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Welcome to NewsFlash, from UCEDC, a non-profit economic development corporation
News for Small Business Owners and Entrepreneurs   |  4th qtr, 2014
maureen tinen
Maureen Tinen, President

 

topEnd of the old year, beginning of the new year - whatever time of year it is, there's plenty to be done to help support small businesses in New Jersey.  We've launched a new low-interest loan program and new training workshops to give entrepreneurs a jump start.  We're celebrating the latest winner of our Quick Pitch competition and learning a few new website tricks ourselves. Read on to see how UCEDC can help you throughout the years.

        

threepercentNew 3% Financing for Working Capital/Debt Re-Fi

Premium Client Loan Program helps strong businesses with easy and inexpensive access to capital

 

Does this sound like you?  You've made it over the start-up hump and your business is doing well.  You're proud to say that your personal credit is clean and strong.  But you've got some high-interest debt or maybe you don't have enough of a cash cushion to take advantage of new opportunities.

 

If so, UCEDC's new Premium Client loan program may be the answer for you.  We're offering up to $15,000 at 3% interest for five years, with no collateral requirements , no fees, and no prepayment penalties.   Monthly payments are only $269 a month!

 

"Even profitable businesses find it difficult to secure modest amounts of working capital from conventional sources," says Maureen Tinen, UCEDC President. "We launched this program to help those savvy small business owners who could leverage inexpensive working capital into further growth and sustainability."

 

Qualified applicants will have been in business and profitable for at least two years. Business owners should have a personal credit score of 700 or above and three years of related experience.

 

"This program provides strong businesses with the opportunity to pay down expensive debt, seize new business opportunities, or just have cash on hand for unforeseen needs.  It's the kind of cushion that can really make a difference," notes Tinen.

 

Call 908-527-1166 to speak to one of our loan officers about this program or any of our many other financing options.  With loans from $5,000 to $5 million, we have the program that's right for you.

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training

New Must-Attend Training Programs Offered in 2015

Workshops Address Diverse Interests in the Digital Age

 

While business fundamentals, like marketing, pricing, and financial statements, are key to the success of all small businesses, new challenges crop up almost every day and it can be a struggle to keep up.  To help small business owners and entrepreneurs stay in the know, we've added two new workshops to our training portfolio.

 

Intellectual Property Basics for Small Businesses and Start-ups:  You may not think your small business has any intellectual property that needs protecting, but if you have a business name or brand, or have assembled customer lists or price lists,  you've got assets that need to be protected!  Equally important for you to keep in mind is the danger of inadvertently infringing on someone else's intellectual property - a mistake that can be very costly in terms of time, effort and money!

 

Check our calendar of events to find out when the next workshop is scheduled.

 

Protecting Your Business Data:  Much like intellectual property, you may not appreciate how much business data you possess and how critical it is to your operations.  It's commomplace now for you to access your data on the go from a smart phone or check up on something at home from your tablet, while your employees are entering information on the company computer. Every point is an opportunity for data loss or theft.  Every small business owner needs to know how to protect their business data and ensure that it is always available and accurate.

 

Register Now for the upcoming session of Protecting Your Business Data on 
February 4, 2015.

websiteThis Caught Our Eye:  

 Five Rookie Website Mistakes You Can Fix Today

 

We don't consider ourselves website rookies, but since we're about to launch a redesign of our website, we were particularly interested in this article from MarketingProfs.com . And boy, was it an eye-opener! 

 

Three of the five mistakes are related to social media and sharing - who thought you could do too much?  Author Andy Crestodina warns that you may be making it too easy for  visitors to wander off your website.  

 

And are all of your client stories and testimonials on one page (like ours)? Well, guess what? That almost guarantees that no one sees them!  Better to use relevant client content on pages throughout your site.

 

No matter how long you've been at this website game, there's something to learn from

this piece. (you will have to sign-up/sign-in for free to read this article, but it's worth the trouble)

 

quickpitch

The Carpet Girl Floors Judges in Quick Pitch Competition

Women-driven, shop-at-home business takes top prize

 

Dianne Grossman experienced her "life-changing aha moment" while flipping through a trade magazine called Floor Covering Weekly. There it was...a most startling statistic: "80% of flooring is purchased by women, yet 80% of flooring is sold by men." She was...well...floored by the disconnect. "That's a huge missing piece in the industry," she says.

 

Thus the seed was planted for The Carpet Girl, LLC, her 3-year-old flooring project management business, based in Springfield, featuring women sales consultants who make house calls. Dianne and her business recently won top honors at UCEDC's annual Quick Pitch Competition.

 

Initially, the venture was more of a sideline endeavor.  Dianne was steering friends to her husband Seth, who has 27+ years' experience in the flooring business. He was looking to grow sales at the company where he was working at the time.

 

But demand for Dianne's services quickly took off and Seth left his job, joining Dianne as a full-time partner.  Whiles sales were better than expected, the Grossmans soon realized that they were not doing as well when it came to operating their own business.

 

When Dianne learned of UCEDC's 6-week "Entrepreneurship 101" training program she and

Dianne and Seth Grossman
with their daughters
Seth promptly enrolled. "The class was an eye-opener," she says. "You have no idea what you don't know until you know it!"

 

Instructors Erich Peter and Meryl Layton (who she still emails weekly) encouraged Dianne and Seth to apply for the Quick Pitch Competition, which is open only to "Entrepreneurship 101" graduates. Contestants are expected to deliver a 5-minute pitch about their business plan to a panel of judges, after they have worked with a mentor from Capital One Bank to prepare.

 

Dianne says her mentor, Capital One Bank Vice President Ken Shah, was "invaluable in helping us get our messages across succinctly," she recalls. "He even called me the morning of the competition and we went through the pitch over the speaker phone!"

 

Capital One Bank provided the first-place prize of $2,000 (second place received $600 and the remaining participants got $200 each). Dianne and Seth hadn't taken a real vacation since starting their business, and Dianne hadn't been back to visit her family in Georgia for even longer. So they applied their winnings to an extended trip south for the holidays, heeding the adage that you can't take care of business without taking care of yourself. 

 

"Sometimes I feel down when my Georgia visits are over, but not this time," Dianne says. "We came back with a fresh mindset and excited to kick butt with our business!"

 

Read the full story.

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Could you be our next Quick Pitch winner?  The first step is to enroll in our upcoming Entrepreneurship 101 workshop, starting January 29 in Cranford. 

 

We'll guide you through the early stages of the entrepreneurial process and give you the tools you need to turn your business idea into a success. 

 

Complete information is on our website.

corporate

We Couldn't Do It Without Them

 

UCEDC enjoys the support of several corporate sponsors who provide funding and expertise to further our mission of small business development. We're pleased to recognize these "behind the scenes" entities. They make our work possible.

 

When it comes to corporate support, you couldn't ask for a better friend than 

Wells FargoIn addition to the generous monetary donation from the Wells Fargo Foundation, the Bank is steadfast in its personal commitment to our mission and the businesses we serve. 

 

We're privileged to have one of the Bank's senior executives serve on our Board and several committees, sharing insights and experience in small business financing.  The Bank actively seeks opportunities for UCEDC to bring its workshops to local Wells Fargo branches, where bank staff help teach the curriculum.  And when the New Jersey chapter of the NAACP approached Wells Fargo about launching a business growth initiative for minority entrepreneurs, the bank sought UCEDC's participation as its trusted partner.

 

We're thankful for the continuous support and personal involvement that Wells Fargo has shared with us and our clients.

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newsOur Clients in the News

 

Brothers Sean and Gabe Smolarz, co-owners of Lunch Balancer, a monthly subscription program for nutritious single-serving lunches, were profiled in the Times of Trenton newspaper earlier this month. The brothers attended our  Entrepreneurship 101 class in Hamilton and went on to compete in the recent Quick Pitch competition, taking second place.

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investors bank logoProud to support UCEDC and its efforts on behalf of small businesses