2013 Tax Advice For The Small Business Owner

November 26, 2013 by

business (4)While you may be thinking turkey, and your children or grandchildren may be thinking Santa Claus, many small business owners are thinking about calling their accountant to settle their business finances for the year and see where they stand.  There is possibly nothing more important for a small business owner than to have a knowledgeable accountant that can take care of these important matters for their business. Tax laws and tax breaks for businesses are changing or expiring yearly, talking to your accountant about the changes that will affect you and your business are extremely important, don’t wait till the last minute, and talk to them today.

Follow the links to read more about this topic.

Tax strategies for small-business owners

If you’re running your own business, then finding time to keep up on money-saving tax strategies can be a challenge — one that’s complicated by the fact that tax laws are constantly changing.

Here are three simple tax strategies to keep in mind as Dec. 31 approaches.

1. Run the numbers

The best thing you can do before year-end is get your accounting up-to-date and figure out whether you have a profit or loss, said Eva Rosenberg, an enrolled agent who publishes TaxMama.com and is a contributing writer for MarketWatch.

It’s best to do that now, while you still have time to make adjustments. Otherwise, “there’s no way to plan,” Rosenberg said. “I’ve seen too many people come to me and say, ‘Look, I have a $100,000 loss for the year’” — only to discover that the business owner has failed to correctly account for some item, such as inventory.

Small business advice: Hurry, these four tax breaks expire at the end of the year

Fifty-five federal tax breaks are scheduled to expire at the end of the year. Usually, many of these expiring tax provisions are extended at the last minute, but this year is shaping up to be different.

The pressure for additional revenue, combined with political gridlock, has greatly increased the likelihood that many of the most advantageous provisions will not be extended or will be reduced significantly. This challenges business owners to make difficult decisions before the year ends without knowing what rules will be in effect in 2014.

We’ve sifted through all the expiring tax provisions and narrowed the list down to the four most important expiring breaks that every small business should consider taking advantage of before the end of the year.

Use Sec. 179 expensing/bonus depreciation opportunities

Current law enables firms to deduct the cost of purchasing assets like equipment, furniture, and computer software now instead of over a set period of years. The 2013 expensing limit is $500,000, and it is scheduled to drop significantly to $25,000 in 2014. The deduction begins to phase out when total qualified purchases for the year exceeds $2 million. If you have equipment needs, consider purchasing them in 2013

5 Social Security tax truths

While you hear a lot about the federal income tax, you don’t hear much about the Social Security tax. That’s odd because it’s just as expensive as the federal income tax for many folks, especially the self-employed. Here are five apparently little-known truths about how the Social Security tax works and how much it can amount to.

1. Social Security tax can be a big number if you’re an employee

As an employee, your wages are hit with the 12.4% Social Security tax up to the annual wage ceiling. Half the Social Security tax bill (equal to 6.2%) is withheld from your paychecks. The other half (also 6.2%) is paid by your employer, so you never actually see that half. Unless you understand how the tax works and closely examine your pay stubs, you may be blissfully unaware of how much the Social Security tax actually costs.

The Social Security tax wage ceiling for 2013 is $113,700, and it rises to $117,000 next year. If your wages meet or exceed the ceiling for 2013, the Social Security tax hit for this year is a whopping $14,099 (12.4% x $113,700 = $14,099). Once again, half of that will come out of your paychecks, and your employer will pay the other half.

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“Shop Local” This Holiday Season

November 19, 2013 by

business (3)As a small business owner you can certainly identify with the efforts the Better Business Bureau is doing in promoting shopping at small business in your communities.  Small business owners in your community have been increasingly fighting the big retailers and online shopping retailers for the holiday season, and thus the BBB is hoping you can join the effort and “shop local” for this holiday season and help the community you live in.

“Shop Small” and Support Small Businesses on November 30th

Small businesses are the cornerstone of any community, creating jobs, spurring local economic growth, and giving back to society. In recent years, small businesses have been overshadowed by the holiday hype of “Black Friday” and “Cyber Monday,” which tend to emphasis major retailers. But small businesses have much to offer for holiday shoppers!

For the fourth year in a row, Better Business Bureau is supporting Small Business Saturday and urging consumers to support the small businesses in their communities on November 30th, the Saturday after Thanksgiving. It’s the perfect time to take a break from the crowded shopping mall and instead check out the small stores and businesses in your neighborhood. You’ll find unique gifts, gourmet foods and more to make your holidays distinctive, fresh and fun. You might even discover your new favorite store!

2012 was a huge year for Small Business Saturday. Consumer awareness reached a reported 67% and an estimated $5.5 billion was spent at small, independently owned retailers, according to American Express OPEN, which launched SBS.

Health Policy Institute of Ohio advises small businesses to buy health insurance in the next 30 days

CLEVELAND, Ohio — If you run a business or organization with 50 or fewer employees the next 30 days are the best time to shop for health insurance for your staff.

That’s the word from the Health Policy Institute of Ohio, a nonprofit, independent organization that provides health policy information to state leaders.

Shopping between Nov. 15 and Dec. 15, the Institute says, can make a big difference because insurers can’t deny coverage then to a business that has a large percentage of employees opting out of the health benefit.

“Through this new open enrollment period, small businesses will have the most options,” said Amy Rohling McGee, president of the Institute.

Lockheed’s closure of Akron plant means 500 job cuts

A historic Akron industrial facility with ties to wartime production, aerospace simulators, space exploration and military mission systems will close by 2015.

Lockheed Martin Corp., which took over operations in the city that date to Goodyear Aircraft decades ago, announced plans Thursday to shutter the facility along with four other operations around the country.

One footnote in the announcement widely called “sad news” for Akron was that some work will be continued at the landmark Airdock. The Lockheed Martin operation is spread over buildings nearby.

About 4,000 workers nationwide, including about 500 people in Akron, are expected to lose their jobs starting next year and into 2015, Lockheed Martin said.

Employees and local public officials reacted with sadness and anger, saying the loss of high-paying jobs will be an economic blow to the region. Some, including the property owner, held out hope that new tenants will quickly be found to fill the sizeable property next to Akron Fulton International Airport once Lockheed Martin moves out.

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Time Management

November 13, 2013 by

business (10)Keeping up with the theme for this month, here are three articles with information for you that will shed some light to the way you use your time when running a small business. As a small business owner, wasting time in a daily basis is not something you can afford, but do you manage your time efficiently? Read the articles below to find more information about this, and hopefully, if you are not already doing it, manage your time more efficiently.

The 80/20 Rule of Time Management: Stop Wasting Your Time

Small-business owners waste their time on what I call $10 an hour work, like running to get office supplies. Meanwhile, they forgo the activities that earn $1,000 an hour, such as sending the right email to the right person, or negotiating a lucrative contract, or convincing a client to do more business with you.

Entrepreneurs don’t realize the same 80/20 principle — the adage that 20 percent of customers equal 80 percent of sales — applies to every dimension of business. And that includes time management.

We entrepreneurs are extremely prone to rationalize, “I can do it myself.” Then we spend six hours trying to extract a virus from our computer or fix a leaky faucet.

Sure, we may be competent to do that little job. And sure, sometimes you have to do everything when you start out. But now you’re doing a $10 or $20 per hour fix-the-faucet job and you’re not doing your No. 1 job, which is getting and keeping customers. That job pays $100 to $1000 per hour.

Many a promising business has been killed by those little jobs. When someone says “time management,” you probably think of time logs, goal lists, and “Getting Things Done.” But getting busy is not what makes you rich.

5 Ways I Automated My Small Business 

I’m no Tim Ferriss.

I mean, I don’t have my life down to a four-hour work week or anything. However, as my children get older, it seems my available (quiet) daytime hours are slowly reduced, while my clientele and potential profits are way up. The nature of my business (I’m a freelance communications consultant focusing on the written word) requires long swaths of quiet writing time. So, I did what any Ferriss fan would do. I figured out ways to make sure my quiet daytime hours were reserved solely for writing, and learned to cut hours — even minutes — out of my schedule in the most efficient ways possible. Here’s how I automated my small business.

Problem 1: Computer Maintenance
Last week I wrote about rookie mistakes that new writers might make. One of those was neglecting file backup, which can be done easily and automatically via the cloud using any number of services (I personally use Mozy while my husband/officemate has recently discovered Box). Another way that my computer steals time from me is through regular maintenance, which either takes effort and time on my part, or clogs up my computer’s processes in such a way that it’s useless to me for about an hour.

Strategies: 20 ways for small businesses to save time

If you’re a small-business owner, I’m sure you’ll relate to my morning:

• Inbox with 115 new e-mails.

• Important customer with a difficult question about a big order.

• 10 a.m. conference call with a hot prospect.

• A new employee needing training.

• A meeting about updating one of our products.

• Someone tweeting me.

• A phone call to my accountant about taxes.

And my column is due this afternoon.

Wow! So much to do, so little time. Every small-business owner faces the same dilemma: How do we ever manage to get anything finished with so many things on our to-do list?

Small-business owners and entrepreneurs constantly are being tugged in many directions, so they need to make the most of almost every minute.

I’ve come up with 20 time-saving tips for your small business:

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Issues Affecting Your Business

November 5, 2013 by

business (7)With the many issues small business owners deal with every single day, the health care law is one of the most important ones affecting them right now.  Headlines about the health care law are everywhere, illustrating the condition business owners and individuals are finding themselves into, while figuring out the options for health insurance for them and their employees.

You can read about this topic and others by clicking the links below.

Small business owners remain confused, misinformed about the health care law

It has been more than three and a half years since the health care law was signed, yet many small-business owners say they still don’t understand the legislation and what it means for their businesses, according to a new study.

Others, meanwhile, think they know more than they really do.

Half of small-business owners say they are only somewhat confident, not very confident or not at all confident that their company will be compliant with the law, parts of which create important new insurance requirements for certain employers. One third say they are not familiar with law, according to the first installment of a three-year health care study by the National Federation of Independent Business, a small-business lobbying group in Washington.

The new health care law has spent the past month in the political spotlight for all the wrong reasons, as its new online insurance marketplaces for individuals and small businesses have suffered a glitch-filled rollout. Just last week, it came to light that the site for employers would not be fully functional until the end of November, a month later than expected.

The Good News for Small Retailers Is That Shoppers Love You

Small retailers have lots of concerns this holiday season: A shorter than normal holiday shopping period, fallout from the government shutdown affecting consumers’ confidence and spending, and competition from big-box and online retailers with more sophisticated digital marketing tactics.

But there’s some good news that could potentially offset those difficulties: The 2013 Deluxe Annual Holiday Shopping Survey reports that consumers have a lot of goodwill toward small, local businesses and a great willingness to shop there.

More than one-third (35 percent) of consumers say they are going to shop at local, small businesses this year, an increase from the 27 percent who planned to last year. Of those, 57 percent are specifically doing so because they feel it is “important to support local businesses.” In addition to those who already plan to shop at small businesses, the vast majority (95 percent) of respondents say it’s important to support local independent businesses.

Thanks to a False Sense of Security, Small Businesses Are Skipping Cyber-Protection

Small and medium-sized businesses (SMB) should be paying more attention to the growing threat of cybercrime – but they are not. Despite overwhelming statistics that show this group to be at risk, more than three-quarters in a recent survey said they feel confident that they are not – and are failing to take protective measures.

McAfee has announced findings from a joint survey with Office Depot that revealed surprising security misconceptions among SMB owners. More than 1,000 SMBs participated in the Office Depot Small Business Index survey last month, and a super-majority (66%) felt confident that their data and devices are secure and safe from hackers, with 77% responding that they haven’t been hacked.

The results are at odds with industry research that has revealed these same businesses are actually prime targets of complex and evolving cyber threats. Almost three-quarters (72%) of data breaches investigated by Verizon Communications’ forensic analysis unit in its latest Data Breach Investigations Report were focused on companies with less than 100 employees, for instance.

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Small Business Finances

October 30, 2013 by

business (9)Small business owners have many things to do when running their business; from managing their sales team, looking after the finances and keeping inventory, to a countless number of tasks they have to achieve to have their business running smoothly and efficiently. Learning about the finance part of the business is a tricky yet important aspect that a lot of small business owners neglect.  For more about this topic follow the links.

Smart ways to handle small business finances

Thinking about starting a small business or need help running one? Finances are one of the most difficult parts in managing your business.

In this week’s Money Quick Tips video, USA TODAY contributor Regina Lewis looks at some of the key moves you can make to help get your finances on track and your business running smoothly.

Go Ahead: Ignore Your Profit and Loss Statements

If a company is making huge profits this year but will not make any profits in the future, it is worthless in the eyes of an investor. But if it loses money this year and next year–and may lose money for a few more years–it can still be very valuable in the eyes of an investor.

Amazon had negative net income in 2012 and basically reported zero net income this year to date. And yet it is worth $166 billion in the eyes of investors.

This is because companies are worth the present value of future cash flows, not current cash flows, and certainly not past cash flows.

Amazon is not the only company that is plowing back all of its incremental profits into growing its business. This is very common for enterprise software companies as well. Salesforce has made or lost a small amount of money every year for the past four years, but it has grown its revenue from $1.3 billion to over $3 billion in those four years. And its market value has gone from $12 billion to $32 billion in the same time frame. Workday hasn’t made any profits in the last four years, in fact the net losses have been increasing. But, the stock has doubled in the past year and the company is now worth almost $14 billion.

The lesson here is that you can’t just value a company by taking its current performance into account–you need to have a view towards its future performance. You also need to understand why the company is not currently profitable.

M&T Bank top lender to small businesses in Central New York

Syracuse, NY — M&T Bank has once again topped the list of the most active lenders to small businesses in Central New York, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration.

For the eighth year in a row, M&T Bank topped all large commercial banks in the Central New York region and the SBA’s entire 34-county Syracuse district. In fiscal year 2013, which ended Sept. 30, M&T assisted small businesses in Central New York with 70 loans at a value of $7.6 million and district-wide with 150 loans totaling $17.1 million, SBA Syracuse District Director Bernard Paprocki said.

The loans were made under the SBA’s 7(a) program. The SBA does not make direct loans to small businesses. Instead, it guarantees a portion of loans that are made by private lenders to small businesses. Under the 7(a) program, loans are provided to establish a new business or to assist in the acquisition, operation or expansion of an existing business.

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Will You Get A Loan If Ohio Banks Are Swimming In Cash?

October 23, 2013 by

business (3)From the Affordable Care Act decisions that small business have to make , the working capital that banks have this year, and the number of small business changing hands in Ohio, we are bringing you news of interest for you and your business.

Read more by following the links below.

Ohio banks swimming in cash

Ohio’s banks are more flush with cash than they’ve been at any point in the last decade, but bank deposits have been steadily leaking out of some communities and that can hinder their potential for an economic rebound.

Every year on the last day of June, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation collects a snapshot of deposits at every financial institution it supervises, including 258 in Ohio. That data, which was released earlier this month, shows the value of inflation-adjusted cash deposits in Ohio was higher on June 30 than in any year since 2003.

The $258 billion in Ohio’s commercial and savings banks even surpassed the value of what was counted in 2009, when money nationwide moved out of the then-volatile stock market and into the safety of FDIC-backed banks. Deposits are the primary source of funds that banks tap into for loans.

Small businesses have options with ACA

GREATER AKRON — Uninsured adults aren’t the only ones who have some decisions to make regarding the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

According to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), the ACA includes measures specifically for small businesses that could help lower premium cost growth and increase access to affordable health insurance. Different provisions of the ACA may apply to those who are self-employed, an employer with fewer than 25 employees, an employer with fewer than 50 employees, or an employer with 50 or more employees, the SBA reports.

Small businesses — those with fewer than 50 employees — are not required by the ACA to offer employees health insurance. However, those businesses interested in providing coverage may use the Small Business Health Options (SHOP) Marketplace to compare plans at www.HealthCare.gov. They may also opt to keep their current coverage, but the business will not be eligible for tax credits.

Number of small businesses changing hands rises in Ohio

Columbus Business First reports that the market for buying and selling small businesses “stayed hot in the third quarter,” with numbers trending up in Ohio and nationwide.

The paper, citing a report from BizBuySell.com, says 1,685 small business transactions were closed nationwide in the third quarter, a 42% increase from 1,189 in the third quarter of 2012. BizBuySell is an online marketplace designed to facilitate small business sales.

“In 2013, it appears that the (market) conditions are finally coming together to unlock latent potential,” Curtis Kroeker, group general manager for BizBuySell, said in the report.

After “years of limited supply and demand, and mismatched expectations between buyers and sellers, small business sales are continuing to improve,” the study notes.

The newspaper says the upbeat third quarter “follows a similarly positive second quarter, where the value of companies changing hands increased from a year earlier.”

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Small Business Owners Retirement Plans

October 16, 2013 by

business (10)As more and more Americans are reaching the age of retirement, there are many questions about their retirement plans and whether they can afford to retire. According to this year’s figures, 57% of households say they have less than $25,000 in savings and investments.  28% say they have less than $1,000. Furthermore, small business owner’s retirement plans for their employees are minimal if they exist at all. If you are a small business owner interested in starting a 401(k) plan for your employees, read the articles below to read more.

The Sorry State Of Small Business Retirement Plans

Workers of the small-business world: I’m worried about you. In particular, I’m worried about your retirement.

A bruising new study from the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies tells a tale of two retirement systems in the U.S. workplace: one for employees at large companies and an inferior one for those at small firms.

If you work for a business with fewer than 100 employees, there’s a far greater burden on you for even the prospect of having a comfortable retirement.

The Burden on Small Business Employees

“Workers at small companies need to be even more savvy about their retirement benefits than those at large companies, given the lag of those benefits at small companies,” Catherine Collinson, president of the Transamerica Center and author of the report told me. “It’s incumbent on small-company workers to help bridge those gaps on their own.”

Three Myths Keeping Small Businesses From Starting A 401(k)

Small businesses employ nearly one-third of U.S. workers and are a major part of our nation’s economic engine.  But an issue that continues to be discussed in Congress and state governments is how do we help more small businesses offer a retirement plan?

Ninety-nine percent of businesses with over 500 employees provide 401(k) plans or similar retirement benefits to their employees.  The numbers for small businesses are much lower.  In fact, our latest research on businesses with less than 50 employees shows that only about 24 percent offer a 401(k) plan.  This means a large number of Americans are not likely to be as prepared financially for retirement as those who have access to a retirement plan.

And while there are many sound reasons for small businesses to start a retirement plan, there are also some myths and pockets of misinformation clouding the picture. Following are three of the most-commonly cited myths (along with the real facts) to be aware of.

How business owners view money, retirement

Benefits and Retirement:

• When it comes to health benefit plans, 47% of respondents currently offer some type of plan. Almost half (44%) offer employee health benefits, 20% offer flex health and benefit plans and 8% offer healthcare spending accounts.

• Only 11% currently offer an employee wellness program.

• Just 37% of companies that have a health benefits plan also offer a retirement savings plan.

• A majority (54%) of small business senior decision makers feel that the financial security of employees who retire from their company is a reflection on their company and on them personally.

• Of those owners without a plan, reducing employee turnover (28%) or attracting top talent (17%) are important motivators for implementing one.

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U. S. Small Business News

October 9, 2013 by

business (7)We are bringing you the latest news that is happening in the U. S. this week. From technology that helps small business do their job better and allows them to grow those while maintaining some level of tranquility, to the latest criticism of the Obama Care Act. Click on the links to follow the rest of the stories.

Digital tools play big role in small business growth

Tweet, Vine, Pin, Post. Update a blog. Like a Facebook status. Network via LinkedIn. There are myriad options for small business owners to connect with customers, peers and others via digital media.

Yet, these entrepreneurs also have to balance budgets, keep track of accounts receivable, manage payroll and sell their products and services.

With limited time and financial resources, it can be incredibly difficult to figure out the most efficient and effective ways to embrace the rapidly expanding digital world.

If a small business owner shuns social media, he or she could miss out on big marketing opportunities. But if too much time is spent seeding such sites, other important duties could fall by the wayside.

The Business End of Obamacare

Of the countless reasons that congressional Republicans hate the Affordable Care Act enough to shut down the government, the most politically potent is the claim that it will do untold damage to the economy and cripple small companies. Orrin Hatch has said that Obamacare will be “devastating to small business.” Ted Cruz argues that it is already “the No. 1 job killer.” And the vice-president of the National Federation of Independent Businesses called it simply “terrible.” So it comes as some surprise to learn that Obamacare may well be the best thing Washington has done for American small business in decades.

Economists want to know faster what’s happening in small business

WASHINGTON — Politicians extol the virtues of small businesses as an engine of the U.S. economy, but often leave out a very important flip side. They also have a shorter life span than larger firms, and thus toss more people into joblessness, making them disproportionately the generators of unemployment. .

Yet there’s no good way to know what’s happening in those small businesses fast enough. That’s particularly true in times of crisis, such as 2008, when employers were shedding jobs by the hundreds of thousands every month and the lack of real-time data about small business was troubling.

A bipartisan small business fix

As Congress confronts issues of tremendous policy and political implications in the next few weeks including a continuing resolution to keep the government open, federal debt ceiling debates, and numerous healthcare, immigration, and energy proposals, one bill is quietly making its way through Congress which is bipartisan, pro-small business, pro-job growth, and a long overdue fix for professionals who work in the sale of private businesses.

HR 2274, the Small Business Mergers, Acquisitions, Sales, and Brokerage Simplification Act of 2013 is an excellent bipartisan bill, one whose time has come, and Congress should get it done before the end of the year.  It’s not a sexy bill, not one that prime-time TV will be talking about, and not one that will evoke a question in the next presidential debates, but it’s a bill that does have teeth and it is a serious and substantive piece of small business legislation.

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Government Shutdown And Your Small Business

October 1, 2013 by

business (11)With the fear of our government shutting down, the Obama health care plan coming into effect today, and all those businesses uncertainties we seem to be dealing with these days, we are bringing you some of the most recent articles dealing with information and answers to some of the questions you may have about the government shutdown and the Obama health care plan.

What impact would shutdown have on small business?

Q: Will the government shutdown (if it happens) have an effect on my business? — Taylor

A: The short answer is that the only effect any shutdown may have is if your business does direct business with the government. If you contract with the government, or get payments from them, then yes, a shutdown would have a negative effect on your business.

More broadly, it’s hard to imagine a group less effective, less professional or more shortsighted than these elected “leaders.”

GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN: What to know

If any of us ran our businesses the way they run the country, we would be bankrupt.

Can you imagine running a business this way? Lurching from crisis to crisis, not paying your bills, verging on defaulting on your creditors, threatening to default on your creditors — it is business (and political) malpractice.

Government shutdown leaves small business loans in limbo, shutters SBA

Congress’s failure to pass a spending bill has brought a halt to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s ability to process new loan requests as part of the broader government shutdown.

In the weeks and days leading up to the shutdown, bankers flooded the agency with loan-guarantee applications, racing to secure funding before the lights went out.

“We could read the tea leaves and see we were heading this way, so lenders have been working overtime to get the applications done and in to the SBA,” Tony Wilkinson, president and chief executive of the National Association of Government Guaranteed Lenders, an organization comprised of roughly 750 small-business lenders, said in an interview late Monday.

Small business borrowing rises in August, slowly

Borrowing by U.S. small businesses edged up in August, pushing an index of borrowing to a six-year high.

The Thomson Reuters/PayNet Small Business Lending Index, which measures the volume of financing to small companies, rose 1 percent to 116.6, the highest level since August 2007. The index registered 115.4 in July, revised from an initial reading of 117.7, PayNet said on Tuesday.

Historically, PayNet’s lending index has correlated to overall economic growth one or two quarters in the future.

The reading came as investors were boosting expectations the Federal Reserve would likely reduce its massive stimulus program in September.

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How To Start Your Small Business

September 23, 2013 by

business (6)You have been toying with the idea of starting your own business, and you have a product, or service you want to develop or promote. You are tired of the same repetitive tasks at work and can wait to do something different that will challenge your intellect, and patience.

But have you thought about all the challenges you’ll be facing and the many tasks you will be required to do in order to get your business off the ground? According to the Small Business Administration, of the 27 million small businesses there are today in the United States, 50% of them will fail within 5 years. And although the idea of being your own boss is to say the least liberating, there are many challenges you must be aware of before quitting your job.

Read more about this by clicking the links below.

How to start a small business with smarts

There is no single recipe for how to create a financially sound small business.

Some founders make their money off a few big clients. Some have many customers.

There are those who use credit cards and personal savings for working capital. Others seek investor money through crowdfunding websites.

“There are lots of ways to make your business work,” says William Dunkelberg, chief economist at the National Federation of Independent Business. “This is what entrepreneurs do — they find clever ways to get things done.”

SMART SMALL BUSINESS PARTICIPANTS: These entrepreneurs get a taste of success

When the Giacomini family, who run Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Co. in Point Reyes, Calif., first decided to diversify beyond milk production on their farm, they sold off half the cows in their herd and used the proceeds to build a cheese-producing creamery.

Small Business Learns to Build Customer Loyalty Like Luxury Brands

There are more than 27 million small businesses in the United States, according to the Small Business Administration, but 50% of them will fail within five years. While lack of capital is a major factor, also significant is the lack of a customer-centric culture.

“Many entrepreneurs launch businesses with a great product or service idea, and then proceed to focus on daily transactions rather than building long-term customer relationships,” says Milton Pedraza, CEO of the Customer Culture Institute. “Focusing on transactions over relationships does not breed customer loyalty.”

Successful smaller companies, says Pedraza, are organized at an early stage to deliver extraordinary experiences to every customer on a daily basis. The problem for most small businesses is a lack of expertise and a proven process.

Small Business: High-performance presentations

You’ve made it onto the short list for that big contract, and the client wants you to present your proposal to the executive committee. Or the leader of your networking group has offered you a spotlight presentation at next month’s luncheon. Or you get the chance to informally pitch your new business concept to an angel investor over coffee.

What do you do next?

Get grounded: Whether you’re starting with a blank page or sifting through a pile of marketing collateral, begin your process by setting a solid foundation for your talk. Geni Whitehouse, author of “How to Make a Boring Subject Interesting,” advises answering these questions:

Why am I speaking?

 

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