College of Staten Island Small Business Development Center to Hold Free Evening Seminar

The College of Staten Island Small Business Development Center (CSI-SBDC) will be holding a free evening seminar for start-up or existing small businesses on Tuesday, August 16 from 6:00pm to 8:30pm the Center for the Arts on the CSI campus.

The event, entitled “Business Organization Structure for Start-Ups and Insurance Tips for Small Businesses” will include guest speakers Ed Piszko, Senior Adviser of the CSI-SBDC, and Fred Limeri, Owner of the Limeri Agency, Inc. Both speakers will discuss how to register and start up a new business as well as the types of insurance coverage that these small businesses are required open a business in New York City.

Mr. Limeri started his insurance career in 1973 working for the Prudential Insurance Co. In 1995 he then opened up the Limeri Agency, a full-service family-owned and operated insurance agency. Mr. Limeri has a LUTCF designation (Life Underwriters Training Council Fellow) from the National Association of Life Underwriters and has also completed his CLU (Chartered Life Underwriter) degree.

Some reasons start-up businesses have a hard time succeeding include:

Starting the Business for the Wrong Reason: Is the sole reason for starting your own business is that you want to make a lot of money? Do you think that if you had your own business you would have more time with your family? Maybe you thought that you wouldn’t have to answer to anyone else? If so, you’d better think again.

Poor Management Structure: Poor management may be the number-one reason for failure, as new business owners frequently lack relevant business and management expertise in areas such as finance, purchasing, selling, production, and hiring and managing employees.

Insufficient Capital: New business owners underestimate how much money is needed to start a business. They may also have an unrealistic expectation of incoming revenues from sales.

Location: Whereas a good location may enable a struggling business to ultimately survive and thrive, a bad location could spell disaster to even the best-managed enterprise.

Lack of Planning: It is critical for all businesses to have a business plan. Many small businesses will not succeed because of fundamental shortcomings in their business planning.

Lack of Insurance: It is important to have all of the proper insurance in place so that if the unthinkable happens you have no worries, as many businesses will not succeed without proper coverage.

If you want to succeed in business, come to the Small Business Development Center at CSI where our business advisers can get your business off on the right track.

Since 1993, the CSI-SBDC has helped to invest over $121 million into the local economy by working with over 5,400 potential and actual businesses and helped to create and save over 3,900 jobs. The CSI-SBDC is committed to providing business education to those who want to take control of their own destiny.