Small Business: Coping with Shortages and Delays

As we entered the New Year, businesses continue to be hampered by a near-unprecedented lack of supplies and materials. Besides items that have received widespread national attention like toilet paper and computer chips for cars, the slowdown in the supply chain is affecting everything from electronic devices to couches to sneakers—and plenty in between. To…

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Make Payroll Taxes Easy in 2022

Handling employment taxes can be complicated, especially when you’re required to file important tax documents throughout the year. Here’s a quick recap of the most vital payroll tax forms and what you can do to make your payroll life easier heading into 2022.   Important Payroll Tax Forms Form 941 — Employer’s quarterly federal tax…

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JUST THE FACTS: Borrowed Money Must Be Paid Back

In the back of every Form 1040 instruction booklet there’s a section that shows where our federal government gets its money and where it is spent. As taxpayers, it makes sense to know this information. Here is the data for the government’s fiscal year ending September 30, 2019, as reported by the IRS in the…

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The Busy Business Owner: Get Back 15 Minutes a Day

Meetings, phone calls, emails, text messages, and water cooler conversations with your employees constantly bombard you as a business owner. Freeing up even just another 15 minutes a day could dramatically improve both your workflow and peace of mind. Here are some suggestions for getting back 15 minutes every day: Use your phone. Whenever possible, use…

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Building a Fortress Balance Sheet

  The best way to weather a storm is often by being prepared before the storm hits. In the case of small businesses, this means building a fortress balance sheet. What is a fortress balance sheet? This long-standing idea means taking steps to make your balance sheet shockproof by building liquidity. Like a frontier outpost…

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Starting a Business Now Could Make a Lot of Sense

    The same factors that we’ve been dealing with for the past 12 months during the pandemic can also create an opportunity if you are considering starting a small business.  Problems create opportunity For one thing, fewer businesses in the marketplace can mean fewer potential competitors. For a start-up company, that can be good…

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4 Key Metrics to Fortify Your Business

Even the best, well-prepared business plans can unravel quickly without a process in place to evaluate performance. Creating a scorecard with quality metrics can give you the daily insight you need to successfully run a business without drowning in the details. Create a scorecard that works An effective scorecard gives you a holistic view of the…

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7 Secrets to Amazon Success

With 6 million buyers visiting Amazon every day, it is tempting for a small business to explore listing their products to take advantage of this sales channel. However, it is not for the faint of heart. Here are seven secrets to a great selling experience: Select the right products. Try to find a product in…

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Hints to Eliminate Monthly Bill Creep

Paying bills is inevitable, but paying too much is not. Are you aware of all the services you are paying for every month? Here are some tips to help you get a handle on your recurring monthly expenses: Investigate your recurring services. Start by taking stock of every service you are currently using. Review your…

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2019 State Business Tax Climate Rankings

The tax climate for businesses varies dramatically depending on where your business is located. State business environments are constantly shifting; some states readily enact changes made at the federal level, while others do not. Each year the non-profit Tax Foundation organization announces a ranking of tax burdens for businesses. The results of its 2019 ranking…

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