Costly Bix Mistake #3. Check the professionals who work for you.

Costly Mistake #3:  Just because someone says they’re a great professional, reputable, honest, timely, conscientious, etc. does not mean they are.  Check their credentials, referrals, have a contract with agreed fees, and make sure they are doing what they are supposed to do.  And very importantly engage a professional that  will explain to you WHAT they are doing,  WHY they are doing it and WHEN it should be done and HOW  it will be done and WHO will be doing it.   

Example:  In one  of our business we formed a corporation and we decided to elect to file as a subchapter S corporation.  This is a Tax filing elective which  allows you to take certain tax deductions.  This filing MUST  be done within a certain time period.  If it is not done in the time period allowed by law, then you are treated by the IRS differently and do not receive certain tax deductions. 

 My lawyer said  he knew it all and would take care of everything.  I did not have to bother my  accountant about that.  So I happpily assumed it was being done and done in a timely manner.    When it came to tax filing time I told my accountant we were this tax elective...and upon checking we were not. 

  Therefore it cost me money because we did not have the correct tax status.  Do not assume everything will be done, check on it and make sure it is being done.  That little mistake cost me over $4,000 in additional taxes that had to be paid.

 Needless to say an expensive lesson.  Today I am very direct with the professionals I use and work hard to understand what they are doing for me and what are the dates that I need to be concerned about.   

Wednesday Biz tip: Taxes, Accountant & You

 Biz Tip:  BEFORE you start your business take a course, seminar, classes, webinar,  read books about your business and the taxes you are obligated to pay.

 Many people get an accountant and expect them to take care of everthing.... without knowing  what they are taking care of and what the accountant is charging you for.

 Accountants do make mistakes and those mistakes can be disasterous to your business.   Having a working knowledge of taxes will help you be a better busienss owner and client for your accountant.

Also as in any profession, there are good accountants, mediocre and a few who are irresponsible and some who are unethical.  Remember Enron and their accounting firm? If there is a problem with your taxes...guess who is in trouble..YOU! 
Knowledge is protection for your business.

Tuesday biz Tip Costly Mistake #2: Warranties can bite

Costly Mistake #2. 
PLEASE READ the specs and warranty BEFORE you BUY!.  Do not BELIEVE everything the salesman says. Often they have not taken the time to really learn their products/warranties especially in the big box stores. 
With one of my purchases I did  NOT  read it because it was long and boring and of course I was running from one thing to another. And when my  latest purchase of office equipment  broke within six months, I naively thought it was covered...NOT.  
Therefor I had  expensive repair bill  and just had to "grin and bear it" and pay it.
Moral of story:   READ THE WARRANTY.

Tuesday Biz Tip:Murphy Laws rules the electronic world.

 Biz tip:
Backup, Backup, Backup and Backup your files.


 How many times can I say that?  Of course I am the biggest offender.  

Please take my advice..and save yourself time, money, headaches and major regrets. 

Get an external service.. And for stuff you should have forever have paper and electronic backup.  Why paper?


Because I have had clients who proudly have boasted about their backup and external cloud service and guess what?  Murphy struck!  Their plant got hit by lightning...messy!  And their infallible cloud guy went out of business. 


In other words...MURPHY'S LAW rules the electronic kingdom.  Protect your business..expect MURPHY to be lurking around but don't let him be the boss of your business.

Biz tip: Costly Mistake #1 .Not following through

Biz Thought: Costly Mistake # 1.


 Just leave these bids with me and I will sign them and make sure they are mailed on time,. my former business partner said to me. Being young and naive (dumb) and not to be seen as "nagging" I listened to him. 


And on top of that I did not follow my hunch up and check with him to see if he had mailed it. 
Did they get mailed on time? NO!
Could it had been the winning bid? YES! 
In fact the guy who won the bid was only $500 higher than!us. 

Moral of story: Do not be afraid of "nagging"! It's your money laying on the table! 
And better yet keep control of the papers and make sure they are mailed or handed in. 


Remember Names are only names and when someone accuses you of  "nagging"  just smile sweetly and say "Yes and I am.  And I  not going to stop until what I need gets done".

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Did you know  know Mistakes..can be GOOD for your business..   What? You say?  Mistakes cause problems, costs money, make my customers mad and create  problems for me.  

Yes that is true..but hear me out.   Look at a baby.   Babies are marvelous balls of energy, enthusiasm and curiosity.  They are willing to try anything…sometimes to their parent’s consternation…but they don’t stop... when they fall down and topple over…they just pull themselves up and do it again till they are standing there proud as can be.  

.

 Owning a business is like raising a baby…there will be hard knocks  from the "falling down mistakes"…and like the baby you will learn and pick yourself up and go at it again...until you do it perfectly.!

Enjoy the day and appreciate the “mistakes” adventures in your life.

PS. I will be sharing some of the mistakes I have made, learned from and kept on going . Stay tuned and be prepared to be shocked, amused and mystified. How could she have done that ?  

Hopefully you will learn from my mistakes and not  repeat  them. 

Look for my upcoming book " 52 Dangerous Mistakes Business Owners Make"..it will make you laugh, sigh with relief and say oh _________I am NOT going to do that!

Weekend biz tip:

Have a busy schedule this weekend?
  
Trying to "catch up" and get ready for next week and please everyone at the same time? Whoa! Not going happen. 


Prioritize folks. 


Make a reasonable list an do that!
And schedule ME time in your list. We all need 
re-creation and you are in charge of getting this for you.

Wednesday biz tip: Customer demand? New service?

 When times are tough we all have a tendency to stretch
 ourselves and take whatever jobs we can get, often doing
 things out of our experience.  


Once in a while that is good and opens new doors. And other times it can lead to disaster. 


It is important to make  sure the "new" thing you do..is one that you can take your experience and expertise and transfer that to the new project without major risk or cost. 


For example one of my clients a specialty automotive shop who installed transmissions would take an engine overhaul job.  Why? Because one of their guys (the owner's son) liked to fool around with engines and it was "good" money  Yeah, sure!   
When we reviewed costs it was a disaster.  


We found that those "good money jobs"  always ended up taking twice as long as promised, cost more and produced very disgruntled customers. 


We still needed to develop additional revenue.  One of the younger employees pointed out "we are changing fluids all the times".   We have have the lifts and the equipment, why can't  we dedicate one bay for quick oil changes and lubes etc.  And that's what we did...and it worked out very well.  We increased income by 15% and the profit was excellent. 


Moral of story:  Make sure the new customer /project dollar you are chasing is one that you can do without losing your shirt.  

What are you? business owner or Consumer?

Are You Thinking & Acting

                                             Like a Business Owner or a Consumer?

It has finally happened!   Your business is rapidly growing.  Everything is working just as you dreamed.  Inquiries are coming in daily, sales have doubled, customers are coming in regularly, and employees are scrambling to meet the demand.    You are busy putting out fires, trying to keep new customers happy and old ones satisfied.  Money is flowing in the door, yet leaving in a rapid torrent.   You are constantly scrambling for dollars to pay your obligations:  payroll, new equipment, increased inventory, vendors, and taxes.  The pressure is building and something’s got to change.  

You think  "I know I will go the bank and borrow money and that will solve my problems.”  Maybe and maybe not.  Throwing money at a problem is not always the first or the smartest thing to do.  There are other things that must be done first! One is taking a look at you.  Are you thinking and acting like a business owner or are you still thinking like a consumer?  

 And what’s the difference?

You think, “I will go the bank and borrow money and that will solve my problems.”  Maybe and maybe not.  Throwing money at a problem is NOT  always the first or the smartest thing to do.  There are other things that must be done first! 


One is taking a look at you.  Are you thinking and acting like a business owner or are you still thinking like a consumer?   And what’s the difference?


  A consumer style thinks only of pleasing the customer and getting the product out as cheaply as possible, not about what is good long term for the business. A consumer owner is one who is fearful of making hard decisions because a customer may not be pleased.  “If I raise my prices, all my customers will leave me.”  That is not true.  “If I change anything, I will ruin everything.  All I must do is work harder and longer and I will get through all this.  My crisis style of management has worked before (the thrill of doing the almost impossible in an improbable time) and why should it not work now?”


Right? Wrong!  The owner has to take the step to become a planner, a thinker a controller, a motivator, a financial manager, a leader, not just for today, tomorrow or next week, but for the long term.


So before you rush out to tackle the week, ask yourself,  “Am I more attracted to crisis than thinking?  Do I have excuses for not planning?  Is it more attractive to be in the field:   waiting on tables, moving inventory, digging a ditch, writing a computer program than thinking about being a manager and figuring out what the business needs to grow?”   


It’s up to you!  What are you going to do? Think and act like a business owner or stay in crisis and act like a consumer.

Monday Biz Tip: Making Monday productive and enjoyable

Biz tip. For those who work at home...Monday am is often a slow start for those of us who work at home.   I  gotta admit it is nice to wander around with a cup of coffee in hand and listen to traffic reports and feel very smug. 

Trouble is we loose almost a day by the time we get moving...Yes I know we worked on the weekend and we deserve a break...but we all need to do something to jump start your day. 

So what do you do to get over the Monday morning slowness? 
 How about taking some time to  thinking what you can do to let yourself ease into the week and yet be productive. 
 Here are some suggestions..if you have more please contribute.
 1,  Review your schedule for the week and  making sure you have your materials or supplies ready.
 2.  Make an appointment for coffee with another business associates you have been wanting to talk to.
3.   Send e-mail confirming  your appointments.
4.   Do the old fashion thing...write  cards and notes to people who you want to thank.


In other words you have something planned so you can enjoy the morning and still be productive. 


Make it a productive and profitable day folks.  And add your comments on what we can do to get moving on Monday Am.

Weekend Biz tip. The Importance of fathers

S. I. Business Associates

Weekend Biz tip: Encourage your children to learn about business. With Father's Day tomorrow I got to thinking how my Dad encouraged my ENTREPRENEURIAL spirit and drive. Dad would buy anything that I sold, from lemonade to cookies to calendars to kittens to Avon to...you get the drift. Thanks Dad for the encouragement. Happy Father' Day to all you Dad's and to those who have stepped into the role when needed.

Did you know? One of the largest trends in family business is the amount of women who are taking over their family firms. In the past, succession was reserved for the first born son, then it moved on to any male heir. Now, women account for approx. 11-12% of all family firm leaders, an increase of close to 40% since 1996. Daughters are now considered to be one of the most underutilized resources in family businesses. To encourage the next generation of women to be valuable members of the business, potential female successors should be nurtured by assimilation into the family firm, mentoring, sharing of important tacit knowledge and having positive role models within the business (Alderson, 2011).

Who knows your daughter may be the next "Bill Gates"

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Friday Biz tip. Financial policy, who what when, how

Biz Tip:  As a business starts to grow and go beyond a handful  of people  a company needs a financial policy.  This is the hard part.  Why? Because the owner is use to wheeling and dealing paying the bills, stretching the cash and taking what they need when they need or want it. That  method of handling money "work's" when the business is small.  But once you enter the growth path financial policies need to be established. If you do not,  then you can easily create financial and credit problems and destroy your credibility as a reliable business.  


Some questions that need to be answered are  
1.  Whose in charge of money? 
2.  Who pays the bills?  
3.  Who makes the buying decisions?
4.  Who establishes  pricing ?
5.  Who does the billing?
6.  Who collects the money?
7.  How often do you bill?
8.  Do you extend credit to your customers?
9.  What are your credit terms?
10. Who is authorized to signs checks?
11.  Do you have more than one checking account?
12.  If someone else other than the owner is signing check what is the limit?

The above is just a few of the questions that need to be answered.  Growth is exciting..but dangerous! Being in control of your money is essential. If you need to think through your financial policy gives us a call at 412-440-6969.  .  

Thurday Biz Tip. Signing Checks

Biz Tip:  When you are signing business checks as an officer of the company, make sure you also sign your title.  If you DO NOT and the company is sued some smart lawyer will use that to pierce the corporate veil and try to make you the responsible person.  Not fun when there is a lawsuit and you are being threatened financially.
  Example:  Sign check as James Doe, President, Or John Smith, Treasurer.
Tip from Diane Pearson  Legend Financial Services and guest on the Empress of Biz, Reinvent in Rugged times.  www.pplmag.com and www.talkshoe.com

Tuesday Biz Tip: ABC's of Certification Part !

Small Business Certification  Part One

Certification is a procedure that you go through to be recognized by government and corporate  organizations in certain recognized categories.  If you are seeking government or corporate business you really need to understand who, what, where,  when and how of the certification.  

Small business certifications are like professional certifications; they document a special capability or status that will help you compete in the marketplace. Unlike permits and licenses, you do not need to obtain certifications to legally operate. However, in order to take advantage of business opportunities, such as government contracts, you may need to obtain some certifications.

Certification is  offered  by many government agencies and organizations on the  local, state, federal level and  given in the following categories:

• Woman Business Enterprise (WBE) certification is gender-based for woman-owned businesses.
• Women Owned Small Business (WOSB) certification is required for a specific federal purchasing program that has a set-aside for woman-owned businesses. There is also a disadvantaged component to this program, which is called EDWOSB.
• The 8(a) designation is actually a business development / mentoring program administered by the Small Business Administration (SBA) for a company that has been disadvantaged, and 8(a) certification is part of that program.
• Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB) certification is for businesses that are disadvantaged but are not participating in the 8(a) development program.
• Disabled Veteran (DV) certification is for the business owner who is a veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces and who has been disabled in action.
• Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) certification is race-based for minority-owned businesses.

Applying for one type of certification DOES NOT give you automatic approval in other groups.  . 

Example:  If you are certified by The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (Penn Dot) your certification is not  automatically accepted by the Pennsylvania Department of General Services.  You must apply to the Pennsylvania Department of General Services and follow their procedure.  

While the standards may be similar for each  department you need to be aware of each department  individual requirements .

Stay tuned:  More information to come on the next posting. 

Information from Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and National Women's Business Owners Corporation.  20012

s.

Monday Biz Tip: Thank you for...

Biz tip: A successful business does not happen all by itself. Many people  have helped along the way, employees, business associates, vendors, family, friends and CUSTOMERS. Make the time to say thank you and tell people how much you appreciate them.  Do something unexpected for them.  Does not have to be expensive..buy lunch for a friend, send a card, give a small gift, take some cookies into the office, send a thank you note, give an a couple hours off early or give an extra service just to say how much I appreciate you.  A little a thanks goes a long way.

Biz tip Sunday, June 9   Certification can be a very useful tool for small business owners. Many of my clients have used it to successfully build their business to the next level. Once you get the certification it is NOT automatic work, you have to market yourself to those are most likely to buy your product/service. Get on the phone, make appointments see as many as you can and keep in touch with your potential customers . One client increased her business by 25% and it was good profitable business. 
For more information on certification check in with us.  

Biz tip

Biz tip: In sales call..be more interested in your potential client than your next sentence. Many a sale has been lost because you are not listening and missing the buying signals, objections or concerns.  

Money &Lending for small biz..Sue Malone new money available

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06-07-2012 09:01:37

EMPRESS OF BIZ! Reinvent in Rugged Times, JoAnn Forrester

EMPRESS OF BIZ!She back Sue Malone with good news.

We have The Money Lady back! Sue Malone will be discussing changes to SBA Lending and the program the SBA Small Business Loan Advantage and what it can do for your business.

 Also Anne Marie Gire publisher of the Women's Yellow Pages is guest co-host as we discuss the new improved SBA Small Business Loan Advantage and what is new in her business and the publication of the 6th annual Women's Yellow Pages and a celebration at the Rivers Club on June 21.

HATS OFF and   A SPECIAL thank you TO SUE MALONE FOR HER COMMITMENT TO SMALL BUSINESS.  Sue lobbied for over 2 1/2 years for changes to the fund that gives accessibility to capital for the smaller loans.   .  Sue is an example of what one person can do when passionately committed to help others.

Amazing woman...we are all proud of you and will do our best to support you.

Dear Friends:
Here are some Quotes by women to amuse, irk, inspire, ponder, motivate .  And join me and Bonnie DiCarlo co-founders of  Celebrate & Share on August 28 for the 4th Annual Breakfast At the Rivers Club Honoring the Passage of the 19th Amendment..giving women the right to Vote!  Give me a call or send e-mail for  prices and info on sponsorship.  Make it a a great day all.

JoAnn Forrester

Co-Founder Celebrate & Share.

1. There can be no liberty unless there is economic liberty.
Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister of Great Britain

2. No nation is wise enough to rule another.
Helen Keller

3.  Free choice is the greatest gift God gives to his children.
Elisabeth-Kubler-Ross

4. Don’t wait for your “ship to come,” and feel angry and cheated when it doesn’t. Get going with something small.
Irene Kassoria

5. Macho does not prove mucho
Zsa Zsa Gabor, Entertainer

6. You can’t have a congress that responds to the needs of the workingman when there are practically no people here to represent him. And you’re not going to have a society that understands its humanity if you don’t have a more women in government.
Bella Abzug, Congresswoman
Note: Pennsylvania ranks 47th in the nation for elected women officials.

7. A man is not a plan…owning your own business is. A business is more reliable, fun, exciting, dependable and profitable.
JoAnn R. Forrester, S. I. Business Associates
Entrepreneur and the Empress of Biz Talkcast Host

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