Are you considering building your very own small business? Then, these ideas are for you:

1. Choose a business. There are so many small business ideas that you can explore but I recommend that you go with the one that is closely relevant to your hobbies or areas of expertise. Why? You can increase your chances of succeeding in this field if you are knowledgeable and if you enjoy what you are doing. List down the things that you find interesting and see if you can convert them to small business. Let me give you an example; if you love swimming so much, you can offer swimming lessons to kids in your neighborhood.

2. Plan ahead. You really can’t just wake up one morning and have your own business. Setting up a business, no matter how small, will need preparation. Identify the things that you need to have to get started and make sure that they are readily available. Depending on the type of business you wish to start, you may need to create a business plan and you may need to apply for financial backing.

3. Hire an advisor. It’s easy to get lost especially if you are just starting out. That is why, I recommend that you hire a small business coach who can help you all throughout. Choose a coach who have proven track record and who is highly recommended by other people and industry leaders. This coach can help you grow your business by making sure that you will avoid committing costly mistakes and by keeping you on track.

Best Buy Line

A lot of small businesses that open up are generally hamstrung by the lack of finances. This lack of finances causes the startup to spread the options wide and open for any money they could get and from any sources.

A very good source that these companies can tap into is the factoring of the accounts receivable. AR receivables funding also known as AR factoring or the accounts receivable factoring is the best and the easy method to get the money.

Banks nowadays are tight with giving the finance and if you are a new company they will never give you money unless and until you are backed by well known investors. If these investors are not there then it is going to very tough for you to approach the banks.

The other option is to get the grants for the new business but again these grants are also not easy to come by as there is a lot of competition as well as there are certain conditions that need to be met.

Small business factoring companies have no set criteria and they will finance any amount of receivables. Most will start with as low as ten thousand dollars worth of accounts receivables. These factoring companies will give finance without any major verification process. You request will be processed normally within 24 hours. This is definitely the bets way to go when you are short of working capital.

Again grants definitely are your first option but factoring should be your second option to raise the money.

The Last Eden

Our political leaders-from President Obama and Speaker Pelosi on down through Congressman Waxman to all the state governments-say wonderful things about small business:

– Small business is the engine of job creation
– It’s the embodiment of our entrepreneurial spirit
– It’s a major source of innovation
– It’s the way up for immigrants
– It’s the new chance for people laid off by declining industries
– It’s the way to keep work at home that would otherwise go to India or China
– It provides the local products and services we all cherish over the big-box mega-chains
– It provides flexible, part-time, low-skilled, and entry-level jobs for people who often have trouble finding a niche in the workforce.
– It perpetuates a class of responsible, involved, financially aware citizens who pass these values along to the next generation.

But contrast what our leaders say with what they do. Governments at all levels view small business (I’m talking about owner-run businesses) as the piggybank from which to shake a few coins every time more revenue is needed. We are the designated “tax paying class.”

It’s not just Waxman’s income tax surcharge, nor this penalty on those who don’t offer healthcare insurance. But overall, the cost of taxes and fees, mandates, and compliance is ten times higher as a proportion of revenue for small businesses than for large corporations. Not only the dollar amounts, but also the time that the owner or a key employee must devote to these requirements.

And we face a continuing barrage of increases in these from local, state, and federal levels.

So the message from our leaders is: “You are really important to economic dynamism, but even so, we’re erecting numerous hurdles to your success.”

At my four-person company, if our tax/compliance costs were lower, there’s no doubt that I would add a couple of employees that we cannot now afford. There are millions of companies my size in the U.S. Suppose a million of these would add a single employee if their government burden were lightened. Would a million new jobs created have a positive impact on the economy? All these new employees would then be paying taxes and spending more on goods and services. My company-and all the others-would grow, get more profitable, pay more taxes-and provide more products and services valued by our communities. What’s the chance that the economic boost this created would actually generate more tax revenue than trying to squeeze more from already-hurting small companies?

For some reason I cannot grasp, this dynamic is impenetrable to our government leaders.

A few comments on small business healthcare:

• Note that the small business penalty described in the AAHCA bill located at http://edlabor.house.gov/labor/health-care/ does not go toward the healthcare costs of our employees. It just goes to the government; it does not benefit the employees at all.

• Most small businesses want to provide healthcare coverage for their employees. It gives them a competitive advantage in attracting better people. Owners also care for their employees-sometimes almost like family. Owners hate to cut these employee benefits. They agonize over it. But sometimes it’s the only option to big layoffs or closing the doors.

• Companies with a handful of employees don’t have the ability to offer a menu of healthcare options, as do large corporations. This means our 25- and 55-year-old employees must be crammed into the same program, even though they have very different desires and needs. So nobody is happy.

• If companies were removed from the role of health insurance middleman, and more varied and competitive healthcare plans were available on the market, then people could choose exactly what they wanted, from high-deductible catastrophic to gold plated coverage. The tax benefit would be transferred from the employer (to pass on via non-taxed insurance premium payments) to the individual, who would retain the same benefit, but based on personal choice. And they would have complete portability!

As I look at top government leaders, I seek in vain for any who have ever run a small company, who’ve had to short their own pay to make payroll. In the abstract, they want us to succeed, but they have no gut feel for how to boost small business to catalyze economic dynamism.

I welcome your comments.

* Written in response to “What U.S. Small Businesses Need in Healthcare” by Anita Campbell
Article Available Here.

Lyrics MV

In Australia many small businesses go through a very quiet period from about mid December until the end of January. It is when people go on holidays, focus on Christmas parties and generally do anything except think of work.

Many small businesses close down after Christmas because they failed to adequately plan in terms of cash-flow or how to maximise the use of their time. Instead of planning and taking action, they sat and worried about lack of customers.

The time to start planning for this quiet period is now! Unless you take some action now your kids could be living on instant noodles by the end of January as you undercut Indian freelance operators with your fees to try and make ends meet until business picks up again.

So what can you plan to do over the 6 week quiet time?

1. Take a holiday of at least 2 weeks. If you can’t beat them, join them. Work out how much you need to cover at least 2 week’s worth of income, plus money for a holiday and start saving a little each week into a separate account you won’t touch. Plan something fabulous and put pictures up of where you are planning to go (to help keep your focus and to help you not spend your money).

2. Do a free on-line course. Work out what skills you have that need brushing up and find a free or low cost on-line course. Get all of the material ready and dedicate at least one week to fully immersing yourself in finishing that course! Don’t be tempted to start it early – keep it aside for your quiet time to get the most out of your course.

3. Take a casual job. Businesses start hiring their Christmas casuals about October – so dust off your resume and look for casual work to tide you over if you need to.

4. Drum up business. Work out what sort of jobs or services people need to have done ready for the new year and offer strong incentives for people to “lock in time in your diary” for the quiet time. If you do this well you may not have a quiet time at all! If you intend to do this you need to start thinking now in order to design your Christmas promotions, to get your marketing collateral together and ads designed ready to roll out in November. Planning now means you avoid rush jobs and premium fees when people try and cram you into their diaries.

5. Work on your business. You know all of those things you have been meaning to get to like editing your website or creating new marketing material all of these are perfect for the quiet time. Book out at least 1 week in your own diary to work on your business over the quiet time.

6. Write a book. It’s amazing how much you can write in 6 weeks of focussed effort. Write a book or e-book for your business, or record some podcasts. Create products for your business that you can then sell throughout the year to generate passive revenue.

7. Work on you. This is a great time to take advantage of all of the other quiet businesses like massage therapists, personal trainers or naturopaths. Spend some serious time getting your body and mind rested and relaxed ready for the New Year. Download a pile of motivational podcasts from some of the world’s best teachers and save them for the quiet time to work on your mind.

8. Send your technology on holiday. The quiet time is perfect to send your computers away to be serviced, defragged and have all the virus stuff done and your hard drive rebuilt if needed (combine this with your holiday so you don’t feel as if your computers are missing you while you are gone – sort of like a high tech dog kennel).

9. Fix your filing and admin. We all have the horror pile of filing. The last working day before Christmas I warm up the shredder, wheel in the wheelie bin, pour myself champagne and go through every file and every folder both electronic and paper based. It is a wonderfully therapeutic way to close the working year down.

10. Plan for the coming year. Remember the business plan you wrote a few years back for your business? The quiet time is the perfect time to sit down with someone and re-think your plan. Spend serious time refocussing on your goals and your vision both for you and your business. Ink it – write it down into a business plan that you reread regularly.

The quiet time could be the most productive time of your business year if you plan for it. So – first sort out your cashflow requirements and put money aside now to cover the period in as much the same way as you do for tax, and then start to block out time in your diary for all of the brilliant things you want to do to grow your business.

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Small Business Record-keeping involves maintaining accurate accounts and evidence of all of your business’ transactions. You should always keep records in your business because it allows you to have a general idea of how your business is doing. For example, you might determine what products are being sold the most, which ones are not selling well, and how much profit you are making per sale. In addition, records will provide you with the data needed to prepare financial statements and tax returns for your business.

Always try to keep records of the following items:

Expenses: You must always keep a record of all the expenses your business incurs. Opening a business checking account is a great way to keep track of expenses. A checking account will give you the exact date, quantity, and expenses incurred by your business throughout the month. Income: At a minimum you should record the type of payments received, dates received, and the source of payments. Remember that your business might earn revenue from different sources. For example, you might receive income from selling goods and services, selling an asset (i.e. a car) to finance your business, or from dividends received from investments.Inventory: Always keep an accurate record of your inventory at hand. Update inventory records frequently; as soon as an item is sold, remove it from your inventory account.Payroll: Regardless of the number of employees your business has, always keep adequate payroll records. As an employer, you are expected to keep records of each employee, listing their personal information as well as the hours worked and the wages earned. Every quarter prepare Form 941 (the Employees’ Quarterly Federal Tax Return), which totals each employee’s withholding for federal taxes and Social Security. You also have to prepare the W-2 form every year for each employee. The form summarizes each employee’s total earnings and withholdings for the year and has to be sent to the employee and to the IRS. A Sample Record:

In order to keep small business records of all the transactions in your business, you may use the single entry bookkeeping method, which is simple and efficient, as shown below:

Date | Description | Revenue | Expenses

4-Jan | Paid | phone bill | $250.00
4-Jan | Performed | repair service | $700.00

5-Jan | Paid | rent | $500.00

5-Jan | Performed | repair service | $1150.00

7-Jan |Paid | all employees $800.00

8-Jan Paid | Electricity bill $150.00

January totals $1,850.00 $1,700.00

Tip: Always keep your personal financial records separate from your small business records, this will allow you to keep track of all your business expenses more easily. It is also very important that you keep your business records for at least three years, as the IRS has the right to audit any transaction that occurred during the last three years in most states.

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I was approached by a client the other day with a question I couldn’t immediately answer. He has a small construction business and was looking for a partner so he could win bigger contracts, and he wondered how he should go about doing that. I had to tell him I couldn’t give him advice on structuring a small business because I’m not a lawyer or an accountant, but I knew I could give him information, so I started to research.

I knew from setting up my own company about the various structures Canadian small businesses can use. I thought his choices would be limited to sole proprietorship, partnership and incorporation. There’s also a co-operative, but that doesn’t apply to my client. I guessed that the best way to help him out would be to define and give him the advantages and disadvantages of each.

Sole proprietorships are owned by one individual, and are legally considered an extension of yourself. That means that any liability or obligation your business incurs is also a personal liability or obligation. So, if your sole proprietorship fails, your personal assets can be seized to pay for that liability of obligation. I’d say that’s a pretty big disadvantage. On the plus side though, sole proprietorships are the easiest to set up and, and don’t even have to be registered if its name is exactly the same as your own.

A partnership is an agreement between two or more persons to carry on business together. Partnerships are a separate legal entity from you, and must have at least one general partner. All partners can be general, but there must be at least one general partner. Partnerships are relatively easy to set up, but although not a requirement, the parties should have a contract between themselves outlining responsibilities and obligations.

A general partner is responsible for business decisions, running the company and acting on its behalf. Each general partner is jointly and severally liable for partnership debts. This means one partner can be held responsible for the decisions, debts and obligations of another partner. Strike one against general partnerships, I’d say.

So what about a limited partner then? Limited partners are not involved in decision-making or in the day-to-day running of the business. Usually, a limited partner’s contribution is financial, and their liability is limited to the amount they invested in the firm. What that means is you basically have no say over how the money you invested is used, which means you have zero power. And, the moment a limited partner becomes involved in running the business or acts on behalf of the business, they become a general partner.

A corporation is a separate entity from yourself, which means you don’t have personal liability for debts, obligations or even acts of the company. You’re not personally responsible for any decisions someone else in the corporation makes, and you’re only liable up to the amount of unpaid portion of shares you own. Sounds pretty good so far.

Limited liability is a big advantage over other forms of small business structure. And there are more advantages. Corporations continue to exist after their shareholders die and can be passed on to family or friends. Raising money is easier for a corporation than either sole proprietorship or partnerships. There can also be tax advantages.

So what are the disadvantages? Well, there’s more paperwork because you’re required to keep records and you have to file a separate tax return. It costs more to register a corporation than setting up a sole proprietorship or a partnership. And, if you give a personal guarantee, which banks often ask for, you may be liable for that amount even if your company ceases to exist.

I thought my client’s choice would be limited to those three choices, but further research showed I was wrong. There is another one: joint venture. A joint venture is like a partnership because it’s an agreement between two or more people or small businesses, but there are important differences. In a joint venture, two or more people contribute goods, services or capital to one business enterprise. To date, Canada does not have specific laws governing joint ventures, as it does with all the other small business forms.

A joint venture agreement outlines joint venture terms, contributions of each party, management structure and how the profits will be divided. Joint ventures avoid the partnership disadvantage of joint and several liability, and also allows each joint venturer to regulate their own tax deductions. That’s a big advantage for joint ventures.

However, a joint venture has sometimes been defined by the absence of key partnership elements. This means small businesses intending to enter into a joint venture agreement must thoroughly understand partnership elements and avoid using them in order to avoid being deemed a partnership rather than a joint venture. What might have started out being a joint venture could lose its joint venture advantage by being deemed a partnership, and inherit the disadvantages of a partnership instead.

You can incorporate a joint venture, which would then have the same advantages and disadvantages of any corporation. And it would have the advantages and disadvantages of a joint venture. Could this possibly be the best solution?

Photos Union

A Small Business Opportunities Magazine is one of the new small business opportunities opening up everyday. More and more companies are looking to outsource for basic services, cutting their budgets in the process and increasing profits. With this happening globally, the business opportunities available are increasing. This process will only benefit the company’s bottom line, but will also open the door for more employees to own their own businesses and take control of their lives.

So where does one go to showcase their skills or to find a small business opportunity? Small business opportunity magazines is one place worth checking out. It is also a great place to make an investment to own a business of your own.

Magazines are a multi million dollar industry every year. Advertisers and consumers both will benefit from a well laid out magazine. Opportunity magazines have a myriad of information in them regarding new positions, new trends, and new industries for the small business owner. Having a magazine available to the small business and home based business owners would be a gold mine.

This magazine concept would be helpful to anyone looking to start a small business as well. Articles regarding how to start businesses, tax information, and investment estimates are all things that a home based professional will need to know. This magazine could be offered to anyone interested or already involved in a home based business.

Additionally, the companies and organizations looking to hire home based employees would then be your advertisers. MLM and other marketing strategies are continually looking for the next advertising boom and your small business magazine could be it. Advertisers are interested in reaching an eager market, and business opportunities magazines would provide them with that.

Start up cost for you, as a self publisher of a small business magazine will vary greatly. You will need to find a printing house to print your magazine, or purchase the equipment to do it yourself. With all the computer software available you could do your own publishing quite easily. Deciding on the extent and scale to which you want to distribute is an important factor in cost as well.

To avoid the costly nature of publication, some small business magazines are being published on line as ezines (electronic magazines). Ezines offer the same benefits as regular publication, except that you avoid printing costs. Quality and timely delivery are still essential.

Even though ezines are a relatively newer market, they are widely popular. Ezines are perfect for email, which is how many telecommuters and home based businesses are communicating these days. Web space to house your ezine is going to be greatly cheaper than print, and of course there are millions of Internet users worldwide. Shipping costs will be zero and you can email links to your subscribers and advertisers virtually for free.

Clients interested in web based advertising will appreciate this twist on your publication. You will have access to a worldwide audience. Now all you have to do is get the news out that you have this publication to share.

Advertising for your magazine is going to be imperative. Looking through and communicating with web site owners of freelance and small business web sites is a good place to start. Trading advertising is also an idea. Offering an ad in your publication for promotion on a web site could be a good offer.

Do some research on ezines and small business magazines for price comparisons. Make sure that you are offering a fair value for your product. Advertisers on the Internet are looking for places to advertise. People looking for home based opportunities are looking for resources. There is demand on both sides of the spectrum, and you should be able to do well in this industry.

Wallpapers 5

Are you taking good care of your health? As a business owner, getting adequate rest, exercising, eating nutritional food and drinking water during your day can help you use your body at peak performance. If you’d like to achieve your business goals, you’ve got to strategize. That begins by having a body that feels well. Read on to discover 3 remarkable methods to accelerate your small business ideas.

1. You can do a Google search to learn different ways that provide you with the best business ideas. Aside from having a healthy body, think outside of the box. When you take time to train yourself effectively by doing some Googling for ideas, you can accelerate your small business ideas. Business professionals that think in open-minded ways are the ones that achieve the greatest success.

2. Do not make excuses to yourself about prospecting for new customers. Turn off the TV and radio! There may be too much pessimistic influence in these media outlets that actually keep you from moving forward. Article marketing is a great way to do this and it all begins using the convenience of your computer.

3. How do you do article marketing without going insane? Article marketing can feel like a mindless activity. You know it needs to be done, but it can be very tedious. Consider pausing occasionally while writing. After you write say 1 or 2 articles, get up. Walk around the house. Do a different activity so you can reenergize yourself before you return to writing articles to share with your ideal prospects.

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Painting business owners who want to get great exposure for their business while creating goodwill within their community should consider joining their neighborhood mobile watch program.

Most painting business owners are small owner operated businesses run out of the home. These kinds of small business usually have many types of accounts from residential, commercial and even some new construction. The jobs only last a day or two each then it’s off to the next one.

It is not uncommon to pick up a few jobs within the same neighborhood using a few inexpensive marketing techniques like yard signs, door hangers, and postcards.

But imagine the exposure you could get by joining the mobile watch program. How you ask? Well, every month home owners associations send out a newsletter filled with articles and happenings within the community.

All you have to do to join is ask. To find out where they are in your area, just contact several home owners associations and introduce yourself, tell the person you are a painting business owner in the community and would like to lend a hand (or an eye).

Every month write a short article about the things you saw or would like to see happen in the area and send it to the newsletter editor.

This is one of the best ways to gain free exposure and to set your painting business apart from the competition while at the same time giving back to the community.

It not only feels good, it can be very profitable!

Animenewsnetwork

It is important for businessmen to discern the status of their business at any point of the time. They should be aware of how much profit their present business strategy is reaping and what all losses are incurring upon the company. This will ensure the success of business or longer time. Whether a business is at large scale or at small, in both the cases accounting plays a crucial role in calculating the total profit and loss of the company every business year. Small business accounting is one of the easiest ways of availing cheap and reliable accounting services.

Financial processes of small business firms are as important as that of large one. Small businesses too have to undergo the tedious and cumbersome task of accounting on the day to day basis. They can settle the accounting task with ease by hiring professional assistance from small business accounting firms.

Small business accounting involves three prominent steps to strengthen financial front

1. Profit & Loss Statement
2. Balance Sheet
3. Cash Flow Statement

First step, profit and loss statement ensures the accessibility of the previous records. It also helps in knowing how much business is done in the specified duration. This step will ensure the scale of business progress i.e. business is running successfully or not.

Second step, Balance sheet maintenance is one of the most crucial part of the record maintenance. It illustrates how much business has earned and what all assets have been acquired during a specific interval of time. This statement is the testimony of the liabilities over the business too so it is essential to keep daily record of balance sheet. It should be updated on the daily basis without any error.

The third most important requirement of small business accounting is the cash flow statement. This statement depicts the status of future cash balance that will be retained after completing all the payments and liabilities. This is required for the assessment of the capital investment in future. It is made keeping in view the upcoming capital investment and business expenditures.

Two main methods re employed in working out of the small business accounting process:

1. Cash Basis Method
2. Accrual Method

Cash basis method is too easy to comprehend and implement so most of the firms running small businesses employ this method. In this method payments made are referred to as expenses and cash receipts are considered as the income gained. In cash basis procedure daily transactions are recorded in the accounts book. Even if cash paid is yet not cleared then too it is added in the records and when cleared received is added to it.

In Accrual method, the procedure is little complicated as it involves key facets of the small business accounting including pay roll taxation, tax liabilities, income tax, quarterly returns, internal financial flow, individual business transactions, and maintaining daily records.

You can easily get access to outsourcing firms that deals in the services of accounting, small business accounting, SEO, SEO NYC, bookkeeping, and search engine marketing in New York City via Internet directories.

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