From basic entrepreneurial development programing to the innovative Web Incubator Program, MicroBiz Buffalo, Inc. can help promote business success.

Our standard entrepreneurial development program is a 12 session course designed to introduce participants to the possibilities and challenges of being self-employed.   Experience and relationships in the business development community enable MicroBiz Buffalo, Inc. to adjust programming to meet the specific needs of participants.  Many of the sessions are supported with SCORE materials and by SCORE Counselors.

For entrepreneurs and businesses seeking new and enhanced revenue streams, the MicroBiz Buffalo, Inc. Web Incubator Program (WIP) (* and #) offers businesses an economical way to market and sell their products online. Much like other business incubators, this program offers the requisite tools to foster low-risk growth and development with supportive programming, which includes a one-stop, online clearinghouse of information and resources to help satisfy inspirational, technical and financial needs of entrepreneurs and the self-employed.

For more information and to find out how you can offer entrepreneurial assistance to your clients, to show your support for our WIP, or to start selling your organizational t-shirts, mugs etc. in your own secure online store, please contact us.