Finance
How to Protect Gross Margin with a Service Business
When you’re in a service business your cost of goods sold is really your cost of sales or the value of your time since you don’t have a physical product.
When Should a Small Business Focus on Growth over Profits?
Profits are today, and growth is tomorrow. You need today assured by cash flow, but don’t sacrifice more today than you have to when you pay for it with tomorrow. Find the right level.
Why You Shouldn’t Do Your Own Bookkeeping
Having to deal with bookkeeping matters will mean that your focus will be pulled away from more important things like acquiring new customers and getting your company name out there.
Investors Consider These 7 Elements to Be High Risk
If you aren’t willing to take some risk as an entrepreneur, then don’t expect any gain. Yet everyone has limits, and every investor implicitly has similar limits on what makes a startup investable, or one to avoid at all costs. If you need investors, it’s important that you understand their filters, and even if you are funding your own efforts, you need to recognize the red flags.
5 Payroll Tax Mistakes to Avoid
If you have at least one employee, you are responsible for payroll taxes. These include withholding federal (and, where appropriate, state) income taxes and FICA tax from employees’ wages as well as paying the employer share of FICA tax and federal and state unemployment taxes.
Why You Should Consider Giving Your Product Away for Free
In June, my company Testive announced that we were dropping the pay wall on our online SAT and ACT prep products. No limits. No locked content. No ads. Don’t be confused—we did this to grow our business, not shrink it. So far it’s working—we’ve had record sales every month since then. Here’s what we learned.
Pricing, Networking, and Value
Jenni from the Quick Books Self Employed Community says the following: “I always feel like my prices are too high, yet when I see my competition, their prices are almost double mine.”
Why the Merchant Cash Advance May Be Right for You
Poor or nonexistent credit history is the thorn in many a new entrepreneur’s side. It can be frustrating enough starting a brand-new business from scratch, but having a credit history that does not shine makes things even more difficult. Without a strong credit history, acquiring a loan is not easy.
Quick Quiz: What Do Investors Cite as the Common Cause of Failures?
What do venture capitalists and angel investors cite as the common cause of the failures in their portfolios? That’s a great question, which somebody posed in Quora. And as I write this post, it has several really interesting answers.
5 End-of-Year Tax Tips to Cut Your Taxes Before 2015
With Thanksgiving and the holiday season upon us, it’s easy to get caught up in buying turkeys and finding stocking stuffers for the grandkids. However, it’s also a great time to start thinking about reducing your taxes and planning for April 15th.