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3 Keys to Running a Sounder Business

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How good of a job would you say you are doing when it comes to running your business?

No matter the length of time you have been a business owner, it is important to be doing all you can for your business. If you are not, you could be on the outside looking in before you know it.

So, what steps do you need to take to run a sounder business?

Protect Yourself So You Can Remain in Business

In looking at the keys to keeping your business plugging along, remember these things:

  1. Protect yourself – You will not be much good to consumers if you are not taking care of you. This means not only physically but also financially. That said make sure you have protection in place should something happen to you. As an example, if you run a medical practice, keep in mind all the people depending on you for medical needs. As such, you can’t afford to miss a large amount of work. If you were to suffer a serious medical issue or injury, how would you support yourself and your practice? By having the best disability insurance for physicians, you are in a better position. That coverage allows you to protect all you have invested in. This becomes especially important when a notable illness or injury impacts your world. The last thing you want is to watch all you have worked for go by the wayside. Shop around for the right protection and get it today.
  2. Take care of customers – It goes without saying that taking care of customers goes a long way. That is in determining how long you will remain in business. With that in mind, are you doing enough to show customers you care? No matter the type of business you have, it is important for customers to know they can count on you. Not only is service key, but also rewarding those loyal customers who have been by your side for a while now. Do all you can to show them that you are there for them. From discounts to answering questions they have, taking care of them is a priority.
  3. Stay up on technology – Last, how good of a job are you doing when it comes to staying on top of technology? As technology grows and improves, it is important for you to grow along with it. Some businesses are more focused on the tech world than others are. If technology plays a big role in your business world, be sure you are staying on top of it. If you are not technologically sound, hire one or more individuals who are. Their experience can play a key role in helping you provide customers with the tech they expect from you. You can also attend some tech events during the year. That is to gain more insight in the role technology is playing in the business world.

When it comes right down to it, you have to do all you can to run a sound business.

If you are not doing so, chances are good your competitors will reap the rewards.

About the Author: Dave Thomas covers business topics on the web.

 

Don’t Let a Workplace Injury Derail Your Future

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accident-1238329_640Whether you have been in the workforce for many years or a short time, you know how important a good job is in today’s world.

Now, what happens when you’ve suffered a serious workplace injury, one that can very derail your future?

For too many workers, that scenario is all too familiar. When it happens to them, their worlds can turn upside down.

If you’ve suffered a serious injury while on the job, where will you turn for help?

Yes, your medical well-being is of course of the utmost importance, but your financial health can’t be overlooked either.

With your future up in the air, getting the legal help you need is a must.

Whether in need of Idaho workers comp or help in another state, don’t wait a day to make that call.

Give Your Legal Counsel All the Facts

Once you’re injured on the job, you have two choices in front of you.

One, you can deal with the medical costs and injury/injuries on your own, hoping things work out for the best.

Two, you can reach out to a workers comp lawyer, someone who will stand by your side and fight with you.

In working with a legal pro, make sure he or she has all the facts as you know them on how you were injured.

Among the areas of focus:

  • Accident – Of utmost importance, how were you injured? If the injury in your mind is the fault of your employer, can you prove so? It would be worthwhile to have evidence in the form of an eyewitness and/or video evidence to show you were not to blame.
  • Safety – What safety protocols did your employer have in place? In the event you’re injured in a construction accident, did your employer have the necessary safety procedures in place? If not, were you still told to go about the work anyway?
  • History – Does your employer have a history of non-fatal and/or fatal injuries on the job? If so, has this problem been discussed and/or acted upon? An unsafe work environment is a breeding ground for health issues, workers’ safety.

Financial Fallout
As bad as the physical pain can be from a serious workplace injury, the financial fallout can be as troublesome if not worse.

Even if you have medical coverage, the bills can mount quickly, especially if you will need long-term rehab.

In the event this will lead to you not being able to work, how will you pay your everyday bills?

When your finances are in doubt, this is yet another reason to seek a workers’ comp attorney, someone who will go to work for you.

If there is a pattern of workplace injuries with your employer, see if other current or former employees will speak out on the issue.

Also be sure to hold any other negligent parties besides your employer accountable for your injuries.

This can include product manufacturers etc.

When injured on the job, time is of the essence.

Fight back so your future is not left in doubt.

Given how serious workplace injuries can be, it is imperative that you don’t let someone’s negligence derail your future.

With that being the case, are you prepared to stand up and fight today?

Photo credit: Pixabay

About the Author: Dave Thomas covers business topics on the web.

Avoid Letting Your Business Go Down the Drain

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dollar-941246_640 (1)Do you ever stop as a business owner and look to see where your company might have some leaks taking place?

No, not the kinds of leaks that typically goes on in Washington, D.C. and other political settings.

The leaks here are those where money is being lost, specifically your money.

With that in mind, what steps can you take in order to keep your business from ultimately going down the drain?

Check to See Why You’re Losing Money

In the event your small business is leaking money more times than not, will you not only recognize where the problems are, but also do something about them?

With the answers hopefully being yes, here are a few ideas to keep in mind:

  1. Customer payment issues

One of the most well-known (yet devastating) problems is when customers ultimately decide not to pay for the goods and/or services they purchase from you. For those not aware, these are called chargebacks.

While a number of chargebacks occur when a customer has changed his or her mind in terms of actually wanting what they initially purchased, others revolve around fraud.

Yes, some customers will buy something and charge it to their credit card, only to then decide they don’t want to pay for it. In the end, you the business owner are left with the payment issue square in your lap.

So that you can do a better job of fighting chargebacks and recovering profits, work with a company that will assist you in the fight.

For instance a company that offers a chargeback recovery revenue service can get you the assistance your business needs, thereby preventing you from losing countless dollars over and over again.

Best of all, using such a service will help you when it comes to better identifying issues to begin with, permitting you to have more sound chargeback prevention measures in place.

Lastly, be sure you make it as easy as possible for customers to pay in the first place.

For example, if you offer an online store, make sure the process is simple all the way through, a process that goes from a customer starting to place an order, and running all the way through checkout.

         2. Missed marketing opportunities

Another gaping financial hole can likely be closed when you spend the right amount of time and effort with marketing and social media initiatives.

For your marketing efforts, you should be marketing each and every time you get the chance.

For too many small business owners, they go light on the marketing efforts, figuring such activities will cost them too much money. If you’re one of these people, fall back on the old adage of having to spend money to make money.

Not only should you be marketing offline (newspaper ads, some television and/or radio, networking conferences, and community events), but also online. Those online efforts should include email marketing, mobile marketing etc.

When it comes to social media, this is about as free a marketing opportunity as you can get.

Use social media to push your blog content, engage with consumers, see what the competition is up to and much more.

While some small business owners might claim that they can’t see much return on investment (ROI) when it comes to social media, don’t believe them.

Make sure you do your own social media outreach, seeing if it truly can prove effective for your bran

          3. What you pay for office supplies

Last but not least, are you overpaying for office supplies?

Sure, you might think that an extra roll of copy paper or a few more ink cartridges for the printer do not add up over time, but the reality is that they do.

You will be best-served when you shop around for the best vendor deals out there, saving money whenever and wherever you can. By doing so, this will be one less area that you have to plug in terms of potentially losing money.

If money for office supplies is rather tight, you might even think about some trading options, options where you get a discount on some supplies in return for promoting the vendor or vendors supplying you.

Although you hopefully never get to the point where you have to close your small business due to financial issues, knowing where and when the leaks may come is something you want to be aware of.

Photo credit: Pixabay

About the Author: Dave Thomas writes about money and business topics on the web.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Take Credit for Properly Running Your Business

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credit-card-1730085_640In today’s business world, it is imperative that business owners have their eyes on the prize when it comes to finances.

That said you may find yourself at times scratching your head as to why your revenue stream is stuck in neutral or even going in reverse.

One of the ways to make sure your finances are not in the red on a regular basis is properly accounting for all of your expenses. In making sure customers pay their bills on time, you need to be a financial wizard.

When it comes to customers paying you in a timely manner, this typically involves two scenarios.

Many customers will pay you at the time of the business transaction, while others will be billed for your services and/or products. Either way; making sure you’re not running a deficit is crucial.

So, can you definitely take credit for properly running your business?

Avoid Piling up Various Expenses

In order to keep your business financially solvent, keep in mind the following pointers:

  • Timely payments – First and foremost, make sure customers are paying you in a timely manner. While the majority of people doing business with you will be on the up-and-up, some will try and work things to their advantage. If you end up invoicing them for services or products (see more below), some may delay paying you for a variety of reasons. Some of these reasons can include that they never intended to pay you in the first place, they didn’t leave the proper forwarding address for the invoice, and they are behind on other bills and you’ve been dropped to the bottom of the priority list. No matter the reason, you’re now left without a payment, meaning you have less money coming in for your own business and personal expenses;
  • Disputed payments – Another matter that oftentimes arises for many business owners is the issue of disputed payments. In such cases, the customer will dispute the charges for the products and/or services you charged them for. By doing so, they reach out to their credit card issuer and ask for a stop payment, leaving you once again in a situation where you are a put in a financial hole until the matter is ultimately decided. In order for you to go about preventing chargebacks, there are options available to you. Most notably, you can use a chargeback management program, one where your payments are in fact protected. Not only does this mean that you will get paid for the goods or services you provided, but you can oftentimes avoid costly fees, not to mention wasting your time following up on such problems. Keep in mind that a number of credit card processors will grant you a handful of chargebacks each month without a fee, though you should definitely know ahead of time which ones operate like that. At the end of the day, chargebacks can have quite the negative impact on your business, so don’t brush them off.

Are You Billing Customers on Time?

  • Invoicing Payments Due – Lastly, another crucial factor to help you take credit for properly running a business is making sure you are invoicing customers who do not pay you immediately for purchases and/or services. For example, if you have a set date each month when it comes to invoicing, don’t skip it. Yes, it can be easy to miss that date when you become overwhelmed with work responsibilities, but stop for a moment and think about the negative repercussions to doing so. Your invoices get sent out late, the customer receives them later than normal, and you end up scurrying to pay business and personal bills. If you find yourself getting too busy to handle the regular invoicing needs, consider hiring a part-time assistant to oversee that need. No matter what it takes, stick with a consistent invoicing schedule. Doing so not only allows you to get paid on time, but it lessens chances customers will forget to pay and/or possibly dispute paying you in the first place.

If you can’t take credit for properly running your business at this time, then you obviously have some work ahead of you.

For your business and personal well-being, never overlook the importance of being a financial wizard.

As a current business owner, how do you go about handling financial disputes with customers?

Photo credit: Pixabay

About the Author: Dave Thomas covers business topics on the web.

Don’t Drop the Ball with On-Time Customer Payments

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Paying The BillAs you step back for a minute to analyze how your business is doing, take a look at your financial well-being.

For most business owners, their survival revolves around being financially solvent. Seems like an easy concept, but you might be surprised how many individuals running companies struggle with staying out of the red.

That being the case, are you doing everything within your power to make sure your customers make timely payments?

If you are dragging your feet here, you could end up getting behind on payments, leaving you in a precarious position.

So, are you prepared not to drop the ball with on-time customer payments?

Keeping the Money Flowing in

So that you can make sure (as best as possible) that you do not fall behind on customer payments, remember these important tidbits:

  • Invoicing – First and foremost, make sure you are sending out necessary invoices on time each month. While some of your customers will pay in-person (especially if you own a physical storefront), others will need to be billed for the purchasing of products and services. For that latter group, you can’t do the invoicing whenever you get around to it. For one, it throws the customer off (especially repeat ones) when they are expecting an invoice around the same time each month. Secondly, it can create a backlog in the invoicing process, again leading to problems. Lastly, you won’t get paid in a timely manner, oftentimes the biggest of all the concerns. If you are having issues with invoices, it could be something as simple as making them up in the first place. In the event that is an issue, look to work with a vendor so you can create a free invoice. Putting an invoice together should take little time and effort, so don’t make it out to be a big project;
  • Deadlines – If some customers are not paying you in a timely manner, you are often left with few avenues to turn to. The one that many business owners dread, heading on over to a collection agency. No, it isn’t something you’d prefer to do, but you also want to make sure you get your money before too long. In looking at the collection agency option, use it as a last resort. It may simply be that a friendly reminder or two nudges some customers into paying you when all is said and done. Remember, the customer has already purchased products and/or services from you, so they owe you money if they have not already paid up. Do not feel bad about having to go after them for the money that is due you;
  • Assistance – Lastly, it may simply be a case that you need to hire a financial assistant to make sure you get your funds when you should. If you’re a small business owner, the idea of hiring someone may make you hesitate at first, but you also want to make sure all your business needs are being met. Bringing on someone with an accounting background (even in a PT role) is perfectly fine. Doing so removes one more responsibility from your shoulders, allowing you to concentrate on other important facets of your business. Just make sure that whomever you decide to bring on has a good financial background, plus is orderly and works well without lots of supervision.

If you drop the ball when it comes to your customer payments, your business can suffer sooner rather than later.

While some aspects of your business can take a backseat at times, invoicing and customer payments have to be priorities.

Sit down and review how well (or not so well) you are doing when it comes to customer payments.

You might be surprised to see that you are not doing as well as you should be.

When that happens, putting your finger on the problem and ultimately fixing it, that is your best road to travel.

If you have customers struggling to meet their bills, you can work with them (to a degree), that is without letting them take advantage of you when all is said and done.

Photo credit: BigStockPhoto.com

About the Author: Dave Thomas covers business topics on the web.

Make It Your Business to Get All Available Deductions

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stacks of old dirty pennies. bronze and copper pennies isolatedRunning your own business comes when joys and heartaches. The key is to avoid too much of the latter.

With that being the case, recording and paying taxes as a business owner can be one of life’s biggest headaches.

If you’re self-employed and have no employees under you, life is much easier when it comes to your tax responsibilities.

On the other side, making sure you take the right amount of money out for employees and meeting your other tax responsibilities as a business owner, well, it can sometimes seem downright taxing.

Don’t Make Running a Business Taxing

In running your own business, be sure that you not only are meeting all your tax requirements, but that you are receiving the deductions entitled to you.

For those individuals working out of their homes full-time, there are myriad of deductions one qualifies for, though many oftentimes forget or quite frankly do not know what is and isn’t acceptable to the IRS.

If you’re one of those self-employed folks working out of a private residence, note the following:

  • Your home is deductible…. up to a point – Working out of your home does allow for some deductions, but don’t expect to cover the entire residence from top to bottom. If you set aside a room etc. as your work area, you can use that as a deduction (estimate the square footage involved). What you can’t do is try and deduct the entire residence;
  • Your home office supplies – Assuming that your business needs office supplies, those can be used as deductions. Make sure you save the receipts for items you purchase. If you end up getting a new computer, fax machine, printer or other such office item, you can also deduct those. The key is always to save the paperwork from such purchases, especially if you need to show at a later date that you did in fact buy such items;
  • Your client meetings – When you mix and mingle with clients, you can deduct such meetings (that is up to a point). Meals and mileage to and from such meetings is fine, but don’t try and deduct a gift you may have bought them etc. Stretching things too far could run you the risk of an IRS audit, so it is definitely in your best interests to record and be honest about your deductions. If you do have legal questions or in fact do get audited, a New York tax attorney or one closer to you can assist you with how to proceed;
  • Your health insurance – Unless you have been under a rock for the last three or so years, you know about the governmental requirement that the majority of Americans be covered by health insurance. As a result, make sure you not only have coverage, but look to see if you are eligible for a tax credit. The whole idea behind Obamacare was to make health insurance affordable for the majority of the country. When it comes to medical items, you also can deduct a portion of your doctor visits (including mileage to and from) and prescriptions or other such purchases;
  • Your retirement planning – If you are wise, you have been putting away money over the years for retirement. In doing so, you are planning for that day and time when you will not be working, most likely getting by on Social Security income. Whether you have an IRA or other such retirement vehicle, try and contribute as much as possible to it yearly. This then allows you to record deductions from the money you put into the plan. While there are caps on how much individuals may invest in their retirement portfolios, doing it now and getting the deductions makes it well worth it.

When it comes to doing your taxes as a self-employed business owner, they don’t have to seem as frightening as they might first appear.

Getting organized now, keeping all your necessary receipts, and knowing who to turn to in the event of a dispute and/or audit, can make all the difference in the world.

If doing your taxes seems a bit taxing to you, put organization and the help of others to work for you.

Photo credit: BigStockPhoto.com

About the Author: Dave Thomas writes about business topics on the web.