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Three Tips for Running Your Business on a Budget

Loans can be a great way to help your business get off the ground, but how can you keep things afloat if your budget is already tight? For starters, don’t panic. You’ve probably heard the statistics saying that if you’re a new business, you are more likely to fail than succeed in today’s economy. However, the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy states that although business survival rates do go down over time, you have a 70% chance of making it through the first two years.

savings and budget — Image by 401(K) 2012 / Flickr

Know What You’re Spending

One of the most important things to understand is how much you’re spending, versus the amount of income that you’re earning. This sounds simple enough, but it’s not only about making sure that you’re working within your means. When you’re aware of your spending habits, you’ll be better able to see if there might be a way to cut your bills, too. Even if you’re able to reduce your spending by a few dollars each month, that can make a difference over time. For help, consider consulting with an accountant who specializes in the needs of businesses. Beyond helping you manage your money, a financial expert may also be able to reduce your tax obligations. Many businesses tend to dread each spring because that means it’s time to file their tax forms, which can cause a whole new headache. Think of your time with an accountant as a good investment. Although it requires you to spend some funds, that decision could pay off handsomely in the long run.

Don’t Procrastinate

When you’re first getting started, things probably feel like a whirlwind. As you go throughout the day and scramble to finish tasks, things might become disorderly, as well. Keeping everything organized does take a lot of time and effort. However, if you make it a priority, you’ll be able to control things before they get out of hand. There’s nothing worse than trying to find a sales receipt or document when you’re facing a deadline. Keeping things running smoothly while you’re on a tight budget will always be challenging, but you can ease the burden by simply being committed to staying organized.

Make Your Office Mobile

Thanks to advancing technologies, some people are truly able to complete their work from anywhere, whether that means a neighborhood coffee shop, or their bedroom. Statistics released last year by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that over 20% of people in the workforce completed at least part of their duties outside of a traditional workplace. At first, you might run your business entirely from your home, but even when the situation changes, there’s no harm in keeping things mobile as possible. Not only will this reduce your spending when it comes to renting a physical office space, but it could also cut down on the amount of absenteeism related to bad weather or traffic conditions.

Running your business on a tight budget doesn’t mean that you’re doomed to a life of constant challenges. However, you’ll certainly need to operate in a diligent way that lets you spot problems before they turn into large obstacles. This type of proactive attitude is a huge part of helping your business thrive whether you have billions in the bank, or just a few thousand.

About the Author: Shelly White writes for education blogs. If you’re interested in building your own business, consider learning more about getting an executive mba.

8 Ways to Determine Whether Your Business Future is Bright

Throughout the lives of our career, we must make several choices that can directly determine and impact our future success. Sometimes it’s pretty easy to tell when we’ve made the right choice, but many other results from decisions we’ve made are less clear. How do we know when our choices are effectively leading us down the path to future success? Having the foresight to weigh all options, and the resources to be properly informed is key to making a strong success prediction. Find out how you can improve your chances for success by staying on the right path with these tips.

1. Recognition

Recognition from your boss or management, and even from co-workers, is important for many reasons. It keeps you feeling good and motivated, but also lets you know that you’ve done a good job. Strong recognition from peers is a pretty good indicator for a success prediction, letting you know that whatever you’re doing, you’re doing it right.

2. Motivation

So long as you can stay motivated and excited about the work you do, you’ll likely be able to perform your job responsibilities effectively and successfully. We all have lapses in motivation from time to time, but so long as these lapses are only short and temporary, you’ll be able to feel accomplished and fulfilled.

3. You Are Well Organized

Strong organizational skills are a common cliché skill listed on many resumes, but how many of us really possess such a skill. If you can stay focused and organized throughout the day, on a daily basis, then you’ll be well on your way to improving your chances for success. Staying organized helps you improve your productivity and keep things running smoothly, also serving to reduce stress.

4. You Possess Expertise or a Special Skill

If you can establish yourself as an expert on a particular subject, or can excel in a skill or trade that sets you apart from others, then you’ll be able to better improve your chances for success. Your work or knowledge will be valued and sought out, and you’ll be an asset to your team or company.

5. How Do Others View You?

This is a different aspect than simply receiving recognition for the work you’ve done. Do your co-workers respect you? Do they see you as a team player? Are you a good communicator? Do they perceive you as someone deserving of recognition, or simply singled out as the bosses pet? Perception may not always paint the most accurate picture of you, as everyone sees things a little differently. But the more positive perception other possess of you, the more you can use that as a gauge for your success prediction.

6. Do You Make Rash Decisions, Or Analyze Choices Carefully?

As stated previously, there will be any decisions you will face along the path to success, and making the right choices will directly impact your future. If feasible, you should always take the time to analyze both the short-term and long-term effects of any decision you make. Taking the time to think things through and make an informed decision will help to improve your analytical skills, which is beneficial for both yourself and your company.

7. What Have Your Accomplished?

This should be an obvious clue, but many often overlook it, thinking they are doing well when in actuality they are pretty much staying in place. You can’t be successful without accomplishing anything. What projects have you completed? Have you gotten any promotions? Are you acquiring new skills? Anything that can be seen as a betterment to yourself, your skills, or your body of work can be seen as a suitable accomplishment.

8. Are You Using Your Talents?

It’s no good having a great skill set if you don’t get the option to use it often. Make good use of your skills, whether they apply to a particular trade, or if they are a reputable quality such as being a good communicator, salesman, or team leader. Using your skills well, will only serve to improve your talents as you gain more experience, subsequently improving your chances for future success.

About the Author: Jennifer Carter writes on career advancement for Outbounding.com. In her spare time she’s quite handy and is currently working on the 40 hour hazwoper training from Etraintoday.com

Your Viable Service: Maximum vs Minimum

The way in which you market yourself is obviously an integral part of your business. You can’t rely on jobs just falling into your lap of their own accord, you need to go out there and pull them in. There are plenty of different techniques and styles of marketing, but there is an underlying choice you have to make first before bombarding the world with your amazing adverts and website. This is all based on the viable services you are able to offer. Do you want to stick to one specific part of your field, or do you want to be able to offer as much as you’re able to do. Let’s look and the advantages and disadvantages of both.

wedding photography niche — Wedding photography – an example of minimum viable service. Image by Mike Baird / Flickr

Offering a minimum viable service can easily be summed up by a photographer who chooses solely to do wedding photography. Essentially, rather than being a something (copywriter, filmmaker, composer) you are a type of something (product copywriter, documentary maker, film music composer).

One of the benefits of this is that you’ll find it much easier to build a portfolio. If you’re concentrating on one field then you don’t need to show a wide range of examples. Get a few jobs and your portfolio will already be looking great. It is a lot more focused too. Prospective clients will be able to get a much clearer picture of your style and vision this way.

You’ll also find it much, much easier to market yourself. Your website and adverts will concentrate on the one thing you offer and that means you can target your marketing much more efficiently. Rather than advertising across a broad selection of sites and publications, you can now just pick out the ones that are relevant.

Of course, there are some downsides. First up is actually deciding on the specific service you want to offer. If it isn’t something you’ve thought about, it may take some time to really decide. There is also a bit of trial and error in this too as you try out services which just don’t work for you. Time is valuable and you can end up wasting a lot of time trying to figure out what you want to do.

Once you have decided on what you’ll offer, prepare yourself for letting jobs that you can do pass by. You might see an advert on Gumtree for something you know you could do really well, but as soon as you show your client a portfolio concentrating on something else, they’ll be put off and consider you unfocused. On top of that, taking on other types of jobs defeats the whole point of offering a minimum viable service.

On the other side of the coin you could decide to other a wide range of services. This means, for example, that as a photographer you will make yourself available for any kind of job you can do, be it band, sport, nature or press photography.

One advantage is quite obvious. Advertising yourself as a photographer with wide-ranging skills means you have a bigger pool of clients to attract. This should mean more business for you and the ability to build up a very varied portfolio. Another little positive is that you might be able to get those more niche or obscure jobs that appear from time to time. The people advertising these jobs are likely to more interested in someone who has a varied skill set.

There’s a phrase that is quite relevant to this. “Jack of all trades, but master of none.” Simply put, some people will want a specialist for their job. To them, this is paramount, no matter how good your portfolio is. They don’t want to take any risk so they want the person they hire to be a safe bet. They won’t see you as a photographer, so much as an ‘all-round photographer’ which, unfortunately, just doesn’t sound good.

Have a good think about how you want to approach your marketing. Both ways have their pros and cons and it is simply down to your preference. Choose wisely!

About the Author: Joshua Danton Boyd is an in-house copywriter for the online accounting firm Crunch. He also regularly contributes to Freelance Advisor and Urban Times.

3 Ways Taxes Could Change for Small Businesses in 2013

The big problem for small businesses planning for tax changes in 2013 is that almost everyone doesn’t really know what will happen until January 2013. Congress and the President struck a budget deal in 2012 that essentially imposed spending cuts and tax hikes that take effect in 2013 if they can’t come to a better deal legislatively. In addition, the tax cuts from President George W. Bush also expire in January. So for many, if nothing is done, 2013 represents a major set of tax changes, including impacts on small businesses.

Sole Proprietors and Schedule C

Many micro-businesses and small businesses are owned by one person and the related taxes are declared as a Schedule C business on the owner’s personal income tax returns. That in turn causes the businesses net taxable income to become part of the owner’s personal, taxable income.

The Bush era tax cuts, mentioned above, were time-limited, but they created significant savings for personal tax return filers. This included lower tax brackets on personal income as well adjustments of the alternative minimum tax to avoid its dreaded hit on the average income earner. So just by doing nothing, Congress and the President in 2013 can essentially allow a tax increase on personal income, jumping from 35% to 39.6% on income earners over $200,000 and $250,000 if married. For those owning a business, it’s very likely that they would be hit by this tax increase, especially given the partisan positions in Washington D.C. at the end of 2012.

Foreign Account Impacts

Given the flexibility of the Internet, many small businesses are doing and earning from business overseas. For some, such business activity can involve using and working with foreign financial institutions and setting up bank accounts overseas. 2013 will authorize a 2014 implementation of new tax rules on deposits made, transferring funds out of the U.S. Funds transferred will be subject to a painful withholding amount of 30% unless involved businesses provide all the required tax identification information and location of overseas accounts on tax returns. This allows the IRS to collect all applicable taxes on income earned by U.S. taxpayers, even if earned overseas.

Deduction Changes

Many small businesses take advantage of Section 179 asset deductions, which essentially allow a business to write off certain asset purchases in total in one tax year rather than depreciating the cost over five years or longer. The limit on this deduction option is $139,000. However, in 2013 this powerful and useful small business tax savings will be serious limited. First off, computer software won’t be an allowable asset expense anymore. Second, the maximum allowable deduction of Section 179 assets will be capped at a far lower amount of $25,000. For any small business relying on these deductions to purchase valuable equipment, tools, assets and more, this change represents a serious loss on tax returns. As a result, if there is anything to buy for a business, many small companies should be making those purchases in 2012 before the end of the year.

In Summary

Many will advise businesses should continue to make their decisions as needed, regardless of tax rule changes. If a business’ profit margin is so thin that the above tax changes create losses, that business needs to change how it pursues revenues and sales quickly or it will be facing bankruptcy fairly soon. That said, the above changes will reduce profit margins regardless, hitting small businesses in their own unique way. So here’s hoping Congress actually tries to get along for a change before January 2013; everybody’s taxes depend on it.

Walt Douglas is a corporate accountant and guest author at Best Accounting Schools, a site with guides and resources to help prospective students review top-rated online accounting degree programs.

Using Kiosks to Develop Small Business

Kiosks have been around since 1977. Since then, kiosks haven been used globally for interactive photos and internet portals. You’ve seen how the kiosk helps larger businesses. Airlines, grocery stores, and other retailers use them to help cut down on employee costs and processing times for customers. The companies spend less and customers save time. It’s a win-win situation. You may have thought that kiosks are meant for big businesses with a large clientele, but kiosks can be just as helpful for small businesses. You don’t need a high-volume flow in order to take advantage of the kiosk’s many perks. Here are several ways that small businesses benefit from kiosks.

1. 24-hour services without employees

If you wish you could provide services for more hours of the day, consider the kiosk as a way to meet customer needs for longer hours and your need to cut back on employee hours. A kiosk could be used to help customers with making orders or payments without any human help.

2. Vending works just fine

If your company sells standardized products, consider a vending machine. If you’ve seen iPhones sold in kiosks at the airport, you’ve seen that even high-priced items can have their place in a vending machine.

3. Be in two places at once

If you’re on the brink of opening a second location but just can’t quite meet the budget requirements, you may consider setting up a kiosk instead. A kiosk could open up a clientele demographic by being available in an area that’s not close to your original location. Even if you sell larger items, you can still take mail or delivery orders through the kiosk. You cut back on rent, employee, and insurance costs.

4. Address routine procedure needs

If customers need to consistently manage their accounts, kiosks can address those needs and make your services more convenient than the competition’s services.

5. Share advice with clients

You don’t have to train your employees to have a Ph.D. in your product. Instead, invest in a kiosk that can be set up in your store. For example, multiple U.S. wine stores use wine advice kiosks to inform customers on wine purchases. Customers are able to scan a bar code from wine bottles that reveal the details of the wine — food pairings, seasonal information, and background can be accessed. You can even cross-sell other products, which makes it possible to cross advertise with other businesses. Especially if you have several product choices, a kiosk can help consumers feel confident in their selections.

6. Job applications

If you have too much on your plate with customers, partners, and you have limited employee help, you can use the kiosk as a built-in HR department. The kiosk can take job applications and help to keep records.

7. Receptionist replacement

Just look at how many grocery store customers prefer the self-service check-out lines. People are less and less interested in dealing with a human face. Humanists may take this personally, but technology marches on. If you could provide the services of a receptionist without the price of receptionist’s salary, you could save a lot of money. Since customers are more and more comfortable with computers, this is a real possibility.

Today’s economy invites small businesses to get innovative and it rewards innovation. Think outside the box by getting your own box. The kiosk system is just getting tapped into and you could be the next beneficiary of technology’s benefits.

About the Author: Haley Brown writes for several business sites. Check out Phoenixkiosk website to get information on desktop kiosks for your business.