Author: Ethan Theo

Abe WalkingBear Sanchez is an International Speaker / Trainer / Consultant on the subject of cash flow / sales enhancement and business knowledge organization and use. Founder and President of www.armg-usa.com, WalkingBear has authored hundreds of business articles, has worked with numerous companies in a wide range of industries since 1982 and has spoken at many venues including the Shakespeare Globe Theater in London.

Categories
Entrepreneurship

Be Your Own Boss – The Benefits of Going Self-Employed

The decision to leave behind a permanent and familiar job in favour of self-employment is not one that you’ll take lightly. Yes, it will take a lot of hard work and determination, but ultimately there are many advantages to making the leap. Here’s a look at some of the benefits you can enjoy when you’re self-employed.

Increased potential earnings

One of the main advantages of self-employment is that your earning potential will be much higher and on average, you can earn 45% more than if you are traditionally employed, giving you the opportunity to invest your profits. You’ll be able to directly reap the benefits of your hard work, which is a more rewarding lifestyle than if you work within a company.

Look into the financial benefits and incentives available to you, as you may be entitled to tax deductions and the opportunity to claim expenses if you use your phone, internet and travel for business. Don’t be afraid to ask for advice when it comes to your finances. Many banks and building societies offer specialised services for those who are self-employed.

Flexibility and reduced costs

Another major pro is the flexibility that you will enjoy if you are self-employed. Gone are the days of paying expensive childcare fees and for school breakfast clubs; working from home means that you can skip the stress of the daily commute and set you own schedule, whilst also saving money on your petrol or train fare.

Plus, you will have more freedom when it comes to taking holidays rather than having to consult the office calendar and waiting for your manager’s approval. This means that you can plan a break during a time that’s most suitable for you and your company, and also find better deals.

Increased control

When you’re self-employed, the only people you have to answer to is yourself and your clients. You can avoid the office politics and receive the credit for your efforts personally. Feeling like a valued individual is a very rewarding benefit that you may not experience in traditional employment.

You can also pick your own customers, which means that your work is more likely to be varied, enjoyable and matched to your skills and interests. No two days will be the same and it will lead to a more creative and diverse lifestyle.

Do you like the sound of making the transition into self-employment? Make sure you seek further advice on how to get your business set up correctly, going through the government’s SME checklist research everything you need to know in the journey to becoming your own boss.

Categories
Operations

Top Reasons Why Safety Is Important for a Business

A business when build perfectly will be successful 10 times larger than most standing areas in the industry. But safety has a significant part in a business especially when the work includes bigger production compared to others. Injury or worst, death change lives and it’s the heaviest effect that can happen in a workplace. Being harmed during work can damage the family of the involved person and of the business too. There will be a need to pay off medical expenses and other support when that happens. As an employer, you take full responsibility of the lives under your hands and your sole purpose is for it to stay that way. You have to make sure your workers go back to their home whole and safe. This is one of the reasons why safety is essential for a business but that’s not the only one.

Safety reduces stress.

Safety and security speak in volumes but if a person is injured while working, not only will you be jeopardizing his or her life but also yours and the foundation of your business. This will create stress on your workers because all they be thinking about is the incident. Until you have figured out what you can improve on your company, trauma will build up each day. Employees will always think about their wellbeing and soon, it will come to affect how they work. But ensuring that they are safe will give a great deal to their productivity and lessen their stress.

Safety is mandated.

There are several laws that strengthens safety in a company. The government has their own departments which looks after the implementation of such a law. These enforcements are a group of individuals that will see through anyone’s health around a workplace and they will make sure to keep it that way. If they ever found out that their safety policy isn’t applied by every company out there, it’s going to cause problems. There is even a huge chance that the establishment will be shut down until further notice.

Safety ensures a hassle free area.

A couple of years back, some states are already legalizing the use of marijuana. However, the primeval practice of such a substance is still frown upon. This illegal item can hinder a worker’s judgement because of its side effects. Thus far, safety has provided a way to stop that from happening. There are certain terms that allows employers to test out their workers. Doing this can clear out the air of suspicious activities and even dangerous actions. A hassle free area is something that anyone would need for their businesses to make sure their company won’t lose anything.

There are still several things that entrepreneurs need to apply on their businesses. Resources such as hard hats, big equipment that can do the job as well as drug test programs are a great help. Safety by nature is an added value, a first step to every companies, and the most important thing that every business worker should always have.

Categories
Starting Up

3 Steps for Setting Up Small Business Accounting

Bookkeeping is an integral part of your small business. If you can’t keep up with your cash flow, you’ll become another statistic about the perils of entrepreneurial startups. Clearly, you need to take control of your finances. Here are three steps for setting up a small business accounting system.

Choose an Accounting Method

The field of accounting involves many structure-based choices that will impact your cash flow and balance sheet. For this reason, the accounting method you pick is critical to your long-term success.

The choices for tracking income and expenses are the accrual method and the cash method. Most businesses use the accrual method since it’s the approved method by the generally accepted accounting principles in the United States. In this method, the business registers the sale in its books the instant the purchase occurs, even if the payment has not yet been made. For example, a furniture delivery company would document income from a sale when its employee makes the delivery. The fact that the buyer might not pay immediately is irrelevant.

The cash method prioritizes payment. When a company receives money for a product, good, or service, it notates the transaction in its books. Similarly, if the company agrees to pay for something at a later date, the expense is not recorded until the payment is made. You want to choose the process that fits your company the best. Private companies are not required to comply with GAAP, but if you plan or hope to take your company public someday, you may want to use GAAP-approved processes from the start.

Choose a Recording Method

Your next bookkeeping decision is how to keep your records. Before the age of computers, the most popular choice was by hand. Businesses would make copies of every exchange with customers and suppliers. Today, most companies use software for their record-keeping. It’s the ideal choice.

The right computer program will provide mistake-free bookkeeping. Plus, it’ll automate some of the accounting processes that would otherwise require additional labor and expense. Whether you’d outsource these processes or perform them internally, you’ll save the overhead by using software.

The most popular bookkeeping programs are Peachtree Accounting and QuickBooks Pro. Several other solutions exist, though. You should read online reviews to choose which one is best for your needs. The most important aspects to consider are whether you want cloud access and portability. Cloud access enables real-time updates from anywhere in the world, a huge asset. Portability means that you can use the programs from smart devices, which is a growing business necessity.

Pick Forms of Payment

How you pay your customers will go a long way toward determining the success of your company. You should prioritize secure payment methods that protect your interests. Some types of online payments, such as PayPal, are susceptible to data breaches. The same is true of cash that you keep in your office.

You’ll want to buy the safest payment method available, which is business checks. These documents are tamper-proof thanks to a protective coating used in their design. Even if a criminal receives one of your checks, he can’t alter the payment fields. Due to the stock used to make the checks, robbers also can’t counterfeit them. When using business checks, you can pay with confidence.

Planning your accounting is a critical part of successfully managing your business. Follow the three tips above to secure the future of your company during those difficult early years.

Categories
Starting Up

3 Common Small Business Mistakes to Avoid

As the owner of a small business, it’s your job to become a Jack of all trades in your company. Unfortunately, by doing everything at once, it makes it much easier to make avoidable mistakes.

The worst part is these avoidable mistakes can threaten the long-term health of your otherwise thriving business. So it’s vital to know common mistakes that small business owners tend to make so that you can avoid them in the future.

How Clear Is Your Purpose?

If you ever intend to achieve lasting success in your business, you need to clearly define your purpose and strive to achieve what you set out to do.

As a small business owner, it’s your job to spend time developing a vision, a mission, and ultimately a purpose for your organization.

It really doesn’t even matter what type of business you start. It can be a dry cleaner, a restaurant, a delivery service, or anything else for that matter.

Ultimately, you need to understand your mission. You need to discover why your company exists and why people would want to purchase your products and services.

At the end of the day, once you’ve discovered your purpose, you’ll find it easier than ever to determine which direction your business should go. So having a purpose and knowing what it is is certainly a step in the right direction.

Choosing the Perfect Name for Your Business

To some people, this might seem like a superficial mistake on the surface. But when it comes to branding, marketing, and attracting people to your company, picking the perfect name is absolutely crucial to your success.

As an example, let’s say you plan to open an auto body shop. But unlike all the other auto body shops in the neighborhood, you plan to guarantee your work will be complete in a specific amount of time.

With that said, it would make sense to come up with a name for your business in alignment with this goal.

You wouldn’t want to call yourself Turtle Auto Body Repair or Slowpoke Body Shop!

On the contrary, you’d want to call yourself Speedy Body Shop or something similar.

So never discount choosing your name. It really is that important.

According to SecStates.com, nationwide and Georgia business entity search website, “Find information on any corporation or business entity in the United States by performing a search on the Secretary of State website of the state or territory where the corporation is registered.”

So, if you feel like you’ve come up with the perfect name for your business, check with your local Secretary of State to find out if the name is still available.

It’s possible that somebody else is already using it, so you may have to come up with another name.

Starting Your Business without a Budget

When you first start a small business, money is often very tight in the beginning. This is true unless you already have achieved business success in other areas and you have nearly unlimited capital to spare.

For most new small businesses, it’s often imperative to operate within a strict budget.

This is where problems typically arise.

Most small business owners fail to create a budget in the beginning. And they accidentally overspend in certain areas that will immediately leave them fighting to stay afloat.

Sure, you’re going to incur expenses when you first start a business. That’s all part of the risk and reward process. You should avoid spending needlessly and never purchase things that aren’t within your budget.

Conclusion

It’s definitely challenging to run a successful small business. So create your mission statement, make budgeting a top priority, and choose the perfect name for your business.

If you can accomplish these things, achieving startup success will become a little bit easier.

Categories
Finance & Capital

3 Tips to Improve Your Accounts Receivable Collections Process

It is very frustrating when one completes a project or item delivery in a timely manner and then must spend twice as much effort in collecting the payment they are due. For small business owners and entrepreneurs, this can be especially trying because they are often responsible for all aspects of the business. They not only have to find new clients; they also must complete all the work and then act as their own accounts receivable department. The following three tips will make the entire process easier.

Impeccable Invoices

The first step in creating an effective accounts receivable process is in providing clients with easy to understand invoices. Payments are often not made simply because the client’s accounts payable department doesn’t know exactly what they are paying for or they aren’t sure where payments should be sent.

An invoice template like this one here, is one way to ensure all of the pertinent information is easy to find and that it is always included. Details such as the business phone number, mailing address, and email all give the client to find the answers to any questions they may have. Payment method should also be clearly outlined, whether that is a check by mail or a payment via PayPal.

It is also important to be as detailed as possible in the invoicing process. Be sure to list exactly what each charge was for if items or services were being sold. For invoices detailing total hours worked it is best to show the total number of hours worked each day as well as the tasks completed if applicable. Clients want to know exactly what they are paying for in order to avoid overpaying and also to make expenses easier to itemize at tax time.

Clear Expectations

Before agreeing to work with a new client, it is imperative they are aware of the terms of service. If there are clear policies in place about the amount of time a client has to pay, it can make it much easier to collect payment in a timely manner. This is often easier to do by using an electronic system that will easily make a record of all information.

For example, standard business practices once allowed companies 30 days from the time of invoice to send payment due to the delay caused by sending things through the postal service. When invoices are received electronically there is no reason to expect to wait a month for payment. However, if it has not been clearly explained that payment is expected upon receipt or within a specific time frame many people will push that invoice to the bottom of their pile of expenses.

One way to encourage timely payment is to include a clause that outlines late charges and how they will be applied. When people know there will be a consequence for not paying on time, they are less likely to put off making their payment.

Fast Follow-Up

With a system in place to alert clients of exactly what their charges are for and when payment is expected, it is easy to determine when it would be appropriate to follow-up for payment. Some studies have indicated that the longer invoices go unpaid, the less likely it is they will ever be paid whether partially or in full.

When one is sure that the client is aware of the due date, the best time to follow-up with them is the day after the payment was due. That way they can be reminded about the payment before the previously explained penalty is applied to their account.

A steady flow of cash into a business is essential for maintenance and growth. The work completed was not donated and deserves compensation. When great invoices, clear expectations, and a quick follow-up protocol fail to encourage clients to pay their invoices in a timely manner, it may be necessary to explore punitive measures.