Are you Ready for Retirement?

business (9)There are many compelling reasons why business owners should pay more attention to their retirement plans.  Often times the responsibility to fund a pension plan for them and for their employees fall on the shoulders of the business owner and more times than not it is relegated for a later date that never comes. Here are three compelling reasons why you should talk to an accountant and financial advisor to help you plan for your future.

  1. It is a financial responsibility you have to your employees and yourself to secure a future that will provide financial stability later on.
  2. Talk to an accountant or financial advisor for potential tax benefits for your business when setting up a retirement plan.
  3. Having a retirement plan can secure your top performers or attract new ones that can benefit your business.

Read more about this and other news by following the links below.


Preparing Small-Business Owners for Retirement

Advisers also can help clients figure out what to do with their time after they retire.

Small-business owners often are so busy working that they don’t take time to plan for their retirements.But that is clearly a mistake, financial advisers say.In turn, advisers are helping these entrepreneurs more accurately value their businesses as well as their personal expenses, and figure out how to spend their time once they…


Small business hiring cools off in July

Not quite the blistering pace reported in June.

Hiring by small businesses cooled off this past month, mirroring a similarly modest slowdown across the broader economy, according to a new report.

Small employers added 84,000 workers in July, down from a two-year high of 126,000 new positions added the month before, according to payroll processing firm ADP. Initially, the company had reported that small businesses (fewer than 50 employees) had added 117,000 jobs in June.

Overall, the economy added 218,000 positions in July. While that’s down from 281,000 last month, it’s otherwise the highest monthly total since November.


Workers are finally getting raises again

One more sign that life is improving for American workers: paychecks are finally growing faster.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that workers’ wages and salaries grew by a seasonally adjusted 0.6 percent during the second quarter, the fastest pace since the third quarter of 2008.

Wages and salaries only make up 70 percent of total compensation, including benefits. Total compensation costs as a whole also grew by a seasonally adjusted 0.7 percent during the second quarter.

Though it’s true that wage growth was much faster before the Great Recession, the news is still a sign that the labor market is tightening, as increased demand for labor helps boost paychecks.

 

Why Are You in Business?

The strategic business plan explores key questions about the purpose for being in business. On a regular basis business owners and their teams must answer these questions and agree on the answers. The answers help to determine the essential elements of the strategic plan, such as the sales planning process. From a business strategy consulting standpoint, the key, broad subjects to be incorporated in a strategic business plan are:

   Vision

   Mission Statement

   Key Objectives

   Milestones

   Implementation/ action plan and time table

This plan, which includes strategies, actions and responsibilities, becomes the foundation of the firm’s strategic business plan. This is not a document to be completed and left in the desk drawer. It is to be shared with the team and developed into 90 day plans for the management and team to implement.

A Good Strategic Business Plan is Your North Star

The strategic business plan explores key questions about the purpose for being in business. On a regular basis business owners and their teams must answer these questions and agree on the answers. The answers help to determine the essential elements of the strategic plan, such as the sales planning process. From a business strategy consulting standpoint, the key, broad subjects to be incorporated in a strategic business plan are:

   Vision

   Mission Statement

   Key Objectives

   Milestones

   Implementation/ action plan and time table

 This plan, which includes strategies, actions and responsibilities, becomes the foundation of the firm’s strategic business plan. This is not a document to be completed and left in the desk drawer. It is to be shared with the team and developed into 90 day plans fro the management and team to implement.

Go Out There and Do It!

Get out of the office and start engaging with your customers. Make this part of your sales planning process. The best way to leverage your sales process is to have your customer and strategic alliances sell for you. Talk to them and find out how they are doing. They will soon start referring your business to others – which is by far the best way to leverage your “sales” time in any business.

Find Out Where You Spend Your Time

Keep a track of how you spend your time in your business for a week or two. Do a personal time study and you’ll have a better handle on how you can adjust your tasks and activities in more profitable ways. For most business owners, very little time goes into actually getting sales, and most of it is spent on delivering the product or service, administrative or managerial tasks.

Remember the 80/20 rule:  80% of all results come from 20% of effort. And if 80% of your efforts are administrative, you can see where your sales results are at. Look at your sales planning process, if one exists. If you don’t have a sales planning process invest some time to build one. This means training your team to sell and providing sales tools to make them successful. Talk to me about your sales planning process, I’m an Akron business coach who can make a difference. I can help with the time study, too.