Owning and running a business can be stressful enough as it is. Unfortunately, the holidays can take that stress to the next level. A little careful planning, however, can keep things running smoothly over the holidays and help ensure that your company takes advantage of the busy season.
If you run a small business, managing your finances is one of your most important tasks. Fortunately, there are many fine software tools available that can help you do just this. Here are five finance tools your small business should make use of.
There is a distinct correlation between employees being satisfied with their job and the benefits that job offers. Employers that offer benefits (whether they be medical, dental, or vision insurance) can expect that their employees will be generally happier at work.
By MJ Plaster
As the list of outted perverts grows, it makes you wonder if it would be easier to create a list of people who don’t sexually harass or inappropriately touch people over whom they have power. At the same time, it seems that men are in danger of having their every glance and utterance cataloged to prove harassment. It doesn’t help that everything has become a microaggression.
By MJ Plaster
Suspend reality for a moment and pretend business doesn’t answer to its gods, the shareholders—or in the case of small-to-medium businesses, monied interests. Whom would you choose for top billing—customer or employee? Before you make up your mind, read about some of the success stories at companies who put their employees first.
Smaller retailers and merchants who often lack the resources of their larger counterparts may run into any number of problems when attempting to hire seasonal workers in order to expand their existing staff. Organizations that have only limited experience conducting a hiring process would do well to properly prepare themselves before seeking seasonal help. Continue reading
By MJ Plaster
The disasters keep rolling in—one right after the other. Unpredictable weather is one of the things Americans have learned to live with. It’s when, not if, a natural disaster or a wind-fueled wildfire will strike. As a business owner, you want to protect inventory, physical buildings, data, employees and office pets.
I’ve been through more natural disasters than I care to remember, including Tennessee’s Thousand-Year Flood in 2010 when my home sustained six feet of gushing water. I lived to tell the story and worked my way through the labyrinth of complex forms, organizations, qualifications, etc., the hard way. Now that I’ve earned the t-shirt, I’ll share what I’ve learned.
September has arrived in full force, and that means people are starting to look forward to the holiday season. Lots of companies make 40% of their annual revenue in the last quarter of the year, and even though September is almost half-way over, it is not too late to prepare and take full advantage of the upcoming shopping craze. Here are four tips for prepping your business for the 2017 holiday season. Continue reading
Outsourcing some aspects of your business to outside contractors can be a smart way to grow your business without all the added complications that come with sourcing, hiring, training, equipping and managing new employees.
But many small businesses make some mistakes when hiring contractors.
For some, the problem is that they misunderstand the legal differences between contractors and employees, and this can lead them into all sorts of trouble with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Continue reading
Over the last few decades, sociologists and behavioral psychologists have been conducting research into business success. Some of the most controversial research has been centered on the arguments framed by Malcolm Gladwell, a respected author whose thought-provoking book Outliers: The Story of Success suggests that luck has a lot to do with business success.
Unfortunately, Gladwell’s observation and research have been widely misunderstood. Gladwell chooses subjects who have experienced monumental success, people such as Bill Gates and Paul Allen, founders of Microsoft. It so happens that these two talented and hard-working individuals experienced a series of lucky breaks in their respected lives; however, they understood how to work those lucky breaks to their advantage. Continue reading
