Posts Tagged ‘business’
Thursday, August 12th, 2010
Last week we focused on how choosing the right information streams can help you maintain a competitive edge in your business. So it follows that if you have staff, even if it is just one other employee, it is also important to encourage them to work towards that common goal.
This encouragement can be in many forms. The most obvious one is the allocation of resources to training.
For instance, one company I know, Martin Insurance Consultants pays for their employees to attend webinars on various insurance and social networking topics and sends them to two or three industry-specific seminars throughout the year. By investing in their employees, they are also investing in their own company.
If you are a smaller company with fewer resources, a few other less costly ideas to try:
- Have industry specific periodicals or magazine subscriptions available
- Allow for professional development reading time as part of the daily schedule
- Provide common areas for coffee and/or lunch to help stimulate discussions and knowledge sharing
Remember, investing in your employees also means you are investing in your company!
Next week…find other information sources when you need them.
Happy organizing!
Tags: business, employees, information, training
Posted in Organizing | No Comments »
Wednesday, July 28th, 2010
Are you drowning in a sea of information?
We are bombarded daily with more information than we can handle from our TV’s, radios, mailboxes and Inboxes. According to the Information Overload Research Group at http://www.iorgforum.org/, “53% of people surveyed believe that less than half the information they receive is valuable or useful.”
Still, like sun worshipers on the beach we are determined to soak up even more.
But how much information do we really need to have for our personal lives and business? More often than not, the information we receive is far greater than what we actually require; hence the creation of Information Overload.
In the next few weeks I will focus on how you can fight back – and make choices that will increase your ability to make informed decisions about your business with the information that you choose to keep.
Until next time,
Happy organizing!
Tags: business, decisions, information, overload, valuable
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Tuesday, July 13th, 2010
There are three reports that make up the cornerstone of a company’s financial statements. They are the Balance Sheet, Income Statement and Cash Flow Statement.
The Balance Sheet is a snapshot of a company at a precise moment in time, while the Income Statement summarizes the company’s sales and expenses over a period of time, (monthly, quarterly or yearly). Like the Income Statement, the Cash Flow Statement is a report on a company’s activities over a period of time; however its purpose is to show how much cash comes in and goes out of the business. On the surface the Cash Flow Statement might sound a lot like the Income Statement but, as you will see, there is a big difference between the two.
So, as you might have guessed, the next series of financial blogs are going to dig deeper into these essential three statements that every small business owner must understand in order to effectively manage his or her company.
Tags: balance, Balance Sheet, business, business finances, Cash Flow, Financial Statements, Income Statements, small business, Statement of Cash Flow
Posted in Accounting | No Comments »
Tuesday, June 1st, 2010
Now it’s time to hire someone and you have chosen to classify them as an independent contract worker, what happens if you choose incorrectly? What could you be facing?
Many businesses have done just that, classified workers as independent contracts when in fact they are employees. If the IRS finds out about this incorrect classification through an audit it could put you out of business. By the way, most IRS audits are triggered because someone is disgruntled with a company or one if it’s employees. The taxes that should have been withheld will be calculated and interest and penalties will be added. The penalties could be up to 100% of the calculated tax. It won’t matter if the contractor paid their taxes or not. If they did, you will have to find them and prove it, in order to receive credit for the taxes paid. The IRS assumes that the incorrectly classified employee paid none of their taxes. As always with the IRS the burden of proof lies with you.
Next, what if the contractor is hurt on your premises and wants to collect workers compensation? What if the contractor is sued for damages for something in relation to the work they were doing for you and does not have their own liability insurance? I think you can see the bigger picture here. One must truly weight the possibilities of audit and mishaps in relation to the increased cost of hiring an employee.
Tags: business, business finances, contract worker, employee, employees, hire, independant contractor, small business
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Sunday, April 25th, 2010
While an “independent contractor” is different from a “standard employee”, the exact definition is not set in stone. In fact there are three places we can look for clues, common law principles, the Fair Labor Standards Act, and the decisions of some courts. Below are questions that need to be asked to determine contractor or employee. This list is by no mean comprehensive, for a more detailed list of requirements visit the IRS website.
- Is the person relying solely on your business as their only source of income
- Does the person work at their own pace with a deadline defined in an agreement
- Is the person eligible for employer provided benefits
- Who exercises control over the work
- Who paid for the material, supplies and equipment to be used in the work
- Is the work to be performed an integral part of the business
- What is the degree of permanence for the person doing the work
- What type of skills are needed to do the work
Answering yes or no to any of the questions does not give a definitive answer to “contractor or employee”. Each situation is different and must be looked at in whole. Example, someone might be hired as a contractor, they rely 100% on the business for their income, work 40 hours a week, but have knowledge of an obscure computer programming language and own special computers that allows them to use this knowledge.
Tags: business, business finances, contract worker, employee, employees, independant contractor
Posted in Accounting | No Comments »
Monday, April 12th, 2010
Debit or Credit? You are probably asked this question every time you are at a checkout counter after reaching for plastic. So which should you use? There are advantages to both, but your choice should be credit as long as you are disciplined in paying off the balance right way. Here are some advantages of a credit card.
- If you pay the balance off each month you can get up to a 40 day free loan (float), the time between when a purchase is made and when you actually pay your bill. Good for your company cash flow.
- You have the option of withholding payment should you be unsatisfied with the quality of a purchase.
- The Fair Credit Billing Act means you have zero liability for fraudulent purchases, poor quality or damaged merchandise, or for merchandise that was never delivered. With a debit card the purchase is taken out of your checking account and is not returned until the transaction in question is resolved. This could severely impact your cash flow.
- Credit card users are not required to pay any amount that may be in dispute.
- You don’t run the risk of overdraft fees, as you can with a debit card. So if you’ve had problems avoiding those overdraft fees, paying just one annual fee to a credit card company may be less expensive in the long run.
- Credit cards allow you to improve your company’s credit score, because you’ll build a history of paying on time.
Still choose debit; then make sure you have a discussion with your banker about not allowing charges to be accepted if funds are not available in the company checking.
Tags: balance, Banking, business, business finances, Cash Flow, Credit Card, Debit Card, Overdraft Fees, small business, work smarter
Posted in Accounting | No Comments »
Monday, April 5th, 2010
Now that you have a budget, review it on a regular basis. As the year goes along start another version of your budget. Replace the estimates with the actual results of your work. Most owners tend to manage spending and overestimate earnings. Use your budget instead, it is a powerful tool and will give you good information on whether or not you are on track.
If you feed your budget with real number it will give you an instant view of your progress. Most of the CEO’s of the world are doing exactly that. Of course financial aspects are important, but they cannot replace your vision. However, your budget can bring you back to earth if your visions are too elaborate.
Tags: balance, Budgeting, business, business finances, Business Resolution, company vision, management, small business, Well planned budget.
Posted in Accounting | No Comments »
Monday, March 29th, 2010
Now it’s time to budget for the costs that happen now and then within your company. Are you planning something different this year that you have not tried in the past? For example:
- Are you planning on an intensive marketing campaign to go with the increased sale you have budgeted?
- Are you planning on purchasing new equipment this year? If so the depreciation will be an adjustment to your costs.
- If you have budgeted increased revenue for the year, will you need more office staff? Will you need a bigger sales force?
- With increases in employees also comes an increase in consumables like office supplies, gasoline for the delivery vehicles, cell phones, and yes even more coffee for the break room.
- An easy way to estimate these types of costs is to take the cost in each category from last year and divide by the number of employees. Now take the amount spent on each employee and multiply by the amount of total employee budgeted for this year. Once you have this number you can tweak the numbers to keep your margin in line with your projections.
Tags: balance, Budgeting, business, business finances, Business Resolution, company vision, goals, small business, Well planned budget., work smarter
Posted in Accounting | No Comments »
Monday, March 15th, 2010
The requirements for budgeting projects are a lot like budgeting for production except on a grander scale. Plus the process is in reverse order, costs must be calculated first, then sales price.
- Estimates are made and contracts are signed long before any activity is seen on a project. The revenue for a project based business is set before any concrete costs are known. Because of the switch, budgeting cost of goods sold is extremely important.
- Determining how much a project will cost is similar to that of products. Materials for the project will need to be shopped, labor hours calculated, addition of subcontractors also will add into the mix.
- Budgeting for projects can become extremely complicated. If the owner of a project based company is not proficient in estimating, it is imperative that a seasoned estimator is on staff or can be hired on consulting basis.
- After the estimate is finished and the contract signed your gross profit is revenue less cost of goods sold.
Tags: Budgeting, business, business finances, Business Resolution, company vision, goals, organized, Well planned budget.
Posted in Accounting | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 9th, 2010
I recently had the opportunity to write a business article about my personal experience as I took the leap from Stay-at-Home-Mother to Woman Business Owner.
I shared many of my own struggles as I attempted to balance both my family and a growing business. Those struggles have taught me a few important, but basic life lessons which helped push me forward when I felt like I couldn’t take one more step:
- Set clear boundaries
- Be content with “good enough”
- An organized schedule is as important as an organized space
- Keep a sense of humor
I have made more than my share of parental mistakes and have had plenty of bumps along the way these past few years. It helps to remember to keep moving forward, chuckle a little at myself, and remember that life isn’t about being perfect. It’s about being human.
Read the entire article: http://bit.ly/Women-in-Business.
I would love to hear how you have coped with your own balancing act between work and home. Perhaps you will inspire other women business owners to “hang in there” along the way.
Until next time,
Happy organizing!
Tags: balance, business, organized, small business, stay-at-home-mother, women, work
Posted in Organizing | No Comments »
