Accounting Information Guide

Get Excellent Job Candidates

2008-08-26T13:16:00.000+05:30

An independent recruiter, recruiting agency or executive search firm is charged with tracking down excellent potential candidates for available job positions. Despite the fact that there are innumerable people seeking positions of employment in the 21st century, it often seems to a typical recruiting agency that qualified men and women are few and far between.

Here are six easy tips that recruiting services, staffing firms, or executive search firms should keep in mind when on the hunt for outstanding potential job candidates in the 21st century.

These tips are equally applicable to companies undertaking their own search without the help of recruiting agency services. Indeed, the headaches associated with finding qualified personnel is magnified for a company undertaking its own recruitment efforts.

1. Post an Ad on an Industry-specific Job Board. Oftentimes, a recruiter will take a scattershot approach to finding candidates that are worthy of consideration for an available position. They broadcast far and wide the fact that a certain position is open and available, in big city newspapers and on major Internet job boards.

If a recruiting agency were more thoughtful about its recruitment efforts, it would realize the benefits of positing an announcement of an available position on an industry-specific Internet job board. By posting in a selective and admittedly limited manner, recruiters and staffing firms would be reaching out precisely to the pool of people most likely to be qualified for an open position.

One excellent tool for finding industry-specific job boards can be accessed at:
http://www.onlinerecruitersdirectory.com/jobboard.php

2. Use Recruiters that Specialize in a Given Field As with advertising, choosing an effective recruiter might be just a matter of targeting, particularly for a managerial or executive position. These positions can be very hard for in-house personnel directors and human resource managers. While these people do have responsibility for hiring, the search for a new employee with skills beyond the norm for their company can best be targeted by a professional executive head hunter.

The same can be said for specialized fields, such as accounting or information systems. In-house human resources staff might know all about pharmaceutical skill-sets required for a multitude of research and administration positions, but they might rarely have to deal with hiring staff to track money or to keep the computers functioning. That's when recruiting agency services specializing in IT or in accounting can come in handy.

3. Develop an In-House Referral Program. In many instances, exiting staff members can help speed up the search for quality job candidates. Employees often have contacts elsewhere within the industry, some of which may be looking for a change of employment.

By cultivating this internal resource, a personnel director can develop a wealth of ready information about prospective employees who might well serve the organization as valued employees.

4. Search Resumes Posted on Job Boards In addition to advertising on an industry specific job board, a diligent personnel director or recruiting agency will want to take the time to search and consider resumes that have been posted on job boards.

Often, a person pounding the pavement looking for employment may not have the time to take in and review all of the various available positions that have been posted on a every job board. This is even more true if a given prospect is a highly sought-after candidate, who might be still busy in a current position of responsibility.

5 .Use a Directory of Recruiters. Because there are so many different type of recruiters in business in the 21st century it can often be difficult for in-house human resources staff to pinpoint the recruiter that will be best able to meet the needs of a given employee recruitment campaign. But there are resources available, such as directories of recruiters.

One such directory is:http://www.onlinerecruitersdirectory.com

By using a professional directory, in-house human resources staff will be able to identify the most appropriate resources for their company and for the recruiting task at hand. Even staffing firms can benefit from such a recruiters directory to seek help in a specialized field they don't often work with.

6. Don’t Rush the Process. Finally, while it is an overused saying, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” In the same vein, 99 times out of 100 there is no need to rush the process of seeking, identifying and hiring a new employee, particularly an executive level employee.

A personnel director should take his or her time to identify, screen, interview and hire the best candidate. Throughout this process, a human resources manager or specialist will rely on the services and support tools identified in this article.

By using these tips, in the long run the best possible candidate for a given position will end up being hired, and the company will benefit from the best possible employees.

About the author:
David Leonhardt is a freelance writer:
http://www.seo-writer.net/
He wrote this article for the Online Recruiters Directory:
http://www.onlinerecruitersdirectory.com/about.php

Searching For Executive Heads - A Mammoth Task For Recruiters

2008-08-26T06:12:00.001+05:30

Once upon a time, head hunters were no more than common cannibals. Some people still view them that way, but executive recruiters are a vital link in a chain that keeps major enterprises functioning well.

The top positions at any organization dictate the fortunes of the company, the shareholders and the employees ... and often the communities in which they are located. A good executive head hunter can ensure that new company executives have the skills required for the position and the challenges ahead. He can also ensure that the right executive is chosen, one whose style will flourish in the specific environment of that company.

However, modern executive recruiters face challenges to be effective. I caught up with Esther Barzel, co-owner of the Online Recruiter Directory ( http://www.onlinerecruitersdirectory.com ).

Q: What are the main challenges of executive head hunters in today's business climate?

A: To start with, the geographic net has become much wider. A head hunter in , say, New York City or Toronto, can no longer rely on finding the right candidate right in town. In fact, the ideal candidate might be just minutes away by Internet, but he might be located in another country or even on another continent. We are looking at a new breed of executive recruiter.

Q: The Internet should make his job easier, right?

A: Yes...and no. He has to post requirements in more places and sift through more potential candidates to find the jewel he seeks. So his workload has actually increased.

Q: Plus, I presume, he still faces the challenges of yesteryear?

A: That's right. He still has to make contact with potential candidates, conduct preliminary interviews, set up meetings with the company, attend to minute details, brief the interviewer, etc.

Q: What about follow-up?

A: Yes, there is, of course, follow-up required after every interview, both with the client and with the prospect. It's a busy job.

Q: So how does the Internet make life easier for an executive recruiter?

A: Now you have online communities and bulletin boards, such as Monster.com, where you can place ads for positions. This makes it somewhat easier to cast one's net. Directories like ours help head hunters attract clients, so they can spend more recruiting and less time on business development.

Q: Don't online bulletin boards and directories just mean the head hunter has to spend more time in more places?

A: Yes and no. Online resources are more easily searched than, say, paper. Our recruiter directory gives employers the chance to search by geography or by vocation, or by the type of position. This means they can find a recruiter that specializes in pharmaceutical sales, or who specializes in accounting, or whatever field. The head hunter spends less time answering questions from people who will never be their clients.

Q: And I assume it works both ways?

A: Yes, the recruiter gets resumes from only those people who are likely candidates for the types of positions he works on. The pharmaceutical recruiter, for example will not get a resume from someone whose background is in aeronautical engineering.

Q: Wow, that's a mouthful. I don't know if I could even repeat that.

A: Many executive recruiters could not repeat it, either. So the Internet is making it easier for them to receive resumes targeted to their field of expertise, saving them time...not to mention overexertion of their tongues.

On that humorous note, we thank Esther for taking the time to explain how the Internet is making life both more complex and easier for executive recruiters and head hunters.

About the author:
David Leonhardt is a freelance writer:
http://www.seo-writer/freelance/writer.html
More about head hunter challenges:
http://www.onlinerecruitersdirectory.com/head-hunters.html
More about executive recruiter challenges:
http://www.onlinerecruitersdirectory.com/executive-recruiters.html
More about Esther Barzel's recruiting services
http://www.onlinerecruitersdirectory.com/about.php

Use Policies & Procedures As A Management Key

2008-08-26T06:06:00.000+05:30

Managers know the difficulty of getting people to do the right things the right way. And employees need their expertise and understanding of the way things should be done. But how do you get it across so it actually sticks? The answer is well-defined policies and procedures.

Quickly Convey What’s Right

Managers can convey the exact way things should be done with policies and procedures, and they can do it faster than ever with pre-written documents. This speeds an organization’s standard operating procedures project effectiveness to get results.

Create Strong Operating Procedures

Departmentally-focused manuals provide an excellent opportunity to create strong, consistent Standard Operating Procedures across multiple functions. This includes added savings of time and resources. Departments that benefit with improved results include:

• CEO Management - Build an effective management procedures system based on best practices for the entire organization
• CFO Controller - Simplify the job as a CFO or Controller, and speed the development of comprehensive Accounting and HR manuals
• ISO 9001 Quality Manager - Create ISO 9001 quality policies and procedures manual with prewritten policies, procedures and forms
• Human Resources Manager - Create HR policies and procedures manual with prewritten policies, procedures and forms
• Security Manager - Create complete facility security procedures and disaster recovery plans

Customize to any Business

When researching effective solutions, the content should be well-researched and follow industry-standard formats. Moreover, the applications such as MS Word-based standard operating procedures documents should be easy to edit and simple to customize for any business or organization.

Utilize Essential Procedures

Management should have a solution to implement their entire policy system with essential procedures in one concise, consistent format. And they can do it effectively and efficiently because pre-written documents:

• Saves research time
• Improves procedure writing
• Speeds policy development
• Eases document editing
• Enhances policy knowledge
• Simplifies implementation

The Right Documents

Business owners and executives should select a pre-written policies and procedures package specifically created for a particular management scope. And choose the one that identifies their role and needs.

About the author:
Chris Anderson has over 18 years of sales, marketing and business management experience working with business process design, software and systems engineering. He is also co-author of policies and procedures manual products, producing the layout, process design and implementation to increase performance. He is currently the Managing Director of Bizmanualz, Inc.
Visit: http://www.bizmanualz.com?src=ART66

Hiring Your Children is Good Business

2008-08-25T01:02:00.002+05:30

Save on Taxes by Hiring Your Children

You've heard that you can't have your cake and eat it, too. But hiring your own family is one case when you can. Pay your minor or adult children to work for your business, then write it off as an expense.

Many people are confused about whether it's legal to hire their children and grandchildren. Follow my advice to satisfy both the IRS and employment laws - while saving on your own taxes. Assuming it's a true payment for services performed (and the paperwork is handled properly) it's totally legal and acceptable to pay family members.

Minor Children Save the Most Taxes

Child labor restrictions don't apply to a parent (unless it's in manufacturing, mining, or any hazardous occupation defined by the Department of Labor) - even under 16. I hired my own daughters from the ages of 7 and 9 without a hitch.

You need not pay withholding income taxes, payroll taxes (including Social Security) and Workmen's Compensation (in most states) until the child turns 18. Just remember to complete quarterly payroll tax returns, as you must for any employee. Forget about paying federal unemployment taxes until the child turns 21.

However, if your business is an S or C Corporation, you must pay Social Security and Medicare taxes regardless of their ages.

To Survive IRS Scrutiny

1. The children actually have to work
2. Pay them consistently
3. Pay them according to what you'd pay someone else
4. Keep detailed records
5. Issue a W-2 at year end and file a tax return for the child, even if no tax is owed

Example:
Wages paid to 13 year old child $6200
Less: Standard deduction for 2005 (5000)
Taxable income $1200
Tax Due (10% x $1200) $ 120

While for the parents:
Wages paid to the child $6200
Tax Savings (40% x $6200) $2480

For a net savings to the family of $2360

The income tax standard deduction is $5000 for every person in the country, including each of your minor children. So unless you pay them more than that, they won't have any tax obligation at all. And since they really earned it, the "kiddie tax rules" do not apply.

When hiring adult family members you can justify larger salaries. And they can participate in benefits like qualified retirement benefit programs and fringe benefits (like medical insurance and childcare).

Working for You Teaches Children about Managing Money and Saving

The income has to be earned by the child, so the amount needs to reflect the value of what's done. And the money does belong to them, even if it's being saved for college.

Many of the benefits of involving your children in your operation aren't tax-related at all. They're gaining practical experience, learning the value of work, and maybe how to carry on the family business down the road.

If you're wondering whether to trust my advice, I've sat on both sides of the desk. I worked for the IRS, and since leaving there have conducted almost a thousand seminars on financial planning and taxes. I speak to real estate and banking professionals all over the country, and have found that everyone wants to learn smart strategies that bring reliable financial returns - without getting them into tax trouble. In my opinion, hiring your family is one of them.

Don't hesitate to put the troops to work. When you hire your children you're teaching them skills they'll be able to use for the long haul. They're learning the value of a dollar - and how hard you have to work to earn them. And bottom line, it makes good financial sense as well.
© 2005, Chris Bird

About the author:
Chris Bird Conducts 150 seminars a year for Real Estate and Financial professionals Wealth building, financial planning, residential rentals, tax strategies, accounting Certified Financial Planner (CFP) IRS Enrolled Agent Chris@ChrisBirdSeminars.com

Coloring outside the lines

2008-08-24T00:56:00.003+05:30

Thinking "outside the box" or as it is sometimes called, "coloring outside the lines" is a popular idea in the business world today. People and organizations are told to think outside the box or color outside the lines as a way to stimulate creativity when they need to solve problems like streamlining production, establishing a new product, or developing a new process. And it's true that creativity and innovation often arise from unexpected and unconventional thinking.

But there is a serious problem with trying to apply such thinking too broadly.

For instance, creativity is valued in art and advertising, but not in banking and accounting. An accounting firm recently ran an ad suggesting that it could think "outside the box." Do you really want your business to be associated with creative accounting? Aren't accountants supposed to put the numbers in the right box? Wasn't creative accounting a serious problem for Enron?

In reality, clear thinking and the creativity that it produces are rarely a matter of thinking outside the box. And coloring outside the lines is for the most part just sloppy workmanship. The art of clear thinking is a matter of putting thoughts in to the right boxes or categories. Clear thinking is a matter of mental organization. Conversely, sloppy thinking involves the confusion of categories, of putting ideas into the wrong boxes or not putting them in order at all. Is a child who will not straighten his or her room creative or just sloppy? There is a significant difference. While creativity sometimes looks sloppy to an outside observer, it does not issue from sloppiness.

Picasso was a creative artist.

But his creativity was not a matter of the art he produced. In reality his abstract work is technically sloppy. It looks like the work of a child. Picasso could sell his abstract art only because he had previously established himself as an artist who could color inside the lines very well. Had he not first proven his artistic talent in the traditional way, his abstract art would have been worth much less. He used his reputation as a traditional artist to establish a new direction in art. He didn't so much color outside the box, as he expanded the boundaries and definition of the box. But the point is that his abstract creations were valuable only because of his proven abilities in the traditional arts.

Contrast my own efforts to establish myself as an abstract artist. My art has gone unnoticed because I have not been able to prove myself as a traditional artist. Not that I actually tried to do so, but I am using myself as an example to make the point. The creativity of a novel idea requires the discipline of order and structure to be valuable. Picasso's art is valuable because he was an accomplished painter who intentionally colored outside the lines. My art is not valuable because I am not an accomplished painter and I accidentally color outside the lines. While the two products may look similar, the difference is critical.

Creativity is more than breaking the rules.

Similarly, Joseph Heller was able to break the rules of English grammar in his book, Something Happened (Scribner, 1974), only because he was intimately familiar with them. Having taught English at the University of South Carolina, he was a master of grammar. And only out of his expertise could he creatively exploit, expand and redefine the boundaries of grammar. And so it is with regard to thinking outside the box.

Thinking outside the box apart from being able to think inside the box is worthless.

Such thought is just plain sloppy. Thus, the suggestion that creativity lies in the ability to think outside the box is mostly nonsense. Creativity issues from talent, ability and discipline. Talent must be forged and shaped on the anvil of discipline in order to develop ability. Great ability is always the result of study, discipline and practice.

Creativity is more a matter of seeing that the boxes themselves are inadequate and suggesting a better arrangement or a better definition. Creativity doesn't simply discard the boxes, it redefines and/or rearranges them after becoming intimately familiar with them. Real creativity is always the fruit of discipline and order. Creativity, in order to be genuinely creative and not simply sloppy disorganization, must emerge out of discipline and order as an intentional effort.

While a creative idea often comes unbidden out of unexpected places, it requires discipline, study and order to make something of it. Apart from discipline and order, what passes for creativity is nonsense, and to suggest otherwise actually undermines and/or weakens the creative process.

What does this mean for our industry? Distributors and suppliers should apply themselves to mastering the basics before attempting to break the rules in the name of creativity. Don't start outside the box. First, establish your ability to think within the box. Master the rules before you suggest breaking them. For example, before a distributorship presents a wild, innovative concept to a client for a campaign, it should first establish its expertise with campaigns and/or ideas that have a track record of yielding good ROI. Designers, artists, and copy writers should establish their mastery of basics before experimenting outside the box. For the most part the important stuff is inside the box.

Guide To Think Whether Your Business Profitable?

2008-08-23T19:32:00.000+05:30

What’s your job profitability? Do you know?

Many business owners are unsure of their profitability at a company or job level. They “think” they are making money because they have a few dollars in their checking account. Having money in your checking account doesn’t mean you are profitable. It might simply mean you haven’t paid all the bills yet, so you have a little cash. Cash and profit are two different concepts. If you don’t know your exact income and expenses for each job and your overall business, then how can you know whether you are making a profit? And, if you aren’t profitable, your business won’t last long.

Analyze Each Job

Regardless of the size of your business or your industry, profitability is something you should be monitoring on a monthly basis. To determine your profit, you must know how much you make and spend on each job. Expenditures should be tracked for direct labor and material costs on each job. In addition, you should also be tracking overhead costs and allocating them to your various jobs as applicable. There is always going to be some general overhead, but too often dollars are thrown into general overhead, when those dollars could easily be attached to specific jobs.

Intuit’s QuickBooks software program has easy-to-use features that allow you to do job-costing for time and materials, so you don’t have to worry about having to track it all manually. Rely on tools to help you run your business more efficiently and effectively.

Are you curious how you are doing with job costing measurements? Here are some quick and easy questions to gauge your job costing performance:

1. Do I track each customer’s revenue information through a detailed invoice?
2. Do I have a way of breaking down my direct job materials cost by customer?
3. Do I associate all time spent to each job accurately with actual dollar amounts?
4. Do I have access to reports to monitor profitability on each job in a timely manner?
5. Do I have a way to trend the fluctuations in job profitability from job to job, month to month, etc?

If you answered “no” to any of these, then it’s time for you to take an objective look at your financial goals. It’s time for you to implement a job costing mechanism to help you answer “yes” to all these questions. How can you track your profitability and long-term growth plans if you don’t have detail at a job level?

QuickBooks Can Help

Here are some easy ways to utilize QuickBooks effectively to help you with your job-costing process:

1. Set up the QuickBooks Item list so that you’ll have both an expense and an income aspect to each of the items. This will allow you to track your costs and your income, and will provide you profit by item.
2. Record your sales through the invoicing or sales receipt process. This will record the income aspects of the items.
3. As you purchase the product or service items, make sure that you utilize the Items tab so that it will record the cost to the appropriate item. In addition, make sure to assign your customer/job information to each line item so that you’ll have the costs associated to the appropriate customer/job for job-costing.
4. Utilize the time-tracking mechanism in QuickBooks so that you and your employees can track time by item and customer/job. No dollar value is associated with this time until you actually pay the employees within QuickBooks.
5. QuickBooks has preformatted reports that you can access to have job-costing information right at your fingertips. These are found under the Reporting menu and the Jobs/Time/Mileage option.
6. QuickBooks has the ability to provide reports for any time period you select. This will allow you to have a variety of detail over the growth of your business and to produce trending reports. You can modify the report as needed to meet your needs.

A good accounting professional can help you understand what these reports are telling you, in terms that you can use. Reports alone don’t provide value if you don’t understand them. So it is key that you understand the reporting information and how you can use that information to assist you in decision-making as you grow your business profitably.

Job-costing is easier when you set-up your accounting/bookkeeping software package and know how to use it. So, challenge yourself today to become more adept at running a financially savvy business through job-costing. Then, you’ll know, without a doubt, whether your company is profitable.

About the author:
Pam helps business owners keep money from slipping through their fingers. She is a Certified Management Accountant, Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor, and Author of Out of the Red and Unlocking the Secrets of QuickBooks. For more information, you can visit our website at http://www.quickbooksinformation.com

Understanding Non-Profit Organizations

2008-08-23T18:50:00.000+05:30

Definition of Fund; Assets; and Fund Balance

According to the “Financial and Accounting Guide for Not-For-Profit Organizations” written by CPAs Gross, Larkin, Bruttomesso, and McNalley, (fifth edition, pg 25) the definition of a these three terms is as follows:

- A fund is any part of an organization for which separate account records are kept.

- Assets are valuable things owned or controlled by the organization. Types of assets include cash, investments, property, and amounts owed to the organization.

- Fund balance is the mathematical number obtained by subtracting total liabilities from total assets; it is a numerical representation of the net worth of the organization, but has no other significance. Fund balances do not exist except on paper; unlike assets, they have no intrinsic value and cannot be spent. Both assets and fund balances (as well as liabilities, revenues, and expenses) are part of the accounting records of a fund.

What are non-profit organizations?

A few years ago, a dentist client of mine, who did a lot of work for low-income patients under the California medical assistance program called “MediCal”, asked me a bizarre question. He wanted to know if he could be considered a “non-profit organization” since he did so much MediCal work. At first, I thought he was joking, but he was serious. I told him that just because he charged less for his services did not qualify him to become exempt from paying taxes. In fact, he made a very nice profit. However, this is a good example of how non-profit organizations (NPO’s) are misunderstood by a large segment of the general public.

Most countries around the world have NPO’s, but outside the U.S. they are called non-governmental organizations (NGOs) or civil society organizations. These organizations are exempt from paying taxes because they provide some sort of public benefit. They are said to enhance the fabric of society. They differ from a business organization in that there are no owners. A Board of Directors oversees operations of the organization. An Executive Director, who reports to the Board, functions like a CEO of a business. Usually there is a lengthy application process to establish the mission or purpose of the organization before exempt status is granted.

According to Independent Sector, an organization that serves as an information resource for non-profit boards, there are 1.5 million non-profits that, when combined, have general annual revenues totaling more than $670 billion dollars. They report that six percent of all organizations in the U.S. are non-profits and one in twelve Americans work for a non-profit. That’s big business and has caused profit-making businesses to become alarmed that some of these NPOs are competing unfairly. Think about a private hospital as compared to a non-profit hospital. The profits of the private hospital are taxed, but the NPO hospital can apply all their profits to higher salaries, more equipment, etc. Hence, there is high scrutiny of NPOs by the Internal Revenue Service, state Attorney General offices, private watchdog organizations, and the press.

There are all types of non-profit organizations. Public charities are exempt under the Internal Revenue Service code 501(c)(3). These organizations, such as hospitals, museums, orchestras, private schools, churches, scientific research organizations, soup kitchens, etc., obviously do much more than provide free care and services to the needy. To qualify for exempt status, these organizations must show broad public support, rather than funding from an individual source. In addition, there are private foundations, colleges, universities, social welfare organizations, professional and trade organizations, and many more. Governmental organizations such as communities and agencies are also non-profit organizations, however, their accounting and record keeping is handled quite differently from 501(c)(3) organizations.

How are non-profit books organized?

Briefly, the books of an NPO are organized in the same way as a profit-making business except for a few differences. It’s okay for a non-profit to make a profit because there may be many uses the board has planned for the extra money. But, NPOs traditionally refer to profit as “Excess Revenues over Expenses” to avoid being mischaracterized as a profit-making organization. A net loss is called “Excess Expenses over Revenues”. Recall the fundamental equation that makes double-entry accounting work:

ASSETS = LIABILITIES EQUITY

Instead of the term EQUITY, a non-profit will substitute the words FUND BALANCE or more recently NET ASSETS. The concept is still the same. After subtracting liabilities from assets the difference is what is owned by the organization. Where NPOs differ in their financial statement presentation from profit-making businesses is what is called Fund Accounting. Obviously, the presentation varies depending on the purpose and size of the organization. For instance, a Little League baseball organization may only have one fund for which they have to account. They also may not have any restrictions placed on the usage of contributions they receive. Everything is straightforward.

Or, a scientific research organization may be working on various projects at the same time with funding sources made up of private and governmental grants or contracts, private donations, sales of research documents, some of it restricted to specific expenditures and the rest unrestricted. The accounting challenge is to report the revenue and expenses accurately for each fund or project and be able to combine all the funds into one cohesive financial statement.

The problem in the past for the contributors was that they could not easily tell from the financial documents what funds were restricted and unrestricted and whether their contributions were being spent properly. The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) decided that all external accounting should be done using the “Net Assets” approach as opposed to the “Fund Balance” approach. Essentially, the net assets approach requires that the equity of the organization be presented with three classes of assets, i.e., Restricted Assets; Temporarily Restricted Assets; Unrestricted Assets. You can still use Fund Accounting for internal bookkeeping purposes, but for external reporting purposes you are required to disclose your restricted and unrestricted funds. If you have no restricted funds, then it is not much of a challenge.

One of the key factors in setting up non-profit books is a well thought out Chart of Accounts. In other words, this is choosing which general ledger accounts are the most appropriate for recording revenue and expenses, etc., and organizing them in such a way as to provide meaning. Some U.S. organizations simply follow the same format found on the 990 IRS form for non-profits. They do this so that their financial statements are in conformity with the way that return is organized. This makes it easy to transfer information from their financial statement to the 990 form.

Nevertheless, the main thing is to design your accounts so that they tell you exactly where your revenue came from and what expenses are related to that revenue. I have worked with NPOs that have not done a very good job of this in the beginning, and I can testify that it is no fun trying to straighten the accounts out later. It may be well worth the money to hire a competent accountant to guide you through the set up phase. Better yet, let your accountant review your books a couple of times a year just to make sure you are on track and save yourself some year-end grief.

About the author:
John W. Day, MBA is the author of two courses in accounting basics for non-accountants. Visit his website at http://www.reallifeaccounting.comto download for FREE his 3 e-books pertaining to small business accounting and his monthly newsletter on accounting issues. Ask John questions directly on his Accounting for Non-Accountants blog.

Managing Your Home Based Online Business

2008-08-23T17:36:00.000+05:30

I believe that if you think of your new home business as having different areas of management for you to concentrate on, you are more likely to succeed long term. If you can adopt some of the techniques of good management, you will end up with a more sound business that will stand the test of time. You will be a better decision maker, and it is decisions that dictate the progress or downfall of any business. Decision making needs to be unemotional and as scientific as possible, but as much as anything needs to be based on common sense. Good management is often a matter of common sense, and that is why I believe you, whatever your background, can run a successful business limited only by your ambitions.

The other virtue you will need in abundance is patience, and this an area where you definitely need to manage yourself. Impatience brings emotion into your decision making. It also brings self criticism, or criticism of others, when none is either deserved or necessary. Patience, realism and common sense combined will contribute greatly to making you a good business manager. With those three attributes, you will be well placed to learn the skills of management in the context of your own small business. You will be able to learn how the different functions of a business relate to each other and interact.

That is not easy, but over time, if you apply yourself, it will all fall into place. This is where patience is vital. Your age or background do not necessarily matter. I know that in my late 20’s I did not really understand business and how it all fitted together. At 30, I knew I needed some sort of professional qualification, and I decided on management accountancy. The syllabus was tough, with 18 exams over 2 and a half to 5 years. What surprised me was the variety of subjects to cover. There were exams in company law, business law, economics, corporate planning, marketing, production, decision making, cost accounting, management accounting, mathematics and statistics. Each subject was very different. Then, at the end, I suddenly realized that all of them knitted together. The ones I hated (law) and loved (marketing) all had a place in the scheme of things.

You, of course, have no need to study or be an expert in all of those things. But it does help to at least be aware that some of them are, in their own way, critical to your success. If you are taking a long term view of things, which you should be if you are serious about having your own home business, you have plenty of time to learn about those subjects that are most critical for your business:

Finance

Whatever your business, this is a very critical function for you to understand and manage, so when it comes to learning all you can, financial management is a priority. Much of this is again common sense, and realism, and there are many tools around to help you keep good financial records. But as I mentioned before, it is decisions that dictate the progress or downfall of any business. All decisions you make will have a financial impact on your business. However, good financial records alone will not bring the reward of better decision making. If you want to maximize the profits of your home business, you may find it helps to have other, non-financial records to aid your decisions. I will discuss this more in part 3 of this series of articles.

Marketing

Marketing is what I love most about business, and it is equally important to finance in all free enterprises. With an online business, the marketing side is an ever moving area of expertise. Offline, marketing has long since stabilised. Online, it has not stabilised at all; it is still developing and evolving. You need to be aware of what’s happening in the world of internet marketing, what has happened, and what is likely to happen. Always remember, though, there will always be a financial impact of your marketing decisions. You are obviously prepared to take risks, as you have started or are starting an online business at home. As the manager of your business you will need to balance the financial and marketing conflicts as they arise. You have to strike the right balance. If the finance director in you is too risk averse, you may stifle the growth of your business. If the marketing director in you is too cavalier, and unrealistic about sales prospects, you may ruin your business in one or two rash decisions. More on this in part 4.

Computing

If you are working online full time, or even part time, you will always need to be looking out for developments in the arenas of software and the internet itself, and maybe at times hardware. You may come across software that either improves your efficiency, makes life much easier or takes you into a new and better way of working. This is another area where knowledge is power. You need to be competitive, and sometimes you will come across new software that will make you more competitive. Try to keep abreast of things in the software marketplace, as it affects your business.

Time Management

While not a function like finance or marketing, when you work at home alone you will find that time management becomes key to your success and enjoyment of working from home. It is a subject you should always be aware of and make conscious decisions about. I will write more on this topic in part 5.

The above are just the key areas where you need to view your business from a management viewpoint, and the list of course is not exhaustive. However, pay attention to these from a manager’s perspective, and you should benefit in the long run. You will take the leap from being “employee” to “boss”, even if you are the only one you can be “boss” to.

About the author:
Roy Thomsitt is the owner and part author the home business websites http://www.change-direction.comand http://www.home-working-start-up.com

Guide To Business Networking

2008-08-23T12:48:00.000+05:30

Put join a group on your to do list with a big underline, star and happy face. You’ll be glad you did for more reasons than you can count. And the advice is coming from this confirmed non-networker who, in 20 years of business, considered networking a colossal waste of time. The old dog is here with a new trick.

Business networking groups bring together people who, most times, are self- employed, successful entrepreneurs or corporate folk paid truly paid for their efforts. (see commissioned salesperson) The types of businesses these networkers represent vary, but the commonality is they meet to share, learn and become better at their craft.

The networking meetings are held at times that are fairly convenient even for the most type A business owner. Early morning, mid-day or evening are the popular meeting times and all involve food of some type, contests, and sometimes cocktails.

There is a networking etiquette that is a mix of business sense and remembering what your mother taught you. Be nice. Smile. Be genuine. Don’t show up looking to dazzle everyone you meet with your slick sales pitch. To be sure, meet a lot of people, hand out a lot of cards, but give before taking. Listen more than you talk. Question more than you answer. Care about someone else and their plight.

What’s in it for me? That’s the common question in many business conversations. Here’s what you get by joining a networking group:

New contacts--what business can’t use more contacts? The fellow businesspersons you meet might be able to use your service. They also know lots of people and aren’t shy about recommending you.

You look like an expert to your customers. As you meet new professionals, you won’t hesitate to recommend them to your customers to handle tasks you don’t. Your stock will rise appreciably with your customer for being such a willing problem solver.

Education. The meetings always revolve around a guest speaker who will bring to you valuable information about topics ranging from accounting to law, sales to hiring an employee and much more.

Friendship. Everyone can use more friends. Imagine playing golf with those that share your passion.

Advice. Ask around and fellow networkers will be glad to dispense it for free and many have already faced the same situation you now have.

Find a local networking group and get involved. It will be one of the best decisions you ever made. Go ahead. Write it down. Your to do list is waiting.

About the author:
Brian Grinonneau is the general manager of McMann and Tate Advertising, an agency working exclusively with small business clients to help them cut through the clutter and stand out from the crowd.

Guide To Issue Warrants to Investors

2008-08-23T06:28:00.000+05:30

When raising capital for a business venture, warrants are a common form of equity that is given to investors. A warrant is like an option – it gives the holder the right to buy a security at a fixed or formulaic price, which is known as the "exercise" or "strike" price.

Warrants are often confused with options. Options, as used in the venture capital space, are typically long term (up to 10 years). They are also typically issued to employees versus investors. Conversely, warrants act like short-term options and, unlike employee options, can be traded as an independent security.

In general, neither the issuance of warrants nor their exercise (at least by non-employees) is a taxable event. In fact, in 1984, Congress reversed the earlier position of the IRS that the expiration of a warrant is a taxable event for the issuer. However, whenever a debt security with warrants attached is issued as a package, original issue discount problems are invited.

One type of warrant that once popular as a financing mechanism for emerging ventures is contingent warrants. These warrants become exercisable if and when the holder does something for the issuer, for example buys a certain level of product. Contingent warrants are no longer used often since the SEC ruled in favor of current and periodic recognition of expense to the issuer.

Like an option, a warrant is considered a "common-stock equivalent” for accounting purposes. And, if the warrant has been "in the money" (i.e., the exercise price is below the market price) for three consecutive months, it is deemed to impact earnings per share under the so-called treasury-stock method. That is, the warrants are considered exercised, new stock is issued at the exercise price, and the proceeds to the issuer are used to buy in stock at the market price.

Warrants are a common financing mechanism and companies seeking venture capital should consider and become knowledgeable about this type of equity device.

About the author:
GT Business Plans has developed over 200 business plans for clients that have collectively raised over $750 million in financing, launched numerous new product and service lines and gained competitive advantage and market share. GT Business Plans is the sister site of GT Venture Capital

Analyzing the Returns Of Becoming A Business Partner

2008-08-22T12:24:00.000+05:30

It’s a fact of life in the Big Four :you are there to become a partner. This expectation may not be explicit in Big Four culture, but the undercurrent is undeniable. If your every decision is not focused on becoming a “member of the firm”, your career is in perpetual jeopardy. The whole reason for your being is to attain that status.

The mystique of the partnership is evaporating, and it could change the character and composition of the Big Four fundamentally. Yes, Mr. Dylan, the times, they are a-changin’. Anecdotally, more and more senior managers talk quietly – never publicly – about what their next moves would be. Those illicit conversations occurred in hushed tones away from the office – often emerging from frank advice offered to more junior staff members.

But, where do you go?

Many senior managers are considering VP and C-level positions instead of shooting for the partnership. Citing lifestyle desires (i.e. getting off the road), earning potential, and less politically charged environments, even top-performing senior managers are exploring careers outside the Big Four.

Aside from these internal pressures, up-and-comers clearly have concerns about the resilience – and costs – of the partnership structure. Once upon a time, the partnership buy-in was considered a pristine investment opportunity. The past few years, though, have called this perception into question.

It all started with Enron.

Many of the consultants and accountants in our community are still in pain from the collapse of Andersen – especially the ex-Andersen folks who have sought refuge at the remaining Big Four. Professionals who worked at Andersen, especially former partners, are acutely aware of the risks inherent in buying into the partnership. New partners, with fewer than five years as members of Andersen, were brutalized financially. Their buy-in loans were collateralized with their partnership units. The collapse of Andersen led to a negative equity situation for them; partners owed hundreds of thousands of dollars and could not divest their units to repay the loans.

A similar fear rippled through KPMG, recently. Under investigation for selling abusive tax shelters, KPMG settled with the Justice Department. The settlement included a fine of $456 million. While KPMG avoided the fate of Andersen, the resulting fine equates to around $300 thousand for each of KPMG’s 1,600 partners.

The declining interest in firm membership is supported by potential changes in firm organization. Accenture and BearingPoint have forsaken the partnership model, and both now trade on public markets. Doubts as to the protections of the limited liability partnership model are causing the Big Four to consider incorporation – instead of partnership.

Once recognized as an elite club in the accounting and consulting industries, the major partnerships are losing their mystique. The firms themselves continue to provide the best services available on the market, but the firms themselves are undergoing a fundamental shift. Every associate used to hope to grow up to become a partner. Senior managers could taste it – and would think of nothing else.

The Big Four’s preferred structure is under attack from the outside. Once considered an almost risk-free investment, we have learned from Andersen and KPMG the contrary. This investment risk is magnified by the erosion of protections offered by the LLP structure. Greener pastures lure talent from the partnership while the legal system lays siege to this venerable institution.

About the author:
Hi! I am Thomas Johansmeyer. I am an article writer with http://www.big4.com

If you have any questions mail me at webmaster@big4.com

Business Plan A Necessity Or Burden

2008-08-22T06:21:00.000+05:30

Are you planning to start a new business? Or are you considering expanding your current business and require a bank loan or investment from outsiders?

If you are going to look for an investment of capital it is quite likely that you will be required to have a business plan. If you are starting a business, despite the work involved, a business plan can prepare you for the obstacles ahead and help ensure your success.

A business plan is something that many small businesses fail to create, however, many business owners are adamant that having a written business plan is one of the keys to their present success. Creating a business plan forces you to contemplate possible obstacles to your business and prepares you to find solutions that will help you to overcome them.

To find investors or get a bank loan, they will want to see that you have the experience or resources to run the business. They will want to see your projected income as well as your suggested repayment plan already laid out. Taking the time to do this is not only important for them, but it gives you a measuring tool to verify if your business is growing properly. You can gage your success on how close to the plan your business has actually performed. Perhaps you'll do worse, or perhaps you'll do better, either way it helps you determine how well your business is getting on.

If you have never seen a business plan before you may be concerned that is is too difficult a proposition for you to manage on your own.

While there are services available where you can hire someone to write a business plan for you, depending on your needs it may be wise to familiarize yourself with a business plan's layout. This will not only help you to provide the necessary information, but may encourage you to try your own hand at it.

There's a free tool at www.bdc.ca which will assist you in creating a business plan. Some of the topics you will be required to explain are your Market, Customer, Competition, Marketing Plan, Research & Development along with financial forecasts. You may consider hiring someone to help you with your financial sheets after completing the written part of the Business Plan.

Your Business Plan will become your guide and silent business partner - indicating where you need to improve and helping you stay one step ahead of your competition. Make it a priority to have this crucial road map for your business.

About the author:
Scott Morris's personal site on accounting business and business administration http://businessexcel.com
for more information, you can visit http://businessexcel.com

Guide to Select Whether Incorporating Your Small Business Best For You?

2008-08-22T06:19:00.000+05:30

There comes a point in time when every small business person
contemplates on whether to incorporate their business or not. A
lot of times small businesses start out sole proprietorships,
and then become incorporated as the business expands and
develops. Small business incorporating can be a difficult
decision, and with this article you’ll gain a little bit of
knowledge on the advantages and disadvantages.

There are many advantages to incorporating your small business,
but limited liability is one of the biggest advantages. When
you have sole proprietorship to the company all the liability of
the company is on the owner. When incorporating the business,
your only liability is to however much you invest in the company.

With sole proprietorship, all of your personal belongings, such
as car and home, can be turned over to help pay the debt of the
business. As a shareholder in the business, you have no
responsibility whatsoever for the debts of the business, that is
of course unless you give a guarantee.

Another advantage to incorporating a small business is the
ability to raise money so much easier. With the ability to
raise money much easier, this increases the odds of the
corporation growing and expanding. Yes, you’re saying any sole
proprietorship can borrow money and incur debt like any
corporation. However, with a corporation you can sell shares
and raise equity capital, which is a big advantage in that you
generally don’t have to repay equity capital and it has no
interest.

There are many tax advantages with becoming a corporation that
you can take a look at as well. Some of these advantages
include income splitting, potential tax deferral and more.
Along with the reasons above, a corporation can have an
unlimited life. The life of a corporation is not dependent on
particular individuals, but the company as a whole. With this,
the company has the opportunity of lasting forever just as long
merges with another company or goes bankrupt.

Now that I’ve buttered up the idea of incorporating your small
business, let’s take a look at some of the possible negatives.

As you incorporate your small business, there now will be two
tax returns to file each year, one for your personal income and
one for the corporation. This may not be a huge deal, but
unlike a sole proprietorship a corporation cannot deduct its
losses from the personal income of the owner. Plus, having
another tax return is the last thing another business owner
wants to deal with.

As a corporation is much larger and more complex then a small
business, therefore the cost to create one is much higher. Just
to set up the corporation will cost a lot more, then you have to
tack on the increased maintenance fees, accounting fees, and
more.

As with everything else, a larger business means more paperwork
that must be taken care of. Corporations must keep a minute
book, which contains the corporate bylaws and minutes from
corporate meetings. Reports and tax returns must be completed
neatly and in a timely fashion. All of the business bank
accounts and records have to be kept separate from personal
accounts and assets. That may sound like a load, but that is
just the start of the increased paperwork that comes with the
territory of incorporating your small business.

While there are many advantages and disadvantages to
incorporating your small business, the decision ultimately goes
to you. It is a decision that could make or break your
business, therefore much more research is recommended. However,
small business incorporating should be a thing that suites you
and others associated with you best.

About the author:
Small business grants and small business resources to help you start and run your own small business. Small business training, information, articles, loans, and more.
http://www.sites-plus.com

Guide To Internal Control - A Preventive Maintenance Program

2008-08-21T06:15:00.001+05:30

You read about this in every newspaper in every town in the entire country: Some bookkeeper, trusted by the owner of a small business, embezzles thousands of dollars. If the theft doesn’t put owner out of business, it certainly causes a major headache.

The reason we hear of these cases so often is that, in a small business, there may only be the owner and a bookkeeper. The owner doesn’t like doing the books, doesn’t understand them, and relies on this one person to take care of things. The bookkeeper, who is usually having personal financial difficulties, takes a small amount of money intending to pay it back. No one seems to notice, so more is taken. Over a period of time, it starts to mount up to a lot of money.

This is where the concept of “internal control” comes in. Essentially, every business should have, at some level, an internal control system in place to protect against losses, both intentional and unintentional. This is because “internal control” systems will: 1) protect cash and other assets; 2) promote efficiency in processing transactions; and, 3) ensure reliability of financial records. An internal control system consists primarily of policies and procedures designed to provide reasonable assurance that these three objectives will be achieved. The size and complexity of the business will determine the extent of the internal control system.

Regardless of size, one of the most important aspects of an internal control system is the concept of separation of duties. Separating duties makes it more difficult for theft and errors to go undetected. It is highly unusual for two employees to “collude” in an effort to steal from the company.

I worked as an internal auditor for a newspaper chain for three years. My job was to walk in to the newspaper offices unannounced and go directly to the cash boxes, count them, and verify receipts. One of my most important audit steps was to make sure the internal control procedures were in place and working properly. Here are a few suggestions for internal control procedures regarding handling of cash:

- Allow only specific designated individuals to handle cash.

- Give responsibility for bookkeeping to an individual who does not handle cash.

- Use numbered receipts to document all payments.

- Make all bank deposits promptly.

- The person who prepares the bank reconciliation should be different than the one handling cash.

- If possible, the person who makes the bank deposit should be different than the one who handles the cash and the one who prepares the bank reconciliation.

- Make deposits intact with no amounts withdrawn to pay expenses.

- Keep cash and checkbook in a locked drawer or cash register.

- Since tills will never be 100orrect all the time, establish a tolerance level for overages and shortages to determine the point at which corrective measures will be triggered.

- Make all disbursements by check, except minimal amounts paid from petty cash.

- Make certain every payment is related to a paper document, such as a voucher, to ensure that a paper trail exists for all disbursements.

- Conduct random surprise counts of petty cash and cash drawers.

- Count inventory and other assets frequently and compare with company books.

An internal control system set up early as a preventative measure is more efficient than establishing a corrective system in reaction to a loss. If it so happens, that there is just you and the bookkeeper in your small business, you need to learn how to do some of the bookkeeping tasks so you can spot check the bookkeeper’s work. That, in itself, is an excellent preventative measure.

About the author:
John W. Day, MBA is the author of two courses in accounting basics: Real Life Accounting for Non-Accountants (20-hr online) and The HEART of Accounting (4-hr PDF). Visit his website at http://www.reallifeaccounting.comto download for FREE his 3 e-books pertaining to small business accounting and his monthly newsletter on accounting issues.

Guide To Write A Quick & Effortless Business Plan

2008-08-20T19:12:00.000+05:30

If you've never written a business plan before, the idea alone can be overwhelming.

It doesn't have to be the nightmare of your imagination.

Traditionally, a business plan is used to secure funding from a lender or a potential investment partner. It serves as something akin to your business's resume, outlining the purpose and scope of your business, identifying the goals, marketing and management, and establishing a basic balance sheet.

Now, even if you aren't going to seek additional funding, even if you're going to grow your business by yourself from your office at home, you'd be wise to put together a business plan. Simply going through the process has value. It'll help you develop a clearly defined vision of what you intend to do with your business and how you intend to do it.

These are some of the questions you should already have asked and answered before you sit down to write your business plan:

== What "want" does your business fill, and what service or product will you be providing to fill that want?

== Who will be your potential customer (this should be an established, niche market with die-hard buyers).

== Why will people purchase from you as opposed to the business down the street (in other words ... what's your Unique Selling Position)?

== How do you intend to reach your customers? A storefront? An ad in the phone book? Direct mail? An Internet campaign? Selling door-to-door? A combination of these?

== Will you need additional funding and if so, how much will you need and how do you intend to secure it?

Okay, so let's take a look at what you'll want to include in your business plan.

Most business plans are structured to examine four primary areas:

1. Executive Summary - a decription of the business
2. How you intend to market the business
3. How the busines finances will be arranged and handled
4. How the busines will be managed

Let's take a further look at these.

Executive Summary: what the business will do, its Unique Selling Position, the business goals, its ownership and legal structure, your skills and knowledge and how they will benefit the business.

Marketing The Business: describe your product or service, identify your market niche, how big it is, and how you plan to reach it. Define your customer, identify your competition, detail your pricing plan, outline how you intend to attract and convert customers.

Financing The Business: estimate your start-up costs, project your monthly operating budget for the first year, outline your ROI (return on investment) and cash flow for the first year, project your income and expense balance sheet for the first two years, explain how you're going to compensate yourself, establish who will maintain the accounting records and how they'll be maintained, and if you're in need of funding, explain how much you need and how it'll be used by the business.

Managing The Business: how will the business be managed day-to-day, what the hiring and personnel procedures will be, how the products or services will be developed and how they'll get into the hands of your customers. You'll also need to account for equipment the business will need, and how insurance, rental agreements, etc. will be handled.

That's it. In a nutshell.

If you'd like to see some free sample business plans to get a better idea of how they're structured and how they read, here's a good source for you: http://www.bplans.com/sp/businessplans.cfm

About the author:
David Silva
Business Starter Tools http://businessstartertools.com

If you'd like to take the quickest, straight-as-an-arrow path to Internet success, then learn from one of the most successful Internet entrepreneurs ever, Mark Joyner:

http://businessstartertools.com/internetmanuscript

Guide To Stay Focused & Build A Successful Business Empire

2008-08-20T06:04:00.001+05:30

You have a detailed business plan, which showed the overall intent of your company. You presented the business plan to your bank before start-up and they submitted funding in the amount that you both deemed acceptable. The original business plan contained the basis of the procedures that will help you stay focussed while the company grows. Let's examine some of these processes that you will use to give your business the focus it needs to grow and succeed.

1. A marketing plan. If sales are a part of your operation (and it seems that some form of selling is always a big part of every company), then, you will need to have your sales group focussed on a marketing plan. Short term and longer-term analysis should be a part of this planning and will likely contain an analysis of your competition, market potential and sales projections. Be careful not to fall into the trap of letting “the business take care of itself”, stay focussed at all times and be sure your managers are tuned into this market monitoring regularly, nothing is more defeating to the general manager/owner than to be told by a sales manager…I didn't see that coming! YIKES!
2. Accounting procedures. If sales are important, then the need to stay focussed on receiving the proceeds from sales is equally important. Accounts payable, expenses and accounts receivable need to have fixed procedures in place to allow money to flow freely through the company coffers. Focussing on these procedures at regular weekly and monthly meetings will put the accounting and marketing groups on the same path. A rift between marketing and accounting is a common bureaucratic occurrence; so don't be surprised if one point you hear from someone from sales state, “We make the money here, how come I have to live by their rules?” Getting these two operations to stay focussed on a bottom line results oriented approach is a regular part of an owner's job description.
3. Human resources. If you have ever worked for a manager, who considered his employees as expenses rather than assets, then you will be familiar with the need for managers to stay focussed on human resources within the company. A manager who is fixated on staff reduction regardless of their accomplishments will create an atmosphere of fear. Certainly, no one wants to be grossly over-staffed, but a good owner/manager will focus on keeping adequate employee base numbers, and ensure continuing training, safety programs and top of the line employee benefits. It's your campground, why not have “happy campers?”
4. Selling your business. This does not mean selling in the true literal sense. It means focusing on being sure your company image is one that is the envy of your competitors and is known in the business world as a first class operation. You can do this by having key managers attending industry conferences. Be clear and tell them that their focus at these seminars is to network, thoroughly gathering as much new information that they can. They should also 'sell' other attendees on the importance and efficiency of their company in the industry. Upon their return, have follow-up meetings with these managers where they will report in detail on what they have learned. Managers attending conventions and seminars should take opportunities to enjoy themselves, nevertheless, they will be the “face” of your company, it's wise be sure that they focus on making them business meetings, and not all “playtime.”

If planning, organizing, staffing, direction and control are five major factors in managing a company, staying focussed throughout the process, is paramount!

About the author:
Matt Bacak became "##1 Best Selling Author" in just a few short hours.
Recent Entrepreneur Magazine’s e-Biz radio show host is
turning Authors, Speakers, and Experts into Overnight Success Stories.
Discover The Secrets http://promotingtips.com

Business Model/Guide to Start an Investment Club

2008-08-19T18:01:00.001+05:30

Your investment club will need to decide what type of entity you're going to adopt for business purposes. You'll have to decide whether you're going to be a corporation, a general partnership, or limited liability partnership.

Each of these business models has their own advantages and disadvantages.

· Corporation. Most investment clubs will avoid becoming a corporation. This is because corporations are taxable business entities that require knowledgeable accounting skills to make them run smoothly and in accord with government regulations. A corporation generally means a lot of paperwork. This paperwork can be avoided by choosing another business model for your purpose of running an investment club.

· General partnership. This type of business model requires less paperwork and knowledge about taxes and other financial issues. Most investment clubs choose a general partnership as their choice of a business entity. A general partnership has nominal paperwork and costs associated with it because the taxes are passed to each partner's tax returns. This type of business model will let you accomplish what you need to do to run your investment club with the least amount of tax influence.

· Limited liability corporations. This type of a business model is much like the general partnership but it gives individual members of your investment group a bit more liability protection. Keep in mind that this type of business entity can be expensive and will need more paperwork.

Members of your investment group will have to decide which of the above business models works best for your club.

You will have to make a decision one way or the other since establishing a business entity is a requirement for tax purposes.

About the author:
Chris Hickman owns a full info site about investment clubs. Check Out his site at http://www.ez-investment-clubs.com

Guide To Quit Your Job

2008-08-19T07:00:00.000+05:30

Do you to know without ending up on the street? In a nutshell, you need to avoid the self-employment trap, think like a business, and create multiple passive revenue streams.

Avoid the Self-Employment Trap

If you quit your job and hang up your own shingle, you might work harder for less money. You may enjoy working from home or choosing your own clients, but you might end up living from client to client without building any real wealth.

Many self-employed people I know suffer from feast or famine. They spend lots of time and money marketing their services and get lots of clients. They get really busy doing the work and stop marketing and then their prospective client pool dries up.

If you set up your business so that you do everything - marketing, sales, bookkeeping, operations, and fulfillment, then you are limiting your success potential from day one. You will spend lots of time on non-income generating activities and may get frustrated and burned-out in a short time.

The real key to successfully creating wealth outside of a job is to avoid the mistake of trading one boss for another boss. You need to stop trading your time for dollars. Stop thinking like a wage slave. Look beyond earned income.

Think Like a Business

There are many problems with earned income. The biggest one is that you are trading your time for money. If you stop trading your time, the dollars stop coming. This is a huge problem if you decide to have a baby, get sick, want to take an extended vacation, or are ready to retire.

The IRS penalizes self-employed people who operate as a sole proprietorship with a hefty self-employment tax. How can you avoid this? Well, I am not an accountant or CPA, so I am not giving legal or accounting advice, but I have learned to think like a business. Before you quit your job, interview local tax advisors to educate yourself on different business entities and tax strategies. Start thinking big.

Build a Company with Multiple Passive Income Streams

You need to build a company that works for you. My best advice on how to quit your job is to build a business that offers multiple streams of passive income in addition to your earned income. There are so many exciting ways to design your income portfolio. It requires imagination, courage and planning.

Structure your business so that your daily activities are fun and challenging. Identify the things that you don’t enjoy or are not good at and find other people to do these activities – outside partners, independent contractors, or employees.

How to Quit Your Job

My advice for how to quit your job is to avoid thinking that you have to do everything yourself to make your new enterprise run. Think big! Set up systems and structures that work for you so you don’t have to work so hard. Incorporate and make the tax system work for you. Design your work around multiple passive income streams to support your active work. And finally, have fun!

About the author:
Find out how to break free from the corporate world. Debra Thorsen is a happy corporate escapee who helps individuals create real wealth and happiness without 9 to 5 jobs. Visit for free tips on career change, wealth building, and living without fear.

Guide to Choose the Right Accounting Software for Your Business

2008-08-19T06:00:00.000+05:30

With any good luck and a good amount of hard work, you're having the same problem many business owners today are facing. Your business is growing rapidly and you're having problems controlling your finances. Time and time again, that Microsoft Excel spreadsheet you've been using just isn't getting the job done for you.

So, you’ve decided that you’re ready to take the next step, and buy a full-featured accounting software program. Many options are available to choose from, but I believe the best solutions to be Quicken Premier Home and Business by Intuit, QuickBooks Pro also by Intuit, and Peachtree Accounting by Sage. In order to decide on the right package for you, you need define the type of business that you operate.

With the rise of self-employment (businesses with one or more owners but no paid employees) a need has arisen to manage business and personal finances on one platform. Intuit has released Quicken 2005 Premier Home and Business to fill this need.

This software is perfect for the small business owner who receives income from investments, real estate, and/or internet
marketing. Also, Quicken 2005 Premier Home and Business is well priced at only $89.95.

For more typical brick-and-mortar business owners, you will usually need a more robust solution like QuickBooks Pro or
Peachtree Accounting for functions like payroll reporting and check producing. Each piece of software has its advantages,
but don't forget that QuickBooks has been the standard in business accounting software for many years now. As for features and basic operations, both applications will provide you the same functionality and convenience for your business.

One additional factor to consider in your decision is that Peachtree Accounting is less expensive than QuickBooks. Both
starter versions of Peachtree and QuickBooks are priced at $99.95 each, but the full-featured version of Peachtree is priced at only $199.95 while the full-featured QuickBooks Pro is priced at $299.95.

At the end of the day, the biggest advantage QuickBooks offers over Peachtree is compatibility with other applications. For example, most commercial banks (Bank of America, SunTrust, etc...) provide you with files designed to work directly with

QuickBooks, so that you can read, study, and decipher transaction details. Also, some banks will allow you to update account information in real-time with QuickBooks. Check with your bank to see what accounting software their online services support, and you should be able to make your decision.

About the author:
Brandon Hall owns http://www.accountingsoftwareportal.comwhich is a site dedicated to providing resources, links, articles, and news related to accounting software products.

The Goodness of Starting A New Business

2008-08-19T01:31:00.000+05:30

So you had that fantastic business idea, the one that's going to be wildly successful and make you a fortune - even better, you actually did something about it and started your own business. Good for you! Not everyone gets that far. Most people sit and day dream about what they might do if only ....

"The world is full of dreamers, there aren't enough who will move ahead and begin to take concrete steps to actualize their vision" - W. Clement Stone

But you got over the biggest hurdle, that first step and you actually created something.

Well done - you did more than most. Now you have the day to day details of running your business so how do you keep going?

There are several things to look at here:

1. What are you good at and what do you enjoy doing? Make two lists - one of the jobs you like and one of the jobs you don't do very well. Take the second list and have a look at what you might outsource or automate. Do you love doing those accounts or would your time be better spent in forward planning while your accountant does the sums? Must you personally reply to every enquiry or could you create a FAQ which you can post on your website and refer people to by autoresponder? In the early stages of your business you might find you don't have the money to pay someone to do the jobs you hate. Could you swap skills to get the help you need?

2. Why are you doing this? You need to be motivated to start a business and keep it going. The best way to do this is to know what the effort is for. What really moves you to get up in the morning and do what you need to do even when you don't really feel like it? Write your reasons down. Find pictures of that house, or that holiday and put them where you can see them.

3. How do you deal with those bumps in the road? Not everything you do will be perfect - sometimes things you've tried will be a disaster - it's the way you react to problems that matters. If you curl up in a ball and give up at the first sign of failure you'd better not be in business. It's all about attitude.

4. Have a plan and stick to it as far as possible but be prepared to be flexible and open minded. Sometimes the most unexpected opportunities come and you need to be ready to seize them. - as Joe Vitale says 'Money likes speed'.

5. Get a mentor - learn from someone who has done it. Someone to bounce ideas off and who can encourage you when things get tough is invaluable.

And most importantly, never let anyone put you down and never be afraid of failure:

"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who, at worst, if he fails at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat" - Theodore Roosevelt.

Don't ever forget that!

About the author:
Check out http://www.yoaccountant.comwith your host, Sintilia Miecevole and enjoy the wealth of information from careers, salaries, auditing, CPAs, consulting and taxes to resumes,forensic accounting and more. Click on to http://www.yoaccountant.comfor further information.

Guide To Select A Good Laptop Bag

2008-08-18T09:00:00.000+05:30

Here is the latest and accurate assistance relating to laptop bags. When you are on the lookout for excellent information relating to laptop bags, you'll find it's complex sorting out the best information from unprofessional laptop bags proposals and guidance so it is important to know how to judge the advice that is offered.

Here's a few tips which we sincerely believe you should use when you're searching for information about laptop bags. You need to understand that the advice we present is only relevant to web based information about laptop bags. We do not offer you any advice or guidance for conducting research offline.

A good hint to follow when offered help or advice concerning a laptop bags site would be to confirm the sites ownership. This could reveal the people behind the website laptop bags authority The quickest way to work out who owns the laptop bags web site is to find the sites 'about' page.

All decent sites providing information on laptop bags, will nearly always have an 'about' or 'contact' page which will record the owner's details. The info should make known major points about the site owner's capability. This permits you to make an informed assessment about the vendor's education and practical knowledge, to give recommendations about laptop bags.

Guide To Get Better Results With Resumes

2008-08-18T08:00:00.001+05:30

Is every job description you read the same? No.

Is every job you submit your resume to the same? Of course they aren’t.

If all these job descriptions are different, why do you submit the same resume?

Every day, people send the same generic resume out as though each position was identical and each employer was attempting to hire identical skills and attributes. Too often, the results they receive are like the broken watch that is right twice a day—hit or miss success.

They list their name, address, phone numbers and email address, list an objective, education, and chronology of experience with dates of employment. The resume includes some successes or accomplishments. This is their resume.

In the days prior to computers when changing a resume required you to re-type different versions, this made sense. Today, when computers allow you to customize, spell and grammar check documents so easily, you are missing out on opportunities and costing yourself money by being lazy and not tailoring your resume for each opportunity you are interested in.

Here are several steps that you can do to improve your resume and get better results.

1. Each employer will be interested in different attributes of your experience. They often indicate it by the items they describe in their job ad. Emphasize the experiences that you have that relate to the skills being sought and the functions you will perform in the job they will ask you to perform. If you are applying for a staff position, emphasize your staff experience and minimize your management experience. If you are being hired to be a leader, write about your recent leadership.
2. Employers are more interested in recent work, rather than work you did many years ago. Use more space in your resume to highlight recent experience, rather than things you did before George W. Bush became President.
3. Like setting a goal where you make them specific, measurable, achievable within a specific period of time, describe your successes or achievements concretely. Reducing costs is a nice start but it is more powerful to describe something as reducing operational costs globally by 2%. Increased departmental sales by 27% resulting in . . . You get the idea. Use action verbs wherever possible (For more on this, read my article, Preparing an Effective Resume” on www.newyorkmetrotechnologyjobs.com).
4. Ask someone you trust to critique what you’ve written. Too often, people believe that they can do everything by themselves without asking for help. Ask a friend in your industry to critique what you’ve written to insure you’re on target and aren’t missing the mark.

When you go to a restaurant and order a meal, you have the expectation that it will be prepared in a way that will please you and be presented on the plate beautifully. Writing a great resume requires that you be the chef and prepare a meal that is both visually appealing and tastes great too!

Jeff Altman
Concepts in Staffing
jeffaltman@cisny.com

Benefits Of Incorporating A Company Offshore

2008-08-18T07:00:00.002+05:30

When it comes to the term ‘offshore’ used in conjunction with company incorporation, the term ‘offshore’ generally refers to any jurisdiction other than one in which the company incorporated will conduct the majority of its activities.

Usually such a jurisdiction has some degree of taxation or reporting benefit attached that makes it attractive to the company owner, and the concept of incorporating a company offshore will bring at least one of the following five benefits to a business owner: -

1) Ease of Operations – depending on the jurisdiction and the type of business activity to be conducted under the company name to be incorporated, the operating restrictions, auditing and accounting requirements and standards to which the business and its employees and directors must adhere are often far less restrictive offshore than onshore.

Exceptions to this rule are financial services based companies in many jurisdictions for example, who have to comply with extra regulatory legislation for the protection of the company’s clientele.

The advantage of easing operations particularly for a small or start up company is a reduction in operating costs and in the amount of time a company’s directors have to dedicate to form filling and report filing.

2) Reporting Simplification – this ties in with the first benefit; in the majority of offshore jurisdictions favoured for company incorporation the company activity reporting requirements are often far fewer and simpler as the business activities entered into by the company are conducted outside of the jurisdiction in which it is incorporated.

Furthermore personal information relating to the company’s directors and shareholders need not be declared in all cases or the extent to which personal information is required is far less intrusive.

3) Taxation Reduction/Negation – the reduction in taxation liability is one of the main benefits associated with investing offshore, opening an offshore bank account or incorporating a company offshore.

If you set up your company in a low or no tax jurisdiction you could potentially save yourself substantial amounts of money legally. Often the rules are that if the company incorporated in a particular jurisdiction never derives an income from the local economy it can operate tax free.

It’s therefore possible to use an offshore company in an overall international business structure and ensure profits are posted in the offshore jurisdiction and so no tax is liable! Many international corporations operate in this way and actually negate their tax liability fully.

4) Asset Protection – by operating a company offshore, i.e., outside the jurisdiction in which the company operates, it is sometimes possible to position assets away from the reach of any potential litigious action and also to shield business transactions from the eyes’ of the competition.

5) Personal Privacy Protection – the level to which a director or shareholder’s personal information is required, held, visible or investigated offshore is likely to be far less invasive and intrusive than onshore. It is also possible to appoint nominee directors and secretaries for offshore companies in many jurisdictions thus keeping the true company owner’s identity shielded.

The information contained in this article cannot constitute advice. Each individual’s circumstances are unique and whether or not offshore company incorporation is something that could benefit your business can only be determined with personal advice.

About the author:
Rhiannon Williamson is a freelance writer whose many articles about the offshore world have appeared in business and financial publications around the world. To find out more about Offshore Company Incoporation visit www.ShelterOffshore.com

Leardership Secrets To Handle Tough Situations

2008-08-18T06:00:00.000+05:30

We consistently face new and ever growing challenges in the workplace such as reorganizing, downsizing, and “left out sizing.” We are faced with the question, “How do we lead in this storm of change?” It may seem difficult at times and the decisions we make define our short-term and long-term outcomes. I will share with you five leadership techniques guaranteed to keep you on track during these difficult times.

1 Integrity.
I put this first because the lack of integrity will make or break you as a professional, as a leader, as a person in the long run. The lack of this will turn yesterday’s heroes in today’s villains. For example, “MCI was the apple of the business community’s eye. High revenues, high profits, and high growth; MCI was beating the competition hands down.

Then it was discovered that there were gross accounting irregularities that accounted for the astounding profits. You see, management made a decision, “Do I continue to sustain good growth and be able to look at myself in the mirror or do I cook the accounting books and spend the rest of my time covering up this integrity deficiency? The real shame of the MCI situation was that AT&T, Sprint, and others in the industry had to cut costs and lay off thousands of employees to compete with MCI’s false numbers. The lack of integrity at MCI not only affected the company but also the livelihood of thousands and the industry as a whole.

I was recently speaking with a recently retired City Council member who is well respected in the community. I asked her what the secret was to her success while on the council? She mentioned that one of her political adversaries said to her, “While you were on the council, I didn’t like the way you voted, but I respected the way you voted because you were consistent with your votes and had the city’s best interest in mind.”

Ask yourself what decisions that you make are right for the long term? Be consistent in your actions, whether it is with management, your team, or your family.

2. Knowledge.
With change happening faster and faster every moment, it is extremely important that you gain the knowledge to master these changes. You owe it not only to yourself, but to your team and management. As I always say, “It’s not having the right answer, it’s that you have the right answer faster than before.” Many times during my teambuilding programs a student will say, “I didn’t know where to find the answer.” Then I will say, “That is an unacceptable answer.” Because part of being a leader is acquiring the skills to find the right answers. With the Internet, classroom and online training, mentors, etc., the knowledge is at your fingertips.

Challenge your team members to use the same resources to acquire the knowledge to master their challenges. By acquiring this knowledge, you will be able to navigate your team through the ocean of change and achieve your goals.

3. Decisiveness.
You have seen them. They wait for information, then more information before making a decision. Then they need more information to support the information they already have.Then they need a committee to analyze the information. Then they wait for the perfect time to make the decision.

Well, you know what I mean. Anyone you know? Make the decision! Good things happen when you take action; you grow, you adapt, and your team grows. There is no perfect time to make a decision. Leaders make decisions based on past experience, putting into action the decision, and staying and adapting the decision if needed. But make the decision. The worst quality you can show your team is indecision. What do you think your team sees when you can’t make a decision? Make the decision and go for it.

4. Vision.
This is the ability not only to see what is the present - anyone can do that - it’s the ability to see the future. Outstanding leaders can not only see their team for what they can do now, but what they can become, and paint the picture for them. These leaders are consistently communicating and coaching their team members to that vision. One of the best ways, and least used methods, to convey your vision is the team meeting.
Every meeting should start out with the team vision, mission, and goals; and the rest of the meeting should tie into the vision. For example, the motivation portion of the meeting should tie into the vision, the information portion of the meeting should tie into the vision, the training portion of the meeting should tie into the vision, etc. Also, invest time to develop your team members’ personal visions and show them how they can accomplish their personal goals by tying into the overall vision. By consistently communicating the vision, your team will move with purpose, feel they are personally making a difference, and achieve their goals sooner.

5. Unselfishness
Stephen Covey, in his successful book Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, wrote that a true leader must be a servant to the ones he or she leads. The leader must be able to “give of oneself for the good of the team.” In other words, be unselfish in words and action. Be unselfish in praise of others, in public, especially in front of management.
Be unselfish in the ability to take time to listen, really listen to your team’s concerns. A recent management survey said that the average time management invests doing “pure listening” to employees during the year is a mere two hours- just two hours! What was meant by “pure listening” time was listening with eye contact, acknowledgement, and not answering the phone while listening, not speaking with another person while listening, etc. Be unselfish in the ability to help your team. Whether it’s the ability to readily assist with a difficult telephone call, jump in and remove road blocks for team members, or “be there” for a team member during challenging moments. Believe me, your team will remember those moments and excel for you.

Now I challenge you to put into action just one of the leadership techniques I mentioned above to achieve your vision, your mission, and your goals in the future.

Copyright © 2003 Ed Sykes. All rights reserved

About the author:
Ed Sykes is a professional speaker, author, and success coach in the areas of leadership, motivation, stress management, customer service, and team building. You can e-mail him at mailto:esykes@thesykesgrp.com, or call him at (757) 427-7032. Go to his web site, http://www.thesykesgrp.com,and signup for the newsletter, OnPoint, and receive the free ebook, "Empowerment and Stress Secrets for the Busy Professional."

Guide To Increase Your Consulting Income Heavily

2008-08-18T03:38:00.000+05:30

Here are just a few ways to increase and diversify your
income from your consulting business.

1. Sell More Services to Your Existing Clients

Instead of spending all that time and money trying to get
new business, why not try to sell more services to your
existing client base?

If you are an accounting and tax consulting firm, for
example, you likely have clients who need some assistance
in their record keeping and documentation. In addition to
your year-end tax services, could you provide monthly
bookkeeping and financial statements, accounting system
setups, training in accounting software, or other services
to assist your client?

Monthly services, in addition to annually billed fees, will
help you smooth out your cashflow and minimize the seasonal
nature of your business.

2. Mass Market Your Advice by Productizing Your Services

Could you produce a folio, special report, newsletter,
e-book, book, audio cassette, video, or course? If so, you
could enjoy making money even when you're not billing for
your time. While asleep or on vacation, the sale of your
information products could be generating additional income
for you.

Sell such products through direct mail, mail order,
exporting, and Internet marketing (your own website,
your own affiliate programs, eBay auctions, and so on).

As well as the passive, residual income that information
products can produce for you, they also help establish your
credentials as an expert. This, in turn, produces more
consulting opportunities for you.

3. Perform Group Consulting

Seminars, workshops, and teleclasses enable you to help
many participants in a cost-effective manner. In addition
to paying for admission, your attendees may also purchase
some of your information products or even become your
regular consulting clients.

4. Consider Additional Markets

Could you sell your consulting services to federal, state,
provincial, or municipal governments? Could you be an
expert trial witness?

If you consult with local clients, could you extend your
reach nationally or internationally by using the telephone
and Internet?

These few ideas are a starting point for you to brainstorm
all the possibilities for exploding your consulting income.

About the author:
RESOURCE BOX:

J. Stephen Pope, President of Pope Consulting Inc.,
has been helping clients to earn maximum business profits
for over twenty-five years.

For more information about profitable consulting and other
Work at Home Small Business Ideas, visit:
http://www.yenommarketinginc.com/consulting.html

Accounting is the New Choice For Majors

2008-08-18T01:27:00.001+05:30

There was a time when accounting was the boring college major that many people regretted signing up for. A constant barrage of numbers, statistics and spreadsheets was none too interesting.

Boy, have times changed! Thanks to recent accounting scandals by companies like Enron, there is a high demand for accountants and auditors.

According to the Job Outlook 2005 survey, accounting comes out on top as the most in-demand major on college campuses. Forget dot com start ups. Cleaning up a company’s accounting books is what’s in.

But can accounting be sexy?

“All the focus on accounting created a perception to students that accounting matters and is perhaps even sexy,” says Ira Solomon, head of the department of accountancy at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Colleges are scrambling to find more accounting teachers and professors to replace those retiring. Not an easy task, since there are twice as many accounting faculty openings than applicants to fill them.

Here are the top 10 most in-demand college majors as surveyed by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE):

1) Accounting
2) Electrical Engineering
3) Mechanical Engineering
4) Business Administration/Management
5) Economics/Finance
6) Computer Science
7) Computer Engineering
8) Marketing/Marketing Management
9) Chemical Engineering
10) Information Sciences and Systems

If you’re good with numbers and a stickler for details, you might want to consider accounting as a good career choice. However, you’ll probably have to take a number and wait in line behind all those other future accountant hopefuls.

About the author:
***********************
Copyright 2004
Donna Monday writes employment related articles for
http://www.get-a-job-interview-quick-tips.com

Dont Kill Your Good Marketing Kills By Workload - Balance Your Life

2008-08-17T23:35:00.000+05:30

You need an extra effort not the extra workload. Today when competition is high and consumers have many options to choose, an extra effort towards improvement of your product, managing your customers and taking care of other aspects of your business will give you advantage over your competition. You need to multiply your time may be you can keep your margin low, but will give you more volume and increase in your turnover.

Most SME’s start well during there initial stage of launching the business but looses its consistency do to pool of workloads on its day today life. It is often seen that hiring more employees gives extra load on limited earning resources resulting less revenue than expected. You need to put more efforts on Marketing and concentrate on your other activities so that you can do business with an ease. Outsourcing is one of the solutions for small and medium business entities too, that give them more opportunity to utilize there valuable time on marketing and other efforts. (Provided they get an honest an able outsourcing partner.)

Outsourcing is hiring a third party service provider to participate as a team member in your organization and share your workload. You may need to outsource your projects to save your time and get an expert professional to do the job for you. It is helpful to you in terms of, managing and multiplying your time so that you can focus on other important activities of your business needs. This is another effective tool to stay ahead with your competitions. By sharing your workload you get enough time to manage your business and think of its better promotions. You can outsource many things mainly your daily business activities i.e. accounting, document processing, Web site maintenance, Secretarial work, or other works need manual operations as well as marketing services. Below are some reasons to give an idea about benefits of outsourcing.

1.You save time in finding, interviewing and selecting the new employees by hiring an agency or search for your own.

2.You save time on providing them proper training as well as they need to adjust with your work culture too.

3.You can save your time, which you need to do all time-consuming paperwork requires hiring a permanent employee to your organization.

4.You do not need to buy extra equipments for your existing setup.
5.You save cost in your daily office expenses as well as recurring employee charges i.e. Taxes, Insurance, Medical, leave and many more.

6.You can utilize your time in better way and can deliver better output for your business.

7.If you are a contractor, you can hire a subcontractor and focus on more orders.

8.If you are marketing professional you can double your marketing efforts and can have a wider reach.

9.You will be giving the extra efforts, which all are needed in present competition, to develop your business and getting more volume of works.

10.You will be getting a professional who has expertise in his own field and can deliver you better output.

There are many more reasons why you need to outsource your projects. Today time management is an important aspect of your business. There are many instance of SME’s growing to a large business houses simply multiplying there existing time.

About the author:
Arun Tibrewal [ www.arun.info] is an online marketing promotions specialist since 1998 and promoting KPO WEB [ www.kpoweb.com] A knowledge process outsourcing company. Permission is granted to reprint this article as long as the resource box should keep intact.
http://www.kpoweb.com>>Outsourcing services
http://www.arun.info>> Honest Online Marketing Guide

Analyzing the Need for Accounting Software For Small Firms

2008-08-17T20:33:00.000+05:30

If you’re anything like me then you dislike with a vengeance doing your accounts and taxes.

So how can you make this process easier, less painful and cut your accountancy fees?

Well buying an accounting software package is one way.

First of all you need to decide whether you are going to keep your accounting records manually, that is using pen and paper, or whether you are going to computerize the process.

If you decide that computerizing the process is the way to go then you need to decide whether to buy an accounting software package, for example Sage or Quicken, or whether a spreadsheet, such as Microsoft Excel will suit your needs better.

As a general rule if you are a cash business that just needs to record income and expenditure then you are better off using a spreadsheet.

So, should you choose an accounting software package? Yes if:

· You have customers to whom you extend credit and you buy goods in the same way

· You process in excess of 50 transactions per month

· Your business is an Incorporated Company (Limited Company in the UK)

and

· You are computer literate or are willing to learn!

Before choosing the accounting software, speak to your accountants – they will be familiar with the various accounting software packages on the market and will be able to advise you. Most accountants use software in their office to process the bookkeeping for their clients and will have a working knowledge of the accounting software package they use. It may be cheaper for you to use the same one they do, because they can advise you how to get it up and running and will be on hand to answer questions, plus at your financial year end when your accounts need preparing it will be less expensive, believe me to have a compatible program.

I also recommend doing some research yourself, you may be able to obtain a demonstration disk or download of the most popular accounting software packages and this will give you an idea of how they work and if they are user-friendly.

The cost may also be an issue, so you need to decide on your budget. But consider how your business is likely to expand - you may outgrow that budget accounting software quickly and end up buying the more expensive one anyway.

Accounting software providers may also try and up-sell you a maintenance contract. Save your money! In my experience the established software providers will not have bugs in their systems. They will also try and upgrade you to the next version on a regular basis, but if the software is doing everything you need then there is no need to upgrade.

Of course, you could also pay someone to do your accounts for you, either your accountant or a bookkeeper – the payoff being you don’t have to do it yourself and it frees you up to actually run your business!

Copyright © Jakki Francis,(UK), 2005

About the author:
This article is copyrighted. Please feel free to use it in it's entirety including copyright information and information about the publisher. Jakki Francis operates the website http://www.accountingsoftware-reviews.com

To Improve Organistion Keep A Company/Employee Handbook Handy

2008-08-17T18:28:00.000+05:30

A business is only able to grow as fast as the internal organisation is able to process higher volumes of sales. But how to get an optimal internal organisation? Well, you will need to adapt your internal organisation over and over again. It’s a never ending story. However, a Company/Employee Handbook could assist you to achieve the best internal business organisation.

This brings up the question, What has to be included in a Company/Employee Handbook? Everything what has influence to your business operation. First of all, it has to be outlined which areas the Company/Employee Handbook will cover. As it has to do with internal operation, here is a list of items you should include:

- Company Background Information (Name-Development, Foundation date and place, History-Milestones, Vision)
- Owner and/or Manager Bios/Profiles
- Listing of Officers and Board of Directors
- Employment Roles (Job Roles, Job Descriptions)
- Description of the main products and services (just use your marketing material)
- FAQ (about internal subjects only)
- Company timeline (What, when, where)
- Office procedures (Workflow-Information, Working Procedures)
- List of persons to know (Bank Contact, Tax Advisor, Laywer, Main Suppliers, etc.)
- Overview of agreements (Rental, Leasing, etc.)
- Internal Policies (Dress code, Phone usage and answering, Voice Mail Procedure, Parking,
Business Cards, Drug Policy, etc.).

The above list shows which information should be included. The following list shows which departments should be included:

- Distribution
- Inventory/Warehouse
- Marketing (How Follow-up’s are handled, Lead-Generation, etc.)
- Customer Support
- Research and Development
- Accounting
- Human Resources
- Purchase/Procurement.

The above two lists just show, how complex it could be to setup a Company/Employee Handbook. But it don’t have to be complex, just start partial. Only include the information which are already available and use the help of your employees. The benefits of having a Company Handbook are numerous, your employees will save time, it will be easier to improve procedures, because the procedures will be broken down into small sections of the whole precodures. Everything is clearly described, so nobody needs to ask over and over again. In case of holiday or illness of an employee, others could jump into the job, because they could be trained faster.

As employer, you could hire employees with lower education. And your employees will love it, because they know where to look, when they have questions and they could improve their working environment as well. But the most advantage for the owner is, that the organisation will be able to work properly, when the business grows and when the owner might sell the business one day, it might get sold easier, because of the proper organisation.

When installing a Company Handbook, you will find procedures you could automate. Automating the operation as much as possible will also be a big benefit, because employees and employer are able to focus their workforce on more important topics, such as improving the sales volume. Furthermore automatization will reduce to cost of operation as well.

A Company/Employee Handbook is a bit like a Business Plan, but far more detailed, because it will contain information on every internal procedure. Only the financial part of the business plan will not be included, but if you like you might include some financial information you like to share with your employees. As you describe your procedures just do it as a numeration or listing. The description don’t have to be very well formed, it’s just important that everyone who will read it, is able to understand what has to be done.

Remember, a Company Handbook is a living system, if you and your employees are not updating it regularly, it will be death one day, because it will only contain old stuff. So keep all people within your business engaged in improving the Company Handbook, because it will improve your business internal organisation as well. While starting to write the content of your Company Handbook, concentrate on job roles at first, afterwards write down job descriptions, in case a job role has been given to employees twice (Accounting Staff, etc.). Job Roles need to include the duties and the responsebilities of the described job.

Job Roles, Job Descriptions and Workflow-Descriptions of sepcial procedures don’t have to be the same, but take care that the information is consistent, that means that it is written in a stream. This way the entire Company Handbook will be of benefit for everyone. When rereading something on your Company Handbook and you still have questions, than the entry is not finished.

Last but not least, your Company/Employee Handbook should be available everytime. To do this, think about an Internet or Intranet Solution, depending on the size of your business. Keep it simple and slim, and you will have many benefits from it. Good Luck.

About the author:
Stephan Szugat is founder of abenetis a web-based service about Business Management Solutions. He has approx. 15 years experience in the Finance and Accounting Area from companies of different size and from various industries. http://www.abenetis.com

Guide to Stop Fraud Waste and Abuse

2008-08-17T18:08:00.001+05:30

Each year, businesses write-off six percent of revenue to waste, fraud and abuse. But why would managers throw all that hard-earned money away when there is a reliable way to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse using accounting policies & procedures to create internal controls. Internal controls eliminate uncollectible receivables; prevent theft or embezzlement; optimize inventory; and stop waste, fraud, and abuse. Utilizing just a single control will add real money to your bottom line each month.

Look for Easily Customizable MS-WORD files to Save Time

You can quickly and easily develop customized procedures and internal controls for your organization, no matter what size it is. WORD templates reduce the stress of writing clear internal controls, policies or procedures; of staying late at the office to research “best practices” or of worrying over what format to use.

Use Prewritten Text by Industry Experts

It's much easier to edit prewritten controls than to develop them from scratch. Let experienced CPAs, auditors, and business process experts think through the steps for each procedure or form. Then, save even more time by using the resulting content that technical writers have edited in MS-WORD instead of re-entering the text.

Vital Procedures Resource used by Thousands

Accounting Policies and Procedures is one such vital resource used by thousands of executives and managers to strengthen their financial operations. Such a manual contains an introduction to accounting, an explanation of how to create your own controllers manual, an example of a complete prewritten manual, ample policies, procedures and forms for the most common processes (revenue, cash, assets, purchasing and administration), a detailed index to every keyword, phrase and regulation used, plus a Guide to Embezzlement Prevention.

Examples for Every Owner or Executive

Every month executives share their stories about satisfying their auditors with new controls, of increased earnings found in their business and how much time was saved. So, if you want to increase the profits of your business then consider an Accounting Policies & Procedures manual.

Help Your Business Grow Now

Can you afford to let a single precious hour pass without finding out what Policies and Procedures can do for your business?

About the author:
Chris Anderson has over 18 years of sales, marketing and business management experience working with business process design, software and systems engineering for over ten years. He is also co-author of policies and procedures manual products, producing the layout, process design and implementation to increase performance.
Visit: http://www.bizmanualz.com?src=ART68

How to Choose A Business Tax Service

2008-08-17T17:26:00.000+05:30

There are a number of ways that you can find tax services companies. The yellow pages is a good place to start for companies in your area but, depending on where you live, the list of names may be extremely long. It is a good idea to ask your friends, colleagues and business partners to recommend the tax services that they have found helpful and efficient in the past. Then you can call the tax services professionals that you have on your list and discuss your requirements.

The first step in finding the best tax services for your needs is deciding what level of help you require. Perhaps you simply need someone who can file a simple tax return but has to wade through your slightly disorganised accounting documents, or maybe you have a number of employees and need
assistance sorting out their tax withholdings or you may even want all of these tax services, and more. The size of the tax services company may also be an issue. You may want one person to be able to perform all of your tax work, especially if you are only a small business owner or you may want a team of tax professionals and you want to find tax services that have a number of specialists available. Once you have identified the type of tax services then you can begin your search more easily. Your available tax services budget is obviously going to be an issue but you should try to allocate as much money as possible to ensure that you can afford the best possible tax services. Remember that you can incur heavy fines if you have incorrectly filed your tax return or are late paying any type of tax that your business is liable for.

Apart from professional qualifications and references one of the most important points to consider when assessing which of the tax services companies you want to use is whether you feel comfortable with the person you are dealing with. At the end of the day you are going to trust them with your financial records and it is essential that you feel that you can depend upon the person.

Every business, at some time, needs the help of some type of tax services at some stage. Large organisations usually have their own tax services department with accountants and tax lawyers but small companies often have to hire tax services on a regular basis to help keep their tax returns and other issues in order. It is important to know how to find the best tax services, no matter what type of business you are involved with.

About the author:
Learn more about Tax Software and gain access to a wide variety of resources at http://www.alltaxsoftware.info.You'll find articles, resources and links to helpful sites.

Asset & Liability Basics

2008-08-17T05:16:00.000+05:30

Knowledge of accounts can make life much easy. If you are to invest in a new business or joining your forefather’s business, planning to take some loan, looking for job in any marketing company, desire to be the manager of a multinational company or have the onus to manage your own assets and liabilities, knowing some basics of accounts becomes mandatory.

Broadly, accounting is bifurcated into two categories-

Cash Bases Accounting

Accrual Accounting

The Cash Based accounting pertains to the management of an individual’s personal monetary transactions. In this case, he keeps a track of the money he withdrew, deposited, gave or received from someone etc. This accounting comes to life when actual cash transactions take place.

The Accrual Accounting requires an accountant who notes the transactions even if no money has been actually exchanged. This method works on the principle of comparing or seeing the ratio of the expenses to expenditure. If the expenditure is more, you need to cut down your luxuries, if not then it’s always good to have some savings for future. This type of accounting tells you the amount that you owed; this might not match with the figure of your bank balance.

In the language of accounting there are several key terms that one needs to be familiar with. Some of the crucial ones are discussed below-

The Assets- the assets are generally those possessions of an individual that have a good market value or are quite valuable. Assets are mainly classified into three types-
Current Asset- the cash is the most basic asset of any individual. The money that is being held in accounts like the checking and savings accounts is also included in the cash. Also inclusive are the marketable securities in the form of bonds, stocks, shares etc. The money lent or payments due from clients, even form a part of it.

Fixed Asset- comprises of all the tangible valuable things like property, machines, equipments, land and the like that are not meant to be sold.

Intangible Asset- incorporates all the untouchable things like copyrights, patents, trademarks etc. that have tremendous monetary significance.

The law of opposites governs the nature; where there are assets, there will be liabilities. These are the debts that you have to pay back to your creditors. This can be done through giving cash or any other asset like jewelry, some other goods etc. Liabilities again are of two kinds-

1. The Current Liabilities- the liabilities that are to be paid back within a certain time limit and most often through your current assets. These include the accounts payable i.e. type of bill that you have to monthly, the Notes Payable-loans taken from banks meant to be repaid within 30 days and the Accrued Expenses- the compulsory expenses like taxes, wages, interests etc. where the bills are not received but the balances of each must be repaid.

2. Long Term Liabilities- those debts that can be repaid at ease for the tenure is more then a month.

The Financial Capital- is the economic capital. It is any liquid medium or merchandise that stands for wealth or other styles or capital. There are four ways to manage and display the financial capital. First, this capital is needed when a contract is made with any sort of capital asset. The financial instruments work in the form of currency in case of sale, purchase or trade of goods i.e. the medium exchanges. Second, it works as a settled medium or mode like gold for the
Standard of Deferred Payment. Third, The Unit of Account has a market value attached to it which in turn varies with the economy of the country. Fourth, The Source of Value is concerned with financial capital that needs to be saved and recovered. It is a collection of things like gold, real estate, collectibles etc.

Petty Cash is an important factor in business. It is the smallest account within a business setting or the cash in bills and coinage required to pay little expenses.

Types of Business- there are several kinds of business one should be aware of like

Sole proprietorship- where a single individual who starts the business owns it too.

Partnerships- the companies or businesses started by two or more persons where they conjointly own it.

Corporations- involve lot many shareholders or investors who are responsible in taking decisions for the company.

Limited Liability Companies- can be said to be sisters of corporations. Here the business members are not under a legal obligation to pay the debts if the business fails.

Payrolls- the term payroll designates the manner in which you will be paying the employees of your company and even yourself. Many multinational companies cater to payroll service provider companies that do the work quite efficiently.

These are some of the broad guidelines that will help you grasp the basics of accounting. It is essential to have some such wisdom for accounts as it is fruitful in all walks of life.

About the author:
Mansi gupta writes about asset and liability Learn more at http://www.assetsandliabilitiesbook.com

Business Accounting

2008-08-17T04:08:00.000+05:30

When you are looking for high-class advice concerning accountancy, it will be hard sorting out the best information from foolish accountancy proposals and guidance so it's best to know ways of moderating the information offered to you.

NetSuite: Small Business Accounting
NetSuite offers an integrated online accounting application with ecommerce, sales, inventory, shipping and support. Free Trial.

Now we would like to offer you some advice which we advise you to use when you are searching for information about accountancy. You need to realize the guidance we put forward is only pertinent to internet based information concerning accountancy. We don't really offer any direction or assistance when you are also conducting research in books or magazines.

OpenPro: Web Based Accounting
Offers Web-based, open source ERP accounting system with financials, supply chain, manufacturing, CRM and ecommerce features.

An interesting tip to pursue when you're presented with information and suggestions on a accountancy website would be to determine who owns the site. Doing this could reveal the owners accountancy credibility The easiest way to reveal who owns the accountancy web site is to find the sites 'about' page.

Any reputable site providing information concerning accountancy, will always have contact information which will record the site owner's contact details. The details should make known some key points concerning the owner's requisite knowledge. You can then arrive at a decision about the webmaster's depth of experience, to offer guidance about accountancy.

About the author:
Tom Brown is the webmaster for http://www.hession-acton.info

An introduction to point of sale software

2008-08-17T04:00:00.000+05:30

Point of sale software gives business owners a convenient way of checking out customers and of recording sales. It can keep a record of the store inventory, updating it when an order is processed. It can also print out receipts, carry out credit card processing, track customers, etc. Point of sale software eases the flow at checkout terminals, while recording all the information that can help you make better business decisions.

Point of sale software allows users to input via keyboard or mouse, and some even have a touch screen interface. You can install the software on your checkout register.

When checking out a customer you can either input the sales item yourself or use a bar code scanner. The point of sale software will look up the item in the inventory and bring up the price. It can also calculate tax on the item and change for the customer.

POS software can print out receipts and reports. Point of sale software makes your business accounting a lot easier by creating reports on inventory, sales, customers, etc. Since it is already recording each sale, it can easily tell you the sales and revenue of the day.

Point of sale software can also help with credit card processing. Credit cards are the preferred method of payment. People do not want to carry around cash for all their purchases. Credit card is a convenient method of payment and if you do not have credit card processing, your business can lose some of its competitiveness.

Point of sale software receives input from the POS hardware, which is the scanning station for the credit card. The software will process the credit card payment for you. It can check that the card has not expired and is valid. You will need a merchant account for the point of sale software to do its job.

POS software is generally easy to install and easy to use. You will need to know how to update inventory and record a price change for an item. Point of sale software usually provides an easy to use interface to do this. It can make the job of the cashier a lot easier by automating the routine tasks of the day.

There is a wide variety of point of sale software available. You can choose one that fits your budget and meets the needs of your particular business. The software will have compatibility requirements with the point of sale hardware. It will also have operating system requirements such as it might need a Windows or Linux system.

Point of sale software can more than pay for itself over time by making checkout faster and doing your accounting for you. Point of sale software may be the right solution for your business and can provide you with tons of benefits.

About the author:
Jakob Jelling is the founder of http://www.cashbazar.comVisit his website for the latest on personal finance, debt elimination, budgeting, credit cards and real estate.

Cash and Accrual

2008-08-17T03:07:00.000+05:30

When starting a business, you have to determine the method you are going to use for accounting and paying taxes. The two choices are the cash method and the accrual method.

Cash Method

If you are looking for simplicity, the cash method is probably your best accounting choice. Generally, income and deductions can be claimed when payment is actually received or made. This is best shown with an example.

I open a small business and have to order business cards and stationary. I receive the products and pay the invoice on November 18, 2005. Under the cash method, I can deduct the cost on my 2005 tax return.

Some businesses are restricted from using the cash method. C corporations may only use the cash method if they have less than $5 million in gross revenues for a particular year. Professional Service Corporations can use the cash method without limit, while farming corporations can due so if gross revenues are less than $25 million. Tax shelters are prohibited from using the cash method.

Accrual Method

The Accrual Method of accounting is a bit more complex. Under this method, the focus in on the date the expense is incurred, not paid. Although this may seem a small difference, it can play havoc with your books and piece of mind.

Using our previous example, assume I order business cards and stationary on the December 18, 2005. I receive the products on December 30th, but don’t pay the invoice until January 20, 2006. When can the expense be claimed? It depends on when economic performance occurred.

Generally, economic performance occurs when goods or services are provided to you. In the above example, economic performance would arguably occur when the business cards and stationary were delivered with the invoice on December 30th. Thus, I would be able to deduct the expense for the 2005 tax year.

In Closing

As you can see, the cash method is the easier of the two accounting methods. To determine the best method for your business, speak with a tax professional.

About the author:
Richard Chapo is with Business Tax Recovery - Stop overpaying small business taxes. Read more business tax articles.

Top Guide for Writing Accounting Procedures

2008-08-17T02:42:00.000+05:30

Laying the Foundation

Last week, we raised the question: what would your business do with $1,000,000? To lay the foundation we introduced inventory as the first of four areas that will lead toward our million dollar goal. And you saw exactly how to achieve the first $250,000 in cash savings by avoiding delays with an increase in velocity, as well as an increase in discipline and competency. But how exactly? With time – as you saw with inventory and as you’ll see this week.

Tackling Accounting Procedures

Let’s continue that crucial theme of time with another major source on your balance sheet – specifically, accounts receivable (A/R). If you have $500,000 or more in accounts receivable then STOP! We have found it again.

Reducing Average Days Collection

Why? Because if we focus on reducing your average days collection by 50%, then your accounts receivable balance will fall to $250,000 and the result will be an extra $250,000 in your bank account. And just like that, we’re halfway to our $1,000,000 goal.

So now, let’s see how this actually works in a real-life business scenario.

Accounting Procedures Service Business Example

A service organization with $700,000 in average A/R balances needed assistance. So we examined their A/R function to understand and quantify the workflow and workload issues. Then we designed and implemented a process to improve the A/R performance.

The metrics we developed reduced their “over 60” accounts receivables by 85% and their overall A/R balance by 50% within 90 days of implementing the new procedures. With these new processes and reports, the company now tracks Average Days Collection and past due rather than just Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) as the measure of their collection effectiveness.

The result: an extra $350,000 in cash. And, again, we explicitly see the crucial role of time and how an increase in velocity and discipline directly yields an increase in efficiency and cash savings. So how can you use time to your advantage?

Methods to Design the New Accounting Process

Decrease collection cycle. Examine customer accounts that go beyond your terms. Do not wait until twice the net terms to take action.

Tighten credit policy. Examine credit process for slippage. Do you have a credit approval process? Do you perform credit checks? What standards are used to extend credit?

Reduce credit terms. Change the credit terms you offer your customers. If you offer terms of net 45, reduce it to net 30. You might offer a discount of 1% if paid within 10 days else net due in 30 days. This is equivalent to 18 % annual interest and most businesses will take those terms.

Shorten the invoice process. Bill your customers immediately. This is a big one. Many service organizations wait until the end of the month to tally billable hours and determine customer charges. Do not wait until the end of the month. This could reduce your day’s receivable by as much as 15 days right there. Email or fax your invoices to save another day or two (e.g. QuickBooks accounting software contains this feature).

Reduce billing errors. Most customers delay payments because of invoice errors. Customers won’t recognize the invoice until it is corrected and may not even notify you, the vendor, of the error until you call for collection. Again, avoiding this delay in error and time will amount to cash savings.

Train Accounts Receivables personnel. Make sure that all personnel involved are training to understand the performance metrics for their jobs. For example, a company will manage $500,000 in monthly A/R balances (that’s $6 Million a year!) using an A/R clerk who makes $30,000. But then the supervisor uses nothing more than On-The-Job (OJT) training for the clerk. Then the CFO thinks that he or she (the CFO) is really managing the money. But, in reality, that’s not the case; the clerk is managing the money day-to-day. So shouldn’t the A/R clerk receive enough training to manage such a significant amount? After all, it only takes a 6% change in A/R in one month to equal the A/R clerk’s entire annual salary. Isn’t the A/R savings worth a little extra time in training?

Maximize the Accounting Process. With the Accounts Receivable department you should use each element of the process to gain the most benefit for your business. And with time-saving procedures set in place, you will let your efficiency work for you.

Grabbing Your Policy Goal

With well-defined processes and procedures in place, you will increase efficiency by reducing your Average Days Collection. And of course a reduction in Average Days Collection means your Accounts Receivable balance will also fall, creating more cash in cash on hand. And just like that we’re halfway to our $1,000,000 goal. All you have to do is grab it.

Next week, we will look at finding still another $250,000 in the Sales function – which will give us $750,000 toward our goal of 1 Million in cash savings. So, again, not only do you aim to reap the rewards of extra savings to your bottom line, but also see more cash in the bank - $1,000,000 cash to be exact.

About the author:
Chris Anderson is currently the managing director of Bizmanualz, Inc. and co-author of policies and procedures manuals, producing the layout, process design and implementation to increase performance.
To learn how to increase your business performance, visit: http://www.bizmanualz.com?src=ART79

Guide To Make A Successful Small Business Idea Reality

2008-08-17T01:56:00.000+05:30

You surely know that a small idea can lead to a great business success. The first movement is to think of an idea that would be suitable for the business market. After coming up with the idea, the next step is to put that idea into action. Of course, this is a very difficult step and having the idea is only the start of the journey. After that you will have to face many obstacles before being able to carry on with your business project. This is just the beginning of this process and there is a lot of questions you will have to answer before even start.

Some of the main aspects you have to concentrate on when you have business ideas are the abilities and gifts you can pour into the business. It is very important for you to be identified with your business project. Those ideas should be based on activities and actions you take pleasure in doing. For example, if we suppose that you dislike working in the open, landscaping business would not suit you. On the other hand, if you like working with children, setting up baby-sitting or tutoring business would be an excellent idea. In this case, without any doubt you business will be more successful because you will have put your mind, effort and also your heart on it.

Another vital step is to analyze the needs of a specific product or service in your region before setting up your business. Do people of your area need your product? Are there other business like the one you are planning to start? You should ask yourself whether or not you are the only one offering that service or product. If you are not, you will have to analyze the competence you will have to face. You have to think whether the service you are offering is one that customer would repeat, or if it is a one-time specialized service. Obviously, the former are more likely to succeed than the latter.

There are other aspects you have to take into account. These aspects are described below:

- One of them is that if the idea is unique, you will reign the market. But if there is much competition, it will be difficult to enter into the market.

- A second point would be if you can offer quality from the very beginning, otherwise, you won't succeed.

- Finally, you have to think about your capital to start your own business. There are many business ideas that require little investment and bring great profit. Some demand research, such as daycare service, and others need a large amount of money to begin the business. So take this recommendation into account before investing all your money in a small business idea.

About the author:
Business information at http://www.finerbusiness.com with the all time expert, Sintilia Miecevole is now available. You'll have resources at your fingertips from franchises, finances, banking, brokers, the economy, accounting, degrees, grants, to businesses for sale. Be sure to visit http://www.finerbusiness.comfor the latest news on business.

Online Presence A Must For Small Business Success

2008-08-17T01:55:00.000+05:30

If you are any kind of small business or home operated business, online presence is essential. Majority of web site visitors are from the English speaking population due to the high levels of internet penetration in that category, online presence for all small enterprises cannot be overemphasized. The research data in the US about online connectivity reveals the following facts which may help to understand the importance of the web presence for businesses especially the small enterprise.

70 % of the US households have web connectivity.

In 2004 worldwide online population was 801 million worldwide.

Of these 36% used English as the language. Of this U.S. alone accounts for close to 200 million.

The next major group was European languages with 38 % and major single language next to English was Chinese accounting for 14%.

Home web users were generally affluent, literate, and belonged to the younger age profile. This means the web presence for any business is necessary if you want to succeed in promoting your products and services to a population who can afford them and also willing to buy them online.

The household that did not own a computer or who were were not connected to the web, generally felt it is not useful or needed and cost too much.

What this means for a small business owner is that they are better off promoting their products to people who were online.

You small business success is undoubtedly linked to your online presence

About the author:
R.G. Srinivasan is a managerial professional, Writer and Author. He writes a regular blog on management thoughts with interesting articles, resources, personal experiences and links useful for practicing managers at

What's the difference between successful businesses and struggling businesses?

2008-08-17T01:52:00.000+05:30

Have you ever noticed how some businesses seem to do extremely well, and go from strength to strength, whilst the majority just seem to muddle along?

Since starting my own business I've met many small business owners and what I've noticed is that the vast majority of them seem to just about get by, but few reach the level of success that they're actually capable of. Some of them end up failing altogether, some lurch from project to project, and some do OK, but never really achieve the success or lifestyle they envisioned when they started their business.

On the other hand, I know a handful of extremely successful service business owners, who are making high 6 and 7 figure incomes every year (and rising) - and yet they don't work longer hours, their products and services are not magnitudes better than their competitors and they aren't geniuses!

So what is the difference between the successful businesses and the struggling businesses?

In a word: Marketing

Whilst there can be other factors that affect the ability of a business or practice to be successful, such as the economy, trends, cashflow and product/service quality or innovation, the number one difference between successful high-flying businesses and their struggling counterparts is good marketing.

Here is the lament of one survey respondent which is typical of the angst felt by service business owners who know they do a good job, but who don't understand why they don't have a queue of clients at their door:

"We know our products and services are good - we get great feedback from those clients we've worked with - but we still have trouble getting potential customers to buy in. Our services offer real benefits to clients but we are not as successful as we should be when we see what other companies offer (not as much) and yet are still very successful."

If you offer a quality service or product that produces great results for your customers or clients, and yet you're still struggling to get all the clients that you want or need, or to charge the fees you deserve, you probably have a marketing problem.

What do highly successful business owners do that others do not?

The first thing that they do is to realise that their primary objective is to build their practice or client base. In the words of Michael Gerber (who wrote The E-myth) they "work ON their businesses, not IN their businesses". What this involves is making the time to work on the business - in particular on marketing and product or service development, rather than spending all of their time handling clients, delivering services and dealing with administration.

They also look for areas where they can gain "leverage". Simply put, this means gaining maximum return for every hour they work. Instead of trading hours for pounds or dollars, they find ways to do the work once and get paid for it many times. They find ways to market their services one to many, instead of one to one (thus reducing marketing and sales effort and time). They delegate those activities which take up a lot of time (but which don't add much value in terms of moving the business forward) or which they are not skilled in such as admin, accounting, website maintenance and copywriting.

They also develop a success mindset, understand their strengths and weaknesses, take risks, innovate, hang out with other successful people and build a support network around themselves.

But above all, they learn how to market their businesses and create a marketing system that keeps a steady stream of prospects knocking at the door, without taking up all of their time!

About the author:
Jane Hendry helps professionals, consultants and coaches to create marketing systems that easily and consistently attract their ideal clients. To get your f*ree Attraction Marketing Starter Kit please visit

Software For Your Small Business

2008-08-17T01:49:00.000+05:30

When running a small business there can be several jobs and
tasks to take care of. Obviously knowing where the money is
coming from and going is essential to running your business.
That's why it is good to find out which small business
accounting software is best for you to help you run a well
organized and efficient small business.

There are hundreds to thousands of small business accounting
software out there to help you with reports and tools needed to
use your financial data. Depending on the one you go with will
depend on how much you're going to pay for it. The more you
pay, the more accessories and programs there will be that come
with it. Some come with a billing and time module, various
amounts of financial and management reports, and more. You can
choose to get it in different editions from basic, online, pro,
or premier for your computer.

One small business accounting software that is recommended is
the 2005 Peachtree Complete Accounting. This is a multi-user
ready system that provides you with all the features needed.
You'll have features including in-depth inventory, job costing,
time and billing, fixed assets and more. With all these great
features the price of this runs between $165-$290 as it is sold
by different merchants. You can shop for this product through
the different merchants here:

http://about.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=2936006/search=Peachtree%20Complete

Another feature that is offered with certain software is the
capability to scale as your business grows. That is just one of
the many features that the high end Microsoft Business Solutions
Small Business Financials North America Edition offers. Also
included in this program is the capability of keeping record of
financial management, sales, purchasing, inventory, payroll, and
reporting. This is software that will easily allow you to run
an organized small business and keep track of the people in it
and all of the numbers associated with running a small business.

This software will give you everything that you'll truly need.
With this high end software is a hefty price as it runs between
$995-4,500, so you'll have to decide how big your small business
is going to get. If you're going to be running a large small
business, then this will be worth it to help keep track of all
the payrolls and inventory and more. On the website listed
below, you'll also see a free 60-day CD demo that you can try it
out first to see if you like it.

http://www.2020software.com/products/Microsoft_Business_Solutions_Small_Business_Financials_North_America_Edition.asp

There is plenty more software to choose from, but there's a high
end software and a cheaper software to check out. If you go to
http://www.2020software.com/default.asp you'll find a list of
what this website claims the top 7 software out there. Included
on this list is the Microsoft software I have briefly talked
about just above.

This list is going to consist of the more expensive software out
there. All of the software on the list is priced at above
$1,000 with some of them reaching the $100,000 mark. While it
is pricey, it will install very easily, be very secure over the
internet and computer, and offer all kinds of features you
wouldn't even consider such as a built-in report writer to help
deliver the content in the format you need.

Now you know the general price range for accounting software and
the features you'll get for what you pay for. In order to get a
good quality software for your small business it's going to be
pricey, but it will help keep your business organized and in
tact. So don't be afraid to drop some money on software that
will help expand your business in the long run.

About the author:
Small business grants and small business resources to help you start and run your own business. Small business training, information, articles, loans and more.
http://www.sites-plus.com

Easy Guide for Understanding Depreciation

2008-08-17T01:47:00.000+05:30

Depreciation is defined as a portion of the cost that reflects the use of a fixed asset during an accounting period. A fixed asset is an item that has a useful life of over one year. An accounting period is usually a month, quarter, six months or one year. Let’s say you bought a desk for your office on January 1, for $1000 and it was determined that the desk had a useful life of seven years. Using a one year accounting period and the “straight-line” method of depreciation, the portion of the cost to be depreciated would be one-seventh of $1000, or $142.86.

Most non-accountants roll their eyes and shudder when the topic of “depreciation” comes up. This is where the line in the sand is drawn. Depreciation is far too complicated to try and figure out, or so it seems to many. But is it really? Surely the definition of depreciation mentioned above is not that difficult to comprehend. If you look closely you will see that there are five pieces of information you must have in order to determine the amount of depreciation you can deduct in one year. They are:

-The nature of the item purchased (the desk).

-The date the item was placed in service (Jan 1).

-The cost of the item ($1000).

-The useful life of the item (seven years).

-The method of depreciation to be used (straight-line)

The first three are easy to figure out, the second two are also easy but require a little research. How do you figure out the useful life of an item? Let me regress for a moment. There is “book depreciation” which is based on the real useful life of an item, and there is the IRS version of what constitutes the useful life of an item. A business that is concerned with accurately allocating its costs so that it can get a true picture of net profit will use book depreciation on its financial statements.

However, for tax purposes the business is required to use the IRS method. The IRS may have shorter or longer useful lives for fixed assets causing a higher or lower depreciation write-off. The higher the write-off, the less tax a business pays. The long and short of it is that you end up having to create a book financial statement and a tax financial statement. So, most small businesses that aren’t concerned with a precise measurement of their net profit use the IRS method on their books. This means that all you have to do is look in IRS Publication 946 to find the useful life of a particular item.

The last piece of information you need is found by determining the method of depreciation to use. Most often it will be one of two methods: the “straight-line” method or an accelerated method called the “double-declining balance” method. Let’s briefly discuss these two methods:

Straight-line

This is the simple method mentioned in the definition above. Just take the cost of the item, divide it by the useful life and you’ve got the answer. Yes, you will have to adjust the depreciation for the first year you placed the item in service and for the last year when you removed the item from service. For instance, if your depreciation for one year was $150 and you placed the item in service on April 1 then divide $150 by 12 (months) and multiply $12.50 by 9 (months) to get $112.50. If you removed the item on February 28 then your deduction will only be $25.00 (2 x $12.50).

Double-declining balance

The idea behind this method is that when an item is purchased new, you will use up more of it in the earlier years of its life, therefore, justifying a higher depreciation deduction in the earlier years. With this method, simply divide the cost of the item by the useful life years as in the straight-line method. Then, multiply that result by 2 (double) in the first year. The second year, take the cost of the item and subtract the accumulated depreciation. Next, divide that result by the useful life and multiply that result by 2, and so on for each remaining year.

But, wait! You don’t have to do this. The IRS provides tables that have the percentages worked out for each year of the two different methods. Not only that, they have set up special first year “conventions” that assume you purchased your depreciable fixed assets on June 30. This is called the one-half year convention. The idea behind this is that you may have bought some items earlier than June 30 and some after that date. So, to make it easy to figure out, they assume the higher and lower depreciation amounts will all average out.

Actually, the IRS doesn’t even call it depreciation anymore. They call it “cost recovery”. Let’s face it. This is a political tool. Congress giveth and taketh away. They have been playing with this system for years. If they want to stimulate growth in business they will shorten the useful life of assets so businesses can attain a higher write-off. If they are not in the mood, they will extend the useful life of an item. A good example is the 39 years set for the useful life of commercial property. This means that if you lease a building for your business and make improvements, those improvements have to be depreciated over 39 years. Now congress is working on a bill to drop that down to 15 years for leasehold improvements.

Before December 31, 1986 we had ACRS or Accelerated Cost Recovery System. Currently, we have MACRS or Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System. Every time congress tweaks the rules they give it a different name.

Keep in mind there are different schedules for different properties. For instance, residential real property is depreciated over twenty-seven and one-half years and non-residential real property is depreciated over thirty-nine years. In addition, if more than forty percent of your total fixed asset purchases occurred in the last quarter of the year, then, you must use a mid-quarter convention. This convention assumes that your purchases made in the last quarter of the year were made on November 15. This prevents you from buying a big expensive piece of equipment on December 31 and treating it as though it were purchased on June 30 and gaining a larger depreciation expense.

Understanding how basic depreciation works can be valuable to the small business owner because it helps to know the tax implications when planning for capital equipment purchases.

About the author:
John W. Day, MBA is the author of two courses in accounting basics for non-accountants. Visit his website at http://www.reallifeaccounting.comto download for FREE his 3 e-books pertaining to small business accounting and his monthly newsletter on accounting issues. Ask John questions directly on his Accounting for Non-Accountants blog .

Amazing Ways To Jump Start Your Sales

2008-08-17T00:01:00.001+05:30

1. Find a strategic business partner. Look for ones that have the same objective. You can trade leads, share marketing info, sell package deals, etc.

2. Brand your name and business. You can easily do this by just writing articles and submitting them to e-zines or web sites for republishing.

3. Start an auction on your web site. The type of auction could be related to the theme of your site. You'll draw traffic from auctioneers and bidders.

4. Remember to take a little time out of your day or week to brainstorm. New ideas are usually the difference between success and failure.

5. Model other successful business or people. I'm not saying out right copy them, but practice some of the same habits that have made them succeed.

6. Take risks to improve your business. Sometimes businesses don't want to advertise unless it's free, sometimes you have to spend money to get results.

7. Include emotional words in your advertisements. Use ones like love, security, relief, freedom, happy,
satisfaction, fun, etc.

8. Ask people online to review your web site. You can use the comments you get to improve your web site or you may turn the reviewer into a customer.

9. Out source part of your workload. You'll save on most employee costs. You could out source your secretarial work, accounting, marketing, etc.

10. Combine a product and service together in a package deal. It could increase your sales. If you're selling a book, offer an hour of consulting with it.

About the author:
Wesley Atkins is the owner of http://www.reviewbooth.com/ - containing numerous web site marketing tips, articles, and reviews of marketing tools and software.

Things you must do to maximize your chances of obtaining a small business loan

2008-08-16T22:40:00.001+05:30

To get approval for your small business loan application, you must be able to meet the lending criteria set down. Some organisations are more risk averse than others, and will therefore have more stringent criteria.

To vastly increase your chances of a successful funding application, you will need to present the following information:

1. The reason for the loan. The lender will be looking for something that fits within the normal range and expertise of your business. The amount may cover a number of items, so you will need to cover each.

2. The amount required, and the repayment term of the small business loan you want. (e.g. $10,000 term 5 years, payable quarterly).

3. Details of how you will repay the amount borrowed. For example, “From the increase in profits of reduced running costs of the Whizzbang Go4It”

4. Details of security you will be able to offer to the lender. This will act as reassurance for the lender. If you’re not prepared to put up some aspect of security, then why should they?

5. You will need to include your business plan which will serve to answer essential questions relating to management capabilities, information about the market you operate in. What kind of business you are in etc.

6. 3 Years financial statements. You will need to present quality financial information from your accounting software, preferably signed off by your accountant or tax advisor.

7. Latest Set of Management accounts. Again produced from your accounting software.

8. Accounts receivables (debtors) and payables (creditors) ageing reports.

9. Principals financial statements. – Particularly required if some form of security is necessary.

If you are a new company, the emphasis is going to be on your business plan , and the security (also called collateral) you or your business can provide against the loan.

You must take the time to practice presenting your case to the bank or lender to iron out any glitches. Practice on your colleagues and family (you never know, they might be so impressed, they'll invest or lend!). It may help to role play the lender and come up with as many pointy questions as possible. The more time you take the better your chances will be. (But remember, don’t fall into the analysis paralysis trap!)

Good luck!

About the author:
Neil Best is an accountant with over 15 years experience in business finance. This article and other useful business finance information such as making effective business plans and sourcing and applying for business grants can be found at http://www.smallbusinessfinancetips.com/small-business-loans.html

Strategies for Writing Accounts Payable Procedures

2008-08-16T22:30:00.001+05:30

The cash cycle is undoubtedly the single most important process to optimize for any business – from when you spend money to when you get money.

Circling the Cash to Cash Cycle

So let’s tie this back to accounts payable - the event that pays for the liability incurred by purchasing, which is for inventory required by manufacturing to meet demand. Sales generate this demand that creates the accounts receivables, which is turned into cash. And now we have come full circle and completed the discussion on the cash to cash cycle.

Increasing the Velocity of Accounts Payable Processes

Your accounts payable is a bit different than the other processes we have examined so far. The first three processes we looked at represented processes where the focus was on reducing the size of assets (inventory or accounts receivable) or expenses (marketing) and increasing the velocity or cycle time. But in accounts payable our focus is on increasing the size of the asset, while maintaining a solid credit rating - and increasing the velocity of the process.

Now let’s look at how to find $250,000 in accounts payable savings. If your organization has $500,000 in accounts payable each month, then STOP! We can find $250,000 in savings right here. Where, you ask? Increasing payables by 25% will produce $125,000 in cash plus $125,000 from automating tasks, taking more discounts, and managing the process better.

Service Business Procedures Case Study

An organization with $600,000 in monthly payables needed assistance. We examined their payables process to understand and quantify workflow, paper processing and credit issues. Then we designed and implemented a process to increase their use of payables and discounts, improve their payables cycle efficiency, and tie it to their purchasing and receivable cycles. We then reinvested $50,000 back into an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) program to automate some of the processes that weren’t automated already.

The metrics we developed reduced their purchasing & payables expenses by 25% and increased their efficiency from 50% to 75% within 2 months of implementing the new procedures. With these new processes and reports, the company now tracks payables cycle efficiency and average days payables, rather than just bills paid on time or outstanding balance, as the measure of their payables effectiveness. The result: an extra $300,000 in cash plus a 50% increase in process capability (capacity).

But how?

Methods to Design Your News Accounts Payable and Accounting Procedures

• Eliminate Paper. The single biggest cost for any purchasing and payables department is paper, including: purchase orders, purchase order follow-up, small-dollar purchases, delivery tracking & receipts, and vendor payments. Utilizing paperless invoices, Web-based supplier self-servicing, centralized vendor files, automated workflows for electronic or imaged invoices (see ERP below), and payment methods, such as business credit cards, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT), can reduce paper handling costs by as much as 90%.

• Integrate ERP Systems. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) automates the purchasing and payables functions, which allows a company to get more work done with fewer personnel. Also, electronic invoice matching applications save time in retrieving paperwork. It is estimated that an ERP system can annually save an organization $300 per million in sales.

• Increase Payment Terms. Negotiate payment terms based on receipt of goods or the invoice. This can add one week or more to your terms, which can be 25% of 30 day terms. Use EFT for just-in-time payments to maximize your payables terms and minimizing the impact to your credit.

• Take Payment Discounts. If you are getting 2%/10 net 30 terms, then consider taking it. This means you are offered a 2% discount if you pay within 10 days, instead of the normal 30 day terms. This translates into an 18% return on your capital, and for many organizations this is a good return on your investment.

• Review Purchases. Purchasing is a continuous process that requires continuous review. Consider: transportation charges, expedited fees, odd lot penalties, new pricing, new products, consolidating vendors, new vendors or buying groups, payment terms, and more. Communicate with your suppliers to improve the process. And review and monitor everything to account for changes in your environment.

• Communicate with Suppliers. Communicate with your suppliers to improve the process. Ask suppliers to submit their invoices electronically. This will save you time, resources and losses due to waste.

• Eliminate Disputes. Disputes with your suppliers are typically the result of a problem with your purchasing/receiving process. When disputes occur, review your purchasing procedures to ensure that they are producing the correct metrics and that you are not forced to pay for your mistakes.

• Reduce Errors. Overpayments, payments made to the wrong vendors, fake invoices, or even late payments represent a common problem for payables. Increasing your focus on error control, along with written procedures and audits, can reduce these errors considerably.

• Train personnel. Provide your accounts payable staff with regular formal training. This will arm them with better knowledge of frauds, negotiating skills, and an understanding of the economics of payables – which will result in improved effectiveness.

Accounting Policies and Procedures for Cash in the Bank

In the past few weeks, we have showed you four parts of your financial statements that will each contribute $250,000 in cash savings. The last hurdle was Accounts Payable, and we sailed through it. And now we have crossed our final goal: $1,000,000!

Time was - and is - the key. All you have to do is own it. And, remember, next week we will put together each of the four elements of the cash to cash cycle, and look at how it affects the working capital of your business.

About the author:
Chris Anderson is currently the managing director of Bizmanualz, Inc. and co-author of policies and procedures manuals, producing the layout, process design and implementation to increase performance.

To learn how to increase your business performance, visit: http://www.bizmanualz.com?src=ART81

7 Things to Consider Before Buying Small Business Accounting Software

2008-08-16T22:23:00.000+05:30

The world of small business accounting software can be a minefield for any business owner. However choosing the right package is one of the most critical business decisions you will make.

Here are the seven things you must consider before making a purchase that will help you achieve your businesses goals.

1. Scalability

Businesses change over time so it's critical that the small business accounting software you choose can change too. Some things that often change are the number of products and services offered and the number of employees. When you choose your package try and imaging the business in 5 years or 10 years time and how different it will be. Use this information to guide your purchase decision. It may well be better to pay a little more now for the software knowing that it can be easily
upgraded when needed with minimum disruption and cost to your business.

2. Support

It is important that any software has great support for when something goes wrong (and it always does). Most major companies offer support but you also need to think about support in your local area. It's often much easier to have someone locally come in and do things you need done with your software than have someone trying to help you over the phone. Make some
enquiries with other businesses about the package they use and who helps them.

3. Accountant Interface

It's most unlikely you will handle every aspect of your businesses accounting. Your accountant is an important factor in making the right decision. What software are they used to working with and what do they prefer? Can you easily supply them data and reports from your package without the need for any extra work (which you'll have to pay for). Don't be afraid to ask their opinion as they live and breathe this stuff.

4. Best Value For Money

Once you have selected the right package for your business you may as well get the best value. Shop around as the price can vary greatly and the product is exactly the same. Online merchants such as Amazon may offer better pricing because of the sheer volume of products they sell. However price is only one part of the equation so if their is great merchant locally with support or installation assistance this may be far more valuable.

5. Major Brands

There are two major players in the small business accounting software market. They are QuickBooks and Peachtree. Microsoft is expected to enter the market soon. I recommend choosing a major brand so that you can get regular updates and you know the company will be around as long as your business needs them.

6. Ease of Use

Ease of use is a personal thing but it is worth trying the software before you buy it if you can. Remember to get the person who will be the main user to test the software as well. Also consider how well the package can interact with other software you use. This is an advantage the Microsoft package may have when it's available.

7. Features Needed

I touched on this earlier when talking about thinking ahead as to where you business will be in 5 or 10 years time. Most accounting software packages come in several different versions. If you don't need certain features now and can't see a need for them in the future then don't buy them. The major differences are usually - number of users allowed, inventory management capability and number of reports available.

To sum up think ahead when planning your purchase of small business accounting software. You will make a much smarter business decision that will save you plenty of trouble and money in the future.

About the author:
Please visit us for more information and a feature by feature comparison of:
Small Business Accounting Software

Great Essential Tools for Starting and Maintaining a Small Business

2008-08-16T22:20:00.001+05:30

We believe that there are 3 factors that drive the success of small businesses.

1) Acquiring start-up capital
2) Finding customers
3) Accounting for, budgeting and controlling sales and expenses

The following resources will help your small business achieve these success factors.

Acquiring Start-Up Capital

An adequate supply of capital is essential as many profitable businesses fail because they don’t have enough cash to pay their employees and suppliers. But what is an adequate supply of capital? The only way to tell is by doing a significant amount of research on your potential market and formally documenting this in a business plan. I’m sure you know that a business plan is a very important document that is crucial to convincing your banker to lend you money.

There are two ways to obtain a business plan.

1) Do it yourself by amending a business plan template, or
2) Hire a professional to do it for you.

Obviously obtain 1) will be a great deal cheaper.

Our research led to a website that has over 60 high quality and free business plan templates. We also found a directory that you can use to easily find a business plan writer in your city – where ever you live in the world.

Finding Customers

Finding customers is a difficult and expensive task for service business owners such as accountants, lawyers and plumbers. We believe that a cost effective marketing strategy for service business owners is to simply give all their personal contacts a few business cards.

Our research led to a few websites that have pre-designed business card templates. We felt that the diversity and quality of these designs was outstanding. In addition, we found that you can obtain a significant saving by finding a printing service on the Internet. We found that you could get 2,000 full color business cards for as little as US $150.

Accounting For, Budgeting and Controlling Revenue and Expenses

Accurate accounting is very important for small business owners. It’s essential that you have timely access to information that could make or break your business. If stocks are running low – you need to know about it. If a large proportion of your debtors haven’t paid – you need to know about it. If you do not react to these situations quickly you may have a situation where you don’t have enough money to pay your employees – or worse still someone is stealing cash out the till.

Our research led to a website that compares and reviews top accounting software for small businesses. The cheapest software cost US $89.99 and the most expensive software cost US $1,499. It was interesting to note that the top 3 ranked websites were not the most expensive and cost between US $250 - US $300.

Hopefully you now have an idea of some of the tools that you can use to grow and maintain your small business. If you would like to benefit from our research please visit our website. We do not charge for this research and offer the content freely on our website.

About the author:
http://www.best-quality-small-business-resources.com/

Ryan Hough is the webmaster of best quality small business resources.com, who's aim is to help you save time and money by finding reviews and case studies that will enable you to choose the best resources at the right price.

What it Takes to Succeed in A Business

2008-08-16T21:16:00.000+05:30

Business if tough in today’s world! Most small businesses go bankrupt or are closed abruptly in the first five years. Over the course of the next five years many of the remainders also “pack up” shop and lock their doors. Why do so many businesses fail?

The reasons lie in three main spheres. Those spheres of influence can be labeled personal, customer, and operations.

The Personal Sphere deals with the owner’s personal motivation to start a business. For example, if an owner wants to start their own business, but isn’t willing to make the sacrifices necessary to make it thrive, then they are at a disadvantage when compared to other motivated businesspeople. When a business starts for the first time often it doesn’t have a lot of money. Owners are required to sacrifice time, money, and happiness to succeed. If you can’t do that, it is unlikely that such a business will flourish. Many times owners thought they could handle the hardship but once the novelty of “being your own boss” wears off they close the door.

The Customer Sphere is one of the most important components of your business. Without customers you do not have sales, without sales you do not have money and without money you do not have a business. Many factors go into generating a good customer base. In the beginning you must have a cost effective marketing strategy that targets your intended buyers. This can be done by developing a psychological profile of your customer and then advertising in those places that they frequent. Because it is more expensive to get a new customer than it is to keep one you must make sure they are satisfied with your business and product. Keep in touch with them by sending them a follow-up letter with a survey.

The Operations Sphere is only second to the Customer Sphere. In operations you must have an appropriate method of reducing costs, keeping track of paperwork, and maintaining improvement. Operations can also take into effect the tax paperwork, accounting, scheduling of workers, benefits or any non-producing functions.

If all of these three components are well thought out and are appropriately designed you will increases your chances of survival. Failure to understand the integral details of your business and what it takes to succeed may mean failure in the long run. If you are having difficulty putting all the pieces together then consider a small business consultant.

About the author:
Murad Ali is the published author of “A Call to Greatness: Reforming the Muslim World” and “An American Mecca: A New Muslim Homeland” available at most large bookstore websites. He is also the editor of the Muslim Times and a doctoral student. For more articles like this one please visit http://www.muradenterprises.org