Category Archives: Entrepreneurship

Provided by Saratoga Economic Development Corp.
Inspire. Mentor. Accelerate. These core values drive Spark Saratoga to boost startup and emerging growth businesses, just as it did when a group of creative, technology, business and academic leaders came together to form its launch two years ago.
In April 2017, Saratoga Economic Development Corporation (SEDC), launched Spark Saratoga to activate a community of collaborators as Saratoga County’s first and only startup incubator and business accelerator. Its purpose is to promote, retain and grow new businesses and innovators and to accelerate business to encourage future growth to ensure Saratoga County and the broader region remains a vibrant place to live and do business.

The Saratoga County Prosperity Partnership and Cornell Cooperative Extension of Saratoga County are partnering to provide expertise and guidance to support entrepreneurs seeking to pursue growing business opportunities in the nation’s $6 trillion food industry.
“Recipe for Success: A Workshop for Food Entrepreneurs” will be presented on Thursday, April 11, at Cornell Cooperative Extension’s offices at 50 West High St. in Ballston Spa. The daylong program will provide important information on licensing, processing, packaging, marketing, pricing, and selling food products.
The workshop also includes the basics of successful small business management.

By Maureen Werther

Johnny Miller’s professional event photography company is called On the Spot Photos for a good reason. 

Miller’s company, which has been operating since 2009, provides professional photography and printing services for a wide assortment of sporting events across the country, free of charge to the attendees. 

Anyone who is a skier has had the experience of getting off a chairlift and being approached by a photographer. They take skiers’ photos and give them a retrieval ticket in the hopes that, at the end of the day, the skier will go to the photo booth in the lodge and purchase that photo.

By Michael Billok

You just started your own small business. Congratulations. Maybe it’s a delivery service, a retail store or a carwash. Regardless of what it is, you’ve learned the hard way how difficult it is to be an employer.

You’ve arranged for workers compensation insurance, unemployment insurance, payroll tax withholding, work authorization verification, and a host of other regulatory requirements. Well, get ready for one more: scheduling requirements for employees that, if not met, will significantly impact your payroll.

By Jerome Mastrianni

With spring at hand, now is a great time to start thinking about new opportunities. As entrepreneurs think about starting or growing their businesses, often the first task that needs to be addressed is funding—whether it’s for new office space, investment in equipment, operating cash, payroll, marketing, or any other aspect of running a business.

Here is some guidance:

1. Use the area’s great resources for entrepreneurs. Banks work closely with and refer many small business customers to work with economic development corporations in the Saratoga region, including the New York Business Development Corp., Empire State Certified Development Corp., and SCORE.