These days, with banks tossing nickels around like they’re manhole covers, getting a small business loan is no easy matter. Here are some tips from Robert Seiwert, an official with the American Bankers Association. Seiwert’s insights offer a glimpse into how bankers think these days, and can help you develop a beneficial relationship with a bank and prepare your business to get a loan. Read the full entry
0 Comments
Facing a still-difficult economy and a flurry of tax changes, business owners must be especially alert to new tax pitfalls and opportunities. To help our small business readers, Business.com collected top tips from leading small business tax experts coast-to-coast. What Works for Business will run a new tip daily for the next 10 business days.
Small Business Tax Tip #1: Tap the new rules for business NOLs: “Small business owners need to plan for their net operating losses (NOLs),” says CPA Stacey Dell, a tax partner with Mohler, Nixon & Williams in Campbell, CA. “ An election must be made at the time a tax return is filed to either carry back or carry forward the current year NOL. Check your tax rates and income levels from the prior years. If income is expected to increase in the future, it may be better to carry the loss forward.”
Check back tomorrow for the next expert Small Business Tax Tip in our series. For the latest small business tax solutions and advice, including tax services, accounting software, accounting firms and CPAs, visit the Accounting channel at Business.com.
National tax preparation chain Jackson Hewitt has just introduced a new online tax preparation service for both individuals and small business owners. Although Jackson Hewitt Online’s (www.jacksonhewittonline.com) free “basic” version is only good for the most simple tax returns that would normally use the 1040EZ form, the “Premium” version is more advanced and appropriate for small businesses, including sole proprietors, LLCs, S and C corporations and freelancers. Read the full entry
Domino’s made headlines recently by admitting customers hated its pizza, and pledged a complete pizza makeover. It was a rare instance of a company asking customers what they thought, and then actually doing something about it. The company decided to reinvent its core product “from the crust up.”
That takes guts, and it offers a lesson to many small businesses who only think they are giving customers what they want. In reality, says new product development expert Dan Adams, president of Advanced Industrial Marketing, most are only giving customers what the business wants them to want. In effect, they start with a product and then try to talk customers into giving it their stamp of approval. But that’s a backwards approach.
Here are four steps you can take to REALLY learn from your customers. Read the full entry
One of the most pressing issues facing small business owners today is this: “How do I get paid faster?” Over the last several years, millions of business owners, including freelancers, solo businesses and home businesses have turned to web-based invoicing services to improve the payment process and get money in the door faster. And nearly a dozen such services are available.
Now financial giant American Express is joining the fray. Amex OPEN, the company’s small business division, just launched AcceptPay, a nifty new online invoicing and payment solution that aims to help business owners improve cash flow at a time when customers are taking longer to pay. Read the full entry
Many business owners and entrepreneurs are bruised and confused about what it really takes these days to achieve sales breakthroughs. In fact, the art of selling may be changing faster now that at any point in the last half century. For one thing, the skyrocketing importance of social media has transformed the selling landscape forever.
Take it from one of today’s smartest minds in selling, Josiane Feigon, CEO of TeleSmart Communications, in San Francisco. “The next generation of sales has arrived,” she says. Sales professionals and small business owners are fighting to be heard by busy and distracted prospects, and salespeople are dialing more but connecting less. In order to survive, Feigon says you need to overhaul your sales skills and adapt your methods to meet the changing trends. Here’s how you can respond to six trends that are transforming the small business sales landscape: Read the full entry
When it comes to ideas for improving profits at a startup or other small business, it’s hard to beat the experience of SCORE. This non-profit small business counseling and mentoring service has helped more than eight million entrepreneurs succeed.
And when it comes to getting ahead in business, it’s all about making the right moves at the right times, says Ken Yancey, CEO of SCORE. Here are five ways to prepare your business for improved profitability: Read the full entry
