Report from the New York Times Small Business Summit
This past week I attended the New York Times Small Business Summit. I met with business owners in the American Express OPEN Advice Cafe.
I learned a lot about what was on the minds of business owners. Among the 45 or so that I talked with, they seemed to be equally split on whether their businesses were doing well or were hurting due to the economy. A few of the business owners were having record years. A few others reported sales off by 50% or more.
I wrote up a full report over at the OPEN Forum, including the questions and concerns we discussed: Partnering, Online Marketing, Hiring - What Biz Owners Wanted to Know at the OPEN Advice Cafe. I think you can glean some good information from my report — you may be facing similar issues in your own business.
Prior to the event I had put together 7 tips for dealing with tough economies. Here’s a PDF of the printed booklet containing those tips that was handed out to attendees. I thought you might like to see it – it’s a quick and easy read:
7 Things You Can Do to Make Your Business More Resilient, Now
November 23rd, 2008 at 5:57 am
Anita,
Did you have a good time in the “Big Apple”? Did the American Expressen OPEN Advice Café have a barista, service coffee?
It would perfect to read your 7 tips and drink a espresso, macchiato, cappuccino, caffè latte, etc. 
November 23rd, 2008 at 9:28 am
Thanks for the great resources and sharing your insights as always. I imagine the split between business owners would have something to do with their industry. Some are being a hurt a bit more due to circumstances beyond their control.
November 23rd, 2008 at 10:05 am
@Martin, well they had coffee in the Cafe, along with some tables where you could sit down. They also had a line of computers set up so that people could check their email. It was quite a nice setup — although I didn’t notice espresso machines around.
@Chris, yes that’s partly right. Some industries are getting hit and others not so much. I think some also has to do with the attitude of the business owners. It’s a foward-thinking business owner who attends an event like that when business is booming.
November 23rd, 2008 at 10:12 am
Anita,
Nice setup! Do you have photos from the event?
November 23rd, 2008 at 11:39 am
So far I have one photograph showing me leading a roundtable discussion. (I was way too busy non-stop talking with attendees, to take any photos myself.)
I posted it over at my article at the OPEN Forum — you can see it here:
http://blogs.openforum.com/2008/11/21/partnering-online-marketing-hiring-what-biz-owners-wanted-to-know-at-the-open-advice-cafe/
November 23rd, 2008 at 11:49 am
Anita: It looks like you had a jolly good time. Did you have time to listen to some of the speeches?
November 24th, 2008 at 5:40 am
A few others reported sales off by 50% or more. — This sounded too bad for me. Of all the participants you’ve talked with Anita, how many of them do experience this?
November 24th, 2008 at 11:19 am
Having sales drop around 50% is a tough blow for any business to take. I’m wondering how that business is handling that and how optimistic they are that their business will be able to survive.