What Improvements Can Your Small Business Make in 2012?

business improvements for the new year 2012

With 2012 right around the corner, your small business is likely hoping the New Year allows you and your employees a fresh start, especially if the return on investment (ROI) for 2011 has been less than stellar.

For those small businesses that struggled this year, there are creative ways to move forward in 2012 and return your company to the black.

Among the things to keep in mind are:

“¢ Review this year – The first and foremost thing to do is to sit down and go over what did and did not work well in 2011. If you have been in business for a short time, did you meet your goals for this year or are you still in the growing process?…

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Reduce The Risk Of Employee Fraud

reduce the risk of employee fraudIn any business – small or large, good or bad economy – internal theft or employee fraud can occur.   Actually, in my experience, I have seen more employee fraud occurring in small to medium-sized businesses because there is a greater level of trust, a less formal process at times, greater familiarity with each person in the company, and a greater breadth of duties for each employee.

While the percentage of employees committing fraud may be low, I have seen some small businesses devastated and almost have to close their doors because of one or more employees who stole from them.

Types of Employee Fraud

There are a few types of employee fraud that are prevalent in small businesses.  …

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Perfect Your Small Business Skills With Open Courseware

Perfect Your Small Business Skills With Open Courseware

While yes it is true that one doesn’t need a Masters of Business Administration degree in order to run and manage a successful small business, the leadership and business skills one learns pursuing an MBA can in fact help one launch their business to even further heights. Unfortunately not everyone has the time or the money to return to school in order to learn a new set of managerial and business skills. But thanks to open courseware, it might just be possible.

Open courseware is a term used to refer to free online classes offered by various prestigious institutions such as Yale University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.…

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How A Debt Attorney Can Help With Credit Card Debt For Small Businesses

credit card debt settlement for small businessCredit cards can be a wonderful business tool. They allow you the flexibility of easily using credit to make purchases under the promise that you will pay back the money that you borrowed on credit. Credit cards are a great tool for consumers and for regular small businesses. They give you easy access to credit and allow you to focus on what is most important for you in your business and in your personal life.

Because of the ease of use it is also very easy for your credit card debt to get out of control. In fact, credit card debt is becoming an epidemic in our country.…

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What Every Entrepreneur Should Know About Small Business Credit Cards

Any business owner can tell you that while getting a business started is difficult enough, it’s only the beginning of the battle. When it comes to keeping a business running, you’ll need to continue buying supplies and covering many other expenses that are associated with business operations.

credit cards for small businesses

Many business owners choose to cover these expenses through the use of small business credit cards. Still, other business owners are hesitant to get a credit card for their companies for a number of reasons. Let’s take a look at the advantages and disadvantages of small business credit cards and you can easily determine whether or not one is right for your business.…

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Five Surprising Health Insurance Tax Tips For Small Business Owners and The Self Employed

health insurance tax tips

Whether you’re self employed or a small business owner, preparing your taxes can be a daunting task – scrambling to find every little deduction within “hidden” tax codes to make the most of your return. And with Health Reform underway, there are new laws in effect that may translate into a bigger refund check.

Here are five health insurance-related tax tips to consider before you file your taxes this year:

1.   New this year! Take a one-time opportunity to reduce your self-employment taxes – In addition to the standard “˜above the line’ deduction described below, self-employed persons can also deduct the cost of their health insurance premiums from their self-employment taxes on Schedule SE.…

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Take Your Banker Out to Lunch

Starting a small business means having as many allies as possible and few allies are as important to new business owners as the banker.

build a relationship with your banker

It always pays to be on the good side of the person who has a say over whether or not your emerging business will be extended the loan it needs to get through the initial stages. Well as you might already know, it’s important to be on the good side to anybody that influences your business in any type of way.

Here’s a tip: Take your banker out to lunch and build a relationship with them.

For years, entrepreneurs and company associates have taken clients to lunch as a way to either establish a potential relationship or strengthen a rapport that had already existed.…

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Planning Your Year-End Business Tax Strategies

planning your tax strategiesWhile everybody else gears up for the holidays, small businesses should have another thing in mind apart from sales: filing taxes. As the fiscal year draws to a close, it is important that business owners review the current financial situation and start implementing strategies to help minimize your income tax.

There’s no better time than the present to start planning which tax strategies are best for your business, for you to get deductions. Before the holiday rush, business owners should already have a plan in place. If you don’t have one yet, now is as good a time as any to come up with one.…

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5 Bad Habits That Keep You From Getting the Funding You Need

bad habits that won't get your business funding

It’s common for small businesses to slip into bad habits that limit their ability to get funding.   From unscreened customers to generous payment terms, here are some of the most common reasons lenders will not loan to small business owners.

1. Not putting profits back into the business

When you hear these pleasant words from your accountant, “You should take a draw before the end of the year,” think again.   Building equity in your business has a positive impact on your ability to get funding.   A lender always looks at your debt-to-equity ratio.   The more equity you have, the better your ratio.  …

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Financial Literacy Among Entrepreneurs

financial literacyAny person who is running their own enterprise and is accountable for it can be called an entrepreneur. But not all entrepreneurs can be called financially literate. Financial literacy goes beyond just knowing what goes on in the financial world, it is about understanding finance so that effective decisions about the business can be reached.

With the current economy, there is undoubtedly a need to improve financial literacy especially among those in the business sector. You may have the best business idea or the most innovative products in the market but if you do not have the essential financial knowledge in managing the money your business makes, you are in for a rough ride.…

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