Education in the Age of Student Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurship has become “cool” over the last 20 years since the Internet came into being. Youth entrepreneurship, especially college students trying their hands at digital start-ups, is now quite a phenomenon.

Today, we’re going to look at a team of student entrepreneurs who have launched a product and got it to a revenue generating stage while still at school.

Meet Yatit, Drew and Jak

Yatit Thakker, the CEO of Omninox, had always loved science. As an engineering student at the University of Florida, he was however, disappointed with the boring textbooks and tools used to teach science.

Though there were several online education programs, Yatit felt they were not utilizing the technology to its full potential. Even with powerful platforms like iBooks, the online education programs being created were mere digital reproductions of the textbooks, without much interactivity.

The iBooks platform, though, was capable of much more.

So, in the summer of 2012, Yatit with Drew Vincent and Jak Yap, his fellow environmental engineering students at the University of Florida, took it upon themselves to make science challenging and fun to learn.

The Founding of Omninox

The three founded Omninox and created interactive, mobile study guides called Omniguides for high school students using the iBooks platform. They funded the company from their savings accounts, with part-time jobs, and some pre-seed investments from their families.

Omninox aims to consolidate the material that students learn for Advanced Placement (AP) STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) classes by offering built-in software tools such as a calculator, quizzes and sketchpad with social sharing.

Their first interactive guide for Calculus 1 was one of the top listed Calculus 1 guides on the iBookstore. Over the next year, the market became more competitive. Companies like OpenStax, SchoolYourself and Houghton Mifflin had also started using the iBooks platform to create more interactive products.

However, Omninox had a first mover advantage and it upped its game as well. It became part of the iBookstore’s textbook section. This was a huge challenge for Omninox but had its rewards. A private school in California made the Calculus Omniguide a requirement for all its students.

Each AP Omniguide is sold as an integrated software package for $15. In 2013, Omninox released its first commercial product and it is already in the revenue stage. It has had more than 200 paid downloads across the world, with 120 of these in the past six months.

Close to 600,000 students are projected to take physics, calculus or statistics in the 2014 AP course. Assuming one-third of this target market has access to an iPad, it translates to a potential market of $3 million per year.

The Future of Omninox

Yatit says they plan to expand Omniguides to a web-based platform once they have a stronger base of content and customers. The platform will include more general preparatory courses for a subscription fee of $10 a month. This will help provide not only better content but also provide a more continuous revenue stream. They could also consider providing online tutoring for AP STEM courses.

One of the challenges that the online education sector faces is that many professors and academicians are not as savvy with Web technologies as their students. They have typically collaborated with eLearning companies and have released products and courses that have stuck to the sage-on-the-stage model. Online education’s true potential lies in exploring the guide-on-the-side model.

Is it then time to collaborate with student-led ventures like Omninox to bring out the true potential of digital technology in education?

More broadly, today’s generation of students are digital natives. They have been exposed to the Internet, smartphones, tablets, social media and many other technologies from a very young age. It is not surprising that we’re seeing a tremendous surge of entrepreneurship among students these days.

Image: Omninox Publishing Team, Omninox

GoDaddy’s Get Found Updates Small Business Information Online

The popular Web hosting company and platform GoDaddy, is today launching a new service called Get Found. It will allow businesses to update their information simultaneously across multiple online platforms. With a few clicks of the mouse these changes can be made on diverse sites such as Google, Yahoo, Facebook and Yelp.

Get Found was created by a firm called Locu, which GoDaddy acquired last year. It aims to fix the problem of outdated business information, when businesses move location, but their old details remain online. If the new details are not known, that business can lose customers to a competitor.

GoDaddy VP/General Manager of Discovery Marketing Products and Locu Co-Founder Rene Reinsberg told Small Business Trends this outdated information is a big problem. An estimated 10 billion dollars is lost in the United States alone each year as a result.

So far, Get Found is available only in the United States. It will focus on basic information such as the business’s address, phone number, service that is offered and hours of operation. Get Found will make sure this information is accurate and updated on search engines and social media, as well as any local sites relevant to the business.

Sites which will initially become available to Get Found customers will include Google, Yahoo, Bing, Yelp, Foursquare, Yellow Pages, Citysearch, Tripadvisor, Local.com, Judy’s Book, MerchantCircle and MojoPages.

Reinsberg explained:

“When customers see missing or inaccurate information about your business, they go to a competitor. Businesses miss potential revenue when information is missing or inaccurate. With Get Found, businesses will never miss out on a new customer because they didn’t change their address, phone number or hours of operation.”

Although the information is sent to all of the platforms simultaneously, each site will have its own waiting period before the information updates. Search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing can take up to one month. By comparison, sites such as Yelp, Foursquare and Yellow Pages will update within a few minutes. Still, having the ability to update everywhere from one dedicated platform will reduce the number of clicks needed and the number of different site visits required.

CRM industry analyst Brent Leary, a partner at CRM Essentials, told Small Business Trends:

“Most small businesses are still trying to figure out how to leverage mobile and social technologies to reach potential customers. Get Found helps them get started in a way that covers the fundamentals, but at a low cost of entry. It gives you feedback on how your business compares to other local businesses, so you can improve. It’s not for advanced marketers but there are millions of small businesses that fall into the beginner category.”

Images: GoDaddy

Go Full Color with HP LaserJet Pro MFP-M177

Today, if a technology item does not fit in your hand or come with apps you can play, it does not catch much attention. Printers are not often handheld, although I had a tiny portable printer years ago that was amazing until I fried it on a trip to London with the wrong power converter. Ouch. The new HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP-M177 does not fit in one hand. You’ll need both hands to move it, but it is worth considering for the small business that wants to make a big impression.

I’ve always been a bit of a printer fan because I got my start in business doing desktop publishing work. I have purchased many HP printers as they first hit the market, including some expensive workhorse laser printers. This new color laser from HP is awesome. I try not to “gush” in my reviews, but if you want crisp print - lasers are the way to go - and the LaserJet Pro MFP-M177 does not disappoint.

Let me cut to the chase- street price on this printer is $299. That’s in range for almost any small business that needs a high quality printer that will fit on a desk and runs quietly. It is easy to use; many companies promise “plug and play” but HP really does it. I plugged it into one of my desktops and it quickly set itself up, no driver install/setup needed on Windows.  I don’t own an Apple computer, but the specs show you can print with Apple AirPrint, too.

What I Really Like:

• It’s fast. Seventeen pages per minute in black and white; 4 pages in color.
• It has crisp 600 x 600 B&W resolution. For color, you get the ImageREt 2400 resolution (which, as I understand it - means you get the four primary colors in 600 dpi each. 600 times 4).
• MFP stands for multi-function printer. So, print, scan, fax, copy. Big copier functions so you can even copy both sides of an ID card onto one side of a page.
• Wireless capabilities so you can print from just about any mobile device.
• Easy to print envelopes or on smaller photo paper or postcards, one at a time. Yes, lots of printers also can do this.
• You can scan directly to email.

What I’d Like to See:

• The cool touchscreen display didn’t offer a button/icon to scan documents. I did the full CD install later and could scan from the desktop software itself. Load the doc, click scan and it worked. But I never had the scan icon show up on the touchscreen.

One of the big concerns on color lasers, not unlike inkjets, is the cost to replace cartridges. The evaluation unit HP loaned me for this review came with a “starter” cartridge set, but the full cartridges run about $57 each and you need three (cyan, yellow, and magenta), plus black.

In the specs it shows you get approximately 1,000 pages per color cartridge and 1,300 for the black one. That might be pricey for you or it might be cheap - to produce short run, custom documents for your marketing and sales efforts. You may be able to get a combo pack from Costco, Sam’s Club or Amazon.

For the HP Color LaserJet MFP- 177fw printer technical specs, head to the official HP page. But you may decide to buy it from one of their many retailers, such as, Staples, Office Depot or Amazon.  I have purchased and tested a number of printers and truly found this new LaserJet to be a winner at $299.

Hackers infiltrate Israeli defence computer

January 27, 2014

Hackers broke into an Israeli defence ministry computer after the user clicked on a tainted email attachment containing malicious software.

Aviv Raff, chief technology officer at local cyber security firm Seculert, said that hackers managed to gain access and control 15 computers, including one belonging to the country's Civil Administration, for several days earlier this month.

The defence body monitors Palestinians working and living in Israeli-occupied territory, and sources at Reuters believe that the attack may have also targeted computers at companies “involved in supplying Israeli defence infrastructure.”

The hackers were able to infiltrate these devices by what appears to be a spear phishing campaign. They reportedly sent out emails pretending to be from the Shin Bet secret security service. The email offered an attachment which allowed the hackers to install Xtreme RAT, a remote access Trojan which enables cyber criminals to gain complete control over the infected device.

Israeli forces believe that Palestinians were behind the cyber attack as - while it was carried out from a US server - it bore some similarities in writing and composition with cyber assaults on Israeli computers over the course of the last year.

Seculert is, however, not sure what hackers did after gaining control of the PC.

“All we know is at least one computer at the Civil Administration was in control of the attackers; what they did we don't know.” Both Israeli and Palestinian authorities have refused to comment on the news.

Phil Barnett, VP of global accounts at Good Technology, told SCMagazineUK.com that the attack was “old school” social engineering, and added that it was a reminder that governments and organisations are facing new and old threats.

“Gaining control of computer systems via an email attachment is so old school that it is akin to breaking into the NSA headquarters with a trebuchet,” said Barnett. “The success of this social engineering technique to infiltrate systems highlights the danger of human error within cyber security defences. It is critical that employee decisions and instincts are supported by cyber technologies that caution their movements without restricting workflows.

“The potential for malware infection is increasingly significant as more entry points and devices are connecting to networks. The mobility of the 21st century calls for a new era of cyber defences, but this incident reminds us that we can't forget the old.”

Thousands of Coca Cola customers compromised after laptop theft

January 27, 2014

Beverage maker Coca-Cola has confirmed that the theft of unencrypted company laptops from the firm's headquarters in Atlanta may have compromised information on approximately 74,000 customers.

Citing a spokeswoman for the company, The Wall Street Journal reports that the laptops were stolen by a former employee who was responsible for the maintenance and disposal of equipment.

The company apparently recovered the stolen laptops, which were unencrypted, on December 10 but learnt shortly afterwards that information was stored on these devices, potentially compromising up to 74,000 customers. It is also worth noting that 10 credit card details were exposed in the breach, which is worrying in light of the group's compliance with PCI DSS.

“The Coca-Cola Company has sent notices to about 74,000 North America-based employees, former employees and other third parties informing them that some of their sensitive personal information was contained in documents on CCR and former CCE laptop computers that were stolen from the Company,” said the company in a statement.

“We have no indication that the information was misused.  However, we understand the concerns some people may have and therefore, to demonstrate an abundance of caution, The Coca-Cola Company is offering free identity theft protection services to all affected. 

“We take personal information security very seriously, and we apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.”

In response to the news, consultant Brian Honan said that the drinks giant had made a serious error in not encrypting the laptops in question.

“Serious questions have to be asked of Coca Cola as to why the affected laptops were not encrypted,” said Honan, of BH Consulting. “With the various encryption solutions available, there really is no excuse why an organisation should not have its laptops encrypted, in particular when they contain sensitive information to individuals.

“As this incident highlights, encrypting laptops and other devices not only protects sensitive information from those external to the company but also to unscrupulous insiders,” he added.

ViaSat UK CEO Chris McIntosh, meanwhile, added that this was the latest sign that even the world's biggest organisations (Coca-Cola was ranked as the world's most valuable brand for 12 years running up until 2012) are lax when it comes to data security.

“The latest data breach shows how easy it is for personal details to fall into the wrong hands and the importance of taking the right measures to protect data,” McIntosh told SCMagazineUK.com.

“Sensitive information like social security numbers, driver's licence numbers and credit-card information can offer lucrative opportunities for criminals and organisations should see this as a wake-up call. Being aware that your information is at risk and ensuring that it is properly secured is not paranoia: it is instead sensible behaviour in the information age.

“Organisations need to be sure they have a firm grasp on their data, know where and when it has been copied or transferred, and ensure that techniques such as encryption are in place in case it falls into the wrong hands.”

Thousands of Coca Cola customers compromised after laptop theft

January 27, 2014

Beverage maker Coca-Cola has confirmed that the theft of unencrypted company laptops from the firm's headquarters in Atlanta may have compromised information on approximately 74,000 customers.

Citing a spokeswoman for the company, The Wall Street Journal reports that the laptops were stolen by a former employee who was responsible for the maintenance and disposal of equipment.

The company apparently recovered the stolen laptops, which were unencrypted, on December 10 but learnt shortly afterwards that information was stored on these devices, potentially compromising up to 74,000 customers. It is also worth noting that 10 credit card details were exposed in the breach, which is worrying in light of the group's compliance with PCI DSS.

“The Coca-Cola Company has sent notices to about 74,000 North America-based employees, former employees and other third parties informing them that some of their sensitive personal information was contained in documents on CCR and former CCE laptop computers that were stolen from the Company,” said the company in a statement.

“We have no indication that the information was misused.  However, we understand the concerns some people may have and therefore, to demonstrate an abundance of caution, The Coca-Cola Company is offering free identity theft protection services to all affected. 

“We take personal information security very seriously, and we apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.”

In response to the news, consultant Brian Honan said that the drinks giant had made a serious error in not encrypting the laptops in question.

“Serious questions have to be asked of Coca Cola as to why the affected laptops were not encrypted,” said Honan, of BH Consulting. “With the various encryption solutions available, there really is no excuse why an organisation should not have its laptops encrypted, in particular when they contain sensitive information to individuals.

“As this incident highlights, encrypting laptops and other devices not only protects sensitive information from those external to the company but also to unscrupulous insiders,” he added.

ViaSat UK CEO Chris McIntosh, meanwhile, added that this was the latest sign that even the world's biggest organisations (Coca-Cola was ranked as the world's most valuable brand for 12 years running up until 2012) are lax when it comes to data security.

“The latest data breach shows how easy it is for personal details to fall into the wrong hands and the importance of taking the right measures to protect data,” McIntosh told SCMagazineUK.com.

“Sensitive information like social security numbers, driver's licence numbers and credit-card information can offer lucrative opportunities for criminals and organisations should see this as a wake-up call. Being aware that your information is at risk and ensuring that it is properly secured is not paranoia: it is instead sensible behaviour in the information age.

“Organisations need to be sure they have a firm grasp on their data, know where and when it has been copied or transferred, and ensure that techniques such as encryption are in place in case it falls into the wrong hands.”

Tech Goliath vs. innovative and secure David

January 27, 2014

Is the introduction of new technologies adding to security, or undermining it, asks Toby Flaxman, Senior Technical Security Consultant, IRM plc

The patent legal war shows no signs of slowing down as we enter 2014. While the tech giants exchange legal blows, costing or winning them billions in the process (not to mention lining the pockets of lawyers specialising in Intellectual Property (IP)), the question must be asked; what is the upshot of this battle over innovation? And more specifically, are these companies displaying an appropriate duty of care with regards to the security of their products while the market is so viciously competitive?

The following examples appear to suggest tech giants have a long way to go … Samsung's latest offering permits users to unlock their devices by pointing the front facing camera at their own face. A novel feature to say the least, but one that has already been compromised using pictures of said user. Apple retaliated to Samsung's innovative design by incorporating a fingerprint scanner into their latest iPhone, a security feature that was compromised after only two days of being released. The attack in question requires only a photograph of the users fingerprint and a sheet of latex. 

The problem is the wildly outdated misconception we, as a society, have of our mobile devices. Having had a phone or tablet stolen, how many of us would still first consider the lost contacts, text messages, photos and monetary loss we would have to endure? In other words, we only see the face (emotional and monetary) value of our mobile devices. In reality, a motivated hacker could retrieve usernames and passwords for all our favourite e-shopping sites, personal emails, address and even banking information with little more than a picture of a face or that thumbprint you conveniently left on the side of your smartphone. These features represent the cutting edge of mobile computing and certainly seem to impress consumers, but the price of that innovation is an accelerating tech industry, within which good security practices continue to fall by the wayside.

Furthermore, in light of these security lapses, we also have to examine the behaviours of our adversaries. As a society, we are at the beginning of a seismic shift in focus towards profit-driven malicious hackers. Estimates of the number of Microsoft Windows computers in existence in 2013 were in the region of 1.25 billion with roughly 60,000 known viruses. Last year Android's user base grew to more than 900 million and is set to overtake Windows in 2014. Such a prevalent target has not gone unnoticed and vulnerabilities for these devices are only set to increase. Cybercrime is not just starting to get organised - crime syndicates are the predominant perpetrators of attacks, and the hackers keen to make an online name for themselves are very old news. It is a criminal activity and much like its iolent, counterfeiting, tax evading and trafficking organised crime counterparts demonstrate - if there's potential for monetary gain in an unsecure environment, crime will become serious and organised.

Ultimately, it is difficult to pinpoint who is responsible for the security of these devices. While you and I and the end consumer stands to suffer the most from poorly secured devices, the tech giants are arguably only supplying our demand. Consumers will, after all, vote with their feet, and while we continue to favour novel and unique features over secure ones, none of the tech companies are likely to make any drastic changes to their business ethos.

Still, in the not too distant future I don't think it would be inconceivable that we might have to stop playing that game of Angry Birds, cancel that text message and ask our friends to call back later while we run our daily Anti-Virus scan on our smartphone.

“123456″ Replaces “Password” on Annual “Worst Passwords” List

The number combination “123456″ replaces the only slightly more obvious “Password” at the top of the “Worst Passwords” list compiled annually by password security company SplashData. The list of 25 is compiled from millions of stolen passwords posted online during the previous year.

In a release introducing this year’s list, the company explains:

“For the first time since SplashData began compiling its annual list, “password” has lost its title as the most common and therefore Worst Password, and two-time runner-up “123456″ took the dubious honor.”

SplashData speculates the change in position may have been influenced by the large number of passwords belonging to Abobe users posted online when the company was hacked in October. Early estimates suggested the information of nearly 3 million customers had been affected.

Still, the list would seem to include numerous fairly easy to guess passwords like “111111,” “admin” and even “123123″ finishing in the top 25.

It’s recommended that when choosing a password you select one with eight characters or more containing mixed characters (numbers and letters if possible.) It’s also important to avoid using the same passwords, no matter how secure, for multiple accounts.

Avoid passwords with common substitutions of numbers for letters to spell familiar words or phrases. One example suggested in the SplashData press release would be “dr4mat1c” which substitutes the numbers 4 and 1 for the letters “a” and “i.”

If totally random word and number combinations are too difficult to remember, try a short phrase of unrelated words separated by spaces or dashes. One example suggested in the SplashData release is “smiles_light_skip?”. The phrase includes words that might be easier to remember without writing down but would be hard to guess since they are not related and are separated by random dash symbols.

Here’s the full list of the top 25 “Worst Passwords” for 2013. Obviously, SplashData is recommending if you are using any of these passwords for your business accounts you change them immediately:

1. 123456

2. password

3. 12345678

4. qwerty

5. abc123

6. 123456789

7. 111111

8. 1234567

9. iloveyou

10. adobe123

11. 123123

12. admin

13. 1234567890

14. letmein

15. photoshop

16. 1234

17. monkey

18. shadow

19. sunshine

20. 12345

21. password1

22. princess

23. azerty

24. trustno1

25. 000000

Image: SplashData

European investigators want cross-border legislation to fight cyber crime

January 24, 2014

Criminal investigators want changes made to European law so that they can fight international cyber crime faster and more efficiently.

The issue of governmental collaboration was raised at the recent International Forum on Cyber Security in Lille, France, where several criminal investigators raised concerns over legal barriers which are currently stopping them from investigating cyber crimes that span numerous countries.

With cyber criminals originating from all over the world, cyber crime laws and specialist police divisions are colliding, and cyber crime legislation, in particular, can differ from country to country. Along with a lack of a consistent cross-border legislation to improve conviction rates, the panellists agreed that things need to change.

“The subject [of this panel] on international co-operation is absolutely necessary but is it sufficient?” asked Laurent Baille, a cyber crime expert working on behalf of the National Gendarmerie, a branch of the French armed forces. “No, not yet in relation to the retention of data and the preservation of data. There are avenues for reflection,” he noted.

This issue can't even be helped by new technology solutions, said the panel, as there simply isn't one 'magic' solution available to investigators.

"Many of the technology solutions already exist; the big problem is that there is no legal structure," said Valerie Maldonado, a divisionary commissioner at France's Central Directorate of Judicial Police (DJP).

Legality issues at the forefront

Panellists added that defence teams “shouldn't have fewer tools than the attackers” and were especially concerned about legality, especially with cyber crime increasingly an international problem.

Noting data hosted by cloud providers in other countries - a topic that has also been highlighted as a result of the NSA surveillance - experts said that there are still legislative barriers, not only to data access, but also on how long they can hold that data. This isn't the first time this issue has arisen, with senior commonwealth law ministries debating the topic at a meeting in London back in September last year.

“There are legislative barriers around the cloud provider abroad,” said Maldonado, who encouraged governments to work on systems that allow for quick and basic cooperation across numerous countries.

“[The question] is there is a quick way to access the information required,” she added. “Often foreign investigations can't retain the data, so how do you expect us to do an investigation?”

Laurent Baille was bolder on the subject.

“Information from an investigation can end up in another country. We need to act, react fast cross-border geographically or legally. We need to break down borders.

 “Why should we respect borders? Criminals don't.”

Andy Archibald who is deputy director for the National Cyber Crime Unit - part of the National Crime Agency in the UK - agreed that, despite the introduction of the Budapest Convention and the forthcoming European Cybercrime centre,  due to be fully operational from 2015 to co-ordinate cross-border law enforcement, cooperation can still be improved.

“If you can't resolve international sharing, data sharing and international deconfliction, that's a real barrier. Data preservation is also a real challenge.”

Adele Desirs, who works as the criminal intelligence officer at Interpol, agreed that accessing personalised data was a challenge, but privacy lawyer Stewart Room told SCMagazineUK.com shortly after the event that there are already numerous laws in place to help with criminal co-operation, and instead said that getting these to work efficiently is often the issue.

“Law enforcement always wants more powers and I expect operationally on the ground they think the law is sub-optimal.  Writing law is one thing, making it work is another,” he said.

Sharing should be encouraged

While law changes may be in the distance however, Archibald says that the nation states can help themselves by encouraging cross-border collaboration.

“The criminality borders were fine in the ‘analogue' age,” said Archibald. “The crimes were in Glasgow to Edinburgh, then Glasgow to London. Now it's worldwide. The environment is very different to 20 years ago, 10 years ago or even five years ago. We need a test framework that works well in the 21st century.

“We need to share some of the success stories and recover intelligence on the internet,” he added, noting that many cyber crimes are carried out by the ‘same people, same groups and same types of malware'.

Book Review: Age of the Customer by Jim Blasingame @jimblasingame #AgeOfTheCustomer

Radio host and small business expert of experts, Jim Blasingame’s new book, The Age of the Customer,  is what you really need to read. It’s not about social media or Tweeting. It’s not about “branding”. It’s not about helicopters delivering packages. It’s all about how YOU, the small business owner need to operate TODAY, in this Age of the Customer. Today, unlike ever before, customers control and have the power.

To understand this powerful shift of customer power and business power, Jim’s new book will guide you.

Jim Blasingame is one of the world’s foremost experts on small business and entrepreneurship, and was ranked as the #1 small business expert in the world by Google. President and founder of Small Business Network, Inc., Jim is the creator and award-winning host of The Small Business Advocate® Show, nationally syndicated since 1997. As a high-energy keynote speaker, Jim talks to small business audiences about how to compete in the 21st century global marketplace, and he talks with large companies about how to speak small business as a second language. A syndicated columnist and the author of three books, including Small Business Is Like a Bunch of Bananas and Three Minutes to Success, which have sold almost 100,000 copies combined; his third book, The Age of the CustomerTM, will be launching on January 27, 2014.

What Do Small Business Administration (SBA) Loans Look Like?

Hidden among the large amount of data released regularly by the Federal Reserve is some valuable information about the terms of Small Business Administration (SBA) guaranteed loans.

I found the numbers intriguing because they show that the average SBA-guaranteed loan is smaller, of shorter duration and carries a lower interest rate than I would have otherwise thought.

The data come from the “Survey of Terms of Business Lending,” a quarterly questionnaire administered by Federal Reserve Board of Governors to 398 domestic and foreign banks operating in the United States. It asks lenders about the loans they made during the first complete week in the middle month of each quarter.

The survey, in general, is a key source of information about terms of loans made to businesses. In 2012, the data releases began to break out separately information about loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA), which is what provides the new insights into the government-guaranteed loans.

Because the survey asks banks about loans made during a particular week, the responses jump around a bit. To provide a smoother picture of SBA-guaranteed loans, I have averaged the data reported by the Fed for the last four surveys.

Here’s what the numbers show:

• The average SBA-guaranteed loan amount was $276,000.
• The average loan maturity was 172 days.
• The average annual interest rate on the loans was 3.91 percent.
• 42.6 percent of the loans were prime-based.
• 43.5 percent of the loans were subject to pre-payment penalties.
• 68.2 percent of the loans were secured by collateral.
• The average loan was slightly more than “moderate risk,” averaging 3.22 on a scale where “3” means “moderate risk” and “4” means “acceptable risk.”

Knowing this information is useful if you are looking for an SBA-guaranteed loan or are seeking to understand what’s happening to the guaranteed loan market. However, you would not want to use it to draw inference about the small business credit market in general.

SBA-guaranteed loans don’t make up a very big fraction of commercial and industrial loans in the United States. The Fed data shows that the average value of SBA-guaranteed loans made during each of the last four survey periods was $973 million.

This works out to 1.1 percent of $84.8 billion in commercial and industrial loans made in the average survey period. And 6.6 percent of the $14.8 billion in small (less than $1 million) commercial and industrial loans to business.

Loan Photo via Shutterstock