Looking good on paper financially while having poor cash flow is a common problem among business owners. This is especially true of startups and those operating on a limited budget. When determining the source of the cash flow problem, it often comes back to ongoing issues with accounts receivable management, debt management, and inventory control. Below are some tips for how to improve each of these areas. Accounts Receivable Management It doesn’t take long in business to learn that having…
With everything else you need to do to start a small business, dealing with taxes can seem overwhelming. Even so, it’s important to make wise tax decisions from your first days starting a business as you might not be able to change them later. You also should educate yourself on what the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) expects from you in terms of self-employment and payroll tax, as well as sales tax requirements from your state government. Below are three tax…
Creating and analyzing financial reports may not be the thing you enjoy the most about owning a business. Even so, these tasks are essential if you hope to enjoy long-term business success. Not only do these reports need to be error-free and easy to understand, but you need to work with them regularly to meet the financial goals of your business. Increase the Reliability of Your Financial Reports A financial report is only useful when it’s accurate. That means you…
Having business goals and objectives is essential for any company, because if you don’t know what you’re striving toward, you’ll never get there. But it’s even more important that the goals that you set for your business are really good ones, and that they’re not just the next logical progression of achievement. There are good goals, better goals, and best goals, and while you can’t always be striving toward the best goals, they are the ones you should keep in…
Even though most people realize that it takes considerable work to launch a business, many still underestimate the sheer multitude of tasks they must complete before officially opening their doors. One common mistake is for entrepreneurs to rush to open their new business without first testing the market to determine if there is enough demand for what the company will offer. In fact, this is one of the leading reasons that more than 60 percent of new business owners must…
If you own or work in a small business, you should have heard of a balance sheet by now. Perhaps you pay little attention to the term, thinking that it’s something for only your accountant to handle. However, a balance sheet encompasses more than just a spreadsheet that you look at every few months and then promptly file away. When used correctly, it can help you manage your business better and see greater profitability. What Can You Find on a…
Apart from the fact that it’s just good business practice, there are a number of reasons you should keep your business records organized and safe. Many companies have business records which contain sensitive information about clients, and some information is essential for smooth business operations. If you’re still living in the Dark Ages of record-keeping, with rows of filing cabinets and boxes bursting with documents, you are setting yourself up for confusion and inefficiency. Here are some things you can…
Wouldn’t it be nice if you had the secret to bookkeeping for small business success? It turns out that it’s not just one thing but several that you need to do to ensure that your business stays in the black. If you’re not up to the bookkeeping task yourself, make sure that you hire someone to keep up with finances immediately after launching your business. You don’t want to deal with not having your finances in order come tax time…
In the most recent survey of small business owners, conducted on the topic of available manpower for current positions, it was discovered that more than 16% of owners considered their number one problem to be finding and retaining qualified employees. The same survey showed that almost 1/3 of all small business owners say that they plan to hire during the next 12-month period, which represents the second highest figure cited during the 14 years the survey has been conducted. This…
Innovation in the workplace is something that every business and every leader should encourage in order to stay competitive in its market. Any business which is not continually improving on its product lines, and how it produces those products, is in serious danger of being left behind by competitors. All the most successful business leaders understand that they need to be constantly searching for ways to improve product benefits to customers, while streamlining the operations necessary to create them. The…
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