I sometimes get the question- can I write off all these old “blanks” that we bought to give away but never did? Usually the question comes while the business owner is pointing to a stack of old boxes filled with T-shirts that say “Have a Great Summer-2008” or chipped and broken coffee cups with the…
Myths have surrounded the SBA loan program for as long as it has been around. Now that they are back and many banks are actively funding them again, it’s time to revisit and hopefully put these to bed once and for all and to really understand what the SBA can and can’t do to help…
One of the most annoying things you will hear over and over when you tell people you are thinking about starting a restaurant is how often they fail. Everyone seems to be an expert on restaurant failures and everyone seems to “know” they are risky businesses to start. But is that true? No. There is…
This is a Guest Post by Michael G Pullman of FranchiseeConnect.com, 2 August 2015 In my work with franchisees and small business owners I’ve found the businesses that run the smoothest have completely eliminated paper forms from their payroll process. With a good online system for requesting leave and tracking staff details you can save…
This is one of the most frequently asked questions in starting a new business, and one that people often get wrong by underestimating the answer. That may not be a problem, if there is plenty of cash in reserve and sales pick up quickly, or it may be a devastating problem if there was very…
I love to read stories of entrepreneurs starting from scratch and building great small businesses out of their guts and ideas and just a little bit of cash. Stories like the birth of Microsoft, Amazon and Apple are good, too, but a tad harder to relate to- at least for me. The stories I really…
Sometimes people get the idea that real entrepreneurs are hard chargers who never hesitate and do everything immediately. That’s not true. There are lots of successful entrepreneurs who are just like everyone else when it comes to getting going- sometimes it is harder than others. Sometimes it is really hard. The difference is that they…
You can think of the chart of accounts as your accounting foundation, and a lot of people have foundation problems! The chart of accounts, or COA, is the list of places you can put your money. The goal for your COA is that it should be as detailed as you need to give you quality…
Having a partner can be the best thing in the world, or the worst. To avoid lots of potential partner problems, you definitely want to have a partnership agreement, in writing, before you start your business. That is not the end of making your partnership work, however. Whether you know your partner well or have…
Partners can be both a blessing and a curse. Many small business owners swear that without their partners they never would have gotten where they are today. Others are certain that going solo was the right decision, and a partner would just have slowed them down. Here we try and highlight both sides of the…