There’s more to a successful business than free cash and killer marketing strategies—sales growth is what truly drives a business forward. That said, rapid growth can be dangerous for your small business if the proper systems aren’t in place to support the additional demand on your resources. If you’re not prepared, you could wind up [...]
Dealing with identity theft can be incredibly overwhelming, especially if you don’t know where to turn to resolve credit issues, restore your identity, or recoup your costs. It may take months or even years for you to recover and get your credit records corrected. Identity theft insurance can help with some of those tasks. In [...]
I’ve been sharing tax tips at TaxMama.com for over 10 years, and I love giving information about filing taxes. But if there’s one thing that drives me crazy, it’s when people write to me about things they did last year—buying a home or pulling money from a retirement account, for example—without getting guidance from a [...]
I’m always surprised at people who get 1099-MISCs each year yet don’t think of themselves as being in business. Some even refer to their clients as their bosses or employers. Let’s get something straight. The fact that you are getting a 1099-MISC to report your earnings to the IRS means you are in business for [...]
At its core, scaling refers to a set of events that connects seven key components of your organization: positioning, product innovation, marketing, sales, operations, production/development, and customer support. With all of these components working together, you can scale and grow your small business in a more sustainable fashion. When you scale successfully, growth is controlled [...]
While cash is still the most widely used form of payment, debit and credit cards have become consumers’ preferred payment choice. Although some small businesses steadfastly remain cash-only operations, many small businesses are now accepting credit card payments in order to increase their bottom line and customer satisfaction. Credit cards now have the second largest [...]
Estate planning can give you control over what happens to your wealth after you pass away. In some cases, an individual doesn’t designate a person as his or her beneficiary. Depending on the specific situation, this can have different effects on how the finances are distributed. What if you don’t designate a beneficiary at all? [...]
Buying a home can be stressful, and getting a mortgage may be difficult. Slightly more than half of all applicants for a mortgage are successful today, according to Ellie Mae’s April 2013 Origination Insight Report. And that’s an improvement; two years ago, only 47 percent of mortgage applications succeeded. Mortgage originators have tightened their standards [...]
Home builder disclosure didn't predict association budget deficit? If the builder knew the disclosures were false, talk to an attorney. Q: I have a question about the ethics and any legal issues you see in a situations we have. We live in a small, seven home subdivision that was recently turned over by the builder [...]
