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The Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce hosts the 5th Annual Women’s Leadership Luncheon this month. The virtual event will gather, support, and celebrate New Mexico’s inspiring women entrepreneurs throughout November. The remarkably apt theme this year is agility. The combined weight of personal and professional challenges during the pandemic has fallen especially heavily on the shoulders of women. Women have experienced job losses at a higher rate than men during 2020. "Women-owned businesses are also struggling,"...

02 November, 2020

The New Mexico MainStreet (NMMS) program announced today that six districts are using ‘Cash Mob’ virtual events to support local businesses during the pandemic and upcoming holiday season. Events are hosted on Facebook Live where participants bid on items, arrange payment and socialize during the fun two-hour session. Lively hosts entertain and educate as they sell items and encourage viewers to shop locally to contribute to their communities. This year, ‘Cash Mob’ has helped businesses...

30 October, 2020

The State of New Mexico's Job Training Incentive Program (JTIP) Board has awarded 18 companies with over $5.5 million during September and October 2020, in support of 803 new jobs, Economic Development Department Cabinet Secretary Alicia J. Keyes announced today The September awards totaled $3.6 million for 672 trainees and 1 intern, with another $1.9 million for 129 trainees and 1 intern awarded in October. Average salaries for trainees ranged from $11.62 to $69.71 per hour, with...

27 October, 2020

Sellers are just like everyone else in that they can make mistakes.  In this article, we’ll explore some of the most common mistakes that we see along with some of the repercussions.  1. Not Seeing the Buyer’s Point of View The first major mistake that sellers make is that they simply fail to look at the situation from the buyer’s perspective.  One of the smartest moves any seller can make is to step back and ask themselves...

24 October, 2020

A recent Economist article titled "Countering the Tyranny of the Clock" explores our changing relations to time as work becomes more flexible. A little philosophical? In fact, it's super pragmatic! "Flexible working existed well before the pandemic. But it only offered employees the ability to choose when in the day they worked their allotted hours," writes Bartleby. "Remote working has brought a greater degree of freedom." Rather than an unraveling of work ethic when work is removed...

20 October, 2020

Selling a business isn’t always 100% about the price.  It is not like selling a house where typically the most important factor is who places the highest offer.  In the end, if the seller is to achieve the most optimal results, there are other variables that should be considered.  The idea of selling to a competitor is one that seems attractive to many business owners.  After all, a competitor has the built-in advantage of understanding the...

17 October, 2020

Creating a positive online customer experience has been catapulted into top priority status by the pandemic. We have written lately about a recent survey-based study titled “The New Reality: Understanding the Retail Consumer Experience During a Pandemic.” In it, Wharton Marketing Professor Thomas Robertson finds “about a 10% increase in problems from before the pandemic to the middle of May, with some decrease in loyalty. As the percentage of online sales was going up, many...

13 October, 2020

It is safe to state that Howard Brownstein, President of The Brownstein Corporation, is a true expert in providing turnaround management and advisory services to companies, as well as their stakeholders.  Brownstein serves as an independent corporate board member for both publicly held as well as privately-owned companies and nonprofits.  During his career, he has been named a Board Leadership Fellow by the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) and served as Board Chair and...

09 October, 2020

We recently wrote about customer frustrations with online shopping experiences and the related opportunity for businesses to foster delight. In a survey-based study titled “The New Reality: Understanding the Retail Consumer Experience During a Pandemic,” Wharton Marketing Professor Thomas Robertson finds “about a 10% increase in problems from before the pandemic to the middle of May, with some decrease in loyalty. As the percentage of online sales was going up, many retailers weren’t ready for...

08 October, 2020

The Economic Development Department has a complete network of economic development experts around the state that are uniquely qualified to assist local governments and community organizations as New Mexico works toward a sustainable recovery. Economic Development Cabinet Secretary Alicia J. Keyes said the Community, Business & Rural Development program was created by the Legislature to provide the EDD with an expert assigned to each regional economic planning district. When first created, each regional representative had an office...

06 October, 2020

Keeping a product or service around that isn’t pulling its weight might prove to not be a very good idea.  You may have invested a good deal of time and resources into its development, but if that product or service is no longer contributing to your bottom line, it might be time to cut it loose.  Even if your product is pulling its weight, but doesn’t fit into your overall core business, then you should...

02 October, 2020

A recent study by Wharton’s Jay H. Baker Retailing Center and WisePlum suggests rising consumer frustration with retail as shopping shifts online. The survey-based study, “The New Reality: Understanding the Retail Consumer Experience During a Pandemic,” finds mounting customer impatience and decreased loyalty. In a Knowledge@Wharton interview, the study's co-author, Marketing Professor Thomas Robertson, says these findings are related to underprepared online shopping and loyalty program customer experience and the tech that underpins it. The Challenge We...

01 October, 2020

Once again, Teya Vitu has written a thoughtful and timely piece for Santa Fe's small business community in today's Santa Fe New Mexican.This is the year just about every business owner is wondering, how long can I last?The coronavirus drags on with no sense of when a mask-free, mass-gathering-restored normal will resume.Businesses have failed. More businesses will fail. But do businesses with a fuzzy horizon need to shut down forever?Not at all, insists...

29 September, 2020

Each franchise has its own process for qualifying and onboarding a prospective franchisee. Sometimes it's rigorous with multiple interviews, steps, forms to be filled out, and documents to be provided. Other times, it's comparatively relaxed. The degree of scrutiny a candidate undergoes largely depends on the type of business. Nonetheless, many will follow a format similar to the steps presented below. STEP #1: Initial CallDuring the first call with the franchise’s corporate representative, the buyer candidate...

25 September, 2020

Franchises are popular choice among budding entrepreneurs for a variety of reasons. Established franchises even more so. The reasons behind their appeal are numerous. Name RecognitionTopping the list is the ability to take advantage of the name recognition of brand that is already out there, known and trusted in the community. Take home healthcare, for instance. How comfortable would a prospective customer feel entrusting the care of their mother to a start-up agency without much...

25 September, 2020