Simply Junior

The end of the year is always stressful for small and large businesses alike because it’s the time of the year to evaluate the successes and failures of their company. It is also the time when small business’ IT budgets are reevaluated and employees’ ideas can be implemented with the New Year.

The prediction for small business’ IT budget trends for 2011 is that nearly half will increase their IT budgets, with only approximately 9 – 10% decreasing their IT budgets. So what does this signify? It confirms the notion that Internet marketing and web related services and products are fast becoming more of an important component to the survival of a company than previous traditional methods of marketing and advertising.

There are many reasons as to why more than half of small businesses are planning to increase their IT budgets in the upcoming year, but the majority will cite reasons that include expansion, marketing for specific projects, and a want to increase their online visibility. Other areas of focus are the expansion into more social media sites, email (marketing and campaigning), and website development and improvement. These predictions mean good news for companies focused on web services, online security, web design, programming, content writing, marketing, storage, and wireless technology.

The 50% of small businesses that have realized their need to dedicate more money to their IT budget are going into a successful direction in 2011. These businesses will be able to better compete with large companies who have nearly unlimited amounts of funds to put into their IT products and services. Even those small businesses who plan to expand their IT budget but still have constrained cash flow, will have at least more of an opportunity to invest in SEO campaigns, keyword research, link building, Pay Per Click advertising, and viral marketing techniques-all of which ultimately help to increase website visibility and traffic.

The increase of small business’ IT budgets also signifies solid growth in small business’ openness and welcoming of experimenting with new IT ideas, marketing methods, and programs. Additionally, the fact that nearly half of small business’ IT budgets are predicted to expand with the New Year, means that ultimately IT related businesses will have to expand themselves. This in turn will push them to create even better and more polished ideas of marketing and communication for the following year.

Small business’ increased IT budget spending could not only help to boost the economy in the country but could also help to bridge the gap between smaller business’ online visibility in relation to dominating large corporations. One thing that can be certain about all of these predictions is that the leap of faith of those small businesses that plan to increase their IT budget in the 2011 year are sure to reap more rewards of those who decided against increasing their IT budget.

Warning: this article reveals an essential strategy that must go in your business plan for small business success. After working with 146 businesses of all sizes I have noticed an inherent difference between success and struggle.

Virtually every sustainable long term enterprise inserts into their small business plans this key strategy. Without fail, most struggling enterprises do not implement this key tactic. So what is the strategy?

Essential Strategy to include in your business plans for small business success.

Stay in touch with prospects and past customers on your database at least every 90 days or less. Now it can be as frequent as weekly, fortnightly, monthly but never more than 90 days.

How do you do this? Well the very first step is to collect all contact data and have a simple database to put them in. Worldwide database management software such as Goldmine and Act are good possibilities for smaller business. Larger businesses will need more sophisticated industry specific versions.

Burn this saying into your mind: “More contact equals more sales.” The reverse is also true: Less contact equals less sales.

In the 21st century a new paradigm of successful business communication has emerged and it does not matter what industry you are in. After all, we are all human beings with wants and needs. Our past and current customers deserve our attention.

If you do not stay in touch with your past or current clients at least quarterly, there is a high percentage chance they will become someone else’s (your competitors new customer).

So this must do strategy no matter what business you are in, is critical to your success. Include it in any business plans for small business success.

There are some very compelling reasons for writing a business plan for small businesses. The challenge is that the misconceptions about what needs to go into a small business plan scare most owners and entrepreneurs away.

If you are like most small business owners or managers, you are incredibly busy, if not borderline overwhelmed. The idea of taking hours of valuable time to write a plan for your business may not seem worth it. But the data proves differently.

When writing a business plan for small business, focus on what really needs to be done, and what really needs to be measured. The plan does not have to be a 15 or 20 page document. In fact, it should only be one or two pages maximum. You should also have a yearly budget or financial plan as well. You really do not need to go overboard and do tons and tons of research about the market, and the opportunity, especially if you are already in business!

To write your plan, you will need a few things to get started. If you can assemble any of your sales and financial information for the past couple of years, that would be a bonus. You will need a notebook and writing instrument, possibly a laptop or a computer, and yourself. Then, basically find a quiet place to sit down for about an hour, and think about your business, and where you want it to go, and how you think you can get it there.

Let’s start with where you want your business to go. This is just a fluffy way of saying your vision for your business. Set a timeline for your vision; say 18 months or up to 5 years out. Then think about what your sales would be if everything goes as planned. What are your primary products or markets, and where will you do it.

Here’s an example: Within the next 3 years, grow MS Cut to $750,000.00 in sales providing industrial routing and cutting services to manufacturers and distributors in the Indianapolis market.

Or how about this: In the next 18 months, launch Tim’s Lunch & Deli, growing to $250,000 in sales. We will provide delicious sandwiches, soups and salads using all locally grown vegetables and products to the public in downtown St. Paul.

By writing out where you want your business to go in this fashion, you can clearly imagine the end result of your vision.

In terms of how you are going to get there, this is the strategy and tactics section of your plan. Again, what are the ways you are going to do the things you need to do? This could be everything from the methods you will use to attract customers, to the way that you will approach pricing your products or services. It can also address your marketing and advertising plans.

The main thing to keep in mind when it comes to your strategies and tactics, is to make them realistic. If you are going to need a lot of specialty skills (that you don’t currently have…) or technologies or a lot of money to do them, then chances are they won’t get used. Write this section of your plan so that you can actually do everything you need to do.

Next, you need to create a few measurables for your business. These are things like monthly sales revenues, profit percentages, labor hours to sales, number of returns per month, number of employee hours each month, etc.. These are all things that you can keep track of so that you will know if your plan is working, or if you need to address something quickly.

Each business, and each industry can have it’s own set of unique measurables. You may have one statistic you can keep that is a telling symbol for your business. Keep track of it, and see how it effects other areas of your business.

You should be able to track anywhere from 3 to 9 different measurables. Any more than that and you will not get much from it, and you are less likely to actually collect the information anyway. If you are using software like QuickBooks, Peachtree Accounting or another accounting app, there are several measurables you can pull and use to track your success.

All of the above information will fit nicely on one or two pages. Once you have that information, and you have written your business plan for your small business, the number one thing you can do is to use it, and use it often. Make a monthly (or weekly) appointment with yourself, your business partner, or your senior staff to review the plan, and make sure it still relevant. If something changes (and it will!), change your plan. It should be a living, dynamic document that you use on a regular basis to run your business.

By writing a business plan for your small business, you are creating a better opportunity for your business, and giving it a better chance of success.

As we near the end of 2010, crucial business planning for 2011 and beyond has to start if not already started.  One area where so many small businesses and home businesses fail is putting together valid business plans for the future.

You have to imagine your home business is a large corporation and treat it no less.  In any large corporation performance and profits and reviewing the client base and how best the company can serve them is key to survival of that corporation, so it should be the same for your home business.  So what can you be doing to get your business ready for 2011 and beyond.  As a student of Jim Rohn, I am always planning for my seasons to ensure that I get a good harvest at the end of the day.

What Can You Learn From 2010?

Right now, its a good time to reflect on the year you just had in your business.  2010 was a very challenging year of learning and change for me, the internet marketing arena is constantly changing and for me it was about keeping up with the changes and how I could use them to my advantage in my business.

Look at the different areas within your business, advertising, prospecting, leading, service how did you perform in each.  Did you meet your objectives that you set yourself.  If you didn’t look at why you didn’t, could you have done better,  its good to make notes of these and see if you can somehow look at lessons learned to improve and go forward with.  Where there things that you did not manage to achieve in the year, do you still need to carry these forward?  Make notes,and ensure they are not missed.  I suggest taking a week to look back at the year you just had, and what you could be taking forward for the following year.

Future Planning – Developing Business Strategies

Having a Business Strategy is key to any growing and developing business, why should your home business be any different.   Depending on where you want your business to go, you need to ensure you have a strategy in place to help you get there.  Don’t make the mistake of developing a business strategy then never look at it again through out the year.  Make sure the strategy is reviewed monthly to ensure you are on target.

Here are some things to think about to put in your business strategy:
Have you thought about what direction is your business going in? What is the market like, and how does your business compare? What is the unique selling point of you / your company? List out your key objectives for 2011 and beyond Based on those key objectives put together your plan for the next year, and the following 2-3 years making sure there is growth in there and realistic targets. Once you have prepared your plan, its good to get the opinion of others. You may want to share with peers or with a mentor or coach.  Take a step back and look at how realistic your targets are.  Are they ‘safe’ targets or will they be stretching you?

Key in all of this is about making yourself accountable.  What ever you put to paper it wont mean a thing if you don’t commit to making it happen.  Go out or your way to take action. Leave fear behind, because fear is what always holds us back. Fear of becoming a failure, fear of success!

F=For

E=Ever

A= Always

R= Running

Or the one phrase I really like is Forget Everything And Run.

I shall leave you with a positive note and that is

‘If you fail to plan, you plan to fail’.

To Your Success

Colette Morris aka workfmhomediva

President Obama signed into law the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 (H.R. 5297, the “Act”) on September 27, 2010. The Act includes a $12 billion tax incentive package aimed at small businesses to help them grow and to expand lending. These tax incentives are offset by several revenue-raising provisions, as discussed in more detail below.

Provisions Providing Small Business Access to Capital

Temporary 100 Percent Gain Exclusion on the Sale of Certain Small Business Stock

In general, non-corporate taxpayers may exclude 50 percent of any gain from the sale or exchange of qualified small business stock

(“QSBS”) held for more than 5 years (75 percent of any gain may be excluded if the QSBS is acquired after February 17, 2009, and before January 1, 2011). The amount of gain exclusion permitted is the greater of (i) 10 times the taxpayer’s basis in the QSBS or (ii) $10 million. In general, QSBS is stock in a C corporation that conducts an active trade or business and has gross assets not exceeding $50 million at the time the stock is issued.

Under the Act, 100 percent of the gain from a non-corporate taxpayer’s sale of QSBS acquired after September 27, 2010, and before January 1, 2011, that is held for 5 years is excluded from taxable income and no regular or alternative minimum tax will be imposed on the gain.

Temporary Reduction in Recognition Period for S Corporation Built-in Gain Tax

When a C corporation converts to an S corporation the S corporation must generally pay a tax on gain that arose before the conversion to an S corporation, known as built-in gain, and that is recognized in the first ten years that the S corporation election is in effect. A C corporation is one that is taxed at both the corporate and shareholder level while an S corporation receives pass-through tax treatment and is taxed at the shareholder level only. An S corporation is formed by election and is only permitted if a number of specific requirements are met.

Under the Act, the recognition period for an S corporation to recognize built-in gain is reduced to seven years for taxable years beginning in 2009 or 2010 and to five years for taxable years beginning in 2011.

Eligible Small Business’s General Business Credit

A taxpayer’s general business credit is generally limited to the excess of the taxpayer’s net income tax over the greater of (i) the taxpayer’s tentative minimum tax or (ii) 25 percent of the excess of the taxpayer’s net regular tax liability over $25,000. General business tax credits that are greater than this limitation may be carried back one year and carried forward up to twenty years.

Under the Act, the general business tax credit of an eligible small business for 2010 may be carried back five years, instead of one year. These general small-business credits are not subject to the alternative minimum tax for 2010. For this purpose, an eligible small business is a non-publicly traded corporation or partnership that has average annual gross receipts for the three taxable years prior to the current taxable year of no more than $50 million.

Provisions Encouraging Small Business Investment and Growth

Expansion of Internal Revenue Code Section 179 Deduction Limits

Under Internal Revenue Code Section 179, a taxpayer may elect to deduct the cost of “qualifying property.” “Qualifying property” is depreciable tangible personal property that is purchased or used in the active conduct of a trade or business such as equipment purchased for business use, office furniture, or office equipment. For taxable years after 2007 and before 2011, the maximum amount a taxpayer may elect to deduct under section 179 is $250,000 of the cost of the qualifying property placed in service for the taxable year ($25,000 for all other taxable years). For taxable years beginning after 2007 and before 2011, this $250,000 maximum amount is reduced by the amount by which the cost of the qualifying property placed in service during the taxable year exceeds $800,000 ($200,000 for all other taxable years).

The Act increases the section 179 expensing limitation for 2010 and 2011 to $500,000 with a phase-out threshold of $2 million and allows taxpayers to expense up to $250,000 of the cost of qualifying leasehold improvement, restaurant, and retail property.

Bonus Depreciation

The Act extends for one additional year the temporary 50 percent depreciation bonus first enacted in the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 and then renewed in the American Recovery Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Under this bonus depreciation provision, 50 percent of the basis of qualified property may be deducted in the year the property is placed in service and the remaining 50 percent is recovered under normal depreciation rules. Generally, qualified property includes (i) property with a MACRS recovery period of 20 years or less, (ii) water utility property, (iii) certain computer software, and (iv) qualified leasehold improvement property.

The result of the bonus depreciation extension is that it is generally available for qualified property the original use of which begins with the taxpayer and that is placed in service during 2008, 2009, 2010, or 2011 in case of certain property with longer production periods.

Provisions Promoting Entrepreneurship

A taxpayer may elect to deduct up to $5,000 of start-up expenditures in the taxable year in which the taxpayer’s business begins. The $5,000 amount is reduced by the amount which the total amount of start-up costs exceeds $50,000.

The Act increases the amount of start-up expenditures a taxpayer may elect to deduct from $5,000 to $10,000 and increases the deduction phase-out threshold so that this $10,000 amount is reduced by the amount which the total amount of start-up costs exceeds $60,000.

Other Provisions

The Act provides a deduction for health insurance costs in computing self-employment taxes in 2010.

The Act removes employer-provided cell phones and similar telecommunications equipment from “listed property” effective for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2009. By de-listing employer-provided cell phones, the Act removes the strict substantiation-of-use requirements and the limitation on depreciation deductions, and eases administrative burdens on employers, employees, and the Internal Revenue Service.

The Revenue-Raising Offset Provisions

The Act raises revenue through several information reporting and penalty provisions, some of which are listed below:

1. Recipients of real estate rental income that make payments of $600 or more to a service provider (such as a plumber or accountant) in the course of earning rental income must send an information return to the Internal Revenue Service and to the service provider.

2. The Internal Revenue Service may issue levies before a collection due process hearing occurs for federal contractors who owe federal taxes.

3. An increase on the penalties for failure to file correct information returns is imposed.