Posts by bb4b_linda

When starting a new small business, one of the first decisions you must make is to decide what type of business entity your business will be.  This decision is not to be made lightly.  Do your research and talk to a lawyer before you make any decisions.  To get you started with your research, we will give you some of the basics. Starting your new small business as a Sole Proprietor is the easiest way to get things rolling.  The owner and business are treated as one entity, therefore, your profits are taxed at the owner’s individual federal tax rate.  There is no need to file additional tax statements for your business.  However, with this type of entity, you are not protected from liability – the owner’s personal assets are not protected because the company and the individual are treated as one entity.  You may need to file for a DBA (doing business as) or Fictitious Business Name from you county, city or state government offices.  And it is always a good idea to have your personal and business bank accounts separate for accounting purposes. There are a few different types of Partnerships.  In a General Partnership, consisting of two or more parties, capital put into the company is usually equal.  As is the liability, profits and loss.  As with the Sole Proprietor, the General Partnership is treated as one entity.  This can be overcome to some extent by using the Limited Partnership structure where one partner acts as the controlling partner.  A Certificate of Limited Partnership is usually required by the Secretary of State. A Limited Liability Company is a similar to a Sole Proprietor in that it can be owned by one person and can be taxed on an individual basis, if you choose, as a Sole Proprietor.  But the Limited Liability Company is not as easy to start as a Sole Proprietor.  Check with your county, city or state government to see what type of paperwork you need to file on a yearly basis and why types of fees are required.  This type of entity does have the advantage of limited liability for business debts and obligations.  LLC must become part of the business name and must be visible at all times. A Corporation is a legal business entity that is completely separate from its owners where the owners are not personally responsible for the debts of the corporation.  Unlike the other entities above, the Corporation can sell stocks and bonds to help generate capital for the business.  Taxes are paid on both corporate profits and shareholder dividends.  Paperwork to form a corporation is the most extensive of all the entities. With any business decision, you must do your research to make sure your decision is best for you and your business.  Talking to a lawyer and letting him go over your paperwork is always a good idea.  Starting a small business is a lot of work, but if done properly, it can be very...

The Franchise Show—http://www.thefranchiseshow.net The Franchise Show is for anyone who may be contemplating buying a franchise, whether they are in the beginning stages or well on the way.  Finding the right franchise can be a difficult task as there are so many concepts to consider.   The Franchise Show gives you the chance to learn more about different franchise concepts from your own computer, by listening to live and/or recorded webcasts from some of the best franchise companies. This is not a full list of franchises available in the US ; it is only meant to show the range of opportunities and industries available.   Post submitted by John Tubridy | Principal and Franchise Specialist Franchise Network of Pittsburgh | FranNet p. 412.486.2546  c. 724.612.0961 e. jtubridy@frannet.com http://www.frannet.com/jtubridy...

How to ARM Your Select Employees for Success Provided By:  Anthony Mastro, Northwestern Mutual Most business owners would love to have employees who are as passionate about the company as they are. It makes sense: The future of a closely-held or family business depends on how securely its select employees are tied to it. But creating an environment where employees feel like owners doesn’t happen overnight. To ensure the continued success of a business, owners need to ARM – attract, retain and motivate – select employees who can help grow and sustain their business.  For many closely held companies, a well-designed compensation strategy that is directly connected to the growth plan of the business may be the answer. Here’s why. Many, if not most, businesses are sold to select employees. As a result, your ability to harvest the value of your business may be directly tied to the success of the people you leave running the company. But even in the instance of a third party buyer, the value of a business can be seriously hampered by the lack of good management team.  In fact, unless you have capable successors and employees, your closely held business may not survive your departure if your select employees leave instead of adapting to new owners and management. Tying employee’s interests with yours The purpose of a select employee compensation plan is to put “glue in the seats” for those members of your management team who are critical to the success of your business. Equally important, it’s purpose is to provide a tool owners can use to identify current and future employees who thrive on peak performance and who have the ability to think and act like an owner – and therefore, have the potential to become one. Of course, most employees recognize the bottom line to a company’s success is, well, the bottom line. But it’s also crucial that they understand how their contributions will help make that happen. A select employee compensation plan can help connect the dots between performance and results, providing a means to create and sustain long-term engagement. There are numerous methods for rewarding a select employee’s commitment, loyalty and hard work. The most effective incentive plans are multi-layered, providing short-term compensation and, in the longer-term, deferred compensation and perhaps even a stake in the business. But whether they are cash-based, equity-based or a combination of the two, effective inventive plans typically share four common features: (1) the rewards are substantial; (2) specific and measurable; (3) tied directly to an increase in the company’s economic value and the owner’s objectives; and (4) designed to vest over time. Motivational tools There are few better motivators for retaining top performing employees than making them an owner. Stock ownership provides a “golden handcuff,” tying a select employee’s financial goals and other interests to the growth and long-term success of the company. Many owners of closely held businesses, however, don’t want to involve employees in all the decision making for the business. Rather than giving or selling shares outright to a select employee, many closely held companies reward select employees by allowing them to share in the success of the business through cash-based plans, such as bonus and/or profit sharing plans, which are offered when select employees meet measurable goals; non-qualified deferred compensation plans, which provide supplemental retirement benefits for a select group of employees; or so-called “phantom stock plans” that give rights to the appreciation in stock value rather than the stock itself. Selecting the right plan for your business Retaining select employees is crucial to growing the value of a business and to the owner’s goal of one day harvesting that value.  A well-designed select employee compensation program can ARM your business for success by helping you to attract, retain and motivate the employees who can make a measurable difference in your company’s bottom line. Each of these plans requires careful planning, however, to maximize their effectiveness and to make certain that federal regulations are satisfied. That’s why it pays to speak with your attorney, accountant or financial advisor to learn more about how a select employee compensation plan can help your business survive and prosper into the future. Who Are Your Select Employees? The term “select employee” can mean different things to different people.  Generally speaking, however, select employees typically possess these three vital qualities: Their efforts have a direct and significant impact on the value of the business Their talents, skills and experience would be difficult to replace; and They participate in a meaningful way in the long-term success of the company   Article prepared by Northwestern Mutual with the cooperation of Anthony...

You have a Google+ account, but are you using it? The new kid on the block in social media made a rather large debut over the past year. With Twitter, Facebook, blogging, and other platforms already chewing up your online marketing time, the idea of introducing another platform can be a bit overwhelming. That said, there is no need to abandon the online communities you have built on other platforms, but here are a few tips on what you should be doing now to make your presence known on  the newest one.   Make sure your profile is up to date: –     Add a tagline: This feature reminds people who you are and what you do. From the tagline others can decide what circle  to include you in. A vague headline that doesn’t state what your page is about may lead to confused visitors – so use your creativity to catch some new eyes. –     Add photos: This gives you a chance to give your audience an inside look at your company. Most post product images and there’s nothing wrong with this, but along with product images, be personal and show your company behind the scenes – as research suggests that people like pictures of, well, people. –     Recommended links: In the ‘About’ tab you’ll see Recommended Links near the bottom. Add links to your blog and your company homepage for users to visit and to drive traffic to your e-commerce points of sale or prospective clients to your contact info. Take time to understand the +1 feature: +1 has an indirect effect on your site’s search rank. This does not mean the more +1’s a link has, the higher rank it achieves in traditional search results. A Google +1 can indirectly lead to a better page rank. The bottom line is, the SEO effects of a +1 are very indirect, which means traditional SEO practices should not be ignored, but that a +1 may positively affect your results for people connected to those in your circles. Join hangouts and add to Circles: The Circles feature allows you to segment your followers and the people you follow. This means that businesses can send out select messages to select people – such as partners, customers or community members. Hangouts can be useful for brands because they gives users a chance to engage with the people in your company through video chat. These tips will keep you on the social media bandwagon and help to improve your business’ web presence.  Utilizing platforms such as Google+ can improve the way we communicate our brand to others because of its unique feature set. As with any social media channel, it is important to have an integrated plan, be patient and focus on using the platform to reach new customers, create engagement and ultimately drive your sales or client...

We know two things about social media – that it is here to stay, and that it is always changing. Whether it is the presence of new technical tools or a strategy swing from your key competitors, what is proven effective and what is possible via social media marketing today will surely be different tomorrow. As a result, creating a plan can be challenging, but these timeless five steps should help you stay connected with your core audience and generate a solid return on your investment, regardless of your organization’s size and budget. Identify and Focus on Your Audience’s Core Channels – Marketing to moms? You may want to focus on Pinterest. Focused on college students? Twitter is where it’s at. Regardless of who your audience is, there is probably a channel you will want to identify as your key area of focus. Of course, that is not to say you should only invest your time in one of the channels, but rather find your audience’s favorites and start to target them there – without ignoring other platforms. Whether it’s Facebook, Pinterest, Google+, LinkedIn, Twitter, Tumblr, Yelp!, Foursquare or Instagram, find the channels that fit your organization best and use them to stay visible with your audience. Initiate Engagement – Remember, remember, remember – it’s safe to assume that no one wakes up in the morning seeking to connect with your organization. Make an active effort to get your name out there by targeting the people and organizations that can get you noticed on social media platforms. You can do this by asking for support, but a better strategy is to start a conversation with these publics. Set a goal to target a set number of these publics per week or month and get a return on a certain percentage. If you can get these influencers on your team, you’ll find those they influence coming through your digital doors. Use Your Time Wisely – In the abyss that is the Web, it is easy to spend your entire day scrounging content. Resist this urge! Find the people that can benefit you the most, locate the best sources of information and dictate how much of your content will be conversational, shared and promotional and formulate a path to follow within a set window of time. We start with promotional, partner and conversational posts at the beginning of each week – schedule the content to go out at specific times when our audience is the most active and then go from there. Use an in-depth analytics website, such as crowdbooster.com to track analytics for individual posts or tweets and discover when your audience is the most active. If someone engages you, pick a time that works each day to prepare a response – or set your mobile device to alert you and then respond, if you have a flexible schedule. Repurpose Your Content – A Facebook Post and a Tweet are apples and oranges in appearance, but that doesn’t mean the message can’t be similar. Find a way to minimize your time spent by taking your content and shaping it for each platform. This is a great way to cross platforms without changing your entire messaging strategy and content. Have a new product or a great link to share? Adapt it to the technical differences and get it out there across all of your key platforms. Don’t Let Your Other Marketing Suffer – Social is here to stay, but that doesn’t mean traditional PR and advertising are gone. In fact, with so many organizations investing more effort into social, you may find this is a good opportunity to use those old-school platforms like radio ads and press releases to stand out and also drive that audience directly to your social presence. If you’re a commerce business, marketing to traditional audiences can drive them to social and then to your website, where your digital point-of-sale awaits. The biggest thing to remember is that a social media plan is subject to change. If your numbers start to suffer – adapt! You also want to make sure that your plan has you walking down a two-way street – engaging your audience as they pass. A good plan can turn those social residents around and get them chatting with you the whole way up the street – and before you know it – your dedicated efforts can lead to a dedicated discussion about...