What is the SBDC?
The Galveston County Small Business Development Center (GC SBDC) provides free business consulting and affordable training seminars to small and medium-sized business owners and managers. The GC SBDC is a business consulting and training center of the UH SBDC Network, which serves 32 counties in Southeast Texas through 15 business consulting and training centers. How can the center help my new business? The GC SBDC offers affordable training seminars on business topics for start-up and pre-venture entrepreneurs. Our training seminars are designed to help broaden your business knowledge and are focused on business basics that will help you make your business a success. GC SBDC consultants help entrepreneurs assess their business idea and assist with the creation of a solid business plan at no cost. My business has been established for some time. How can the center help me? GC SBDC consultants help business owners develop strategies, attract customers, increase sales and improve productivity and profitability, all at no cost. Our consultants have extensive, practical experience in varied fields, including marketing, finance, retail and management. Our center offers affordable training seminars taught by instructors who share their practical business experience with you. Business topics include marketing, finance, management, computers, taxes and executive skills enhancement. The GC SBDC also offers specialty assistance for entrepreneurs wanting to sell to the government, do business internationally, or commercialize their technology. Does the center charge for its services? GC SBDC offers free consulting and very affordable training seminars and workshops.
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Galveston Capital Tourism and Marketing: Galveston Things To Do - Attractions And Must See3/16/2017 Galveston Things To Do
Before you go, here are some of the most entertaining things to do on Galveston Island. The Beach There is plenty of room to lay out and the water stays a comfortable temperature due to its southern location. While it is a little murky and the waves are small, you can hop on a boogie board or inner tube and float around. You may even be able to catch some waves that are big enough to surf. It’s definitely recommended to bring plenty of water and some food, as the beach gets pretty warm especially in the summer time. For those who are looking for the best beach to go to, many tourists and locals recommend Stewart Beach Moody Gardens For those who love the beauty of exotic nature, Moody Gardens should be the first stop on your travel list of activities. This nature and discovery center, which is geared towards kids, is an awesome place for family friendly fun. From outside, you will see multiple large pyramids, each of them containing a different theme. You can enter the discovery pyramid, the aquarium pyramid, a rainforest pyramid. Overall, it’s a great place for families to adventure around in. The Strand Galveston’s historic Strand has many different restaurants, activities and other things to excite locals and tourists alike. Back in the early days of Galveston, the Strand is where the locals came for a night out on the town. There are still some hotels, trendy restaurants, an amazing candy shop, and a large chess board where you can play life-size chess. They also have their Mardi-Gras celebration here, which has been called the second best Mardi-Gras outside of New Orleans! Don’t forget to take in all of the historic buildings while your there, because you will see a lot of historical state landmark plaques! Newsletters:
Star members and clients of the GC SBDC have access to a wide variety of resources to assist them in market research, general business management, or in getting their business started. The Director and the Consultants frequently write articles and are featured in newsletters addressing the concerns of business owners. As a Star member, you will receive our future newsletters as they are published. Articles: The GC SBDC maintains a library of articles of interest to business owners and managers. Some are written by our own consultants and some are written by other experts. You can search these articles by topic here. If you do not find an article that answers your question, please call us for more information, or search the additional resources provided at the Regional center. Regional Resources: The GC SBDC is a member of the University of Houston SBDC Regional Network. We have access to a wide variety of specialty services offered through the University. The Galveston County Small Business Development Center (GC SBDC) provides business consulting and training to help entrepreneurs and small business owners at every stage of your business development. Our assistance is customized to your needs, whether you need help evaluating financing alternatives, developing a loan package, reviewing and updating your business plan, or improving productivity and profitability. We can also help you evaluate new market opportunities selling to federal, state and local governments or to customers outside the United States.
Visit us at our GC SBDC facility to meet with one of our expert consultants for a free, hands-on, one-on-one consulting session, or to attend one of our practical workshops led by experienced entrepreneurs to learn and expand your knowledge of critical business tools and technology skills. We'll also customize training just for you, to be held on site or at your location. People’s use of authentication codes to regain access to their online accounts can be exploited by criminals. Researchers at New York University Abu Dhabi have released a study of how such attacks work and the ways to prevent them.
The proliferation of online services for banking, social media, shopping and just about everything else certainly makes life easier. Buying things, checking account balances and staying in touch with friends involves little more than a few taps of a keyboard and the click of a mouse. But remembering the passwords for our myriad online accounts can prove difficult, and often we need help to get into our accounts when our memory fails us. With some accounts, users who forget their password can ask for a verification code to be sent to their mobile phone. The code can be used to regain access to the account. However, a study by Prof Nasir Memon, who set up the Centre for Cyber Security at New York University Abu Dhabi, and his doctoral student Hossein Siadati has shown that this system is prone to abuse. The work indicates that there is a significant risk of fraudsters obtaining verification codes – allowing them to gain access to accounts. A fraudster looking to hack into an account can, relatively easily, activate the mechanism that leads to a verification code being sent to the mobile phone of the person to whom the account is registered. To do this, the fraudster needs to know only the email address associated with the account. If they also know the user’s mobile phone number, and there are several ways of obtaining a person’s mobile number, they can contact them to try to get hold of the code. Doing this is known as a social engineering attack. In their study, the researchers investigated what types of messages from fraudsters are most likely to get users to hand over a verification code. Published in the Elsevier journal Computers and Security, their work also looked at how the messages that contain verification codes can be designed to minimise the risk of fraud. "We wanted to explore this scientifically. What’s going on in the user’s mind. We sent them different messages," said Prof Memon. To test what are the most effective "attack messages", the researchers recruited a team of adult participants. So that the experiment mirrored as closely as possible what could happen in the real world, these volunteers did not know that they were going to be targeted in a simulated verification code forwarding attack. The researchers sent, from their own mobile phones, a verification code to the mobile phones of the participants, none of whom had requested such a code. This first message was followed up with one of a number of "attack messages", such as, "We have received a complaint of abuse of your Gmail account. Please reply with the verification code we just sent you to receive the details privately", or, "You have a voicemail on Google Voice. To listen, please reply with the message code we just sent to you". Sixteen attack messages were tested and the response rates compared. The attack message that was most effective at getting participants to send the verification code was: "Did you request a password reset for your Gmail account? Delete this message if you did. Otherwise, send "Cancel + the verification code we just sent to you". Half of participants responded to this message by sending the verification code, an action which would have put their account at risk of being compromised had the attack been real. If you think your finances are safer now that you use a chip card, think again. The latest Javelin Identity Fraud Study reports the number of identity fraud victims increased by 16 percent in 2016 to more than 15 million consumers. And the amount the thieves took grew by $1 billion to more than $16 billion in the past year.
A large part of the increase came from “card not present” fraud in the first year since chip cards became widely used. Fraudsters are resorting to more invasive ways of getting your identity details than simply counterfeiting mag stripe cards. So-called “phishing” schemes have become far more sophisticated. Gone are the days of the misspellings and clumsy grammar that made fraud emails obvious. Fraudsters have gotten better at tricking you into clicking on a link in one of these emails. Once you do that on your computer or smartphone, these links deploy malware called “bots” to collect all your data, including PIN and CV authentication numbers as you shop online. There’s also a growing trend of identity fraud crimes enabled by victims’ social media posts. Harmless items on your pages, including celebrations of your birthday, or a college graduation or reunion, give thieves information they use open new accounts in your name. Fraudulent new credit accounts for more than half the increase in identity theft crime last year. So what should you be doing to guard your identity? Here are some suggestions, which mostly involve common sense and a commitment to regularly review your finances. —Check online accounts regularly. Visit your bank or credit card website at least once a week to make sure that no withdrawals or unauthorized charges have been made. Yes, you’re protected from fraud, but there’s no way to avoid the hassle of getting a new account number when you’ve been attacked. At least you can minimize the trauma by catching fraudulent purchases immediately. —Check your credit report at least quarterly. These days, it’s not so much to check your credit status as to make sure no one has opened a new account in your name. Consider freezing your credit to avoid this problem. That’s easy to do, especially if you don’t plan to open new accounts or make a major purchase that requires new credit. A freeze can easily and temporarily be lifted. —Guard your personal information. Don’t store passwords in browsers, even though it makes online shopping easier. In fact, don’t store passwords unprotected on your smart phone where they are easily accessed. Instead, subscribe to an encrypted password protection service. —Create two-factor authentication (2FA) for your banking and credit and brokerage accounts. That means you can’t simply sign in with your password. Instead, the bank will send you a one-time code via either email or text to a different device than the one you are using to sign in. That guarantees an extra degree of protection. Most financial companies will let you set parameters so you can use your credit or debit card to buy a latte without any trouble but a purchase over a certain set amount will trigger the 2FA requirement. —Be aware of your vulnerabilities. Regard all unsolicited emails suspiciously, and never click on a link. Simply hang up on phone callers who ask you for personal information. And examine the security of WiFi links you may use to get online for banking or shopping. I have always thought that if you took the steps described above, you would be reasonably safe — or at least would catch fraud quickly. But experts at Lifelock, which cosponsored the Javelin study, opened my eyes to new forms of identity theft that might not be so quickly revealed. These include identity theft via payday loans, peer-to-peer lending platforms, and new cell phone account originations. These are not likely to be picked up — at least quickly — by credit bureaus. But they are a focus of protection at Lifelock. However you choose to protect yourself, don’t be deluded by the latest card security measures. Identity theft is growing. And you could be next. That’s the Savage Truth. Summer is a time to kick back and relax -- unless you’re an ER doctor, that is. Hospitals don’t take vacations. In fact, some research shows that emergency room visits actually increase during the summer months.
Outdoor fun and time off from school and work can provide great opportunities for staying active and fit, but they can also raise your risk for injury and illness. To keep yourself and your family safe this summer, check out these tips for staying out of the ER, from Lenox Hill Hospital emergency physician Robert Glatter, MD. Injury-proof your home and yard Your family will probably spend a lot of time outdoors this summer, so take a look around and remove potential hazards -- like dead tree branches lying right where they can be tripped over, or broken swing sets your kids may want to climb. If you’ve got a pool, make sure it’s securely fenced with a self-closing, self-latching gate, so children can’t get in when an adult isn’t present. Do a similar sweep through your house to clear out any accidents waiting to happen -- injuries in and around the home are a common cause of ER visits year-round, Dr. Glatter says. “Clean up loose toys, shoes, cords and chargers,” he says. “Messy rooms cause a surprising number of concussions, wrist fractures and lacerations.” Keep it cool Summer’s heat and humidity can be uncomfortable for even the healthiest people. For children, seniors and people with obesity or a chronic disease, it can be downright dangerous. If you’re at risk for a heat-related illness, try to stay indoors in a cool place (or at least in the shade) during the hottest parts of the day. And when you do spend time in the sun, drink plenty of fluids and reapply sunscreen regularly. Steer clear of ticks The New York area tends to see more cases of Lyme disease than many other parts of the country, Glatter says. The tick-borne disease can cause flu-like symptoms and other problems that are sometimes severe enough to send a sufferer to the doctor -- or even the ER. “We see a fair number of otherwise healthy people with fevers, skin rashes and joint aches at this time of year,” says Glatter. A few moves can reduce your risk of Lyme. If you’re spending time in the woods or tall grasses, for instance in Westchester or on Long Island, use an insect repellant with DEET to keep ticks from biting. When you come indoors, give yourself (and your pets) a tick check. Stay smart on the road Sure, it’s summer, but the biggest dangers out there are the same ones you face year-round. Like car accidents, for instance. “The importance of safe driving cannot be emphasized enough,” says Glatter, for adults as well as for newly licensed teens. That means absolutely no texting behind the wheel, and also avoiding other distractions -- like eating, fiddling with the radio or GPS, or even having intense conversations while driving. If you’re on a bike, always wear a helmet. And whether you’re on two wheels or on foot, always make sure you’re visible to motorists and obey traffic laws when traveling on or crossing roads shared with cars. Keep up your healthy habits There’s nothing wrong with letting loose a little during summer vacation. But that shouldn’t mean ditching your healthy diet, skipping your medication, abandoning your exercise plan, or making risky decisions about drugs and alcohol. “Self-destructive behavior can sabotage your wellness, ultimately leading to an ER visit,” says Glatter. Or put it another way: Staying healthy (and out of the hospital) is often as simple as making smart decisions single day. Why people invest? Investing creates more money, which in turn, helps you to fund your lifestyle and plan for financial hardships. When you invest, you devote your time, resources or effort to some specific endeavor with the expectation that it will generate a return in the future.
Entering the world of investment isn’t easy, you need to have a certain level of knowledge and skill because taking your first step in the market without knowing what you’re doing and where you’re heading is a very dangerous move. Be sure that you are well-informed, there’s a huge amount of information available on the Internet to make yourself equipped before investing in an institution. There are various ways to invest – stocks, bonds, certificate of deposit and mutual funds are some form investments you can choose from, just be careful of investment scams. But before venturing your way down the road of investing, consider learning the basics here. Your debts, remove them first. Before starting to invest, make sure that you don’t have high-interest debt existing. Why? Because all the effort you’ll put in investing will be useless if you don’t take necessary action about it. It would be better paying your debt first as such would negate all your efforts in investing. There’s an active and passive management in investing. There are two main methods you’ll encounter when you are stock investing – active and passive management. Active investing involves choosing your desired investment type while a passive investing involves a third party. Stock investing is commonly referred as active investing, but this type of investing strategy doesn’t have favorable outcomes at all times. Analyze the situation before investing. Remember, investing isn’t a casino slot machine lever where you can magically gain a huge amount of money once you get lucky. When you are investing, years of patience and discreet assessment of a company are required before you can finally reap a good harvest. In line with this, when you commit your money to something you don’t understand then you are gambling with the possibility of losing the money you invested. It is necessary that you do research before investing in a specific company and do not immediately believe the opinions and speculations of another person. If your friend told you that a certain company will definitely boom in the following years, make sure to do a little research about the company first and its performance before throwing your hard-earned cash at it. Planning and setting financial goals. Investing is a long careful process and you need to ask yourself a lot of questions before undertaking the road to investing. • What are your financial goals? • How long is your time frame in investing? • What type of investment will you choose? • How much money are you willing to invest to achieve your financial goals • What short-term financial expenses do you have? • Will you have to retire using your investment? Learn how the stock trading works. After establishing concrete financial goals, you can now learn how to start making your investments. In mutual funds, call a fund company and request to open an account for you. In dealing with stocks, New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the American Stock Exchange (AMEX), and the Nasdaq Stock Market are the major US exchanges. Stocks are traded on various stock exchanges, they all have a different mode of trading but the process of buying and selling shares are all the same. Buyers and sellers connect during stock exchanges. The buyer will make a “bid” (the share price they are willing to buy), while seller “ask” (the price of the share they are willing to sell). The “spread” is the difference between the two, which are often goes to the professional who handled the trade exchange. The most common way to buy a stock is through brokerage accounts. There are full-service workers and there are discount brokers who offer their service at a not too expensive price. Cash account and margin account and where you should be. In using a brokerage account, you can use cash account or a margin account. In a cash account, all transactions are done by using the only money you actually have. While a margin account, let’s you buy a stock with borrowed money from other people’s cash. The latter can be quite appealing but there’s risk taking that road. Brokers will usually endorse margin accounts, as those will create more commissions for them. Though borrowing money will increase your chances of buying more stocks, it will also take you to risk because you’ll have to pay all that margin money at some point. Therefore, margin accounts are great if your investments are soaring high in value but can cause uncertainty if it isn’t. This type of investment is not advisable for beginners like you. Direct Investment Plans (DIPs) and Dividend Reinvestment Plans (DRPs) If you aren’t ready for a brokerage account then consider one steadier way to buy stock. Investors call it as Drips. DRP’s and DIPs are offered by corporations that allow shareholders to buy stock directly from them at low cost or fees. Not every company offers this kind of opportunity but they are great for beginners who can only invest small amounts of money. Wrestling with debt for years with no success? It certainly is an exhausting thing to struggle and keep your head above water. A debt isn’t something you can brush off. It is like a recurring nightmare where Freddy Krueger keeps on haunting and chasing you even on dreams. And now, it is time to take back your life and follow these debt escape plan I prepared for you.
Seek help from family and friends This will be my first suggestion. Talk to a friend or relative that has a financial capability to help you pay your debt. But make sure to have a formal agreement on paper regarding payment terms and conditions so that it wouldn’t cause arguments and disputes in the future. Pay higher than the minimum monthly payment One of the faster ways to escape your debt is to pay higher than the minimum monthly payment. Paying only the minimum cash required each month will just lengthen your misery so pay as much as you can afford. If you have spare money allotted for your dine-outs then why not try eliminating that luxurious thing and add it up to your debt payment? Sacrificing such luxuries to quickly pay off your debt is not a bad thing. Sacrificing savings and investments Why not withdraw your savings and investment in order to slowly pay off your debt? It isn’t a bad thing if you’ll consider it carefully. If your savings and investments are making less than the cost of your debt, it might appear unwise but it isn’t bad to pay off your debt first using any possible source of money you have. Snowball method for credit card debt A credit card is such a great help with many benefits. It can help you in buying and save money but the constant uncontrolled use of it can ruin your finances. Here are two credit card debt escape plan recommended for you: Plan #1: First, pay the required monthly payment on all of your cards except for one. Then pay as much as you can afford on that one card so you could easily settle your balance in there quickly. Don’t settle on paying for the minimum required payment only, it will just prolong the agony. Once the balance in that particular card reaches zero, try the same method for the next credit card balance you have on your list. Plan #2: Credit card balance transfer is one alternative way you can use to wisely pay your debt and save money. This involves the transfer of the balance from one credit card account to another. Many credit card companies allow this process in most cases. All you have to do is choose the lowest interest rate you have on your cards and transfer the remaining balance from other cards into that one. Transferring a higher interest bill to a low-interest card is one excellent move that will surely save you a lot of money in interest. If the outstanding balance is too large for that low-interest card, consider Plan #1. Using cash value life insurance Nowadays, life insurance is a must have especially if you have a family that relies on your income. This will become of great help to you and your family if you accidentally die. However, having a debt can also become a burden to you and your family in the future. If your life insurance company provides cash value, why not borrow from your own money? In this case, you’ll have longer terms to pay for the loan with interest rate to avoid interest scams less than commercial rates. Apply for a Home Equity Loan Owning a home is one potential source of extra cash. You can apply for a Home Equity Loan (HEL) to pay off your debts. The maximum loan amount you can acquire will be based on the current market value of your home assessed by an appraiser. Don’t be a reckless borrower and make sure that you’ll repay the loan or else your home could be sold to pay off the remaining debt. Your house is at stake here! Apply for a loan using your 401(k) retirement savings plan 401(k) plan loans are one of the better ways to pay off your debt. If you have taken part in your company’s 401(k) retirement saving plan then you may benefit from its loan feature where you could borrow roughly half of the accounts value. Consider this carefully though loaning using this plan is much more reasonable as it gives low-interest rate and that every dime in interest paid on this loan goes directly to your 401(k) account, it also has some downsides. Make sure to do some research and raised any questions before applying. Renegotiate Nothing works for you on the early escape plans above? Want to file a bankruptcy? No, not yet. There’s one more solution, try to renegotiate terms. Use your ace card which is to threaten them of filing bankruptcy since you don’t have any other solution to repay your debt. This will force them to work things out with you – ask for a lower repayment term or even lower interest rate. Oftentimes, they prefer this kind or settlement rather than filing a bankruptcy. Bankruptcy is your last resort File a bankruptcy. This is your last and only resort if renegotiation wasn't become an option and if you really don’t have the resources to pay your debt. However, you should be fully aware that filing a bankruptcy has some drawbacks. The ongoing water crisis in Flint, Michigan is heartbreaking for the people who live there -- and may have made you wonder at least a little about lead levels in your own home. That wonder may have turned to worry after news reports that many other cities around the country, including several in nearby New Jersey and Pennsylvania, have reported high levels of lead in their water, or high percentages of kids with elevated levels in their blood.
If you’re concerned about lead in your water, there are steps you can take to ensure that you and your family remain safe, says Jacqueline Moline, MD, chair of occupational medicine at North Shore University Hospital. Here’s how to get started. 1. Learn about your water supply. Lead enters drinking water when it leeches from pipes or plumbing fixtures. This can happen on a community level -- especially if a city’s pipes are old or its water is corrosive enough to damage them (as was the case in Flint) -- or it can happen with the plumbing in individual homes. As long as your water comes from a public supplier (and not a private well), the results of regular lead testing should be available online and mailed to you once a year. But you might also want to test the water in your own home, especially if you have old pipes. You may be able to request a free lead testing kit from your local health or environmental health department; otherwise, you can find one for less than $20 at your local home improvement store. If testing shows elevated levels of lead, take these steps to reduce exposure and risk of health problems: 2. Flush your pipes. Let your faucet run with cold water for one to two minutes anytime it’s been sitting in the pipes for more than six hours, like first thing in the morning or when you get home from work. (If your water supplier has let you know that the service pipe at the street has lead in it, you may need to run your shower or bathtub tap on cold for five minutes first. Then run the kitchen tap on cold for another minute or two before filling your glass or cooking pot.) “The water that runs in these first few minutes can be used for bathing or watering plants, but should not be used for drinking or cooking,” says Moline. 3. Use cold water for drinking or cooking. Hot water leeches more lead from the pipes, so always turn the tap to cold when you need water to drink or to use for cooking (boiling water does not remove lead). 4. Buy an NSF-certified filter. Some water filters can remove lead from your drinking water, but many of the popular models you’ll find in home and kitchen stores are not designed to do so. Be sure to purchase a filtration system that’s certified by NSF International, a nonprofit organization widely recognized as a leader in this area, and replace filters as often as directed. 5. Consider replacing your plumbing. If your water tests positive for high lead levels but your city’s supply isn’t to blame, you might want to consider replacing old household pipes or fixtures. (Ask your water department for information about replacing the service lines into your home, too.) 6. Make sure young kids are tested. Young children are at the highest risk for developing serious problems from ongoing lead exposure. Because their bodies and brains are still developing, lead can stunt or delay their physical growth and cognitive development. In New York State, kids are required to be tested for lead at age 1 and again at age 2. Be sure your child is up-to-date on his or her checkups, and that you have record of those lead tests and their results. 7. Don’t ignore other possible sources. Last but not least, look at the bigger picture. It’s smart to learn about your drinking water, but in most homes where lead is a problem, the main source is lead paint on walls. When the paint flakes off, it can mix with soil or dust and be inhaled or ingested. “It’s common for young children to crawl around and get dirt and household dust -- which may contain lead -- on their hands and in their mouths,” says Moline. “Lead is sweet, so children actually like to eat the paint chips.” Lead paint is illegal today, but in many homes built before 1978, old lead paint can be found under newer, lead-free coats. Those fresh coats are protective -- but only if they don’t peel and expose what’s underneath. So while you’re testing your water and taking precautions at the tap, make sure you know what’s on your walls, too. |
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