Taxes And Your Small Business

Debt is a pain, and if you run a small business your personal debt could have an effect on your business and your taxes. Freelance and contract workers have enough to deal with when it comes to tax time, so it’s not fun to learn that there are other things that can mess with you when tax time rolls around.

Doing taxes

One depressing thing is knowing that if you get a good deal paying off a debt it could come back to bite you when you file your taxes. You just might get a 1099-C in the mail for the money you saved, which will make it count as part of your income for the previous year.…

Continue reading

Options For Handling Personal Debt Before Starting a Business

There are going to be times when people have a great idea to start a business, but still have some financial baggage in their personal monetary history. The question that hits: is it possible to start a new business while being privately in debt? The answer is – it depends. But, at the very least, having a goal for the personal debt is a must before you get too far into the details of your new business venture.

Paying personal debt

So to begin looking at your options overall, consider things like debt consolidation, taking out personal loans, talking to the SBA, getting angel investors on board, and using crowdfunding and crowdsourcing as a modern resource.…

Continue reading

A Wiser Approach To Business Spending

Businesses are not cheap to run. Even a small home business costs money. Instead of putting your new business into debt immediately, it makes sense to learn how to be a bit wiser with the money you have.

Business budgeting

New business or old business, many of these tips can help you. However, they are definitely well suited to someone that is just starting to think about launching their own business. You really need to be careful with your money until you have a stream of it coming in from your business.

Have A Marketing Plan

Just as every good business needs a business plan before it gets launched, every good business needs a marketing plan.…

Continue reading

4 Business Insurance Tips Agents Don’t Want you to Know

There are many different types of insurance policies available to small and medium-size business owners. There’s so much to consider, much of it being industry dependent, and also depending on what risks you, your employees, and customers undertake while doing business together.

Of course, if you’ve done any research to this point, you’re probably interested in seeing if you qualify for a comprehensive Business Owner’s Policy (BOP), which is great if you qualify and in fact need all that a BOP policy can cover. However, a BOP only scratches the surface of what most businesses need in terms of coverage.

Business insurance agent

So, how to get the best insurance coverage for your business, given the facts that your insurance agents may know something that you don’t know – and might use that knowledge to take advantage of you?…

Continue reading

5 Business Expenses a Startup can do Without

It can be so easy to get carried away during the initial phases of setting up your own business, but it’s vital that you keep your head. Many new company owners waste thousands that they haven’t earnt yet on illogical expenses, so here are just a handful that you should avoid.

Fancy business car

1. Extravagant “image” purchases

The last thing you should be spending your money on is a fancy suit or designer watch; you can certainly get a smart-looking, good quality suit to match whatever your budget is. As long as you look professional, your client won’t know or care where your clothes are from.…

Continue reading

Smart Business Approaches To Handling Different Types of Loans

If you plan on starting a business, or perhaps plan on keeping a business going, by taking into consideration different types of loans, then it’s important to understand the ramifications of each possibility.

Business loan

Five types of transactions that can have an effect on your business financial possibilities include dealing with student loans, small business loans, loans from family and friends, private loans, and then the choice to take on credit card debt as a form of self-loan. Each movement of money with respect to these categories has its own pros and cons, especially if you have business matters sitting in the background of the decision.…

Continue reading

The Good and the Bad of Car Title Loans for Startup Funding

For those who have been in operation for some time, it’ll be simpler to take a loan to grow your organization. Without giving a part of your company (like many startups do,) you occasionally need to jump through various hoops. Applying for a loan, they might even need to appoint a cosigner or make extra collateral available to back the loan.

Car title loan

But what if there is no cosigner or collateral available, and your company is suffering from cash flow problems? Seeking instant monetary support for your company, you can either choose the route that many companies take: Sell off your inventory, or your other assets.…

Continue reading

5 Tips to Save on Printing Costs in the Office

The printer is one of the most used pieces of office equipment. Whether its copies of a resume for an interview or notices for employees, you’ll always have to print something. The problem is that printing isn’t exactly cheap.

Businesswoman printing documents

Fortunately, there are ways to save on your office printing costs, from the cartridges you empty to the paper you use. Here are five tips:

1. Use printers with separate cartridge slots

There’s nothing more expensive than replacing an entire printer cartridge when one ink color runs out. If your printer is an older model that combines ink types into one cartridge, then it might be time to replace it.…

Continue reading

Smart Ways to Manage International Transactions for Your Small Business

Having an international presence is one of the best choices a small business can make.

With the international consuming class expected to grow by 75% to 4.2 billion people by 2025, expanding your operations overseas will give you the opportunity to capitalize on international demand and enhance sales potential of your current offerings.

International transaction

In addition, you get to source products from low-cost countries and recruit skilled individuals.

But while global expansion increases your potential for growth, it’s not without challenges. A major one is international payments. Conventional banks often put hefty fees on international transactions for businesses. Also, managing business finances across multiple currencies is no easy feat.…

Continue reading

Corporate Billing Errors Cost Consumers Millions

Some corporations process customer billing in-house, but others pay 3rd-party services or even outsource their billing to foreign lands in order to save money. No matter how corporate billing is done, it’s a mistake to think that billing today is computerized and accurate.

Billing errors

Companies of all sizes make mistakes; even a single missed keystroke can wind up over-charging customers. Sometimes errors in the system go on unchecked for months, and wind up costing customers millions of dollars.

Telecom Errors

Cable TV, phone, internet, and so on are essential services today. However, there are some common telecom billing errors that customers should watch out for.…

Continue reading