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At some point, all small business owners will find themselves in need of inspiration. And there’s nothing better than good, old-fashioned small business magazines (or, okay, maybe an online magazine) to give you the revitalizing boost, or simply a store of extra knowledge, that you need to run your business to the best of your ability. . In addition to your favorite blogs, podcasts, books, and online forums, subscribing to regularly-updated small business magazines is a great way to st
As an accountant you can help clients understand and find business finance options that fit their needs. Let’s take a look at the key facts you and your client should know when looking for finance.
The healthcare sector is an amazing place for aspiring entrepreneurs to open up shop. Exploring healthcare business ideas is smart for lots of reasons. There’s an opportunity to do a world of good by serving an aging American population and helping those struggling with the national drug crisis. There are lots of new medical and technological advances, and widespread interest in health and wellness, too.
As a new small business owner, you have to figure out a lot of things you’ve never done before. One of them includes how to create a business budget—and that can be insanely intimidating, especially when you’re only starting out. How, exactly, do you know where to find the right financial information, let alone learn the business finance terminology , and put all the data together in the right order?
Your past-due accounts are growing, cash flow is tightening, and the pressure is on. The big question: Do you handle the collections internally or outsource to experts? Both strategies come with advantages and risks - but which one delivers the best impact for your business? In this session we’ll dive deep into the in-house vs. outsourcing debate, examining cost-effectiveness, efficiency, compliance risks, and overall recovery success rates.
If you’re serious about running and growing your small business, you’ll want to set up a business bank account ASAP so you can start managing your finances (and, eventually, apply for a small business loan ). But when you start searching for a bank to work with, you’ll quickly realize that finding the right small business bank is easier said than done: It takes more than just knocking on the door of the bank nearest your business.
Whether you love it, hate it, or hate to love it, your smartphone is absolutely crucial—and, if you load up that phone with some of the best business apps, you can turn it into a toolbox that will help you run your business better. But, as you likely already know, there are millions of productivity and business apps—plus lots of software with accompanying apps—out in the digital marketplace.
Whether you love it, hate it, or hate to love it, your smartphone is absolutely crucial—and, if you load up that phone with some of the best business apps, you can turn it into a toolbox that will help you run your business better. But, as you likely already know, there are millions of productivity and business apps—plus lots of software with accompanying apps—out in the digital marketplace.
If you’re starting your small business, you’re in the midst of a lot of big first steps: picking out an amazing name, getting an EIN from the IRS, and filling out about a carton of paper’s worth of forms. And once you’ve gotten past these not-glamorous-but-essential hurdles, there’s still more work to be done in order to get your company off the ground—namely, figuring out the best place to open a business checking account.
Just like a personal credit card, you’ll probably find apply for a business credit card pretty straightforward, too, especially if you do it online. But, as you might imagine, there are a few business credit card requirements that didn’t make it onto your personal credit card application. And it’s certainly worth making sure you know about those business credit card requirements, because getting a business credit card is best decisions your business can make.
Ensuring your small business’s success requires a ton of personal investment. But that investment is hardly limited to cash—you’ll also need to invest your time, energy, and attention into promoting your company and building a professional support system. Business networking is the best way to start in on this intangible, but crucial, investment. But networking for business is something of a catchall.
Having an online presence as a small business owner as never been more important—and that includes a Facebook Business Page. Facebook continues to be the most popular social media network with 79% of US users regularly using Facebook , according to a 2016 PEW survey. One-third of Facebook users also engage with brands regularly while online, so if you don’t have a presence there yet, there’s no better time to figure out how to make a business Facebook page. .
No matter what industry you’re in, you’ve most likely dealt with a difficult customer at some point. Whether the issue you faced was beyond your control or a direct response to a mistake, in business you may encounter the good, the bad, and the ugly. It can be challenging to know exactly how to handle a difficult customer, but with the right tips and tactics you’ll be prepared to navigate any situation that comes your way.
If you’re a born entrepreneur, there’s little more exciting than hitting upon a business idea that you know you can spring from your imagination and into the real world. Of course, just like full-fledged operations, business ideas need capital to thrive. The next step is to use that momentum to figure out how to get funding for a business idea. This, of course, can be easier said than done.
Loan stacking, which is when a borrower takes out multiple business loans from different lenders at the same time, is becoming increasingly common. The percentage of borrowers who stacked loans doubled between 2013 and 2015. And that number continues to grow. Since the 2008 recession, banks have cut down on lending to small business owners. In response, many are stacking two—or sometimes even three or more—loans from online lenders to start and grow their businesses.
Most of the country is just beginning to feel sunshine and higher temps, which might give enterprising people seasonal business ideas for warm weather—the time of year when customers are out and about, looking for bit of sunshine in their lives after a long and dreary winter. If you’re in a seasonal business , you know exactly what we’re talking about: Your ice cream shop is jammed with customers, or maybe your taco truck’s seeing lines around the block for the lunch crunch.
You might be driving a rideshare service like Uber or Lyft for your main income, or your side hustle. But as long as you’re depending on driving to bring in money, you might as well be making those miles work harder for you. Believe it or not, there are more ways beyond driving that enable you as a contract worker to increase your earnings. As a driver, you can do a lot of creative and innovative tricks to bring home money, without having to sacrifice the time it takes to drive.
There are so many driving factors behind the search for a small business loan , but the most common of them all is to get access to cash so you can nurture your business. If you’re low on cash, it makes a lot of sense that you’d want to apply for financing. So, you’re probably wondering how to get a business loan with no money—if that’s even a possibility. .
Being an entrepreneur is always challenging, but it can be especially difficult if you start building your business at a young age. Young entrepreneurs face unique hurdles like creating a company with less work and life experience under their belt. If you’re a young entrepreneur, you may also struggle with being taken less seriously by older peers in the industry.
Maybe you started your home business as a side hustle, or as a bold first step toward 9-to-5 freedom. So, to make certain that you’re running your business to the best of your ability, you’ll need to make sure you have a full toolkit—which includes the best home business accounting software for all of your bookkeeping needs. Finding business accounting software is a lot less glamorous than building your website, running your first marketing campaign, or, you know, doing the work you care about.
For almost any industry you decide to open up shop in, you’re making a smart move if you choose to establish your business’s legal entity as an LLC. When you become a Limited Liability Company, you’ll get the limited liability protections of a corporation, without all of the complicated paperwork and ongoing requirements. Now that you’ve chosen the best legal entity for your small business, it’s time to make another decision: Your LLC credit card.
Before you commit to a business loan , you should know what the debt you’ll be taking on will help your business accomplish. Whether you want to launch a new product, open another storefront, or hire a new employee, the loan has to help your business grow and increase your company’s profits. Otherwise, the loan simply isn’t worth the cost. This is what makes cost of debt such an important concept.
The great news for small business owners is that, according to the Kauffman Foundation’s 2018 State of Entrepreneurship report, the outlook for the future of small business remains optimistic as ever. Figures show that entrepreneurs continue to view their business performance positively. Eighty-eight percent of those running startups up to five years old predict their business will continue performing well throughout 2018; and that stat’s at 81% for business owners with companies older th
If you own a seasonal business—such as a tax preparation office, a lawn-care service, or a vacation resort—the revenue you make during your busy period has to cover your expenses throughout the entire year. That means running a lean, disciplined operation even when the money is pouring in, and making sure there’s enough cash left over when customers stop calling.
When you think of Connecticut, you might think of fall foliage, Gilmore Girls , big casinos, Mark Twain, Mystic Pizza , Yale University, country clubs, and commuters (and, if you’re Senator Chris Murphy, pizza to rival New York’s City’s ). You might not think of Connecticut as a great state to start a small business—but you absolutely should. .
If you’ve ever applied to borrow money for a car loan a mortgage, or applied for a credit card, you’re well aware that you have a credit score. Although we refer to our credit score as one number out of 850 points , you may or may not know that you actually have different credit scores—three credit scores, actually. Yep, that’s confusing—but it’s true.
You’ll find a lot of resources for business owners searching for their first perfect business credit card for their preferences and needs. But what about business owners who already applied for a card without considering which one they were applying for ? In that case, you might have the wrong business credit card—and need to find a better one. If your business credit card hasn’t quite won you over, you should be looking out for certain red flags that signal it’s time for a business credit card
If you’re a small business owner, you know all too well that running a business isn’t cheap. The old adage that you have to “spend money to make money” is a reality of your daily life that you might think about every time you hand over your business credit card for a purchase. Whether you’re shopping to restock supplies, buying materials for your client’s big work order, or just keeping your employees happy with a fresh bag of coffee, these little expenses add up.
Sometimes as a small business owner, you need cash faster than a traditional lender can approve your business loan application. In that case, you’ll want to look into cash flow loans for small business, which can put cash in your hand in just a couple of days. Unlike asset-based loans, which require assets for collateral , cash advance loans for small business are approved solely on the basis of your company’s cash flow (past and future projections).
Being in debt is stressful. Even if the terms of your business loan are pretty good, you might just be feeling exhausted by those daily, weekly, or monthly bills—and prepaying your loan can seem like a logical way to release the burden of those payments, free up your cash flow, and allow you greater control over how you spend your money. But the fear of your small business loan’s prepayment penalty might stop you from getting out of your loan too soon.
As a small business owner, figuring out the ideal time to pay your employees is a matter of survival. It seems to make sense, then, that you should choose a payroll schedule that corresponds with your cash flow. Shouldn’t you pay your team when you have the most cash? Unfortunately, it’s not quite that simple. Although the premise is grounded in sound logic, the basics of small business bookkeeping don’t allow you, as a small business owner, to make a choice so seamlessly when it comes to
Entrepreneurship is a challenging undertaking, but adding your family into the mix provides a whole new dynamic. When entrepreneurship runs in your family, it’s inevitable that unique challenges will arise as you spend time building a business with the people that are closest to you. If you work with your family, it can be especially hard to separate your work life and your home life.
Before you commit to a business loan , you should know what the debt you’ll be taking on will help your business accomplish. Whether you want to launch a new product, open another storefront, or hire a new employee, the loan has to help your business grow and increase your company’s profits. Otherwise, the loan simply isn’t worth the cost. This is what makes cost of debt such an important concept.
Selling products and services online allows business owners to reach a much larger audience than they could with just a brick-and-mortar location. Although casting a wider net can lead to sales growth, it can also increase a business owner’s liability. If a customer is unhappy with a business owner’s services, or injured by a defective product, the customer could sue.
Every small business experiences financial upswings and downturns. Ideally, you’ll experience more of the former than the latter—but you also know that the reality isn’t always perfect. So, when funds are drying up, and you don’t have the financial bandwidth to cover your employees, payroll loans can be life savers. Of course, it’s absolutely crucial that you make paying your employees a priority, no matter what.
If you’re a shop owner who has to balance ebbing and flowing demand, stock orders, difficult customers , and invoices with short deadlines, you already know how challenging it can be to keep your store up and running from one month to the next. But what you might not know is that there are financial options, including specific retail business loans, to help you stay afloat.
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