Best Practices For Small Businesses

Small businesses can often be beaten out by larger competitors simply because they have better practices than small businesses. The good news is that there are a number of practices that can translate to small businesses. These strategies and tactics are some of the best-kept secrets and can make a business much more successful in the long run.

The act of borrowing ideas from other companies is called "best practice benchmarking" and can lead to vast improvements in business structure if done properly. Since most small businesses have a much smaller budget than big businesses, the practices learned can save money and be even more beneficial for them than for the big companies. If a small business emulates another business's way of cutting costs, they will be able to do in a shorter period of time.

To begin borrowing practices from others, there needs to be a clear understanding of their methods. The best way to go about using successful practices is to do heavy research and ask questions to find out how others were able to achieve their goals. This step is important because if the practices are not studied well a small business will usually end up failing or wasting precious resources that they cannot afford to lose. A helpful tool for finding out better business practices is to send surveys to businesses that are successful in that job field.

Although emulating successful business practices is the goal, it is important for individuals to modify the practices to fit with their own business. Not everything will translate and there will be small, yet crucial modifications that need to be made.

Some of the most popular practices that small businesses borrow deal with communicating with others and saving money. One way business owners cut corners is by having a company meeting with their top employees to discuss strategies for conducting better business and the direction they want to see the company head. Individuals may also sponsor retreats or getaways for top executives, helping workers to bond and communicate better. This practice will also help get everyone on the same page as far as product development and business plans. Business owners can also poll and survey their employees, or the employees of other companies, in order to get their opinions on typical problems they face.

Many well-known businesses are now helping others research their successful practices in order to find the best methods for their companies. Some of these businesses are Home Depot, Wal-Mart, and Target. The research to be studied includes strategy models for how to run a successful partnership and real life examples of ways they saved money and cut costs. The research also includes access to popular certification programs and what those businesses learned from the courses. They also showcased the various rewards and recognition systems that they provided to their employees to encourage hard work and better communication.

The great thing about small business practices is that they rarely have to do the dirty work because big corporations have already done it. There are so many different business practices that translate from big corporations to small businesses, and small business owners can take advantage of the abundance of opportunities available to them. If small business owners can modify these popular practices in a way that will work with their company, they can save more money and have a more successful business with little effort.

Greg Heslin is a best selling author on various legitimate work from home opportunities. To learn more about real work from home opportunities and see "check proof" of how some people are making $1,758 a day working from home, you can visit his web site at: http://www.Work-From-Home-123.com

The Solitary Secret To Running A Successful Small Business Eludes Many Entrepreneurs

There is no shortage of tips and techniques about how to open and manage a business of your own. Be cautious about following much of the advice from self appointed business gurus, many of whom have never owned or managed any kind of small, independent business themselves.

Most can talk the talk but few have ever actually walked the walk.

Frankly, going it alone is not for everyone. The reality is the life of an entrepreneur can be unkind, tough and too often, short.

When you open your own business you will need to slay all manner of dragons that constantly rise up to crush rookie business owners. Making it on Main Street requires more than strong mojo.

Motivation is important but the real key to making it on your own is to clearly define (on paper!) what is (or will be) truly unique about your business and exactly who your target market is, where they hang out and how you can cost effectively reach them.

Far too often, people plunge into business based upon what they know and what they want to do. People who love to cook open restaurants. Above average mechanics launch vehicle repair shops. Number crunchers start accounting businesses. This is the Ready-FIRE-Aim approach.

Once the euphoria of the launch is over, reality sets in - Hey, this is one heckuva lot of work for not so much money. That is when the new business owner realizes that perhaps they missed something in all of the blood, sweat and tears invested in starting their enterprise.

The survival statistics for new business start-ups remain grim in spite of the hard work and preparation done beforehand: detailed business plans; pro forma sales and expense projections; business formation documents; location and signage issues; leasehold improvements; permits and licenses; attending entrepreneur classes; hiring staff . . . as a PARTIAL list!

The cycle is all too familiar. A new business opens. Sales soar then taper off. The fledgling business advertises to bolster sales. Ads fall flat. The pruning shear comes out: trim overhead, cut services and possibly prices. Bring expenses in line with real revenue rather than initial projections. Work harder. The American Dream is at stake here.

Some hang in. Many do not.

Here is a hard cold fact regarding starting, managing and sustaining any small business: get in and stay in the MARKETING GAME from day one.

Write this simple description down: Small business marketing is about identifying people with specific needs and challenges and getting these people to notice you, like you, trust you and buy from you. That is the solitary secret to small biz success.

Silver bullet theories come from many directions. There are no magic potions for small business success. The best way to succeed is to sop up and act out the above definition of small business marketing. Ready, AIM, fire.

Resist handing off your marketing strategy to an in-law or acquaintance that used to do some public relations for a Fortune 500 company or an employee who once upon a time sold ads for The Daily Bugle in Toledo. Before you do that or in the event you have already made that kind of mistake, stop now.

Identify exactly what is unique about your company (as opposed to your competitors) and precisely who your specific target market is or will be. Sound simple? It is not.

How do I know?

90 per cent of small business owners and managers have not, cannot or will not get their arms around the basic marketing concept stated above. I am not sure why this is so. What I do know is that doing it right . . . from the start . . . beats doing it over later on.
Bob Schumacher presents real world insight, tactics and strategies to small business owners and managers written in plain coffee-shop English. His website http://www.20do80.com includes 74 complimentary small business marketing and advertising articles plus a free book on creating effective ads.

Best Internet Fax Service For Small Businesses

Internet fax services have become very popular because both individuals and businesses have realized how cost effective this alternative actually is.

However, as everything in life, once demand for this kind of services started picking up, so did the multiple offerings from several online fax service providers.

In general, I would say that regardless of the service you choose, you will be saving a lot of time and money, because you will avoid things like ink, paper, maintenance and other inconveniences of the fax machine, while you enjoy a set of practical advantages like superior accessibility and privacy.

Nevertheless, since these days you will find a lot of internet faxing providers, choosing the best one will ensure that you get the most and save the most.

After carefully comparing about 11 online fax services, I set what I consider the minimum standards for an online faxing service, based on a combination of several factors which I explain:

1. Number of pages included. Since you usually pay a small monthly fee (usually under $13), the most important thing to consider is how many pages are you allowed to send and receive each month.

3. Toll free number. This is always a big plus for your costumers, so it is a must that your online faxing service offers this option.

3. No contracts or commitments. If anything, today's business environment demands flexibility and being tied up by a contract is not the best idea.

Among all of the services I have researched, I actually found one that offers this ideal combination plus all of the basic and advanced features any good online faxing service should have.

Visit the Online Business Review to share with us in depth information about online business oriented tools and resources proven to deliver results.

Ten Tax Planning Ideas for Small Businesses in 2009

If you are a small business owner looking for cost cutting ideas here are ten tax planning ideas that may result in substantial tax savings. The following article highlights planning areas often missed by business owners. You should consult a qualified tax advisor to determine if any of these areas are appropriate for you and your business.

1. S Corporation: Set up an S Corporation to avoid self-employment tax on profits. If you conduct business as a sole proprietor, a partnership, or a limited liability company the first $106,800 of 2009 profits are subject to a self-employment tax rate of 15.3%. The profits in excess of $106,800 are subject to a Medicare tax rate of 2.9%. These self-employment tax rates are in addition to paying income tax on the profits. An S Corporation is not subject to self-employment tax on the profits earned. But you must take "reasonable" compensation as salary subject to F.I.C.A.
2. Bad Debt Expense: A reserve for bad debts is not deductible, but you can write off accounts receivable in the year in which they become uncollectible. Be sure to take advantage of writing off all those uncollected accounts at year end.
   
   If you used a collection agency, you can deduct a portion of the debt that will go to the collection agency as a fee (around 25%). You can write off that amount at the time you turn over the receivable to the agency.
3. Medical Expense: For 2009, eligible self-employed individuals can deduct from gross income 100% of the amounts paid for health insurance coverage. The deduction is limited to net earned income from the business, less the deduction for 50% of the self-employment tax. Also, you cannot take the deduction for any month you were qualified to participate in an employer sponsored health plan.
   
   If you conduct business as a corporation, set up a corporate medical reimbursement plan. Medical costs are generally personal expenses deductible only to the extent that they exceed 7.5% of your Adjusted Gross Income (AGI). However, medical reimbursement plans set up by C Corporations let you deduct all the medical costs you incur for yourself, your spouse, and dependents. These plans must cover all eligible employees.
4. Equipment Expense: For 2009, Section 179 of the Tax Code lets companies deduct up to $133,000 of new equipment, subject to certain limits. (This limit is reduced by the amount by which the cost of section 179 property placed in service in the tax year exceeds $530,000.) Passenger vehicles are excluded from the expensing election. A passenger vehicle is defined as having a loaded gross vehicle weight of less than 6,000 pounds.
   
   The tax code also allows an accelerated method to depreciate the remaining value of that equipment – it’s faster than the straight-line method of depreciation.
5. Home Office Expense: Write off home-office expenses. You can take this deduction even if you use the space for administrative purposes, as long as there is no where else you can work. When you use one room in your six room home as an office, you can deduct one-sixth of your costs for utilities, security, homeowner’s insurance, etc. as well as all costs for the room such as carpeting. Although you can also claim the depreciation on your home used for home office, you should consult a qualified tax advisor prior to doing so to understand the impact it will have on the exclusion of gain when you sell your residence.
6. Travel Expense: Deduct business trips by putting your spouse on the payroll. When spouses are on the payroll, even at low salaries, cost of business trips that include the spouse can be fully deducted. You should also be aware that putting your spouse on the payroll in 2009 will also double the amount of Social Security tax owed up to the first $106,800 of income.
7. Hiring Children in the Family Business: Put your children on the company payroll. When you employ your children in the business, for 2009 you can pay them up to $5,350 in salary free from Federal tax. The “kiddie” tax doesn’t apply to wages, so children under age 18 get this tax break, too. Have your children put $4,000 into a Roth IRA, where it will compound tax-free over time. When the money is left in the account until they turn 59 ½, they will never have to pay out any tax or penalties on that money or its earnings.
   
   If your business is not incorporated, and the children are under age 18, neither you, as employer, nor your children will owe Social Security or Medicare tax on their wages.
8. Retirement Planning: Put more money away in your company retirement plan for yourself than for your employees. Business owners who are more than 20 years older that other company employees can set up a defined-benefit pension plan instead of a defined-contribution plan. Because they are funding a specific benefit (not putting away a percentage of salary) and have fewer years to do so, owners can contribute more to the plan for themselves than their employees.
9. Claiming Business Losses: Make the most of business losses. If your company has a net operating loss in 2009, it can be carried back two years or carried forward up to 20 years to offset future profits. To get a refund, file an application on Form 1139 for corporations and Form 1045 for sole proprietorships. Most refunds are sent out by the IRS within two months.
10. Education: Set up a company tuition-reimbursement plan to pay a child’s school cost. Businesses can set up plans that pay up to $5,250 in tuition per employee annually. Business owners’ children must work for the company, be older than age 21, own no company stock and cannot be claimed as a dependent on the owners’ tax returns

Alan is managing partner at Greenstein, Rogoff, Olsen & Co., LLP, a leading Bay Area CPA firm in the San Francisco Bay Area. Alan has more than 23 years of experience in public accounting, and works with some of the most successful venture capitalists in the world, helping to develop innovative financial strategies for business enterprises. Alan earned a B.S. in Accounting from Brigham Young University, and an MBA (Taxation) from California State University at Hayward.

5 Benefits To Running A Home Business

As the internet continues to evolve and expand, more and more people are looking to start their own home business. And who can blame them; there are a plethora of benefits to working for yourself from the comfort of your own home. Here are five benefits to running a home based business.

1. Freedom
At last you have some freedom with your job. When running your own business, you can get into whatever you wish and take it wherever you want. Every move you make is up to you. There is not a person that can force you to take a project a different direction. Just be careful about slacking off and taking advantage of this freedom.

2. Schedule
Part of having the infinite amount of freedom comes the ability to work whenever you want. There is no schedule you have to work around whatsoever. Seeing that the internet is open 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, you can work whatever hours you want. Just make sure that you actually get the hours of work in that you need to.

3. Boss
As a home business owner, you are the boss. You no longer have to worry about taking orders from someone that you completely disagree with. As mentioned above, you can take a project any direction you choose to. You can also go at your own pace. You do not have to feel rushed to finish a certain task. Or you can fly past something else that you would have normally been held up on.

4. Family time
Many entrepreneurs enjoy the ability they have to spend more time with the family. When you have your own business, you have the benefit of working from your own home. This means you no longer have to miss dinner because of traffic or miss your kids’ extracurricular activities do to a last minute project. In addition, you can plan a vacation around everyone else’s schedules as oppose to yours because you are the boss.

5. Work from home
Perhaps the best benefit from having a home business comes from the fact that you work from home. No longer do you have to get up early and deal with traffic. No longer do you have to dress a specific way to go to work. And best of all, most people work their best in a comfortable surround. There is no place like home.

The list of benefits from having your own home business could literally go on forever. This article provides you with just a few ways you too can benefit from having your own business.

How to Establish Business Credit for Your Home or Small Business

In the United States most businesses at some point will have to seek some type of lending assistance. Whether it is for business start, business expansion, or just to cover the expenses during an economic downturn, your ability to obtain financing for your business could determine whether it will survive. Despite your less than perfect or even bad personal credit your business can obtain A1 credit with a little knowledge and work.

First, your business must stand on its own two feet. This means you must establish your business as separate and independent entity from you as a person. You will have to incorporate or form a Limited Liability Company (LLC) to give your business its own identity and it will, also, protect you personally. It is important to note that the owners of sole proprietorships and partnerships are personally liable for debts of the business, so you will not be able to obtain separate credit with these business structures.

After you have incorporated or formed a LLC for your business you will have to obtain a Federal EIN. Federal EIN or Tax ID Number, can be described as your business’ Social Security Number. This number maybe obtained on the phone or online by contacting the Internal Revenue Services (IRS). After you have received your Federal EIN Number you need to open a checking account in the name of your business and using your business’ Federal EIN Number. Your monthly charges maybe a little more and you maybe required to make a larger deposit to open a business account but it is a necessity that you open a business account and not a personal.

Next you have to open business credit files with the business credit reporting agencies. The three main business credit agencies are Dun & Bradstreet, Experian and Business Credit USA report. These and other agencies report business credit in very similar ways as personal credit. Once this is done you have to establish credit and build your credit score.

To get started you must obtain business credit cards that are not personally linked to you. You should obtain 3 no more than 4 credit cards. When you receive the cards withdraw half of your line of credit on each card. Deposit this money in your business checking account. Over the course of the next four months pay off all of the credit cards by making monthly payments. After you have paid off all of your cards close one of the credit card accounts.

Also, go to the bank and apply for a business loan for a couple thousand dollars for a term of 6 months. You may have to co-sign for your business but that’s ok. Just make sure the bank list your business as a primary guarantee and that they will report your business’s payment history to the business credit reporting agencies. Again, deposit the money in the business checking account and pay the loan off in three to four months, making monthly payments. After the loan is paid wait two months and go back to the bank and borrow another couple thousand dollars. This time it is important that the loan is not personally linked to you. Your business should be the sole guarantee of the loan. Pay this loan off in 4-5 months.

After you have paid the bank always maintain a minimum balance on two of your business credit cards. The total balance for both cards should not be no more that $500. You may also contact a few vendors and suppliers and request a small amount of credit for your business. Follow these steps and you are on your way to establishing A1 credit for your business.

Austin Clark, is a business attorney and consultant. He is the editor of WIZ AT BIZ ,an online business resource center and Wizatbiz PRODUCTS

How Start Up Business Grants Can Really Benefit New Small Home Businesses

Start-up grants can help benefit small or home business in
many ways. Grants for home businesses are offered by federal or state
agencies and other organizations. There are also offices such as small
business development offices to help the small business grant seeker
with advice on how to get grants. The grants for small businesses or home business are usually dollars
that do not have to be repaid and can be used for anything from
start-up expenses to inventory or construction expenses.

Using start up business grants to benefit small businesses are
sometimes unknown to the new home business entrepreneur. They might not
know these small business grants are available or they may think they
all have to be repaid. Not true. Thousands of government dollars are
given away each year to help small businesses through their start up
process to ensure their success. Others think these start up business
grants are only for rural or minority-owned businesses. This is also
not true. While there are specific start up business grants for rural
and minority owned businesses, they are not the only ones out there.

What are the requirements and how can a start up business grant really
benefit my small home business you might ask? There are not as many
requirements as you might think, nor will all of them require mounds of
paperwork to obtain that small business grant. Here are some tips on
how you too can benefit from small business start-up grants.

First, it doesn’t matter if you’ve never owned a business before, or if
you are a long-time business owner. Small businesses need help and
government and state grants are available for the taking if you look in
the right place. These small business start-up grants can be used in
every business area from starting up a daycare service to building your
eBay business. Organizations that offer start up grants to help
small businesses realize that people aren’t always able to get a bank
loan or utilize personal funds. These organizations don’t want to see
the small business owner fail and realize that small business are the
backbone of the business industry today.

The myth that most agencies that offer small business start up grants
require an arm and a leg of work that you can’t tackle is simply not
true. In fact, most agencies will help you through the grant process
and offer seminars or effective ways to get your grant proposal
noticed. Grant proposals firms are available, but not always necessary
if you know what kind of things grant makers are looking for.

Seek out government, state or local grant makers and schedule a meeting
with a local representative. Discuss what grants they offer to help new
business owners with their start-up costs. Choose grants or
organizations that are offering grants you feel you qualify for. If
you’re looking to start up a dress shop business, don’t waste time on
rural development offered grants. Check around to find a grant that is
specifically designed for your small business or small business idea.

Some grants
for starting up small businesses can be vast in description
and claim to cover everything under the sun, so be careful. The best
advice when seeking a start up grant to help your small business is to
read and re-read grant guidelines all the way through. The last
sentence of any grant guideline might disqualify your company, location
or idea. Understand the grant maker and what they are seeking. Don’t be
afraid to call or meet with grant makers. After all, they wouldn’t be
offering these funds if they didn’t think people need them right? Do
some research, gather your financial paperwork together and start
searching for that start up grant for your small business—you’ll be
rewarded for your efforts and it’s easier than you think!

Leon Edward shares information on government business funding, Federal, State ,Local Grants , where to find start up business grants, sources, how best to fill out applications, grant management step by step tips at Start Up Business Funding Get a free ebook Report - How To Find Legitimate Home Based Businesses, Internet Business Ideas , Free Training at Internet Business Ideas