Missouri Small Business and Technology Development Centers Blog

Government contracting is a great way for some companies to grow both jobs and revenues. One of the necessary components of federal government contracting is bonding.

SBA announced today that it can now provide surety bonds on federal contracts valued at up to $10 million if the contracting officer feels the bonding is in the best interest of the government. Currently the bond guarantee limit is $5 million.

Today’s ruling also includes a new small business size standard for this program, and now states that a business is considered “small” if the business, combined with its affiliates, does not exceed the size standard designated for the primary industry of the business combined with its affiliates.

SBA assistance in locating a participating surety company or agent, and completing application forms, is available online. For more information on SBA’s Surety Bond Guarantee Program, including Surety Office contacts, go online to www.sba.gov/osg, or call 1-800-U ASK SBA.

I’ve reached a new level of frustration today with some websites that do their best to make it hard for users to navigate, make purchases or gather information. I’ve been keeping a list of pet peeves. It’s time to share.

Why can’t I use my email to register on your site? I can’t keep track of all of the user names and passwords I have to generate. I can remember my email.

If you’re going to make me decipher some silly little distorted word, don’t make it so distorted that I can’t figure it out. Believe, a couple of rejections, and I’m gone. I’ll buy my stuff someplace else.

If you really want to make me mad, make it difficult to UN-subscribe from your newsletter or feed. Make it easy, and make it work the first time.

Don’t make me register for everything. I can guarantee you, that I will leave, and go buy the product from someone who doesn’t make it so hard.

I sometimes think some companies and organizations don’t want anyone to find them, talk to them or send them anything, because there is no contact information listed, or if it is, you have to dig like an archaeologist to find it.

If your website is guilt of any of these sins, rethink your strategy. Competition makes it soooo easy to go elsewhere. Get me there, and keep me there by making your site as friendly as possible.

Then, I’ll be back!!!!

If you are a business owner, and your accountant tells you that for every dollar you’ve put into your company, you’ve made $7, you would probably think that was a fair return on your investment.

I thought it appropriate on this Independence Day weekend to pause and consider the rate of return on one of the best investments in U.S. history — the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, or as we have come to know it, the GI Bill. Economists have determined that for every 1944 dollar invested in the education, home ownership and business creation of returning World War II veterans, our country received approximately $7 in return through enhanced economic productivity, consumer spending and tax revenues. Not bad.

The idea for the GI Bill came from the American Legion, the World War II era’s most powerful veterans’ organization. Its goal: compensate the servicemen of World War II for their lost time and lost opportunities. The legislation offered the nearly 16 million returning servicemen an array of government-subsidized loans, unemployment benefits, educational support and technical training. It put in motion the most far-reaching transformation of a culture and a country in recorded history. And it altered the expectations of not only the members of the Greatest Generation, but those of their children and grandchildren. Senator Bob Dole, himself a recipient of the GI Bill, calls it, “The biggest piece of legislation the country ever passed.” (more…)

In their new book Womenomics, Claire Shipman and Kathy Kay make a good point about the growing prominence of women not only in the workplace, but in management circles. They contend that the so-called “softer” management style of women is not soft at all; instead, it’s turning out to be more lucrative. A study of 353 Fortune 500 companies indicates that those firms with the most women in senior management had a higher return on equities.

Other research by Cambridge University and the University of Pittsburgh indicates that women tend to be more cautious in their management styles. They tend to focus more on the long-term rather than short, quick results. They take fewer risks and keep the horizon in mind. Women tend to be less competitive, more conciliatory, more collaborative and more motivational and engaged than their male counterparts. That is a good style for what is becoming a less hierarchical workplace. Women have a higher emotional intelligence level than most men, researchers say, and in a world that is more virtual and less “organizational chart,” those higher levels of emotional intelligence will truly pay off.

Employers need to take a cue from this and realize that hiring more women and letting them work the way they want to achieve the work/life balance they require is just good business.

Like most of you, I’m buried in information from a variety of sources — magazines, journals, newsletters, Twitter, Facebook, emails and various nuggets of information that others copy for me and leave on my desk. I try to take a few minutes each day to at least skim all of that information and put the best ones in a folder for more careful reading later. It’s time to share.

Here’s a recap of some of the best quick reads on entrepreneurship:

Many entrepreneurs call themselves “unemployable.” That, they say, is why they work for themselves instead of someone else. And most acknowledge they have “control issues,” adding they simply “want more.” This is basically what research has shown over the years, but it’s interesting to see it self-reported by the entrepreneurs themselves.

Most entrepreneurs wish they had jumped in sooner. I think this must be something akin to people waiting to have a family. We hear them say, “We’re waiting until we can afford it,” and the response from the older, wiser, sage parents is, “Don’t wait. You never will.” Seems many entrepreneurs feel the same way. Now in business, they view the two or three years they waited for the time to be “just right” as time lost to their dreams. So, don’t wait until you know everything. You never will.
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We walked in front of the Lincoln Memorial and talked of bar-b-que sauce.

That sounds strange, but that is often the case when worlds collide.

Dr. Harry Berrier, emeritus professor of veterinary pathology and active entrepreneur, is also a World War II-era veteran and former member of the Air Force Reserve. He was with us when Central Missouri Honor Flight took its third journey to Washington, DC, earlier this week to see the WWII Memorial and other historic sites. I was assigned to be his “guardian,” an Honor Flight designation that simply means we accompany the veterans on the trip, managing airport logistics and personal needs. After seeing the WWII Memorial, our group typically goes to the Korean War and Vietnam War Memorials, passing the Lincoln Memorial in between. It was on that walk that Dr. Berrier and I discussed his business, Show-Me Bar-B-Q Sauce, Inc.

Here again, worlds collided. My father, a WWII veteran and rather accomplished outdoor chef himself, introduced Show-Me sauce into our family when I was in high school. Since that time, it’s the only sauce any of us have used. So, I had a particular interest in hearing the story of this amazing concoction and how it fit into Dr. Berrier’s life and work as a veterinarian, educator, conservationist, arts enthusiast, bird-watcher and military man.
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The Representative Ike Skelton Procurement Conference is scheduled for May 29 at the University of Central Missouri from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Now in its 21st year, this day-long event has become a tradition in Missouri, as hundreds of business owners and vendors converge on Warrensburg to learn about government contracting, small business programs for veterans, small business management and SBA regulations and financing.

More than 200 government contracting officers and contractors are invited to exhibit each year. It’s a great opportunity to learn what those agencies are seeking and how your small business might be able to enter the government contracting market. In addition, you can hear from successful government contractors and from contracting officers from the US Navy and Air Force.

Registration is only $49 and includes breakfast and lunch, as well as access to all sessions and exhibitors. Call 660/543-4402 to register or email sbtdc@ucmo.edu.

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…)