3 Things You Should Know About Small Business: Feb. 6

NEW YORK (MainStreet) -- What's happening in small business today?

1. Lessons from the Susan G. Komen PR disaster. If you haven't already seen the news, last week one of the country's most well-known nonprofits, the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation, took a PR pounding after it decided to cut off funding for Planned Parenthood. The speed of its fall from grace was pretty astonishing given that the nonprofit has invested nearly $2 billion in fighting breast cancer.

Businesses can certainly learn from this PR mistake. According to Inc. Magazine, you can prevent your own Komen-like disaster by: thinking through every outcome before making such a decision; knowing your customers inside and out; and understanding the power of social media.

2. Small business hits big with Angry Birds merchandise. SwaddleDesigns may have hit the jackpot after snagging the first-ever license to make baby products with the Angry Birds brand. The company plans to roll out a line of baby clothes with the popular game's logo this month.

"The enthusiasm from retailers has been tremendous," SwaddleDesigns co-owner Jeff Damir told CNNMoney. "It's an honor to be working for a brand whose fan base is so large."

Industry experts estimate that the Angry Birds franchise, including T-shirts, toys and backpacks, may already be worth more than $1 billion. SwaddleDesigns, which makes stylish baby clothes, has annual revenue of roughly $5 million, but with the addition of the Angry Birds line, revenue could double in 2012. SwaddleDesigns employs 20 people.

"This is a huge opportunity for us," Damir says. "How huge it becomes is a little hard to predict because fans of the game may not intuitively think about Angry Birds baby products."

3. Panera opening its first NYC location. Panera Bread(PNRA) has made a name for itself as a suburban fast-casual restaurant chain, but opening a store in Manhattan is a whole different element.

"For Panera, our model is around the suburban marketplace," Panera's COO Scott Davis told QSR Magazine. "So it took a while for us to get a sense of really how to go into an area like Manhattan. It can be daunting when you're standing from the outside looking in."

Panera will open its first store in New York City (its 1,500th overall) on Tuesday, adding to the 90 stores it already has in the tri-state area. It plans to add three other stores this year.

It's pricey real estate for a Panera, especially because its stores tend to be larger than a typical Manhattan location. A two-story Panera across from Harvard Yard is planned to open in Harvard Square -- another big tourist destination -- in Cambridge, Mass., this year.

-- Written by Laurie Kulikowski in New York.

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