Archives: June 2011

How to Manage Teams Outside Your Office

Posted by: Today's Tip Contributor on June 30

Coordinating office efforts can prove difficult within the confines of your own building. So when you're working with a team that is on the road, in a different time zone,...

Take Control of Cash Flow

Posted by: Today's Tip Contributor on June 29

As a credit manager and former owner of a collection agency, I have seen firsthand that businesses without credit policies in place often suffer—and sometimes even fail. A credit policy...

Before Seeking Outside Funding

Posted by: Today's Tip Contributor on June 28

Before business owners look for external sources of funding, my No. 1 piece of advice is to bootstrap (rely on savings, cash flow, and penny-pinching to fund your business, rather...

How to Measure Your Return on Social Media

Posted by: Today's Tip Contributor on June 27

Do you know how to measure the return on your investments in social media? Every day we measure returns on our marketing investments. We create e-mail campaigns, attend trade shows,...

Build More Intuitive Self-Service

Posted by: Today's Tip Contributor on June 24

Organizations across industries continue to encourage and deliver more self-service options via websites, kiosks, and automated phone systems in order to cut live-support costs and give consumers more control over...

Set Up a Guaranteed Pension Plan

Posted by: Today's Tip Contributor on June 23

Many successful business owners are looking for ways to secure their retirement future. One way is to purchase a pension solution. Whether it involves pretax or post-tax dollars, all growth...

Life Insurance as a Way to Give

Posted by: Today's Tip Contributor on June 22

Many business owners look for sensible ways to share their wealth with family and/or charities. Life insurance is an often-overlooked way to multiply gift or legacy dollars. Recently a client...

Budget Your Social Media Program

Posted by: Today's Tip Contributor on June 21

Business marketers already know the value of social media in connecting with desired audiences. However, there is a lack of information to guide marketers on how to measure the true...

Convince Employees to Work Hard

Posted by: Today's Tip Contributor on June 20

How can you motivate employees when you don't have financial resources to inspire them, beyond basic salaries? There are several ways to foster teamwork and innovation—keeping staff enthused to not...

When an Employee Asks for Motivation

Posted by: Today's Tip Contributor on June 17

The other day I had an employee tell me that he needed me to motivate him. As I stared, dumbfounded, and started to address his concern, it reminded me of...

A Better Family Business Succession

Posted by: Today's Tip Contributor on June 16

You own a successful family business. It's time to plan for the next generation. Remember, one out of three family businesses fails in the second generation and the figure is...

Be Wary of Personal Guarantees

Posted by: Today's Tip Contributor on June 15

As a veteran attorney, I've helped many clients avoid the risks of signing a personal guarantee. However, when it came to protecting myself in order to get financing as a...

Question Complexity When Buying Technology

Posted by: Today's Tip Contributor on June 14

Technology can help businesses thrive via improved customer service, increased productivity, and decreased operational costs. However, technology can also bog down an organization with unnecessary complexity that negates the aforementioned...

Financial 'Spring Cleaning'

Posted by: Today's Tip Contributor on June 13

Spring is a good time of year to get your business organized from a financial perspective. We're all required to submit tax returns then. With the first quarter already completed,...

Spending on Ads vs. Investing in Customers

Posted by: Today's Tip Contributor on June 10

Generally speaking, advertising is considered an investment, not an expense—but it still isn't the best choice for most startup companies. Advertising will nearly always get you customers. To truly build...

Avoid Noncompliance Penalties

Posted by: Today's Tip Contributor on June 09

As state and local governments continue to make major changes to regulations and increase penalties for noncompliance, small businesses are struggling to revamp their compliance processes while also maintaining day-to-day...

Prepare a Better Tax Strategy for an S Corp

Posted by: Today's Tip Contributor on June 08

According to a January 2010 study by the Government Accountability Office, 68 percent of S corporation returns filed for tax years 2003 and 2004 (the years data were available) misreported...

Prepare to Sell Your Business

Posted by: Today's Tip Contributor on June 07

If you are thinking about selling your business, here are six essential steps to take first: 1. Define objectives and options. As the seller, you must have clearly defined goals...

Three Tests for New Technology

Posted by: Today's Tip Contributor on June 06

Free, Web-based tools can be great for small businesses that want to increase productivity and decrease costs, but implementing such technologies can backfire when these three points are not considered:...

Improve Your Business's Cash Flow with Technology

Posted by: Today's Tip Contributor on June 03

Poor cash-flow management can lead to business failure. Here are four tips for improving it: 1. Create new types of cash revenue. Pre-sell your product or service at a discounted...

Maintain Good Customer Service at a Fast-Growing Business

Posted by: Today's Tip Contributor on June 02

For any startup or small business, developing a standard of top-quality customer service is essential to maintaining relationships and growing a client base that is passionate about your business. However,...

Give Convincing Feedback to Employees

Posted by: Today's Tip Contributor on June 01

Most of us can remember times in which we were called into our supervisor's office to receive gruff feedback, as well as times when we were given feedback in a...