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Global Sourcing – A Cost Saving Tactic to Help Any Small Business



Have you considered outsourcing for your small business? If you are like the majority of small business owners, the answer is probably not. In fact, many small business owners fail to realize the unique and cost saving benefits that global sourcing can provide their company.

While business owners are often offered countless tidbits of business advice, rarely does the advice offered include the suggestion of turning to other countries to fill staffing and manufacturing needs. This tip, however, is often one of the most useful that a small business owner can encounter. Outsourcing can easily save a great deal of money without requiring an owner to compromise on quality or production needs.

Several years ago, global sourcing was an option only for the largest companies. Negotiating with factories was difficult and finding skilled labor was almost impossible. A lot has changed in the past couple of decades. The worldwide market makes it easy to outsource manufacturing, skilled labor and call center needs to a variety of countries including China and India. Each company will need to carefully consider their manufacturing and staffing needs to best determine how outsourcing can benefit them. Nearly every small business start-up will find, however, that global sourcing can offer a large variety of cost saving solutions for their business.

Small business owners are often enjoyably astounded when they discover the many opportunities that are available. In fact, outsourcing can successfully accommodate a wide range of business needs. Factories can easily produce almost any product. These goods produced in other countries are often available at much lower price than many business owners are able to anticipate. This is not all. Outsourcing can help with various labor needs. There are many talented professionals available in a skilled labor workforce that can help to affordably meet many company needs and objectives. Call center work is also available at a fraction of the cost.

Business owners that have not considered global sourcing may be missing out on a valuable and cost saving opportunity. Before starting any small business, it is wise to consider the bounty of opportunities available through outsourcing and to determine how they can benefit your company.

Posted on: September 7th, 2010 Author: admin No Comments »
Filed under: Small Business Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Small Business Cash Flow Management



There are a number of tasks that are essential to be included in any small business cash flow management system. Some tasks are daily, some are weekly and others are on a monthly basis. Defining who is responsible for the tasks and routinely checking that they are done is good management. Be proactive in knowing what cash you will need in the future.

To manage the cashflow of a business, within the day to day operation, it is essential to include the following tasks:

1. Prepare and review your Cash Flow Plan weekly. How much cash are you starting with, what cash is due in and what cash is due out.

2. Reconcile your cash taken daily including payments received from credit cards. Monitor your internal controls for handling cash. Have different people reconcile your bank accounts and cash accounts to those who deposit the checks and cash.

3. Review your Profit and Loss at least monthly. Preferably prepare your P&L in house or get your accountant to do it for you, but do not wait too long. Accounting software packages such as Quickbooks and MYOB are suitable for a range of small businesses and are easy to set up to generate P&L reports.

4. Review your Balance Sheet monthly. Calculate your quick ratio (liquid assets divided by current liabilities) -should be greater than 1 and your current ratio (assets divided by liabilities) – at least 2 to 1 is good.

5. Ensure any excess cash is earning you interest and is also easy to access.

6. See your bank for a line of credit before you need it

A Small Business owner may wear many hats across his/her business, however Cash Flow Management is one area that the Business Owner is wise not to delegate or ignore.

To learn more about cashflow management, profit and loss and balance sheets and how they all fit into together. Click here http://morecashflowoptions.com

Posted on: September 3rd, 2010 Author: admin No Comments »
Filed under: Small Business Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

More Small Business Tax Help – Must-See Tax Deductions



In an earlier article, I talked about how you, as a small business owner, can rightfully claim many small business deductions as a way to reduce your taxes. In this article, I’ll present several more. Check to see if you have included these in your tax planning.

1. Deductions for Travel

If you fly somewhere on business and you are not reimbursed for that expense, you can claim a write-off. As always, keep a detailed log or diary of your expenses. You can claim associated expenses such as taxi fares, subway tokens — and even stuff like dry-cleaning expenses. As for meals, you can write off half your meal expenses.

You can even write off expenses you incur for employees and/or business associates that you are traveling with (friends and family members are out). Consult your tax professional for more details.

2. Deductions for Software

If your business uses customized computer software you can claim the expense of that software as long as you spread out the deduction over three years.

But…Section 179 of the IRS rules allow you take the write-off on computer software all in the first year, IF that software is “off-the-shelf,” in other words, something like Microsoft Office. Consult your tax professional for more details.

3. Deductions for Charitable Contributions

When discussing this kind of deduction, the rules are a bit complicated. For starters, if your small business is a partnership, or if it is classified as an S corporation, or if you’re organized as a limited liability company, your members will be filing the company’s taxes on your personal forms — including donations to charity that you have made. In other words, charitable donations are a “pass-through,” as is the case with the company’s income. C corporations are entitled to corporate deductions.

[Note: if you don't know what kind of classification you fall under, consult your tax professional or your attorney.]

OK, then, now that is out of the way, here are the rules:

You, as an individual, can write off 30-50% of your adjusted gross income as long as the organization you are donating to qualifies as a 501(c)(3)charity or foundation.

A corporation can write off up to 10% of their taxable income.

If you donate more than $250 you’ll need to have a letter from that organization that confirms your contribution. Make sure you read IRS Publication 551 as well as the rules set forth in Section 179. Consult your tax professional for more details.

4. Deductions for Advertising

It’s true: you’ll either advertise your company now, or when you have your going out of business sale. Either way, advertising and marketing expenses are deductible — if they are directly related to your business. They fall under the “Miscellaneous” category of write-offs. Check out IRS Publication 535 and consult your tax professional for more details.

5. Deductions for Legal and Professional Fees

OK, I saved this one for last because it relates directly to the thing I’ve said many times already: “Consult your tax professional for more details.”

Fact is, fees you pay to your attorney and/or accountant are deductible — under certain conditions. For example, you can’t write off professional fees you expend when you buy a business asset (e.g., equipment). In that case, you include the charges in the cost of the purchase.

If you are a sole proprietor you can deduct tax preparation fees on your Schedule C or Schedule C-EZ. Also for sole proprietors, use your Schedule A of your 1040. Consult your tax professional for more details — and don’t forget to ask them about deducting their fees from your tax return.

Conclusion

The US government wants you to succeed in business. So they offer lots of latitude in claiming expense write-offs. So make sure you get what’s yours.
Posted on: March 7th, 2010 Author: admin No Comments »
Filed under: Taxes Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Information Marketing Secrets For Service Professionals Entrepreneurs And Small Business Owners Pt 1



Information marketing is, without a shadow of doubt one of the simplest and best ways to attract more clients if you’re a service professional, an entrepreneur or a small business owner. If it’s that simple though, why aren’t more people (probably including yourself) taking advantage of this great easy-to-implement marketing opportunity? Well one reason is because a lot of people struggle with the issue of “what” to create.

Here are some pointers to help solve the problem.

The objective of this article is to help you figure out just “what” you could possibly create as your information product. Let’s look at the possibilities of online type of info products. You could create and sell:

5 Types Of Information Products You Could Sell Online Include Now

E-books (electronic books) – Quick to create and provides instant gratification for the reader An electronic course (ecourse) – This is made up of any number of lessons delivered totally by email over a period of time you determine Tele-classes, sometimes also known as tele-seminars -These are simply a bunch of seminars that take place over the phone using what’s known as a “bridge line” MP3s, Audio CDs, Videos, DVDs or multi DVD/CD programs – These could be audios or videoas of past interviews or seminars that you or someone else has delivered. It could even include interviews you’ve in the past provided that the information is still relevant and up-to-date Special Reports – I particularly love these. They can be of any size ranging from a few pages of good quality content (think 7-15 pages) available for people to download directly from your site Any Combinations of The Formats Stated Above!
Why You Should Create Your Own Product As A 21st Century Service Professional

Service professionals who aren’t currently offering their own products sometimes struggle to see the benefits and often ask “why would I, as a Service professional, want to create an information product when I’m being paid for what I know (and not to give away my secrets)?”

There are a number of reasons why and the top one is listed below.




“CREDIBILITY”


It will definitely increase your credibility in ways you can’t even imagine. Without it, you’re just like everyone else in your market. When you create your infoproducts they are an extension of you and your uniqueness that nobody can replicate.


“…YOU STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD”


Take the example of personal injury Attorneys. I know of a Michigan information marketing Personal Injury Attorney who used to havea hard time and an uphill battle to come across as “ethical”. If you’re a Personal Injury Attorney you know what I’m talking about.

What this savvy Michigan information marketing / Personal Injury Attorney did was start to offer a totally free and complimentary report to anyone who had an enquiry on the hot topic of how to quickly identify if their case had merit. The result was that it immediately started to establish him as being competent and credible. In addition, it has been proven to help shorten the lead and overall intake time, while at the same time providing a very unique and valuable service to many people who later become clients.

This is just one, but very powerful reason why you too should create your own information product. Without it, you’ll always struggle to stand out from the crowd and be recognized as someone different who has a lot more to offer.

Information marketing and your unique information products alone could become your own USP (Unique Selling Point) and allow you to ultimately work less while earning more. Plus, you get to charge higher fees because you become the recognized expert.
Posted on: December 25th, 2009 Author: admin No Comments »
Filed under: Small Business Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Unsecured Business Line of Credit – Do They Really Benefit Small Businesses?



If you’re a small business owner then you probably have on going concerns about coming up short when you need to make a purchase for your business. This is not an uncommon feeling among business owners. So if you find yourself worrying about that, you may want to consider getting some type of financing to help ease your cash flow concerns. I’m not saying you need to take out a loan. However, you may want to look into lines of credit for your business.

Depending on your small businesses credit rating, you may find that getting financing above a business credit card for your business can be challenging. Also you’ll see for any type of consideration at all, that lenders may require you to back a loan with your personal assets. If you don’t want to put up your personal assets as collateral then an unsecured business line of credit may be the answer.

What’s an unsecured business line of credit you ask? It’s basically a loan that allows a business to get without you having to guarantee it. However, the payment terms can be stringent and you may be looking at a higher than normal interest rate. These loan products are challenging for a small business to obtain. Plus most lenders require your business to have a great credit score. Your businesses credit score report is an important document because lenders use it to while looking over your loan application.

When you get approved, unsecured lines of credit (if used correctly) can actually help you manage your company’s cash flow. It comes in handy for making purchases when you do not have access to cash. You benefit here because there is no delay with your clients projects. In addition, unsecured business lines of credit can be a tool for company growth and expansion.

However, before you sign off on this or any loan, make sure to check the payment terms and interest rates being offered. Be realistic because you do not want to accumulate debt you cannot handle.

You’ll be building your business credit further with each payment you make, so make you’re your payments are on time. The payoff here is you’ll improve your chances for your business to obtain the same kind of loan again. However, you may be approved with a better interest rate and a higher credit limit. Your business benefits because you’ll have more opportunity to expand with an unsecured business line of credit.
Posted on: December 14th, 2009 Author: admin No Comments »
Filed under: Small Business Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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