Missouri Small Business and Technology Development Centers Blog

My friend has a daughter who is all about fashion. In her mid-20s, she is convinced that among the necessary expenses of everyday life are housing, food, transportation, phone and fashion. She would rather shop for shoes than eat I suspect. But even she is feeling this economic crunch, and it’s been interesting to see how her buying habits — and those of her millenial generation — are changing.

Millenials have always cared about fashion. But where before it was best to wear designer labels and celebrity-branded items, now with less disposable income, it’s chic to be more conservative and to wear environmentally conscious garments. Less labeling — more authenticity.

Millenials are driving less and biking and walking more. Better yet, they are using technology to do their traveling for them.

Stores like Whole Foods are seeing an increase in sales as millenials (and others) are cooking more and eating out less.

And rather than have an MP3 player, a camera, and a phone, this age group is streamlining in terms of gadgets and going with the Apple iPhone or some other device that allows them to have all the technology they need in one in one handheld wonder.

Keep an eye on these consumers, and they’ll tell us where to head next. Then our challenge is to keep up.

You’re looking for low-cost ways to spread the word about your business, your products, your services. That’s particularly important in this time of recession when the money to support marketing is just not there, but you know you need to keep your message circulating.

Online social media seems like the perfect solution — after all, there is no cost, and you can reach a lot of people with no investment. Right?

On the surface, that’s true, and you’re wise to include social media in your marketing mix. But don’t believe it’s entirely cost-free.

Because for social media to be effective, it has to be repetitious and content-rich. And that takes time — lots of it. Either you or someone you assign has to maintain that online presence with frequent updates, new submissions, new content and continued relationship building with your “friends” and “followers.” And time, whether it’s yours or an employee’s, costs money. Something else will not get done.

That’s why, before you embark on social media marketing, have a plan. Create a schedule and know who is responsible for sticking to that schedule. What is to be said? When? In what context? How will you use these vehicles to share your information, special offers, promotions and calls to action?

If you just set up a facebook page or create a Twitter account without a solid plan, before long you will let other things crowd out using these tools to their best advantage. Online media has to be up to the minute, timely, succinct and useful. If you can’t maintain that, you’re better off not using it until you have the time.

A life-saving market potential of more than $1 billion per year.

That’s what is possible from the nanoparticulate technologies being developed for treating cancer by Columbia-based Nanoparticle Biochem, Inc., according to one of its founders, Dr. Kattesh V. Katti, MU curator’s professor of radiology and physics.

The university spin-off company, founded in 2004 by an interdisciplinary team of chemists, physicists and radiologists, focuses on research and production of an array of nanoparticle-based products. The current NBI team includes: Katti, senior vice president; Raghuraman Kannan, vice president; Henry W. White, president and CEO; Kavita K. Katti, chief science officer; and Anandhi Upendran, director of research.

The fields of nanoparticle research and applications are burgeoning ones. Researchers have found hundreds of uses for the small but mighty substances. NBI’s focus is on medicine, health and hygience.

Products developed by the research team at NBI are of high commercial value, says Upendran. The company’s nanomedicine research concentrates on developing products for the cancer diagnosis and treatment. Its antimicrobial research focuses on a series of agents with important applications for the production of antimicrobial textiles for the defense, health, hospitality and hygiene industries.

Dr. Paul Rehrig, state director of our MoFAST program, a service of the Missouri Small Business & Technology Development Centers housed in our center, says NBI has already demonstrated the ability to deliver innovative products that are ready for market. (more…)