Bill Wortman

As the Chief Business Consultant at BizCoachingOnDemand.com, Bill has over 40 years of business experience. He's held multiple executive-level positions and fulfilled the role of CFO at large, publicly-held (NYSE, NASDAQA, and AMEX) corporations. In addition, he's also been an owner of several successful private ventures in real estate and in the automotive industry.

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Where could I locate a non-compete and non-solicitation document that I could customize and have employees of a Georgia-based business agree to and be bound by?

Non-compete, non-solicitation, and confidentiality agreements or separate clauses in employment agreements are common in hiring situations. However, it is important to note that a number of considerations can affect whether a non-compete agreement is a lawful and binding contract, including state and local law which varies as to the terms and enforceability of non-compete agreements

What’s the best way for my test-only smog station business to negotiate a deal with other auto repair shops?

Networking and cross-marketing with complementary (transmission, air conditioning, body shops, towing services, etc.) auto repair businesses and other parties in the industry can be very helpful in reaching more of your target market customers as a test-only smog station.

Am I on the right track with my elevator speech?

You are correct that you need to make it clear exactly how you help your clients and/or exactly what your mission is. Also, if you can leave people wanting to learn more, that is a plus.
“Solutions” is vague business jargon in our opinion so you may want to consider how to focus more effectively on the benefit that is derived from your services or on how it helps clients rather than on the mechanism.

What is the fastest way to get my credit cleaned up?

Credit laws provide for fixing errors on credit reports and The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) also establishes various timeframes under which both negative and positive entries on a consumer credit report must be removed or “cycled-off” the report.

My partners and I are opening up a retail location, should we keep the existing name of our online store?

Business owners have flexibility in naming their businesses subject to any registered or common law trademark restrictions and any state business entity or state/local trade name registration restrictions.

Where can we get started if we wanted to buy or create an Employee Handbook?

From a general business perspective, the number of employees, type and number of employee fringe benefit programs, and other factors influence the need for an employee manual.

When is the best time to sell a business?

You are correct that there are several important considerations when deciding to sell a business – personal retirement plans, personal income requirements, alternative investment opportunities, sales/profit trends, potential competition, real estate value trends, etc.

I’m establishing an LLC in just my name, would it be a good strategy to put all our personal bank accounts and investments in my wife’s name?

Personal trusts and other measures can be used to provide additional layers of personal asset protection; however, measures to hide assets from creditors and other parties, for example, can be ineffective due to the courts’ right to reverse transactions under certain circumstances.

We are currently running Windows XP and are considering leasing computers from Mac/Apple, is it worth it?

QuickBooks, Office, and other business software for Macs can be purchased; however, other than the efficiencies of Macs with heavy graphics and similar uses, we are not aware of any particular advantage that Macs have over PCs in the area of reliability, speed, life, or long-term cost of ownership.

Are there any plans that are HSA compatible and also Obamacare compatible?

Some of the bronze level plans available through the federal and state (where available) health insurance marketplaces or exchanges qualify as HSA compatible HDHPs; however, we recommend that you work with a local qualified health insurance agent or broker to help you locate an HSA compatible HDHP…