Thinking About Starting Your Own Business? Read Ahead

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Individuals as well as businesses of any size deal with financial woes, but if you want to start your own business or want to get into the franchise world, being financially aware of what to expect can help you avoid the many pitfalls that a lot of small business owners and individual deal with in a daily basis.  Meeting payroll and paying for expenses for the business can be financially draining if you do not budget your money well.

For more about this and other topics follow the links below.


Pop Quiz: Do You Know the 5 Basics of Financial Literacy?

Financial literacy, financial capability, financial understanding.

Whatever the name, the core idea is the same: being equipped with the knowledge, skills and tools to manage your money and secure your future.

That’s no easy task, but here are five key money topics you’ll need to understand and put into action to make financial literacy a reality:

    • Budgeting. Financial security starts with prudently managing your money on a day-to-day basis. That means spending less than you earn and saving consistently. Try to save at least 15% of your gross pay for short-term goals, long-term goals and unexpected expenses. Do it first and not with what’s left of your paycheck. Track all your expenses and set reasonable spending guidelines. Finally, don’t get caught up in how others are spending and undermine your own budget.

Plan Ahead to Be Your Own Boss

When Lisa Hennessy’s pet collie was diagnosed with a degenerative disease, she prepared a special, home-made diet for him, and discovered all her dogs loved it. So when she lost her job as a manager for an automotive parts distributor a few years later, she saw an opportunity to launch Your Pet Chef, a company that makes personalised dog food.

“We now make food for over 125 dogs and help them eat healthier every day,” said Hennessy, 52, who lives in Chicago in the US.

While Hennessy enjoys her new venture, which launched in 2012, she also faces a common problem among new business-owners: dwindling funds. Three years in, the business is self-sustaining but still doesn’t pay her a salary. “Now I’m trying to find investors so I can keep doing it and not drive for Uber [to supplement income],” she said.

It takes determination, experience, research, timing and hard work to start a business. And, many fail. But that doesn’t stop people from trying. In the US, 476,000 new businesses launched each month in 2013, according to the Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity. That same year, more than half a million new businesses were started in the UK, according to StartUp Britain. In Australia, about 300,000 new small businesses launch each year, according to the Reserve Bank of Australia.


10 Questions to Ask When Franchising Your Business

Your business is booming, easy to duplicate and ripe for growth. You’ve always dreamed of expanding to multiple locations. You decide the time is right — you’re making the leap to franchising.

Like tying the knot, becoming a franchisor isn’t an endeavor you rush into. With so many opportunities for failure, it’s critical that you do your due diligence when researching how to properly franchise your brand.

From budgeting for up-front costs, filing the right legal paperwork, vetting trustworthy franchisees, to scheduling royalty payments, there’s no shortage of challenging tasks ahead. But, if you play your cards right, your brand could one day be the next Supercuts or Subway.

Here are 10 essential questions to ask when franchising your business:


Small Business Jobs and Updates

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Analysts and policymakers are confident the state of the economy is getting better.  The reports about job openings are encouraging, and job openings have reached the highest percentage this past April since the year 2000.  One of the concerns now is the ability of these business to fill such mention openings.  The skill necessary businesses are looking for in candidates to fulfill their demands is not there, therefore businesses are still looking.

Follow the links below for more information about this topic.


U.S. job openings hit record high; small businesses upbeat

U.S. job openings surged to a record high in April and small business confidence perked up in May, suggesting the economy was regaining speed after stumbling at the start of the year.

The economy’s stronger tone was reinforced by other data on Tuesday showing a solid rise in wholesale inventories in April, in part as oil prices stabilized.

“This is more confirmation that the economy is indeed emerging from that soft patch in the first quarter and can still pick up even faster in the next few months,” said Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at MUFG Union Bank in New York.


American small businesses just gave us some more incredibly bullish news about the job market

The labor market is rolling. 

On Tuesday, the National Federation of Independent Business, a conservative lobby group, released its latest small business report, which showed that its small business optimism index rose to 98.3 in May.

But the really positive part of the report isn’t the headline reading — though this did rise to a 5-month high — but the incredibly bullish commentary on the labor market.


The Importance Of Relationships In Scaling A Small Business

In my Forbes series The Insiders, I share the highs and lows associated with launching and scaling a small business, all through the chronological lens of our own experiences building VerbalizeIt.

In my most recent post, I discussed our fears of not being able to accelerate quickly enough during our time in the Techstars business accelerator program. The focus was on ensuring we had technically-inclined teammates to facilitate our growth.

Another critical component to our earliest successes was the non-teammate relationships we developed, most notably with our mentors, advisors, and advocates. These individuals contributed more to our early growth than we could have ever achieved on our own, resulting from their extensive experiences and network of relationships.

How do entrepreneurs find and convince the right advisors to take part in their journey?



Small Changes You Need To Do To Help Your Business

Having a website nowadays is not longer enough.  If your website is not optimized for mobile devices, you are loosin54640451g sales.  But before you spend the time and money optimizing your website for mobile devices, make sure it is good enough for desktops before spending the money elsewhere. Ask yourself these questions: Does my website load in less than 2 seconds? If the answer is no, you need to fix that before going any further.  Research has shown that if a website takes longer than two minutes to load , more than half of  your visitors leave without ever seeing if you have what they wanted. Is the content relevant? Good content can engage you potential customer and offer basic information they may need.   To read more about this and other topics follow the links below.


5 Things Your Small Business Should Do This Summer

Summer is almost here! While a vacation is definitely recommended, don’t spend the whole summer relaxing.

Here are five things your small business should definitely do this summer:

1. Get a Mobile Website

Look around when you’re walking down the street. Almost every person is attached to a smartphone. About 40 percent of consumers prefer to use their phone to search for businesses and services on the internet. Is your website mobile-optimized? If not, why not? Make it easier for potential customers to find you. Mobile-optimize your website.


6 Small Business Tips from a Pet Mediator

Big businesses, like Walmart and Apple, seem to just roll along on the momentum of their success and power.

However, small businesses don’t have that luxury. You fight for every little success and every advantage to get ahead of the competition. Some small businesses are so small, most people have never heard of them before.

For example, have you heard of a pet mediator?

Debra Hamilton, Pet Mediator

Pet mediator. What will we come up with next?


What The Small Business Tax Break Actually Does

The immediate tax deduction for small business announced in the Federal Budget has been broadly welcomed, but what may have been missed is the fact that what the Government doesn’t collect now, it will collect later.

As part of the $5.5 billion small business package at the centre of its latest Budget, the Federal Government announced it would allow businesses with turnover less than $2 million to immediately deduct the cost of any individual asset purchased up to the value of $20,000, from Budget night through to the end of June 2017. The estimated cost of this accelerated depreciation measure to revenue is estimated at $1.75 billion over the four years of forward estimates.

But what should be noted about this measure is that it doesn’t change the eligibility for tax deductions of these assets; it simply changes how quickly a small business is able to receive the tax deduction.

Under the existing simplified depreciation rules for small business, an asset costing over $1000 would be depreciated at 15% for the first year, and 30% thereafter, until the taxable value of the asset pool is $1000 or less, at which point the full amount can be written off.


Small Business Money Issues

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From retirement funding  to meeting payroll every month, small businesses are plagued in a continual basis with issues about money.  Legislation in Washington  can be helpful or devastating to the small business community, and in some instances small business owners find themselves with the same problems regardless of what happens in Washington.  Does your business need a loan? Do you need money to fund a retirement account for you?  Follow the links below for more news about this and other issues affecting your business.


Loans, taxes, regulations on small-business election agenda

There are no “one size fits all” issues for small business in the 2016 presidential campaign. While candidates try to appeal to all small businesses, many owners want very specific things. A sample of what’s on the agenda of some individual owners and two small business advocacy groups:

Help small banks compete: Community banks whose customers include small businesses are at a disadvantage because of regulations under the Dodd-Frank Act implemented following the 2008 banking crisis, says Jim Angleton, owner of Aegis FinServ, a Miami-based financial services company. While the law is needed to prevent a recurrence of the practices that led to bank failures of all sizes, it places a disproportionate financial burden on smaller banks, Angleton says.

The number of small banks in the U.S. dropped 14 percent after Dodd-Frank was enacted in 2010, according to researchers at George Mason University.


5 Creative Ways To Fund Your Small Business

A look at the fast-evolving options for entrepreneurs on a money hunt—including several that first-time entrepreneurs tend to overlook.

When Mike Shapiro quit his job as a corporate lawyer to launch a group of community news web sites in 2008, he relied on savings he’d frugally socked away for years. “I wasn’t an Armani suit guy at my firm,” says Shapiro, CEO and publisher of TAPInto.net, a five-employee franchise chain, based in New Providence, N.J., that now has 37 locations.

But self-funding the business turned out to be stressful. During the first two and a half years, he poured about $250,000 into his startup, taking no salary while he and his family lived on their savings. And as he was launching the business, his son, then an infant, had to have open heart surgery, and his wife stayed home to care for the baby.


Small Business — and State Governments — May Rescue Your Retirement

NEW YORK (TheStreet) — Half of Americans employed in the private sector work for small businesses. That means many workers simply don’t have access to retirement plans. Big firms lure talent with tax-advantaged savings plans like 401(k)s — and even match workers’ contributions, while neighborhood businesses often lack the means to provide such benefits.

But now, the small-business backbone of the economy is slowly rising to the occasion, often with the assistance of state governments.

Here’s one such example from the state of Washington: The Small Business Retirement Marketplace, signed into law last week by Washington Governor Jay Inslee, will provide an estimated 1.5 million residents in the state with access toworkplace-based retirement accounts.

“Employers do not have to do anything but deduct and forward the money — the same way they handle taxes,” said Rep. Larry Springer, a co-sponsor of the state legislation, in a press statement. “We know people are very unlikely to save for retirement if they are not offered a plan through work. The Small Business Retirement Savings Marketplace will allow more workers access to a safe, easy and affordable way to retire in dignity.”


How to Market For Small Businesses

business (11)Having a business is for many people a dream.  Some reach for it and achieved their goals, while others are left behind wondering if it is still a possibility.  The optimism many small business owners experience can be dampened by the state of the country’s economy.  If consumers are not spending what it is projected, in all likelihood, small business owners will not expand their business, nor hire new employees, affecting the local economies and the country as a whole. Some of the questions small business owners ask is; how do I reach more customers? Is that even  something I can do by myself? Is marketing the answer to my problems?  You can read more about some of these questions and answers by following the links below.


3 Things You Need to Know About National Small Business Week

Running your own business can mean a lot of time on your own, in the trenches, building your company brick by brick, pushing the gears forward inch by inch. Next week, however, there are many opportunities for entrepreneurs to step back from the daily grind, connect with one another and be inspired.

That’s because the week of May 4 through May 8 is National Small Business Week (NSBW).

Organized by the Small Business Administration, this is the 52nd year in a row that the president of the United States has declared one week per year the official celebration of the Main Street entrepreneur.

“National Small Business Week is a chance to honor our nation’s 28 million small businesses and renew our commitment to fostering the entrepreneurial spirit that is central to the American experience,” says SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet, the head of the U.S. Small Business Administration, in a statement.


How to reach your small business customers

You’ve got a killer idea for your small business. You’ve created a great new product or service, set up operations, raised sufficient money to get out of the gate. But where are the customers? It’s time to pay attention to marketing.

During Small Business Week, I’m devoted to helping you Make This Your Year to Grow.” Whatever industry you’re in, whatever the price or quality of your offerings, you need well-conceived, and consistently executed, marketing to grow your business.

The marketing message

Before you begin marketing, first clarify your company’s core message. That’s what you want customers to remember about you. It might even express a bit of your company’s personality.

Marketing vehicles

Marketing guru Peter Shankman says effective advertising is all about knowing your specific customers and tailoring your activities to their desires.


Ohio AG warns of scams targeting small businesses

COLUMBUS — Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine warned small businesses to watch for signs of a scam, including callers who claim the business’s power will be shut off and invoices for products the business never ordered.

The warning comes during National Small Business Week.

In the past year, the Ohio Attorney General’s Office has received more than 150 complaints about potential scams affecting businesses, with an average payment amount of about $2,000.

“Small businesses work incredibly hard to keep their operations running, and they can be hit hard by scams,” DeWine said. “We don’t want business owners to lose valuable time or money to con artists, so we are encouraging them to learn about common scams and to talk to their employees about the warning signs.”


How To Avoid Business Mistakes

business (2)Retirement plans for the small business owner is probably one of the most important issues they face every year. Retirement accounts are  not something small business owners offer their employees, but even for themselves is not something that is widespread nor considered at all. Hiring an outside firm to oversee those financial aspects for the business is costly, and many small businesses cannot afford such an expense. Does your business need a loan? Are you making too many mistakes in your business and don’t know what to do? Do you need to set up a retirement account and don’t have any information?Follow the links below for more information about these topics.


Why online lending will take off with small business owners

At a minimum, banks are perfect partners in the new game.

Earlier this month, the momentum behind the online lending industry was in full view at LendIt—an industry gathering that didn’t exist four years ago, but grew from about 700 attendees last year to more than 2,500 this year. What was clear is that it’s no longer a question of whether these disruptors will change the game in small business lending, but how quickly.

In fact, in his remarks at LendIt attendees in New York City, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers predicted that online lenders could eventually capture upwards of 70% of the small business lending market. That may be an overly optimistic prediction, but one thing is clear online lending is a welcome innovation in the small business sector.


Small Business Retirement Plans in the Hands of Lobbyists

 Financial advisers will be lobbying Congress this week on 401(k) plans for employees of small businesses.

The 401(k) accounts many rely on now are complex, require an outside administrator, and as a result are not cost-effective for some small businesses to set up for their workers.

Tom Iorio, an Edward Jones financial adviser in Rantoul, Ill., says they’re lobbying for a program for small companies.

“There are several bills out there in Congress that are trying to incentive small businesses to more easily get into what we think of as the traditional 401(k) market, like a small 401(k) or a ‘simple 401(k)’ is really the term that they’re using,” he says.

In a 401(k) program, employees may make tax-free contributions and select their investments within a plan that is administered on behalf of the employer. Employers also can contribute to employees’ accounts.


Avoiding Small Business Blunders

Entrepreneur Reva Minkoff aims to stop small businesses from making the same mistakes over and over.

Common mistakes account for too many small businesses wasting an average of 25 percent of their pay-per-click advertising budget each month. After identifying the same basic mistakes in 95 percent of the accounts she consulted on, Reva Minkoff started the award winning-website DigitalGroundUp in the summer of 2012 to train small business advertisers and over 300 students in successful digital marketing through short, hands-on online courses.

The company has since collaborated with major companies such as Facebook, while Minkoff herself wasinvited to the White House to live tweet the arrival ceremony of new British Prime Minister David Cameron. I recently interviewed Minkoff by email.

What are the worst mistakes small businesses make in advertising?

Not tracking their results. It drives me nuts when companies don’t know what’s happening on their website, what the results of their marketing are and how both are factoring into their bottom line. If they’re spending money on something, they should know what they’re getting out of it, and if they don’t, their agencies and developers should be working with them to help get them that information.

What are the most common pieces of advice you give students?

I remind students to focus on the overall concepts and not the interfaces. The fundamental digital marketing concepts haven’t changed from day one. As long as students understand them, they’ll be able to adjust to any other changes that may come their way and make the right decisions when faced with a new concept.


The State of the Small Business in the U.S

business (5)We are past the point of expressing as a nation, any shock to the news that the United States is trailing behind other developed nations in terms of education. But, when one starts talking about business, we believed that we are a nation to be emulated and look up to what other developed nations should be doing, or trying to achieve.  It is with trepidation to find out that the United States now ranks 12th – Yes, you have read it correctly – among developed nations concerning business start up activity.  So, what is the government doing to fix this? Can they fix it? Or better yet, do they want to do anything about it? Follow the links below for more information about this and other topics.


Is the estate tax killing small farms and businesses?

“Here in South Dakota, we are land rich and cash poor, leaving roughly one-third of South Dakota farms vulnerable to the death tax, based on cropland values provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The death tax imposes a tax rate as high as 40 percent on family farms, ranches and small businesses, which hurts economic growth by discouraging savings and development.”

–Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), opinion article in the Rapid City Journal, April 13, 2015

“This tax doesn’t just hit the big guy. It hits the little guy—like the small business and the family farm. It is both unwise and unfair, and it needs to go.”

–Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), hearing at the House Ways & Means Committee, March 25, 2015

“I believe that the estate tax is politically misguided, morally unjustified and downright un-American. It undermines the life work and the life savings of farmers and small- and medium-sized businesses in Georgia and across the nation.”


Small business tax concerns with SHOP

Initially created with the goal of helping small businesses comply with the requirements of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) has not been meeting expectations.

According to Don Donner, CEO and president of the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), “Almost no one is using the SHOP exchange, according to the government’s own enrollment data, and to the extent that there are subsidies available in the form of tax credits, they are complicated, temporary, and too small to offset the costs.”

A February 26, 2015, letter from Steve Chabot (R-Ohio), chair of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Small Business, to Sylvia Burwell, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, highlights these concerns, with a focus on problems associated with incorrect SHOP tax forms that were recently sent out by HHS.


Policy Points: How Tax Inversions Hurt Smaller Businesses

Everyone’s “favorite” day of the year is less than 24 hours away – Tax Day. And the big question is: Have you filed your return yet? (If you haven’t, stop reading this and go take care of that. This will still be here when you’re done.)

By now, most people have (hopefully, anyway) sent in their returns. Some have probably gotten a pretty decent refund; others might be a little disappointed at their bill.

One thing you can always count on come April 15 is some griping about how much Americans pay in taxes. Nobody likes paying them, after all. But as Oliver Wendell Holmes once wrote, “Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society.” Everything people rely on the government for, from public safety to infrastructure, health care and education, is paid for with your tax dollars.

It’s easy for this to get lost in the mix – especially when you find out you owe more than you thought you would – but paying taxes is one of the most important things Americans do for their country. Name a program that matters to you, and your tax dollars — and those paid by businesses — help make it possible. What makes it work is that everyone recognizes the burden is not only on them: Everyone has taxes to pay, and everyone has to chip in for the services we all rely on.


The Legalization of Marijuana in Ohio and Other News

business (10)Legalization of Marijuana raises different views and opinions depending on whom you ask.  Some argue that the legalization of marijuana will boost the local economy by the tax revenue the state will collect.  The prohibition enforcement costs the state will save by legalizing marijuana are in the millions according to some research.  The incarcerations due to marijuana related charges cost the prisons $1 billion dollars a year.  The savings and tax revenue that legalization will save the state are in the billions, so what are the cons for this issue?

Follow the links below for more news happening around Ohio.


Petition Wants To Make Ohio The Fifth State To Legalize Marijuana

A group in Ohio wants the state to join Colorado, Washington, Oregon and Alaska in the legal recreational marijuana club, with a new petition to amend the state’s constitution.

The petition from ResponsibleOhio must collect 300,000 signatures before the amendment making marijuana legal medically and for recreational use could be put to a vote in November, reportsCNNMoney.

The group is made up of investors from several companies who want the state to allow residents 21 and older to possess up to an ounce of pot for personal use and allow doctors to prescribe marijuana for some medical conditions. Residents could also grow a limited amount of cannabis plants at home.


Pew study finds auto title loans as harmful as payday loans

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Title loans are just as toxic as their payday loan cousins, according to a new report from Pew Charitable Trusts.

“They fail to work as advertised. They’re overwhelmingly unaffordable,” said Nick Bourke, director of Pew’s small-dollar loans project.

Like payday loans, auto title loans are marked by triple-digit interest rates and balloon payments that make them hard to pay off.

The Pew study sheds light on auto title lending ahead of a field hearing Thursday in which the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is expected to map out a rule that could cover not only payday lending but other high-cost small loans.


Ted Cruz: Small business are going out of business ‘in record numbers’

Republican Sen. Ted Cruz became the first big-name politician to announce a 2016 presidential bid during an address at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va.

Cruz, of Texas, asked the audience to “imagine” (a word he used 38 times) what he believed a conservative administration could accomplish.

“Think just how different the world would be. Imagine instead of economic stagnation, booming economic growth,” Cruz said. “Instead of small businesses going out of business in record numbers, imagine small businesses growing and prospering. Imagine young people coming out of school with four, five, six job offers.”


Tax Breaks For Small Business Owners and other News

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Starting a business requires an entrepreneur to wear many hats right from the onset.  The demands on your time are many, and developing your business plan and hiring the right people are time consuming tasks that are very serious, and can play a devastating role if not done properly.  Hiring a business coach to see you through the developing stages of a business plan, plan your goals and time stages to achieve those goals, and developing a strategic plan that will produce success for your business is a must every business should have.


5 Tax Breaks Overlooked By Small Business Owners

For the small business owner, tax season can be stressful, and the prospect of shelling out a load of money to the government is not exciting. That’s why small business owners love tax benefits. Here are 5 tax benefits that are often overlooked by small business owners that can save your business money.

Please consult your tax professional before following any of the suggestions below. If you do your taxes yourself, there is a resource which compares the online offerings of TurboTax, TaxAct, and HR Block.

1. Have Lunch Meetings

If you often buy lunch (eat-in or take-out) while you are working, you might be able to deduct 50% of meal expenses. If you and your business partners or employees have meetings, consider having meetings over lunch. As long as the dining expenses are reasonable, you are allowed to deduct 50% of meal costs when eating with business partners and employees while conducting business operations. If you buy lunch every day and spend around $8, you can deduct $4. If you do the math, that amounts to over $1000 a year in claimable deductions ($4/day x 5 days x 52 weeks).


Small business: National ombudsman helps small businesses address concerns about federal regulators

Small-business owners turn to Brian Castro when they need help collecting payments from federal contractors, are concerned about excessive fines or think a regulation is too burdensome.

Since August 2013, Castro, a Duke University law school alumnus, has led a little-known program that advocates for small businesses at the federal level. Castro is the national ombudsman and assistant administrator for Regulatory Enforcement Fairness at the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Last fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, the office received 430 formal jurisdictional complaints and thousands of inquires, Castro said.

“We offer an informal avenue, a channel for an expedited resolution,” that is separate and apart but in addition to a company taking their concerns to court, often a long and expensive process, Castro said. “Our services are already paid for with the taxpayers’ dollars and very often are resolved or obtained within 30 to 60 days.”

Castro’s office employs seven and offers four tools to help small-business owners, nonprofit organizations and small governments address concerns about federal rules and regulators.


Tax Structure & Business Incentives

Businesses in the Columbus Region benefit from:

  • No personal property tax
  • No inventory tax
  • No state corporate income tax

In addition to these tax savings, which are further detailed on the Tax Structure page, state and local governments offer tax incentives, credits, loans and grants to new businesses and expanding companies. State and local resources are below.

If you have questions about these programs, please contact the Columbus 2020 team. Our team of experts can help you navigate the many programs available to businesses.

Incentives

Tax credits and abatements

Job Creation Tax Credit

The Job Creation Tax Credit is a refundable tax credit to companies generally creating at least 10 new jobs (within three years) with a minimum annual payroll of $660,000 that pay at least 150 percent of the federal minimum wage. The tax credit is measured as a percentage of the state income tax withholdings for all new employees hired under the program, and is applied toward the company’s commercial activity tax liability. Should the amount of the credit exceed the company’s commercial activity tax liability for any given year, the difference is refunded. A business must apply for the credit before committing to the project. Applicants must be approved through the Ohio Tax Credit Authority before hiring begins.