Start It Right! Blog

“Roundtable Reality Night”

Bill began the Roundtable session by asking the table to come forward with any questions.   

• Terrance volunteered the first question: Would it be wise to incorporate your business when you first start out or when you have enough revenue? What are the pros and cons?
• Bill responded:
  •  As you start to make money, it’s a benefit when regarding taxes.
  •  You are facing liability issues if you are not incorporated. For example, if your company is sued for any reason, it will become a personal attack.
  • By incorporating your business, you create legitimacy for yourself and your company. 

• Annie Price mentioned that her new veterinary practice will be opening in the next month. Bill asked her how she plans to set herself apart from other veterinary offices.
  • Annie replied that she will take a more low key approach and appeal to the neighborhood surrounding her office rather than a broader market.
  • Her office will be decorated with a barn theme and create a warm environment for both pets and pet owners to enjoy. This will set her apart from the typical “hospital” feel of other veterinary practices.
  • Not to go without mentioning, Annie’s passion for helping animals and sincere approach to her work will be appealing qualities to potentials clients.  

• These two topics took up most of the discussion that evening and everyone was able to chime in with their thoughts and advice. Bill concluded with some important bullet points for operating your business:
  • Recognize your client’s needs and cater to these needs as this will sustain your client base.
  • Set yourself apart from your competitors. Whether you decorate your office differently, make site appointments instead of having clients come to you, or facilitate an interesting workshop – make it appealing!
  • Networking is an important tool. Attend networking events, join a local community board, or create your own event!

Next Roundtable Meeting: Wednesday, August 11th, 2010

Topic: TBD

Facilitator: Bill Smith

SIR Roundtable – April 2010

Pricing Your Products & Services

After introductions, Bill Smith began the session by asking the table to introduce themselves from a business standpoint.

• Introducing yourself and your business in a succinct, professional, and informative way is an important facet to the representation and success of your products and services.
• In conjunction, pricing your products and services is one of the most important business decisions you will make.

How to price your products and services

• The first step is to determine your overall costs: business and office expenses, salary and personal taxes, benefits, etc…
• Next, calculate your sell-able time. How much time do you have to sell? It is typical to over-estimate your sell-able time. To be safe, you can start with calculating forty working weeks per year and six billable hours a day. This results in 1,200 sell-able hours a year.
• To calculate your basic hour rate, divide your annual costs by the number of sell-able hours.
• Keep in mind that as much as a quarter of your working time may not be reimbursed due to overhead time, marketing, seminars, meetings, etc…
• You might find that you need to charge more or less, but this is a good foundation to determine your pricing and understanding your value.

What is your competition charging?

• Start asking around. Find out what your fellow professionals charge.
• Remember that there will always be someone who can beat your price, but what you should really compete with is value!
• Clients are more willing to pay a fair price for a superior product or service than pay a cheap price for an unreliable product or service. 

 Correct pricing helps produce profit. 

  What is your biggest challenge when it comes to pricing?

Next Roundtable Meeting: Wednesday, May 12th, 2010 

Topic: TBD 

Facilitator: Bill Smith

SOCIAL NETWORKING

After introductions, Rick Howington began the session with a power point presentation that highlighted key points in the world of social networking.

• The Internet is essentially a more interactive, efficient, and electronic version of our traditional forms of communication.
• Social Networking is the next step in the evolution of the Internet! 

How does social networking work?

• You tell two people, they tell two people, and so on… 

How can social networking work for you?

• Recognize the big players in social networking: Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Linked In, YouTube, etc…
• Harness these tools to get your message out there. Post blogs, RSS feed to Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, your website, and have fun with it!
• Give your professional networking site a personal touch. This can make your business stand out and give potential clients a memorable experience.
• A RSS feed is a standard for exchanging data. By using this tool, you can update information on several of your networking sites at one time.
• Recognize your target market and create a network that will make them easily accessible.
• Consider partnering with other businesses so that you can share networks. This is highly valuable in that you can more than double your potential client base. For example, consider making an “exchange” of blog posts that will highlight your companies.  

Social Networking Security

• Hackers know that most people use passwords that are easy to memorize.
• Tips for passwords:
• Do not use words, keyboard sequences, first letters of a phrase or lyric, or information from your profile.
• Do mix letters, numbers, cases, and characters. 

Your social network may be extremely valuable and possess high potential, but it is only as powerful as the people who choose to utilize it.

Due to the rainy weather, there were fewer attendees than usual, but it allowed for a more intimate and inquisitive Roundtable discussion! …

TAXES, IT’S YOUR MONEY!

Kelly Locklear started the session off with the new rules and regulations for both state and federal tax returns.

• Deadlines will be enforced this year!
• For S-Corporations, starting with year 2008, your deadline will be March 15^th and September 15^th is the last day to get your return.
• There will be an $89.00 a month fee per shareholder for 12 months for those who do not meet deadlines.

Next, we discussed getting your QuickBooks information ready for submission to SBS.

• The deadline for partnerships and LLCs to submit their QuickBooks to SBS is March 18^th.
• The deadline for S-Corps is by the end of this week, 2/15/10.
• It’s important to reconcile your bank accounts and credit cards before submitting your QuickBooks files. This saves us time and saves you money!
• Inputting your financial data into QuickBooks can help you find more deductions than using an excel spreadsheet.
• Use the “Ask My Accountant” feature that QuickBooks provides if you’re not sure about something.
• Make sure you sign both your state and federal E-file authorizations so that we can release your returns.

Deductions you might miss…

• Meal expenses for business related meetings
• Auto expenses – actual expenses or mileage reimbursement
• Bank charges
• Interest and fees on business debt
• Taxes: Sales tax on purchases, real estate, tax on business property (Any business related tax you pay is deductable, no matter how small)
• Overhead costs – utilities, shipping, office supplies, advertising, marketing, telephone and internet charges, software licenses, travel expenses, janitorial expenses, computer services and repairs, landscaping, office/building repairs, equipment repairs
• Depreciation
• Office equipment, furniture, business vehicles – certain percentages, sometimes up to 100% can be expensed in the year of purchase
• Business insurance premiums
• Business gifts
• Professional fees: accounting, legal, architectural, consulting
• Business related continuing education
• Trade-show exhibition or attendance
• Trade-related subscriptions, books, journals
• Retirement contributions
• Fees paid to credit bureaus, better business bureaus, chambers of commerce, and trade associations
• Employee health insurance premiums. Shareholder-owner premiums are deductible on the owner’s individual return.
• Moving expenses.
• Charitable contributions are deductible on the shareholder-owner’s individual return
• Casualty/theft losses not covered by insurance

Audits have been increasing, so make sure you are prepared!

• Keep track of all your receipts
• Paying cash for business related expenses can be difficult to keep up with.
• Use a business card for all of your purchases. That way, you will have an easily accessible electronic database with every transaction detail.

Next Roundtable Meeting: Wednesday, March 10^th, 2010

Topic: Social Networking

Facilitators: Rick Howington (TechAdvocate Solutions Inc.) and Bill Smith (SIR Facilitator)