I was privileged to be one of the "makeover artists" at this year's New York Business Xpo, held last week at the Javits Center in New York City. More than 400 exhibitors and some of the top entrepreneurship experts in the country have made this event a "must attend" each of the last seven years.

At this year's event, for the first time, Jane Applegate, a leading small business author and expert (www.theapplegategroup.com), hosted a "small business makeover" contest. More than 1,000 small businesses in virtually every state of the Union competed to win a two-day "makeover" from 12 of America's top small business experts, including marketing experts Rieva Lesonsky and Nancy Michaels, communications expert Diane DiResta, financial expert John D'Aquila, tech experts Ramon Ray and Robert Pattison, and (ahem) legal and tax expert yours truly.

This year's winner was Allie Dickson, owner of "The Allie Way," a sports bar located at 413 East 70th Street between First Avenue and York Avenue in upper Manhattan (www.yelp.com/biz/the-allie-way-manhattan).

Dickson has some good things going for her in this business. The bar is within walking distance of three major New York City hospitals — the Sloan-Kettering Cancer Institute, New York Presbyterian Hospital, and Weill Cornell Medical College — and has a loyal following among the medical staff at those institutions. The bar also has a solid following among local residents.

Second, she paid "all cash" for the bar when she acquired it a couple of years ago and has remained relatively debt-free since then.

Still, her business faces some challenges. It is located on a "street" (running east to west) rather than an "avenue" (running north to south), and in Manhattan, avenues have lots more foot traffic than streets do. Also, except for the hospitals, the surrounding several blocks are primarily residential, so there aren't a lot of shops and other "destinations" that will generate foot traffic and people willing to pop in for a quick lunch or drink.

Dickson's challenge will be to make "The Allie Way" itself a destination.

Dickson says she has launched promotional campaigns at several nearby colleges in an effort to generate more student traffic at the bar. That could backfire, however, as professionals from the three hospitals may not want to socialize with rowdy fraternity boys. A better idea would be highly-publicized "themed" events targeting specific niche audiences (for example, a celebration of Queen Elizabeth II's birthday marketed to British expatriates in New York).

Above all else, the "makeover" experts agreed that Dickson needs to work on her Internet marketing. While The Allie Way has a Facebook page and has generated favorable reviews on Yelp.com, it does not yet have its own Website, which is essential for a business like this one, as (possibly) are announcements of specials on Twitter.com, coupon programs on Groupon.com (especially if she wants to reach budget-conscious college students), and smartphone applications such as Muddler.com.

Dickson should also consider trademarking her business name and logo, which would give her the opportunity to create brand-name merchandise that would add an income stream and help spread the bar's name.

In between "makeover" sessions, I wandered over to the trade show floor looking for startup entrepreneurs with cool ideas I hadn't heard of before, and I found a bunch of them. Here, in my opinion, were the "best in show" at the New York Xpo:

—Judgment Marketplace (www.judgmentmarketplace.com): millions of small claims and other court judgments go unclaimed each year because creditors can't find the time and money to pursue them — this website offers an eBay-like market where creditors can sell their judgments for cash, or find "investors" willing to help them with cash to enforce their judgments in exchange for a piece of the action.

—Yext (www.yext.com): an online service that enables you to make sure your online directory and local search results are accurate and up-to-date (I was surprised to find that some of my law firm's "white pages" listings online had an incorrect telephone number).

—The Hispanic Network LLC (www.THNtoday.com): a network of Hispanic-owned businesses that also admits non-Hispanic members eager to tap into the fastest-growing demographic in America.

—The Talent Shopping Network (www.promotionbycontest.com): a social media website where entertainers and businesses can host talent contests and encourage their friends, customers and others to vote and rank performances as they do on "American Idol" (I introduced Dickson to these folks as online talent contests could be a great way to promote her sports bar).

—Parle Innovation (www.parleinnovation.com): these folks have just launched "Dock-it for iPad", a patented light and durable protective case, dock and charging station for the Apple iPad(r), with an integrated Bluetooth(r) keyboard, that turns your iPad(r) into a "netbook", at least physically — if you own an iPad(r), you will want this accessory.

Thinking about buying a franchise? The 2012 International Franchise Expo (www.IFEinfo.com) will be at the Javits Center June 15-17.

Cliff Ennico ([email protected]) is a syndicated columnist, author and former host of the PBS television series "Money Hunt." This column is no substitute for legal, tax or financial advice, which can be furnished only by a qualified professional licensed in your state. To find out more about Cliff Ennico and other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit our Web page at www.creators.com.