As of 2014, there are approximately 10 million self-employed people in the United States. If you’re one of them and you’re in the market for a new home, you may face some extra hurdles during your home buying journey. While lenders are used to working with self-employed borrowers, buying a home when you’re self-employed requires [...]
Whether you’re purchasing a home or refinancing your current mortgage, your lender may have given you the option of taking out an adjustable rate mortgage (ARM). ARMs can be great options, but it’s important to understand how they work before making your decision. ARMs have interest rates that change over the life of the mortgage. [...]
Owning a startup isn’t all it’s cracked up to be—especially at the beginning. In fact, many people have to take a few stabs at it before they get to something that works. John Kobs, CEO and cofounder of Apartment List, the fastest growing apartment-search engine in the U.S., cleaned out his personal bank account to [...]
Benefit plans can add considerable value to an employee’s overall compensation, and they are a key reason that many employees take—or decline—employment opportunities. That makes it important to evaluate benefit plans before taking a new job. Group health insurance benefits Group health insurance is the most common benefit offered by employers. In 2011, 85.3 percent [...]
To many small business owners, a franchise sounds like the best of both worlds: You’re starting a small business on your own, but you’re not going it alone. Many business owners have built mini-empires by affiliating with franchisors instead of trying to build a brand from scratch. Franchising is a unique business arrangement, however, and [...]
“No one is indispensable,” goes the saying. But as many small business owners know, there may be one or more people whose knowledge, work, and overall contribution is in fact vital to the company. Many small businesses aren’t prepared for the consequences if the business owner or another highly valued employee becomes disabled or dies, dramatically reducing [...]
If you’re a small business owner, now could be the time to consider selling your product online. Online shopping is so popular that, according to the “U.S. Online Retail Forecast, 2011 to 2016 ” report by Forrester Research, Inc., e-commerce sales in the U.S. are expected to reach $327 billion by 2016. Providing a product online [...]
Many times when I’m helping new small business owners, they ask me questions about what kind of business entity they should form. Many have heard about a Limited Liability Company (LLC) and want to know more about personal asset protection and the potential to save on taxes. Here’s the real scoop: While you may certainly [...]
With a proliferation of telemarketing calls and business solicitations, small businesses seem to be constantly fending off unwanted marketing offers. Sorting through solicitations can take up valuable working time for a small business, and opportunities can be lost if you cut short a customer call only to find out that on the other line is [...]
As a small business owner, hiring your children to work for your business may save you money when filing taxes. It might sound too good to be true, but if you handle the situation properly and file the right paperwork, you may be able to write off nearly half of their wages on your business’s taxes. [...]
