Posts Tagged ‘Expenses’
Can Customer Service Go Too Far?
While customer service is critical, it cannot be given away if the costs become prohibitive. I think the answer is to make sure that everyone understands the terms of a deal when they are accepted.
Read More 5 Steps for Calculating Your Startup Costs
You can’t create a realistic business plan without knowing how much it will cost to get your business up and running. If you don’t have an idea of your startup costs, you won’t know how long you’ll have to bootstrap, how much funding you’ll need, how quickly to scale. In other words, without calculating your startup costs, you don’t really know where you’re going—or how you’re going to get there. And your company could fail before you even hit the break-even point.
Read More 5 Ways to Brand Like the Fortune 500s
Branding can be daunting at the best of times. For small- to medium-size enterprises, budgets to address brand initiatives are just a fraction of what a Fortune 500 company may apply. If you’re anything like me, you’re constantly educating yourself on ways to fine-tune your brand.
Read More 3 Key Startup Jobs to Outsource
If you’re running an early-stage startup, chances are there are some knowledge gaps in your core team. You may be strong on the technical side or a product whiz, but what about financial strategy, administration, HR? Are you prepared to manage the day-to-day of your startup, from recruiting new talent to bookkeeping to financial planning?
Read More Profit Is Not Cash
Each month, your profit and loss statement tells you whether you earned a profit or had a loss. It does not tell you how much cash you have. You must turn your profits into cash by collecting your receivables and paying the expenses incurred to produce those revenues.
Read More The Danger of Being Undercapitalized
It’s always exciting to think about the idea of having your own new start up. You hear about stories where entrepreneurs started with just $300 and a cardboard box and then turned their business into millions. In reality, having worked with many types of business owners, the first mistake made by most is simply not having enough capital or access to capital while growing your business.
Read More Contractors Must Really Be Independent
How many of us have “hired” independent contractors over the years, a bit worried over the gray area between employee and contractor as defined by the IRS? I’ve experienced the results of a wrong decision, and the IRS and state agencies are not forgiving in their pursuit of penalties, interest, and (most damaging) assessing a company with both employer and employee taxes when reclassifying the person as an employee.
Read More Be Greener on Earth Day 2013
Today is Earth Day 2013, and it’s a time for business owners to think about their green initiatives and the things they can do to be more green. Office Depot surveyed 1,000 small and medium-sized business about their environmental consciousness, and they had some really interesting results. I want to share some of the highlights—maybe they’ll help your thinking about these questions.
Read More What is the Cost of Employee Turnover?
Employee turnover is more costly than you think. Every businessman knows at some level that it’s easier for them if they can manage to keep their current employees than to need to find replacements. However, the cost of staff turnover is surprisingly high, and many small business owners don’t fully realize just how expensive it is to replace an employee.
Read More Marketing Help from Your Vendors
You need every marketing edge you can get. An oft-overlooked opportunity is using your vendors to fuel business growth. While you’re already getting services of course, you can get more if you’re willing to pay more and incentivize your vendors to help you.
Read More