Tag Archives: Business

U is for… U.S. Small Business Administration

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Welcome to the U.S. Small Business Administration edition of the ABCs of MyCorp; a very important component of the small business community.

What is the U.S. Small Business Administration and what exactly do they do?

According to SBA.gov, the USSBA was founded on July 30, 1953. Even from their early days, the USSBA has been dedicated to aiding small businesses in the three Cs: capital, contracts and counseling.

They make all sizes of loans available from helping a business with their debt to just raising capital in general. They focus on federal procurement; their Office of Government Contracting works with other federal departments and agencies to set goals and “reach the statutory goal of 23% in prime contract dollars for small businesses.”

Additionally, they assure that small businesses have a voice in reviewing Congressional legislation and testify on behalf of small business. The chief counsel of this office is decided on by the president of the United States.

As if all of this weren’t enough, the USSBA also offers counseling for entrepreneurs and small business owners. They walk them through how to be the best business owner they can be and they do this face-to-face or internet counseling all for free.

Since 1953, the U.S. Small Business Administration has proven itself to be a great asset for small businesses. Check out their website and see what they can do for you!

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Why Your Small Business Needs SEO

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How often do you turn to search engines like Google or Bing to find a product or service that you need? Have you ever clicked on anything on the 15th page of search results? Or the 50th? We didn’t think so. That’s why you need Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for your small business. Ninety percent of all users click on the Top 10 search results on Google, which means that you are missing out on selling your product or service to 90% of your prospective customers. Sold yet?

It’s targeted

When your website shows up on the first page of search engines for relevant keywords and phrases, you are reaching your perfect audience. No one is going to look for “insurance company Chicago” if that isn’t something they are interested in finding. It gives you the opportunity to get in front of people who are actively seeking the product or service that you provide.

It lets you measure your results

Other traditional forms of advertising, like TV, newspaper, direct mail and radio, don’t allow you to track your results. When you utilize SEO, you are able to track exactly where your customers found you. The analytics will break down everything from referral sites to visitors, which will help you get a sense of how many people are finding you and how many people are converting to customers. This is huge, because who wants to spend money on advertising and marketing and not know whether it worked?

It will help you beat competitors

You might have an amazing website that many people would benefit from viewing, but if it is on the seventh page of popular searches, then you might as well not have a website at all. This is because most people don’t just type in URLs in the search bar – they go to a search engine and type in keywords of what are looking for. If you are on the first page, then this is a golden opportunity to scoop up the customers looking for your product or service.

It builds a good reputation for your brand

When you have a good-looking website and you are coming up on the first page of searches, this validates your credibility to current customers and helps you look relevant and trustworthy to prospective customers. It’s a win-win, and who doesn’t want to boost their reputation?

SEO is the optimal way to promote any type of business. No matter what you offer and where you are located, it’s guaranteed that someone is searching keywords that are relevant to your business. Everyone turns to search engines with questions, and you could be the answer! Most companies hire an agency to provide SEO services, since it can be difficult to accomplish on your own, but prices are very low in comparison to other advertising and marketing efforts, and best of all, the outcome is measurable.

Danielle Pacelli is the Marketing Coordinator at MycroBurst/Logo Design Guru. MycroBurst is based in Langhorne, Pa. and is an online marketplace for graphic design. MycroBurst provides custom designs through crowdsourcing. Follow Danielle and MycroBurst on Twitter @MycroBurst.

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How Proper Safety Measures Can Reduce Workplace Injuries

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Employees who work in a manufacturing setting are exposed to many potential hazards. Hand tools, power tools and machinery can all be dangerous if handled incorrectly or if proper safety precautions aren’t followed. It’s your responsibility as an employer or supervisor to maintain a safe work environment and protect your employees from injury.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration estimates that employers spend approximately $4 billion a month for workers’ compensation costs, but these costs are nothing compared to the human cost of injuries or deaths that could have been prevented, if only the correct safety measures had been taken.

Hand tool safety

Because they don’t run on electricity, hand tools are rarely considered a hazard, but improper use or poor maintenance of hand tools can lead to injury.

Instruct employees on the proper use of hand tools – for example using a screwdriver as a chisel could cause the tool to break and possibly send bits of debris flying.

Include hand tools in regular maintenance checks. Tools with loose or damaged handles should be replaced or repaired immediately. Tools that are supposed to be sharp, such as a saw, should be properly sharpened. Sharp blades are less hazardous than dull ones. You should also:

  • Provide employees with appropriate protective equipment such as gloves and safety goggles.
  • Use only spark-resistant tools in your workplace, if flammable substances are present.
  • Keep floors clean and dry, and use slip-resistant mats in areas where workers use tools, to prevent falls.

Power tool safety

Whether they’re electric, hydraulic or pneumatic, power tools can cause injury if used improperly. Most employees are aware of the hazards of power tools, but regular training is an important part of workplace safety. As with hand tools, proper use, regular maintenance and the right protective equipment can prevent or reduce accidents on the job.

Machinery safety

Just as with hand and power tools, machinery must be properly maintained in order to run safely and efficiently. Servicing machinery often requires workers to place their hands, head or limbs near or into parts of a machine, and if that machine starts up unexpectedly, serious or fatal injuries can occur.

Lockout devices prevent machines from starting up unexpectedly or the spontaneous release of stored energy in a machine. When lockout devices are used, workers must manually bypass or remove the guard in order to restart equipment. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health recommends the use of lockout/tagout devices to reduce the risk of injury.

The failure to follow lockout procedures was the most common safety violation from 2006-2007 according to OSHA, and in more than 50 percent of accident investigations between 1984 and 1997, proper lockout procedures were not followed – or even attempted.

Take responsibility

Each employee is responsible for following safety guidelines, but ultimately it’s your job as the owner or manager to make certain the workplace and all equipment is maintained properly and that proper protective gear is provided and used. Failing to supply workers with the right training and the right equipment could cost your company millions, but more importantly, it could cost a life.

Felicia Baratz is a freelance writer, graphic designer and social media addict living in Indianapolis, IN. As a contributor to ProfessionalIntern.com, Felicia discusses new, innovative technology and it’s relation to the business world and social media marketing.

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Keeping Business Momentum Moving During the First Quarter and Beyond

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Business profitability moves in a cyclical pattern. Typically, the first quarter of the New Year is the slowest, and is often the most difficult to survive, particularly for small businesses. It’s natural that sales taper off during this time of year – customers are recovering from their holiday spending, they’re preparing to pay Uncle Sam what they owe and the winter doldrums have set in as well. However, there are a few things that you can do to help ensure that you keep your business moving forward.

Set Goals

Goal setting is an important consideration for any business in any industry. However, it’s important that you go about setting your goals in the right way. Use the SMART method, and you’ll have a significant advantage over the competition.

SMART is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timely. Each goal you set should follow these criteria. Moreover, you should set your goals as early as feasible, so you can have a plan in place to work toward during the slow months. Often, action translates to momentum, though you’ll need to be prepared for a different sort of momentum than what you experience during busy sales periods.

Goals keep your company moving forward, even if you’re not experiencing a high level of foot traffic or your website sales have slumped. However, your goals during this time of year should differ from those you set during busier months. Focus on business improvement, refinement, new project planning and the like instead.

Determine Needed Improvements

Often, keeping a business moving isn’t all about actual selling. Sometimes, it’s about finding things within your business to improve. The slower months of the year are the ideal time to dig deep and identify what you can do better and how you can change it. This can apply to any area of your business, from shipping and receiving to marketing and promotion – you might find new software that streamlines your receiving process, or perhaps you’ll work on creating a marketing campaign directed at current customers from your existing database rather than focusing on bringing in new ones. Now is the time to take stock of your business, identify areas where change is needed and then make those changes.

Advertising Still Matters

Just because you’re stuck in the doldrums of the dreaded first quarter, it doesn’t mean that you should stop your advertising. However, it’s the perfect time to investigate new marketing methods that you might have wanted to check out but lacked the time, earlier in the year. For instance, if you’ve been considering social media marketing but lacked the time, get started. Maybe you’ve have considered starting a newsletter to keep your customers informed, or you want to conduct surveys to gather vital data. Now is the time. You’ll also find that because the season is slower for pretty much all businesses, your own marketing messages will get more traction.

Plan New Projects

Because these months are slow, you’ll have time on your hands that can be put to good use in the area of project or product planning. If you’ve been thinking about starting a new project, offering a new service or releasing a new product, this is the perfect time of year to get started with the process. You’ll find that the productivity and energy your new planning generates spills over to other aspects of your business as well.

Keeping a business moving forward during slow periods is a challenge for every business owner and CEO. Have patience, set goals, improve your company, try new things and that momentum will continue.

Don Elfrink is the owner and operator of AutoMatStore.com, a company selling auto mats throughout the nation. Before AutoMatStore, Elfrink was the operator of an automotive production site. AutoMatStore focuses on logo, carpeted, molded and all weather floor mats.

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Throwback Thursday: A Look at MyCorp’s Early Website Designs!

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1998

This gallery contains 11 photos.

MyCorporation is now into its fifteenth year of business – 15 wonderful years of helping entrepreneurs to create their own small business and get it started on the right foot! We were one of the first, online document filing services, and the … Continue reading →

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How Rubber Stamps Can Help Your Business Stand Out

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When your business begins to grow, it is important that you, as the leader, begin thinking about the importance of your company’s appearance. There are a lot of areas that can be covered on a large scale, from moving to a more prominent office location to creating a new, more user friendly website. Often, many businesses pay more attention to big changes and skip out on smaller ones that can make your office look and feel more professional, without draining your company’s coffers.

One of the simplest, most cost effective things that your business can invest in is rubber stamps. These basic office supplies can go a long way in making your business appear larger and more professional, not only to employees, but to customers and suppliers as well. Here are a few ways how basic and customized rubber stamps can help your business stand out from your competition.

Basic Stamps

Rubber stamps come in nearly every shape, size and design that you can imagine. Many common phrases and job titles that are often used in the business world such as “Paid” or “Accounts Receivable” can be found pre-printed on commercial stamps. For just a few dollars, these stamps will not only make the job of your accounting department easier, but also put a more professional appearance on invoices and receipts. With simple stamps, invoices can be marked off much more quickly and without the mess of writing all over each one.

Custom Made Stamps

In addition to the basic design of pre-printed rubber stamps, most office supply companies can also create custom stamps to fit a wide variety of your needs. Whether it is a customized picture or any phrase that your business uses on a regular basis, office supply companies can provide you with rubber stamps that meet your exact specifications.

The most common use for custom made rubber stamps are as signature stamps. By providing the stamp maker with a copy of your signature, they can create a replica onto the face of the stamp. This is ideal for business owners and professionals who are constantly signing off on documents and paperwork. By using a stamp, you can easily save valuable time each day. Stamps like these should be well-controlled. Only authorize one be made, and be careful of who has it – it in the wrong hands a signature stamp could be used on countless documents.

Avoiding Confusion

Another benefit of using rubber stamps in the office is that it helps avoid confusion on documents between employees. Skip troubles with handwriting and unclear instructions. By using stamps to communicate on documents, co-workers and employees are able to clearly understand what is expected out of them in regards to your instructions.

By making small changes around your business, you can easily alter the perception of your company by your employees, business associates and consumers. By using rubber stamps for your office’s communications you can increase the professionalism both between employees and to the public. Not only do these stamps make your business look more sophisticated, but they also reduce the amount of mistakes make because of misunderstandings over instructions. For companies who need to process large amounts of documents, using rubber stamps can save significant amounts of time for those needing to authorize the paperwork. Look at your office’s procedures for documents today, and imagine how rubber stamps could increase productivity in the workplace.

Mike Gardener is a founding partner of TheOfficeProviders.com. Mike is a passionate real estate investor who loves helping other investors and businesses by providing any kind of office space. You can see his site for more details. His areas of expertise include real estate investment, office space rental, and economic and business issues. 

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Do Your Taxes Have Bad Breath?

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Today, our guest poster Justin Krane offers up a step by step plan on how to stay on top of your taxes and how to avoid putting them off till the last minute. Additionally, you can join Justin and our CEO Deborah for an amazing financial webinar on May 29th at 1PM PST/4PM EST. In this webinar, Justin will teach you how to create high quality goals and the financial strategies to put in place to work towards achieving them. You in? We are! Register by clicking here.

You are trying to back away from them but their stank is just ridic? They have no idea how bad their breath is! Especially when they eat the onion bagel with lox cream cheese! You’ll do anything to avoid their halitosis.

Got me thinking. Do your taxes have bad breath? Your taxes only end up stinking if you put them off till the last minute. It stinks to have no idea how much money you owe the IRS. Give your taxes a breath mint! No more scrambling the last few days before taxes are due. No more tax surprises. No more bad breath.

How you plan your taxes is most likely how you plan your financial life. It’s time to be proactive, not reactive! I want your financial life to be easier for you.

Here’s my step by step plan on how to stay on top of your taxes.

1. Keep your books/financial records current. Hire a bookkeeper. You didn’t get into business to enter all of your receipts/bills into Quickbooks by yourself. This should not be your day job. No more 10pm data entry after your kids go to bed. Why not watch Homeland instead?

2. You need to speak with your accountant every quarter (better than getting a root canal, right?). Give them your quarterly profit/loss statement. Review it with them. Ask your CPA to tell you what you owe in taxes for that quarter. Then when you get the amount owed, pay the taxes then. Don’t wait till the end of the year. You will forget. You might spend your tax money somewhere else and then it’s game over. If you do this every quarter, you will most likely have paid in enough in taxes and you wont get hit with a huge bill.

3. Ask your CPA how you are going to pay your taxes. Will it be through withholding from a salary, or just based on paying estimated taxes?

4. Make sure you have the correct entity for your business. Should you be a sole proprietor, LLC, or an S Corp? Ask your CPA if you need to take a salary to pay your taxes. Most of the time, S Corps and C Corps have to pay salaries to you.

5. If you have sizeable realized gains in your investment portfolio, tell your CPA. A realized gain is when you buy something (stocks/mutual funds, etc) and sell it for a profit, in a taxable account.

Why do all of this tax planning stuff? Because now we can have a clearer idea how much money we have left. Our money is dying to talk with us! It’s so much easier to have a conversation with it when we know what we have – once we pay taxes. It’s time for us to get peace of mind, happiness, and more financial control. We just have to make the decision that doing tax planning isn’t that bad after all.

Justin Krane, is a Certified Financial PlannerTM professional and the President of Krane Financial Solutions.  His savvy, holistic approach to financial planning allows clients to unite their money with their lives and businesses with sound financial decisions. Using a unique system developed from his studies of financial psychology, Justin partners with entrepreneurs to create a bigger vision for their business with education and financial modeling. Follow Justin on Twitter @justinkrane.

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S is for S-Corporation

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For this week’s post we will get to know one the incorporation options a bit better and learn what it has to offer a new entrepreneur: the S-Corporation!

First off, what is an S-Corporation?

Well, an S-Corporation (also known as the S-Corp) is a special type of corporation that draws its designation from subsection S of the tax code. To start an S-Corp, a small business owner starts a C-Corporation in the state where it is headquartered, then files for S-corporation status with the IRS. While an-S Corporation is similar to a C-Corporation, it has different income and self-employment tax regulations. 

One of the biggest and best differences between an S-Corporation and a C-Corporation is the pass through taxation. Like an LLC, an S-Corporation does not pay taxes at the corporate level. Any income or losses are reported only on the personal income taxes of the business owner’s. As a result, this avoids the issue of double taxation that affects C-Corporations. Since net losses are also passed through, the individual shareholder may be able to reduce his or her tax liability by offsetting other income with any S-Corporation losses.

Though, there is an important caveat to keep in mind: any shareholder who works for the company must pay him or herself reasonable compensation. Basically, the shareholder must be paid fair market value, or the IRS might reclassify any additional corporate earnings as “wages.”

If pass through taxation sounds good to you, consider the S-Corporation for your new business. And no pressure, if you end up deciding you’d like to stick with a regular C-Corporation after declaring your business as an S-Corporation, you can easily drop the S-Corporation status with the IRS.

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Business Basics: Professional Corporations

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Welcome to our weekly business basics post! This week we decided to explore a specialized legal entity called a professional corporation (PC). Now most of those who know a little bit about corporate law probably know that there are two, main types of corporations – S-Corps, and C-Corps. But in addition to these, there are a few other specialized structures that are important to keep under the belt of a small business, like the professional corporation.

So what is a professional corporation?

Like with a regular corporation, converting a sole proprietorship or a partnership into a professional corporation turns the business into its own, separate legal entity. However, unlike a regular corporation, the owner of a business being turned into a professional corporation must be licensed to offer a specialized professional service. In other words, the owner of the would-be PC has to be a doctor, or lawyer, or accountant, or architect; some sort of licensed profession.

Why would someone choose to form a professional corp?

Like a standard corporation, a professional corporation provides a certain amount of protection for the business owner, or owners, as a PC can carry its own debt and liabilities. It is important to note that a PC does not protect an owner from being sued as a result of their own negligence – a doctor that turns his or her practice into a PC, for example, can still be sued for malpractice. But if two doctors act as partners within a practice, forming a professional corporation can help protect one doctor from being liable for any judgement received from a lawsuit against the other doctor. So without that protection, one of the partners could be held accountable for the mistakes of the other one. Professional corporations, then, are very useful for any licensed professional running a practice with another licensed professional.

What do I have to do to form a professional corp?

First, you must be licensed to provide whatever service your practice offers in the state you do business in. Most states will want to see proof of relevant licensure at the time of incorporation, and the state licensing board will likely have to approve your articles of incorporation before you can move forward. Usually the licensing board will ask that the articles of incorporation bear special language and, depending on the state, PCs occasionally have to contend with certain laws after they are formed – for example many states ask that a professional corporation designate itself as such by including ‘PC’ or ‘Professional Corporation’ in the name of the practice.

Professional corporations take a bit more effort to form, but are extremely useful for practices run by two or more licensed professionals. After all, the last thing you want is to have to pay lawsuit that resulted from the negligence of your partner. And, like other corporations, a PC offers some protection from debtors looking to collect on a business’s liabilities. It is important, however, to check with your secretary of state and your state’s licensing board to clarify what, exactly, you must do to form a professional corporation and what special provisions you will have to contend with as a licensed PC.

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