Jake Snelson - Vyde

How an External Accountant Can Help Your Business Through a Natural Disaster

Trying to recover after a natural disaster is incredibly overwhelming. But, trying to get your business to recover can be a whole new headache. Using an external accountant, an accountant that doesn’t work from your office, can be beneficial because it’s one less thing on your plate. An external accountant can help take some of the load off and help you get your business back on track.

Here are a few ways an external accountant can help you and your business through a natural disaster.

An External Accountant Will Have Your Records

Damage to your office can mean that you lose a lot of important documents. As you know, documentation is an important part of taxes and bookkeeping. If you’ve lost your documentation, you may be in trouble when you need to claim a tax deduction; however, an external accountant can come to the rescue.

When you use an external accountant, you normally send them documents showing purchases, income, and more. Which means there is a backup of all of your documents in another location. Because of this your accountants can replace those lost documents.

If you’re in the opposite situation, where your accountant’s office is in a natural disaster, then you are still covered. The IRS grants you a filing extension, which we’ll go into more in depth later.

Accountants Can Help You Find Natural Disaster Tax Credits

Tax credits are available to business that have suffered from natural disasters. In order to qualify for tax credits or deductions, the president has to declare your area as a “federally declared disaster area.”

One of the credits available to business owners in a natural disaster is the natural disaster casualty loss break. The casualty loss break allows people who have been affected by a natural disaster to file an amended tax return on the previous year’s taxes. This is helpful so that people can get a refund quickly, instead of waiting until the next tax season. The rules for casualty loss differ between business and personal property, so make sure you talk with your accountant and find out exactly what your business needs to do to use the tax credit.

You will need to assess and document the following areas in order to take advantage of disaster tax credits.

Determine and list all of your property that was destroyed or damaged in the disaster.
Find out the original cost (or the adjusted cost) or each damaged item.
Learn the fair market value of the items before the disaster struck. (What were they worth?)
Determine the current worth of the property.
Add up the reimbursements and/or other payments you have received, or plan to receive, from insurance.

External Accountants Can Help You File Taxes on Time

To ease the burden on victims of a natural disaster the IRS can extend tax filing dates. When IRS does extend filing dates, it only applies to areas designated as federal disaster zones. The IRS has already issued tax extensions for victims of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.

After a federally-declared natural disaster, the IRS allows businesses more time to send in payroll taxes and returns. As long as you send them in before the new deadline, the IRS will wave any penalties or interest that may have accrued.

Whether the IRS has granted your natural disaster a tax extension or not, an external accountant, like Vyde, can help you get your taxes in on time.

FAQs

What are the benefits of using an external accountant after a natural disaster?
An external accountant helps reduce your stress by managing your financial recovery. They can access and replace lost records, help you claim disaster-related tax credits, and ensure timely tax filing even during challenging circumstances.

How can an external accountant assist if my business records are lost in a disaster?
External accountants typically store digital copies of your records. If your physical documents are destroyed, they can provide replacements, ensuring you have the necessary paperwork for taxes and insurance claims.

What natural disaster tax credits can my business claim, and how can an accountant help?
Your business may qualify for tax credits like the casualty loss break if your area is declared a federal disaster zone. An external accountant can guide you through the process, helping you assess damages, document losses, and file for tax credits.

What happens if my accountant is also affected by the natural disaster?
If your accountant is impacted, the IRS typically grants tax filing extensions for federally declared disaster zones. An external accountant can still manage your tax filing to ensure compliance, even with extended deadlines

Can an external accountant help me meet tax deadlines during a disaster?
Yes, they can. External accountants stay updated on IRS extensions and ensure you meet revised deadlines. They’ll manage the filing process so you can focus on recovering your business.

The 3 Most Common Marketing Mistakes Small Businesses Make and How to Fix Them

Marketing is a touchy field and there is a balance that must be met. Marketing mistakes are easy to make, but there are a few that you want to avoid at all costs. These marketing mistakes are usually bigger mistakes that are done completely out of ignorance. In a lot of cases, small business owners are trying to do their own marketing and don’t know any better. However, avoiding these three marketing mistakes can help your business thrive.

Marketing Mistake #1: Thinking You Don’t Need a Blog

Blogging is a lot of work. It requires that you plan content, write posts and then, find people to read your posts. It sounds like it’s a lot more work than it’s worth. But, that’s where small business owners are wrong.

Blogging is an integral part of gaining customer trust. Having a blog on topics relevant to your field, makes you look like an expert, which you probably already are. When you’re an expert in your field, people will instantly trust you. It’s easy to take the advice of someone who knows what they’re talking about. With so many frauds on the internet, people want to know that they are being taken care of.

An active blog can also help your website rank higher in search engines. Search engines, especially Google, are looking to make sure websites are active and frequently updated. You don’t usually need to make tweaks to your main content every week, so it can be difficult to show that your business and website are active. This is where a blog is helpful. Posting once a week is a quick and easy way to show search engines that your site is relevant.

If you don’t think a blog would work for your business, try to think outside of the box. What is your target customer searching for in Google? For example, not all of our posts are about accounting. However, we know that our clients are small business owners so we blog about topics relevant to small business owners. You might just have to look a little past your business’ main focus to find topics to blog about.

Marketing Mistake #2: Not Using Happy Customers

Marketing professionals will tell you that the best, most reliable, marketing doesn’t come from you. It comes from your customers. A recommendation from a happy customer almost guarantees that you’ll make another sale.

The real question is, how can you use happy customers as part of your marketing? The most common way small businesses use happy customers is through positive reviews. Potential customers use sites like Google+, Yelp and Facebook to decide if they want to use your services. If they see you have good reviews, they’re more likely to give you a try. So, you should always encourage your customers, especially your happy ones, to leave a review for you on a review site. Tell your customers that they can be a part of your success, just by telling other people about their experience.

Another way to use happy customers is to include them in other marketing projects. If you’re making a video, ask customers to be extras, or even be interviewed. Put a shout out on Facebook or Instagram asking for models for your next photo shoot. Anytime you can use smiling faces or positive statements about your business call on your loyal tribe. They’ll be even more excited to help you get the word out about your business if they feel like a part of it.

Marketing Mistake #3: No Unique Selling Proposition

Beginner marketers have a lot more trouble with this, but it can plague any business. A unique selling proposition (USP) is what sets you apart from the crowd. Without a USP, you can’t tell your potential clients why they should choose you instead of a competitor.

Your USP should be the purpose behind your business. At Vyde, we knew we wanted to provide accounting, bookkeeping and tax services for small business owners who couldn’t afford corporate level pricing. It disrupted the accounting field and made us unique. Now we use that to set ourselves apart from other accountants.

If you’re having a hard time pinning down your USP consider these areas of your business to focus on:

Price point
Characteristics of your product
Your target market
Your personal or company values
Location

Once you find out why you’re running your business you can nail down your USP and then incorporate that into how you market your business.

Avoiding these marketing mistakes will help you move forward and reach more people. Which, after all, is the whole point of marketing.

FAQs for Common Marketing Mistakes Small Businesses Make

Why is having a blog important for my small business?

A blog helps establish your expertise, builds customer trust, and improves your website’s search engine rankings by keeping content fresh and relevant.

How can I effectively use happy customers in my marketing?

Encourage happy customers to leave positive reviews on sites like Google and Yelp. Additionally, involve them in marketing projects, such as testimonials, videos, and photo shoots.

What is a Unique Selling Proposition (USP) and why do I need one?

A USP is what sets your business apart from competitors. It highlights your unique qualities and reasons why customers should choose you, making your marketing efforts more effective.

What are some examples of areas to focus on to develop a USP?

Consider aspects like your price point, product characteristics, target market, company values, and location to identify what makes your business unique and appealing to customers.

What can I do if I don’t have time to maintain a blog for my business?

If maintaining a blog seems overwhelming, consider outsourcing the content creation or finding topics that align closely with your business goals and customer interests to keep the process manageable and beneficial.

4 Questions Before Making a Big Purchase for Your Small Business

No matter how big or small your business is, at some point in time you’ll have to make a big purchase for your business. When the time comes, there are a lot of points to consider, but these four questions should be at the top of your list.

How will this big purchase fulfill the needs of my small business?

Obviously, as a small business owner, you’re making your money go as far as it can. So when a big purchase comes up, you may think the answer to this question is obvious, but it’s still an important question to answer. Make sure that the big purchase you’re about to make is worth the investment. This means that it should help you make more money than it will cost you.

You should also evaluate how long the purchase will last. Will you need to make the same purchase next year or will it last a couple of years? If it is something that is only going to last a short time, then it might not be worth the investment. Make sure that your big purchase is going to be worth the time, energy and money that you’re about to spend on it.

After you’ve answered this question you can move on and determine how to purchase your new business tool.

How will I pay for this item?

Once you’ve determined that you need to make a big purchase for your business, the real question is where will the money come from to pay for it?

In the best case scenario, you would be able to save for your big purchase and then pay cash for it. However, big purchases usually pop up before you’re 100 percent ready. In that case, you still have a few options for payments.

The first option is to put your new purchase on a credit card. This isn’t a terrible option, but we don’t recommend putting purchases that you don’t have the cash for on a credit card. If you do, you will have to make payments on it while paying interest, at an extremely high rate. You can get better interest rates through a business, or even personal loan.

Which leads up to the next option: loans. Securing a business loan from a financial institution is a great way to get the money for your big purchase. You should meet with several different lenders to determine which loan is going to be right for you and your business before you make a decision. If you can’t get a business loan, talk to your bank about a personal loan.

When you are factoring in the costs of your big purchase, you’ll want to make your own payment plan. Make sure your payment plan matches the lender’s required payments. With a small business, your funds often fluctuate, so make sure that you can afford your payments, even in the low months. Don’t get something out of your budget, or you will pay for it later.

Will my vendor be there for me after the purchase?

When you’re making a big purchase, you’re probably going to meet a lot of vendors who are determined to sell you his or her products. They may schmooze you now in order to make the sale, but what is their goal long-term? Big purchases usually are something you’re going to be using on a daily basis. You want a vendor who is going to be there for you when you’re using the product, not just for the sale of it.

You should also consider the following things when choosing a vendor:

Best Price (obviously)
Customer Service and Support
High-Quality Products
Delivery Times (Can they get the product to you by the time you’ll need it?)
Can they help you recycle or get rid of the equipment your big purchase is replacing?

A vendor can make or break a purchase, and even your relationship with a company. Make sure your vendor will look out for you and will do everything they can to help you.

What costs are hiding in this big purchase?

The dollar amount listed on a website, or what a salesperson is telling you, isn’t always an accurate representation of how much an item is going to cost you. With bigger business purchases, there are a lot of hidden costs. These costs aren’t always up front either. They can come into play down the road.

Some costs you should consider at the time of purchase are:

Shipping and Delivery
Installation
Taxes
Training Classes

All of these things could increase the cost of your big purchase, so make sure that you can fit them into your budget. If you can’t, then you’ll either need to find a new vendor or negotiate the costs down.

One of the biggest mistakes small business owners make when they are making a big purchase is not budgeting for routine (or surprise) maintenance costs. This is where your purchase can end up costing you a lot more. Talk to your vendor about what they handle maintenance. Will you be responsible for all the costs? Is there a warranty on your item?

The more you know up front the better decision you can make and with a big purchase, you can never to be too informed.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How will this big purchase fulfill the needs of my small business?

Ensure the purchase adds value by evaluating its ability to generate profit and its longevity. Assess whether it justifies the investment of time, energy, and money.

2. How will I pay for this item?

Consider saving or explore financing options like business loans or credit cards. Craft a payment plan aligned with your budget and revenue fluctuations.

3. Will my vendor be there for me after the purchase?

Prioritize vendors offering competitive prices, excellent customer service, quality products, prompt delivery, and ongoing support post-purchase.

4. What costs are hiding in this big purchase?

Consider hidden expenses like shipping, installation, taxes, and training. Budget for routine or unexpected maintenance costs and inquire about warranties or vendor maintenance.

5. How should I choose between vendors?

Evaluate vendors based on pricing, reliability, customer service, product quality, delivery timelines, and their commitment to assisting with equipment disposal or recycling.

5 Most Commonly Overlooked Business Tax Deductions

At Vyde, we have a lot of experience with business taxes. Ben Sutton, one of Vyde’s founders and a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), recently hosted a webinar on the most commonly missed business tax deductions. Ben’s experience as a CPA has helped him learn what business tax deductions business owners are missing out on. In the webinar, Ben discusses what business tax deductions are the most lucrative for small businesses. You can watch the webinar below.

Business Tax Deduction 1: Set up a Business Entity Structure

Entity structuring can be confusing and overly complicated. At Vyde, we found that setting up your business as an S Corp can be the most tax-efficient because S Corps usually pay the least amount of taxes.

We always check with our clients to see if they qualify to structure their business as an S Corp. If you structure your business as an S Corp, you, the business owner, have to be on the payroll and you have to pay yourself a reasonable salary .S Corps don’t have double taxation like C Cops do, so the only thing that is taxed is the salaries the shareholders take. So, as the business owner, you only pay social security and Medicare taxes on the salary you take out. Other business entities require you to pay taxes on your total profits and on any salary you take.

Changing your business entity to an S Corp can result in $5,000-10,000 in tax savings.

Business Tax Deduction 2: Automobile Expenses

If you are using your personal car for your business, then you should be taking business tax deductions! Automobile tax deductions are especially helpful for realtors and insurance agents because those professions require a lot of driving. There are two ways you can get automobile tax deductions.

Mileage: The IRS offers a standard mileage deduction for business owners. The mileage deduction is based on the number of miles driven for business, but the cash value of the deduction changes from year to year. A lot of people overlook or forget about mileage deductions because it isn’t tracked on a monthly basis, like other bookkeeping tasks. Instead, mileage is reported at the end of the year. However, you should always be keeping track of your mileage so you can take the deduction. You can learn more about mileage deductions in our post, What Are My Mileage Deduction Options?
Actual Costs: Instead of taking the standard mileage deduction, you can add up all the expenses included in using your car for business and deduct those on your taxes. The actual costs include gas, insurance and repairs that you pay for throughout the year. If you lease your car, you can also deduct your lease payment. If you own your vehicle, then you should depreciate the vehicle, typically over five years. In the end, you’re getting a lot more than just gas expenses deducted. But, you must keep track of all of the expenses you want to deduct, which can be a lot of work.

The auto deduction can save you $3,000-8,000 in business tax deductions.

Business Tax Deduction 3: Retirement Plans

We’re going to focus on the SEP-IRA. While a SEP-IRA is very inexpensive to set up, you will want to meet with a financial advisor to cover your bases.

Your business is the contributor to the SEP-IRA. Companies can contribute 25% of the employee’s compensation or up to $54,000 a year. The only catch is that the company has to contribute the same rate for all employees.

If you set up your business as a S Corp, then a SEP-IRA is a great option. Because you are an employee with a salary, you can have the business contribute to your IRA. You can still set up a SEP-IRA even if you don’t have an S Corp. LLCs and Sole Proprietors can have SEP-IRAs, the requirements are just different.

All of the money you put in your SEP-IRA counts as a business tax deduction, so the savings depend on your contributions. However, you will have to pay taxes on that money when you pull it out of your retirement account.

Business Tax Deduction 4: Self Employed Health Insurance

For non-business owners, health insurance costs and medical expenses are only deductible when you do an itemized deduction. The problem with that is, in order to deduct any insurance or medical expenses, the total you spent must exceed ten percent of your adjusted gross income. Which makes it hard to qualify for.

However, if you are self-employed you can deduct 100% of your insurance costs and medical expenses on your taxes, without itemizing. This isn’t a business tax deduction, it’s a personal tax deduction that only applies to business owners. There isn’t a threshold you have to meet for this deduction like there is for non-business owners. This only applies to people who purchase insurance. If you use a health share ministry, which is exempt from the marketplace fines, then you can’t deduct it because they aren’t considered premiums.

Business Tax Deduction 5: Previously Personal Expenses

When you own a business, you use a lot of personal items for your business. Normally you wouldn’t get a tax deduction for personal expenses, but because you own a business, and use these items for your business, they are now deductible, The following items all qualify as previously personal expenses:

Cellphones
Computers and equipment
Office expenses
Home Office
Supplies

These expenses won’t get you a huge deduction, but all together they can add up to a few thousand dollars each year. While the savings are still moderate, it’s still well worth the time to count them.

Bonus: Plan Ahead to Pay Taxes

While no one enjoys paying taxes, but it’s a simple fact that if you make money, you must pay taxes. There isn’t a way around it. If you are doing your best to take advantage of all the business tax deductions you can, then you need to have a plan for saving money to pay your taxes.

Six to eight months before you file your taxes, meet with an accountant to determine what you’re going to owe in taxes. At Vyde, we like to schedule a tax discussion call with our clients. We look at how much money you’ve made and what you plan to make for the rest of the year. Then we look at what tax deductions you’re going to take advantage of. Once we know all of this, we can determine how much you’re going to owe in taxes.

A tax discussion is also helpful so that you aren’t surprised when tax season rolls around and all of a sudden you owe the IRS a big chunk of money. Instead, you can put money aside throughout the year so that you’ll have plenty of money to pay the tax man.

FAQs About Business Tax Deductions

What is the most tax-efficient business structure for small business owners?
- The most tax-efficient business structure for many small business owners is an S Corporation (S Corp). This structure helps reduce taxes because it avoids double taxation, unlike a C Corporation. As an S Corp, the business owner only pays taxes on the salary they take, not on the entire business profits. This can result in significant tax savings, ranging from $5,000 to $10,000. However, you must ensure you qualify for an S Corp and meet requirements, like paying yourself a reasonable salary.
Can I deduct my automobile expenses if I use my personal vehicle for business?
- Yes, if you use your personal car for business purposes, you can deduct automobile expenses. There are two main ways to do this:
  - Mileage deduction: The IRS offers a standard mileage rate for business driving, which changes yearly. It’s important to track your business miles accurately.
  - Actual expenses: Alternatively, you can deduct the actual costs associated with your car, including gas, insurance, repairs, and lease payments. Keep detailed records of all related expenses for this method.
How does a SEP-IRA work as a business tax deduction?
- A SEP-IRA is a retirement plan that allows businesses to contribute up to 25% of an employee’s compensation or $54,000 (whichever is lower). For business owners with an S Corp, the business can contribute to their own SEP-IRA, and the contributions are tax-deductible. The money in the SEP-IRA grows tax-deferred, but taxes will be due when the funds are withdrawn in retirement. You can also set up a SEP-IRA if your business is structured as an LLC or Sole Proprietorship, though the contribution rules may differ.
Can self-employed individuals deduct their health insurance premiums?
- Yes, self-employed individuals can deduct 100% of their health insurance premiums, including medical expenses, from their taxes. Unlike for regular employees, there is no requirement to itemize these deductions or meet a minimum threshold. This deduction applies only to business owners who purchase health insurance; however, it does not apply if you use a health share ministry, as these are not considered insurance premiums by the IRS.
What are “previously personal” expenses that can now be deducted as business expenses?
- As a business owner, you can deduct costs for items that were previously personal but are now used for business purposes. Common examples include:
  - Cellphones and computers
  - Office supplies and equipment
  - Home office expenses
    These deductions may not be large individually, but together they can add up to significant savings, potentially a few thousand dollars per year. It’s important to keep track of these expenses and ensure they are used for business-related activities.

Prepare for Holiday Sales Now So You Can Avoid Stress Later

You may be wondering why we’re talking about holiday sales before November, but we believe you can never prepare too early. The holiday shopping season will arrive before you know it and without a concrete plan, your business could miss out on the biggest shopping time of the year.

Obviously, the first step in preparing for holiday sales is determining what you will be offering your customers. In order to this, you should look at your sales goals for the year and what kind of discount you can realistically afford to offer. Once you’ve determined that, you’ll want start making other preparations. Here are a few things to make sure you plan out for your holiday sales.

Prepare Your Website for Increased Holiday Sales Traffic

If you own a business, then you probably have a website (or online platform) where you direct customers to make purchases. The website traffic during your holiday sale could lead to slower loading times or even a possible website crash. Last year, 39% of e-retailers claimed they lost money due to website performance or stability problems. Instead of settling for what could happen, you need to take action to prevent these situations.

The first step is to talk with your website host. Make sure that your website can handle an increase in traffic. You should also make sure that you have enough bandwidth to handle a lot of people visiting your website at the same time. Most users will give up within a couple of seconds, so you should aim for two seconds or less. The faster the better.

Next, make sure your site is mobile-friendly. Over 50% of emails are opened on phones. So, 50% of the people who read your email will view your website on his or her phone. If it doesn’t load or is hard to use, then you’ll lose those customers. Optimize your website for mobile so you don’t lose out on these interested customers. Again, you’ll need to keep your load time low; however, it can be slightly slower than a computer load time, but just slightly.

Next, make sure your site is mobile-friendly. Over 50% of emails are opened on phones. So, 50% of the people who read your email will view your website on his or her phone. If it doesn’t load or is hard to use, then you’ll lose those customers. Optimizing your website for mobile should be a top priority. Again, you’ll need to keep your load time low.

Plan a Strategy for Reaching Your Ideal Customer

A marketing plan is an important part of any sale, but the most important part of the marketing plan is reaching the right people. Small business owners should take advantage of marketing techniques that don’t cost a lot but, reach a lot of people. We have found that email and social media marketing are best for small businesses.

Email marketing is a great way to reach people who are actively interested in your business. These people gave you their emails because they want to hear from you. The best way to increase your reach is to keep building your email list. You can use your deals and sales to get people to sign up for your list. Once you have a great list of interested people, you can create an email marketing campaign that drives sales.

Business owners know that social media is a great marketing tool, but it can be hard to implement. A lot of the time businesses focus too much on marketing and not enough of the social aspect of things. First and foremost, social media marketing needs to be social. You need to respond and interact with your followers so that you can build trust and build community.

Once you have that down, you can move onto targeting your ideal customer. Hashtags are the perfect tool to zero in and reach your ideal client. Some platforms even let you target your posts to a certain group of people. Just last week, we used Facebook’s targeting feature and had 854 organic impressions on a single post. We didn’t pay a dime to reach those people. We just targeted people who would be interested in the post. It was a simple way to reach our ideal customer.

Prepare for the Post-Holiday Sales Madness

Everyone knows that holiday sales can create mania, whether online or in a retail space. However, we tend to forget about the post-holiday madness. This time is spent with people returning or exchanging items, taking advantage of the super sales as retailers try to get rid of the rest of the holiday stock and so much more. You need to prepare your team to handle all of this.

One way to make things a little easier on your customers and your team is to refine your returns process. Train your employees to follow a system that makes returns easy on them and your customers. You should also make sure that everyone is aware what your returns policy is. Post it at your register so that customers can see it and they don’t try to fight with your cashiers over it.

When you’re setting up your returns policy you should encourage people to keep spending his or her money at your store. You can do this through two ways. First, you can try to get people to exchange their items rather than just return them. Perhaps, you can hire a personal shopper who can assist customers and help them find an item that works better for them. Your second option is to adjust your return policy to have customers receive in-store credit or gift cards for their returns. That way, you don’t lose out of the revenue, just because of a return.

What other things do you do to prepare for holiday sales? Leave a comment and let us know.

FAQs for Preparing for Holiday Sales

Why is it important to prepare for holiday sales early?

Early preparation ensures that your business is ready to handle the increased traffic and demand, helping you maximize revenue and avoid potential issues during the busiest shopping time of the year.

How can I ensure my website can handle increased holiday traffic?

Speak with your website host to confirm that your site can handle a traffic surge. Ensure you have sufficient bandwidth and optimize your site for fast loading times and mobile compatibility.

What are some effective marketing strategies for reaching my ideal customer?

Email marketing and social media marketing are cost-effective strategies. Build and utilize your email list and engage with your social media followers using targeted content and hashtags to reach your ideal customers.

How can I optimize my returns process for post-holiday sales?

Train your employees on a streamlined returns process and clearly display your return policy. Encourage exchanges or offer in-store credit to retain revenue from returned items.

What steps can I take to make my website mobile-friendly for holiday shoppers?

Optimize your website for mobile use by ensuring fast loading times and easy navigation on smartphones. This helps capture the significant portion of customers who shop via mobile devices.

How a Human Resources for Small Business Can Solve Your Small Business’ Problems

A human resources department is a great asset to businesses of any size. The moment you take on employees your business becomes more complicated. Without a human resources (HR) department it can become overwhelming to handle all the issues on your own. However, if you have a human resources department they can handle the small stuff and only come to you with the big stuff.

Human resources teams can handle a lot of different issues. We’re only going to cover three of these areas today. However, because the scope of an HR department is far reaching, you should determine which areas you need help with in your business and find a HR manager that can help tackle your problem areas.

Human Resources Handle Hiring

If you’ve grown your small business from a one-man show to a thriving business, it can be hard to relinquish control, especially when it comes to bringing people onto your team. However, this is a great task for your human resources team. HR professionals know how to find the right people for the position.

First of all, a lot of the hiring process doesn’t need to be done by the business owner. Your HR team can help you by sorting through resumes and cover letters, a tedious task that is essential to finding the right candidate. They can do online searches of your applicants.

Once you and your team have selected the potential candidates, the human resources department head can interview the applicants. Once they’ve narrowed the selection, you or the department head for the open position can do a final interview and choose your new employee.

Taking all of these steps off of your plate and using a HR team to do them, frees you up to continue running your business.

Human Resources Provides Conflict Management

Conflict arises no matter how great a company, it’s employees or it’s management team is. It’s unavoidable. However, having a way to handle those issues is where a good business can become a great business. A human resources team is equipped to help handle conflict.

According to Joseph Grenny, co-founder of VitalSmarts, a company that focuses on training and organizational development, every unaddressed conflict wastes around eight hours of company time, either through gossip or other unproductive activities. You can avoid this by urging your employees to talk to their HR rep about any issues that arise in the work place.

This is especially helpful to handle manager-employee situations. Many employees worry that they can’t express any issues to their managers without losing their jobs, which creates a hostile environment. HR reps can help employees address issues with their managers in a safe place. Then they can work with managers to solve the issues.

Human Resources Can Increase Employee Retention

A company that values its employees is more likely to keep them. Simply having a human resources department shows your employees that they have someone who is looking out for them.

The HR department is going to become the voice of the employees. Which means as a small business owner, you should listen to suggestions or complaints that come from HR. They are telling you how your employees are feeling. If you want to have a great company you need to listen to everyone, especially those at the bottom of the totem pole.

FAQs about Human Resources for Small Businesses

What role does a human resources department play in small businesses?

A human resources department handles various issues, including hiring, conflict management, and employee retention, alleviating burdens for business owners.

How does HR assist in the hiring process?

HR professionals manage tasks like sorting through resumes, conducting online searches, and conducting initial interviews. They streamline the hiring process, allowing business owners to focus on core operations.

Why is conflict management crucial in a small business setting?

Conflict is inevitable in any workplace. HR serves as a mediator, resolving disputes between employees and managers, fostering a positive work environment, and saving company time lost to unproductive activities.

How does HR contribute to employee retention?

By valuing employees and providing a supportive environment, HR helps increase employee retention. The department serves as a voice for employees, conveying their concerns and suggestions to business owners for a more inclusive workplace culture.

Why should small business owners heed HR recommendations?

HR represents the pulse of the workforce. Listening to HR insights and addressing employee feedback fosters a collaborative environment and contributes to the overall success of the company.

Get the Money You Need to Grow Small Business Today Through Factoring

We invited Bjorn Peterson, Owner of Flex Business Capital to share his thoughts on small business financing, specifically an alternative to traditional bank loans – factoring.

Today your business doesn’t need to rely on bank loans or struggle with cash flow – factoring is the smart alternative to traditional small business financing through banks. For example, a trucking company was in a huge growth stage yet was short on cash to make payroll. We worked with them to quickly provide cash based on the many invoices they were waiting to collect, rather than them waiting for customers to pay. Success! The trucking company met their payroll obligations and were able to hire additional employees to meet their growth needs.

What is factoring?

Call it factoring, invoice factoring, factoring financing, asset based financing or accounts receivable financing – these all describe using your account receivables, your customer invoices, to quickly and simply improve cash flow. Basically, your company receives money now for invoices that will be due in the next 30, 60 or 90 days. Factoring financing can quickly provide your company immediate cash from $5,000 to $10,000,000.

This cash flow infusion from factoring financing can be used for anything, such as:

Paying outstanding bills and taxes
Buying additional equipment or inventory
Taking on new business opportunities and customers
Hiring new employees and making payroll
Expanding into new markets

What types of companies use factoring? No matter what a company’s industry or situation, factoring is a great resource for funding. Factoring helps companies that:

need cash immediately and can’t wait for a bank loan to be approved
have outgrown their banking relationship and are looking into different financing options
are unable to obtain sufficient financing from their bank due to bad credit
are new start-ups who have no credit history and aren’t able to qualify for bank loans (Banks typically require a company to be in business for 2 years before they will extend a line of credit!)

Oil and gas, trucking, business services, staffing agencies, manufacturing, wholesale, technology, telecom, digital businesses and online enterprises – all types of industries use factoring financing.

Invoice factoring can particularly help small and mid-sized firms because it offers flexibility and immediate working capital. Large companies can also benefit from invoice factoring, but the additional cash flow is often more needed for start-ups and growing businesses.

So, how quickly can you get cash with factoring financing? Today. Yes, that’s right, with factoring you can receive funding today or within a very short period of time, rather than waiting 30, 60, or 90 days for payment from customers. No credit history, like with a start-up, or bad credit are okay because approval is based on the credit of your clients, not your credit. Even if you’ve had trouble qualifying for other forms of financing, factoring is a viable option.

Introducing Your Factoring Partner – Flex Business Capital. Ready to see what factoring can do for your cash flow situation? The process is simple and can be done online by visiting FlexBusinessCapital.com. You’ll enter some information about your business and receive approval for your funding the same day. Our goal is to be your partner in growth for the entire life of your business.

Say goodbye to strict bank requirements and long credit applications. Small business factoring provides you instant cash with zero debt and more flexibility. Try factoring financing for your business today at FlexBusinessCapital.com.

Bjorn Peterson is the Owner of Flex Business Capital. Flex Business Capital offers small businesses factoring financing to solve cash flow problems without debt, so they can focus on growth and success.

FAQs about Factoring Financing with Flex Business Capital

What is factoring?

Factoring, also known as invoice factoring or accounts receivable financing, is a financial solution where businesses sell their accounts receivable (invoices) to a factoring company like Flex Business Capital to improve cash flow.

What types of companies benefit from factoring?

Factoring is advantageous for companies that need immediate cash, have outgrown traditional banking relationships, struggle with bad credit, or are startups with no credit history. Various industries like oil and gas, trucking, staffing agencies, and technology firms utilize factoring.

How can businesses use cash obtained from factoring?

The cash obtained from factoring can be used for various purposes such as paying bills and taxes, purchasing equipment or inventory, seizing new business opportunities, hiring employees, and expanding into new markets.

How quickly can businesses access funds through factoring?

Unlike traditional bank loans, factoring provides quick access to funds, often on the same day. Approval is based on the creditworthiness of clients, not the business itself, making it suitable for startups and businesses with poor credit history.

Why choose Flex Business Capital for factoring financing?

Flex Business Capital offers a seamless online process for businesses to obtain factoring financing. With a focus on providing instant cash without accumulating debt, Flex Business Capital aims to be a long-term growth partner for businesses across various industries.

5 Essential Content Marketing Ideas to Boost Your Reach

Last month we discussed what content marketing is, and today we want to provide you with a few essential content marketing ideas for your small business. Choosing the right content marketing tools are a vital part of developing a successful content marketing strategy.

We’ll go over the top 5 content marketing ideas, so that you can see and understand how they work. Then you can choose one or two of them to pursue for your business. These are in no particular order, so it doesn’t matter which options you choose. All of them work in different ways, so you can pick whichever works best for you and your business.

Content Marketing Idea #1: Infographics

Infographics display data in a visual format. They are usually long vertical photos that shows different statistics using graphs, or other visuals. Infographics are effective because they give audiences a lot of information, but they break it down so it’s easy to read and understand.

Infographics are especially effective on Pinterest, because they take up a lot of space. When you create an infographic you should make sure it links to a page or blog post on your website. That way when people want to learn more about the infographic they saw, they can easily find your website.

Content Marketing Idea #2: Blog posts

A lot of businesses don’t realize that they’re utilizing content marketing when they write a blog post, but it’s one of the most common content marketing ideas.

Consumers want to be informed before they buy a product. Which makes blog posts a great content marketing tool. If you can become an authority in your field and consumers trust you, then they’re more likely to use your products or services.

When you’re creating blog post as part of your content marketing you need to make sure that you’re addressing concerns that your customers have. That way you’re providing value instead of being salesy. If you’re ever stuck and need ideas for content, ask your audience! They’ll be happy to tell you where they’re struggling and then you can be the one who solves their problems.

Content Marketing Idea #3: Podcasts

Podcasts and blog posts are closely related. but the way the content is delivered changes. What we love about podcasts is that they feel more personal than a blog post. Hearing someone’s voice helps you feel closer to them.

A great feature of podcasts is using guests to help educate your audience. Inviting guests to your show is beneficial for you and your audience. It allows both of you to make a new connection and exposes you to a new perspective. If your guest promotes their experience on your show, you will also be able to reach a whole new audience, which will, hopefully, boosts sales!

Content Marketing Idea #4: Books

Writing a book may seem like a big commitment just for marketing, but it can be a great content marketing idea. Because a book is a lot of work, you want to be able to get a lot of use out of it.

A book is a great way to grow your email list. A book is an incredibly valuable opt-in for potential subscribers. You can either provide an ebook, which subscribers can download after they’ve subscribed to your list. Or you can have your book published and have the subscribers pay for shipping costs. When people have to put money into the product they’re more likely to value it.

If you don’t want to use your book as an email opt-in, it’s a great way to make a passive income. Who said content marketing had to be free? There are a lot of ways to self publish books without spending a lot of money. Again you can do an ebook or a printed book. You will be able to charge more if you provide a printed book. You can either sell your book on your website or through a site like Amazon.

Content Marketing Idea #5: Videos

We’ve saved the best content marketing idea for last! Video is the most popular type of online content. People are ten times more likely to engage with video content, which means it’s a great way to introduce people to your brand and tell them what you can do for them. The best content marketing videos are funny or witty, which makes them more shareable. The Squatty Potty is an excellent example of successful video content marketing.

After you have your video concept planned and you’ve shot and edited your video you need to get it in front of your audience. There are two ways to go about this. The first is finding hosting for your video. If you’re not a technical person, this can sound confusing, but it’s really simple. You need somewhere to upload your video to and you probably already know where that is: YouTube. YouTube is, by far, the most viewed video site. YouTube is also owned by Google, and we know that Google promotes content hosted on it’s sites. So, not only will your video be on the biggest video platform, but Google will also prioritize it in searches.

The second place you’ll want to use your video content is on social media. Facebook users alone watch 100 million hours of videos a day. This means that social media is the perfect place to share your videos. You can share video on almost every social media platform. You can either share the full video, a link to your video, or a short clip of the video. When you’re sharing videos on social media platforms just make sure you add a message with a call to action to promote more engagement with your video.

Which content marketing ideas stuck out to you? Let us know by leaving a comment.

FAQs About Essential Content Marketing Ideas for Small Businesses

What is the benefit of using infographics in content marketing?
- Infographics are effective because they present complex data in a visually engaging format, making it easier for your audience to digest information. They are especially powerful on platforms like Pinterest, where they take up more space and can drive traffic back to your website.
How can blog posts help with content marketing?
- Blog posts are an excellent content marketing tool because they allow you to provide valuable information to your audience, build trust, and establish yourself as an authority in your industry. By addressing common customer concerns, you can help solve problems and attract more leads.
What makes podcasts a good content marketing strategy?
- Podcasts are a personal way to connect with your audience by allowing them to hear your voice and engage with your content in an intimate format. Inviting guests can broaden your reach, expose your brand to new audiences, and build stronger connections with your listeners.
Why should I consider writing a book for content marketing?
- Writing a book can help you build credibility, grow your email list, and even generate passive income. Offering the book as an opt-in for new subscribers or selling it online can be a great way to attract potential customers and offer valuable insights that resonate with your audience.
How do videos enhance content marketing efforts?
- Videos are one of the most engaging forms of content and can significantly increase brand visibility. People are much more likely to engage with video content, and platforms like YouTube and social media make it easy to share videos widely. Using humor or creativity can make your videos more shareable and help you reach a larger audience.

7 Daily Habits for Success that Entrepreneurs can Learn from the World’s Most Influential Business People

If you talk to the most successful business owners, you’ll find that they have a few habits in common. We’ve listened to these people and have compiled a list of seven habits for success that are used by some of the top business men and women in the world.

Meditation

Meditation is no longer just used by yogis and monks. It’s one of the top tools CEOs and other successful people, use meditation to manage stress. The goal of meditation is to bring peace, joy and happiness to your life.

There are a lot of different types of meditation and there isn’t one right way to meditate. You need to do what works for you, even if that just means sitting quietly for a few minutes. As long as you find peace and aren’t thinking about how much you have to do, then you’re doing it right!

Here are a few types of meditation you can try:

As you’re cultivating your habit for success try using meditation. It’s a great way to clear your head and relax when you have a lot of pressure on your shoulders.

Schedule Your Day

Time management is one of the best habits for success! It’s a great tool for achieving business goals and still having a personal life.

Living by a schedule can help you stay focused and accomplish your to-do list, which is another habit successful people use. You don’t have to schedule out your day by the minute, but it’s good to have an idea of what you’re doing every hour. Time blocking is a great method for keeping a loose schedule that allows for flexibility when you need it. You can learn about time blocking, to-do lists and other helpful habits in our previous post, 5 Organizational Habits for Small Business owners.

Another way to really utilitize your time is to multi-task. A lot of successful people try to combine less important tasks. Mark Cuban, a businessman and owner of the Dallas Mavericks, reads his email while exercising.

Combining tasks like that is a great way to get the most done in a day. Just make sure you aren’t multi-tasking everything. Some tasks need your full attention in order to produce quality work.

Make Time for Fitness

Most business owners devote 80% of their time to their business and 20% to the family or social lives. Which means they don’t leave time for themselves.

As we discussed, practicing meditation is good for your mind and implementing that habit can help your mental health. However, you really should take time for your physical health as well.

Exercise is one of the habits for success that you can’t leave out.

You don’t have to become a body builder or a cross fit junkie in order to be fit. (Although, if you can do those, good for you!) Just spend 20-30 minutes a day exercising.

There are so many benefits of exercise, all of which can help you build your business. We’ll just list a few of these benefits.

Increases endorphins
Improves mood
Lowers your risk of heart disease and diabetes
Gives you more energy
Teaches goal setting (and accomplishment)
Improves memory

Pick a time during your day when you can fit in exercise and stick to it. Use the time blocking method that we talked about before so that you can dedicate a time to your fitness.

Meal Plan & Prep

Along with fitness, eating healthy is an important habit for success. It goes hand in hand with exercise, you really have to use both to be healthy.

There are a lot of benefits to eating healthy. As an entrepreneur these will benefit you directly:

Increases productivity
Keeps you alert
Helps you sleep better
Relieves stress
Makes you smarter
Boots your immune system
Spikes energy levels

As a busy entrepreneur, you don’t have a lot of time to create healthy and delicious meals every day. It’s hard enough to grab fast food when you’re in the middle of work.

Meal planning and prepping can help you stay on track with your health. In order for meal planning and prepping to work you have to devote time each week to plan and prepare your meals. Experts recommend starting with the meal you have the most trouble with. For instance, if you’re always running out for lunch, start by planning a week’s worth of healthy lunches. On Sunday spend an hour putting them together so that throughout the week you can grab one out of the fridge and be ready to go. Once you’ve tackled one meal, move on to another one.

In the age of quick information, reading is becoming a lost art; however, successful people still cling to reading as one of the most important habits tor success.

Reading can give you a leg up in the business world. It doesn’t necessarily matter what you read, but you should cover the three main categories: read the news, read for pleasure and read to learn.

First, reading the newspaper is an excellent habit to get into. Staying up to date on current events has many benefits. First, you can keep track of the market and make smarter business decisions. Second, knowing what is going on in the world makes you more intelligent, which builds trust. Finally, you will be able to hold a conversation with anyone because you know what is going on and can form an opinion on it.

Reading for pleasure is important as well. It’s a great stress reliever. When you take the time to read something you want to read, reading becomes a form of self care. Which can improve your health. Reading for pleasure can even help you become a better analytical thinker!

Reading for knowledge is one of the habits for success that the best business leaders sear by. People such as Warren Buffet, Mark Cuban and Malcom X all attribute their success to reading and learning. They’ll all tell you that you need to keep educating yourself beyond your formal schooling.

Keep Learning

We alluded to this in the previous habit for success, but it’s so important that it deserves it’s own subject!

If you want to be successful in business and in life you can’t stop learning just because you have a diploma. Learning is critical to becoming a successful entrepreneur. Especially, where technology is constantly changing how businesses run.

There are a lot of ways that entrepreneurs can continue their informal educations. Like we said before, reading is the best way. Try to read as much as you can. If you want to learn about a specific topic, look for an online course. Podcasts are another great option for entrepreneurs. You can listen to tips from experts in your field and while doing other things.

Don’t forget that your experiences are great ways to continue learning. Anytime you have a new experience take time to analyze it and see what you can learn from the situation.

Be Thankful

Being thankful might seem like an odd habit for success, but it’s the most important one.

Being an entrepreneur doesn’t mean you’re going to be successful overnight. In most cases, it’s going to take a long time for you to reach your dreams.

It doesn’t matter what stage of success you’re in, remember to be thankful for what you have and to the people who have helped you along the way.

Do more than just think about what you’re thankful for. Show people how thankful you are for their support. This could mean donating to charity, or giving your supporters gifts.

You’ll find that your life is happier when you focus on the good and let the rest roll off your back.

Just Because You’re A Creative Entrepreneur Doesn’t Mean You Have to Live Paycheck to Paycheck

Taking the plunge into entrepreneurship, especially creative entrepreneurship, is intimidating. One of the scariest parts of entrepreneurship, is never knowing where your next paycheck is coming from. Which means most creative entrepreneurs live paycheck to paycheck.

But, what if you didn’t have to live paycheck to paycheck. What if you could be a creative entrepreneur without living on a fixed income. There are ways to stretch your paycheck so that you can stop living paycheck to paycheck and start building financial stability. We want to help you break the paycheck to paycheck cycle.

Start Saving

When you live paycheck to paycheck, you typically aren’t saving a lot of money. However, if you want to stop living paycheck to paycheck, building a savings is the first step.

Having three to six months worth of savings will help you stay out of future debt. Even if you have a great debt reduction plan you never know when you’ll have an emergency and need to make a payment that is outside of your budget. If you don’t have savings then you’ll end up creating more debt to cover the emergency expenses.

It may seem impossible to save money when you live paycheck to paycheck, but there are ways to make it happen. We’ll suggest a few as we go along.

Reduce Debt

Most people who live paycheck to paycheck are swimming in debt. They rely on credit cards to get through their monthly expenses. Like we mentioned before, unknown expenses can really hurt, especially when you rely on credit cards to cover those expenses.

We know what you’re thinking right now. “How am I supposed to pay off any debt when I live paycheck to paycheck?” There are ways to reduce your debt even when you don’t have an influx of cash.

If you have bigger loans, like a car loan or mortgage, see if you can restructure your loan and roll your debts into one payment instead of many payments.

Loan restructuring works because car loans or mortgages typically have lower interest rates than credit cards. If you have the equity in your car or home, you can get the money to pay off the credit cards. You can then make a bigger payment, at a lower interest rate, on the newly restructured loan.

This method can be complex, so speak with an accountant before you jump right into restructuring your loans. You should always understand what you’re doing with your money before you make a big decision such as this.

Build Wealth

There are two ways to increase your cash flow: reduce your expenses or bring in more money. Both options can help you break the paycheck to paycheck cycle.

You can determine what expenses you can reduce within your own budget. We want to talk about how you can bring in more money.

As a creative entrepreneur, this is easier said than done. You have to either find new clients and put in more hours or find a way to use your skills to create a passive income.

Work on Getting Consistent Clients

The hardest part of being a creative entrepreneur is that your clientele is not consistent. You usually work with someone once and then don’t hear from them again until they need your services. This cycle is what keeps you in the paycheck to paycheck predicament.

If you want to break that cycle, you need to change how you run your business. Try setting up packages that will commit clients to more than one service. Or you can use an email list to reach out to your clients and see if they are interested in other services you offer.

Whatever strategy you choose, try to generate new sales from your current clients so that you don’t have to work as hard to bring in more revenue.

Create Passive Income Streams

Passive income streams are a great option for creative entrepreneurs. With a passive income stream you create a product that you can sell to multiple people. Passive income streams are helpful in generating new revenue. It’s also great when you don’t have time to devote to individual projects.

As a creative entrepreneur you can sell photographs, printables, pre-made products. The main point is that you don’t have to spend a lot of time producing each individual product.

Ultimately, you can choose if you want to stop living paycheck to paycheck. you just have to make decisions that will lead you towards a financially free life.

Resources

Author: Jake Snelson