Leaving tax prep to a last-minute cram session could disrupt your business in the spring. To avoid a crunch, you should prepare for tax deadlines well in advance.
Before you get involved in the bidding process, take some time to lay the groundwork for successful bidding.
If your business needs cash to move forward, you may have to resort to some less-than-ideal financing options or face the possibility of having no business at all.
Many small businesses dread it, but your end-of-year reconciliation doesn't need to hurt -- as long as you stay organized.
The financials section of a business plan is where you document the numbers and convince investors that your company is a good risk.
How much should you charge for the goods and services you sell? For small businesses, that may be the most difficult question to answer-- and also the most important.
Explaining the market for your product or service is one of the most important parts of your business plan. So do it right, even if it requires extensive research.
Insurance is one of the most neglected small business responsibilities -- and one of the most confusing. Use this guide to begin sorting through your options.
Give some thought to your company's public relations, whether you're looking to garner specific media coverage or just want to generate a general buzz about your small business.
Whether you're looking for money or simply creating an internal document, you must be able to present a clear portrait of what your company does.
Conventional wisdom is that you should have up to 12 months of living expenses put away before you start your own business, although the figure depends on a few factors.
Here are the answers to some of the most often-asked questions about business plans.
Even if your business plan calls for instant profitability, almost all businesses need initial funding to get up and running. Here's a guide to where the money is.
A healthy cash flow not only gives your business stability in its current operations, but it also gives you a position of strength from which to plan for future growth.
Sometimes the hardest part of running a small business is knowing when it's OK to take a break.
An overview of some benefits that may help you strengthen your employee packages.
Among the online resources are key government publications, forms, statistics and regulatory data that can help you plan for your small business.
No matter how much research and preparation you do, you will make mistakes when you start a business, but the common errors listed here may help you avoid a few.
Here are some ideas to help you get the most from your business deductions, avoid problems that can affect small business owners and plan for the future.
Creating a clear job description before you begin the hiring process can help you choose the best candidate from a pool of applicants.
Just because you like an idea doesn't mean it makes a viable business. Research is the key to a wise go no-go decision.
It's Monday morning and you don't have enough cash on hand to make Friday's payroll. What options do you have?
Naming your business should be done carefully because this is a decision that you will have to live with for a long time.
You can alleviate the stress that can accompany a vacation by creating a list of tasks that need to be managed when you're not there, then checking off each item as it's handled.
To conduct a successful public relations campaign, it helps to be familiar with some of the basic PR tools.
A sound pricing structure helps companies generate sales and build customer loyalty. The wrong pricing structure can leave businesses struggling to reach profitability.
The Internet has made it easier than ever for small businesses to track down and work with high-value suppliers.
Business plans should be written for specific audiences with specific purposes in mind. And the level of detail should depend upon the expected reader and the plan's purpose.
The hypergrowth needs of fast-growth startups have turned the old rules of venture financing on their ear.
A partnership agreement can give you a framework for defining each partner's obligations, and settling the conflicts, disagreements and other issues that occur in every relationship.
Some small business owners are proud that they do everything for their businesses themselves. But it doesn't always make sense to be a one-person operation.
When you're considering granting credit to customers, evaluating potential suppliers, or analyzing your company's own credit standing, it is a good idea to run a credit report.
There are two forms of accounting used by small businesses -- cash and accrual. The basic difference between the two methods is the timing of income and expense recording.
Finding good employees is a perennial challenge for business owners. Traditional methods can be sufficient, but if you have exhausted conventional channels try these other avenues.
If the idea of vacation seems absolutely impossible for the foreseeable future, you may still be able to take a sorely needed break from your small business.
There are many ways to make employees happy, but at the end of the day -- or more precisely, the end of the week -- employees' happiness comes from getting paid.
Here are eight cost-saving moves to investigate with your workers' compensation insurance agent.
Successful interviewing is a matter of asking the right questions, listening to the answers, and getting candidates to talk honestly about their abilities and attitudes.
Many small businesses feel pressure to lower prices, yet few can afford to get in a price war. Consider these tactics to attract customers without getting out the red pen.
There's no way to measure PR success with clinical precision, but there are some steps to take that can help you make an educated evaluation.
A good relationship with a supplier can be profitable for you and them, but this kind of partnership doesn't come easily. It needs to be nurtured over time.
Coming up with reliable projections isn't guesswork. It requires you to analyze market data to come up with a reasonable forecast. Use these guidelines to begin the process.
No business wants to have its tax returns examined any more closely than necessary. Here are some of the most common errors businesses make when filing their taxes.
There's a lot of misinformation out there about what kind of insurance a home business really needs. Read on to learn about home office insurance realities.
One of the keys to effective cash flow management is keeping a close eye on your purchasing patterns.
Keeping your credit report in tip-top shape is smart for business. Use the advice listed here to protect and improve your company's credit rating.
Bonuses can be a great motivation tool, even for employees of the smallest business. They can also be a waste of money. How they are planned and administered makes the difference.
Whether you're looking for a small, short-term loan or actively pitching venture capitalists, strong preparation and planning can improve your chances of finding financing.
Your business is growing and you're bringing in employees to expand your business. What could possibly go wrong? The answer is, a lot, if you don't hire the right people.
Your challenge is to create a release that makes the journalist want to know more about you and your story. Use these 10 tips to write a release that will get noticed.
Developing a business idea is a matter of creating a vision, leveraging your strengths and determining what the market needs. These three steps should get you started.
Even though you need to ask a lot of questions to conduct an interview, certain questions are legally forbidden, and asking them can lead to a discrimination lawsuit.
One of the first questions you're likely to face when you decide to incorporate is where to locate your corporation.
Limited partnerships are typically used for real estate investing or in situations where a business is looking to finance expansion.
A limited liability company (LLC) has the liability protection of a corporation but the tax status of a partnership.
If you have business partners, you have the option of forming a partnership instead of incorporating.
While incorporation requires more paperwork and expense than sole proprietorship, it does give you one critical benefit - protection from liability.
The main difference between a C Corporation and other business structures is that a C Corporation files and pays corporate income taxes directly.
If you have chosen to organize your company as a corporation, you are legally required to have a board of directors.
The primary benefit of being a non-profit (or not-for-profit) corporation is that you are exempt from paying income taxes.
Sole proprietorship is the quickest and easiest business structure to adopt. If you don't incorporate and don't have a partner, you are automatically a sole proprietor.
S Corporation status gives you the liability protection of a corporation, and allows you to pay taxes on the same basis as a sole proprietor or partnership, that means you pay tax at the personal rate and your profits are your salary.
Groups of certain professionals can form corporations knows as professional corporations or professional service corporations.
Cash flow problems often catch small business owners by surprise. An accurate cash flow projection can protect entrepreneurs against this situation.
As any small business owner knows, maintaining smooth cash flow requires juggling nearly every facet of a business. Here are 10 things you can do to increase your cash flow.
Nearly every small business will face a cash flow crunch at some point, when money flowing into your company is not enough to cover short-term payables.
Proper bookkeeping is important to sustaining and expanding a business. Without it, you run the risk of hitting cash flow crunches, wasting money, and missing out on opportunities to expand.
