A Brief look at SCORE Chicago (July 30-August 6)

July 31, 2009 — markegoodman
Posted in Chicago small business, Internet, Management, Marketing. Tags: , , , , . Leave a Comment »

Tips on Taking Advantage of the Downturn

July 29, 2009 — markegoodman

Ask Score is a feature that we are doing in conjuction with Crain’s Chicago Business.  This week’s  blog posting below.

Posted by Ann D. at 7/29/2009 6:45 AM CDT

We’ve invited SCORE Chicago, the small business coaching and counseling organization, to answer readers’ questions on all aspects of running a small business. Every Wednesday, we’ll publish SCORE Chicago’s advice on issues that matter to you.

If you have a question or problem that you’d like to run past SCORE Chicago’s counseling team, send an e-mail to adwyer@crain.com. Be sure to put “Ask SCORE” in the subject line.

This feature is fairly new, so allow us to pose a question that’s on everybody’s mind in this painful recession: “How can I take advantage of this downturn?” 

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Many SCORE counseling sessions revolve around helping our clients survive these difficult economic times. Jim Stoynoff, a SCORE member, has this advice.

Whatever you do, don’t stop marketing. Make a special effort to explain to your customers why your product is important. Jim notes that your competitors may have stopped their marketing. Therefore, your message can come through more clearly and loudly.

Look at today as an opportunity to get in the door. With the cost pressures that your customers are facing, many of them are more open to change. Take advantage of the new openness.

Jim also suggests that you take the time to meet with your customers and vendors in person. Take the time to share strategies, and work to form a common bond.

Jim recently talked about this issue on SCORE Chicago’s YouTube channel; you’ll find a brief clip here.

The entire interview with Jim is available on SCORE Chicago’s CANTV 21 Channel on Blip.TV.

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SCORE is a 45-year-old, national, non-profit resource partner of SBA, staffed by former business owners and executives who offer free expert advice through counseling, consulting services and affordable workshops to entrepreneurs operating and starting small businesses. For more information, go to www.scorechicago.org.

Posted in Ask SCORE, Chicago small business, Marketing, Uncategorized. Tags: , , , , . Leave a Comment »

IRS’s Top Seven Tax Tips for Starting a New Business

July 27, 2009 — Peg Corwin

Anyone starting or thinking of starting a new business should be aware of their federal tax responsibilities. Here are the top seven things the IRS wants you to know if you plan on opening a new business this year.

1.    First, you must decide what type of business entity you are going to establish. The type your business takes will determine which tax form you have to file. The most common types of business are the sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation and S corporation.

2.    The type of business you operate determines what taxes you must pay and how you pay them. The four general types of business taxes are income tax, self-employment tax, employment tax and excise tax.

3.    An Employer Identification Number is used to identify a business entity. Generally, businesses need an EIN. Visit IRS.gov for more information about whether you will need an EIN. You can also apply for an EIN online at IRS.gov.

4.    Good records will help you ensure successful operation of your new business. You may choose any recordkeeping system suited to your business that clearly shows your income and expenses. Except in a few cases, the law does not require any special kind of records. However, the business you are in affects the type of records you need to keep for federal tax purposes.

5.    Every business taxpayer must figure taxable income on an annual accounting period called a tax year. The calendar year and the fiscal year are the most common tax years used.

6.    Each taxpayer must also use a consistent accounting method, which is a set of rules for determining when to report income and expenses. The most commonly used accounting methods are the cash method and an accrual method. Under the cash method, you generally report income in the tax year you receive it and deduct expenses in the tax year you pay them. Under an accrual method, you generally report income in the tax year you earn it and deduct expenses in the tax year you incur them.

7.    Visit the Business section of IRS.gov for resources to assist entrepreneurs with starting and operating a new business.

To get the latest IRS news and products and services, subscribe to e-News for Small Businesses on IRS.gov at http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=154825,00.html, click “Subscribe Now” at the bottom of the page and enter your e-mail address.

The IRS Small Business and Self-employed Tax Center at http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/index.html has more information about starting and operating a new business.

Posted in Accounting, startup. Tags: . Leave a Comment »

How to get your emails opened

July 23, 2009 — markegoodman
Ask Score is a new feature that we are doing in conjuction with Crain’s Chicago Business.  See first blog posting below.
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Posted by Ann D. at 7/22/2009 10:01 AM CDT
We’ve invited SCORE Chicago, the small business counseling and advocacy group, to answer Enterprise City readers’ questions on all aspects of running a small business. Starting this week and continuing every Wednesday, we’ll publish SCORE Chicago’s advice on issues that matter to you.

If you have a question or problem that you’d like to run past SCORE Chicago’s counseling team, send an e-mail to adwyer@crain.com.  Be sure put “Ask SCORE” in the subject line.  We’ll aim to answer readers’ questions every Wednesday.

Since this is our first whack at the “Ask SCORE” feature, allow us to prime the pump with a question that’s of interest to many business owners trying to use e-mail as a marketing tool: “How do I get people to open my e-mails?”

It so happens that SCORE Chicago recently interviewed Steve Robinson of Constant Contact on this very subject. Here’s what they learned:

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We frequently get questions about how to market more effectively at lower cost. Increasingly, e-mail has become the medium of choice for small business. One of the questions that was recently asked during one of our workshops was, “How do I get my emails opened more often?“

We posed this question to Steve Robinson of Constant Contact in an interview on our TV show on CANTV 21. 

Steve’s advice: Focus on the subject line.

For example, if you were sending out a newsletter for a travel business, rather than titling that e-mail “March Newsletter,“ you should put a benefit in that title line. A sample benefit could be, “Three Great Spring Vacations.“

As a small business, you should have a regular schedule for your e-mail marketing. Each time you send out an e-mail, try a different subject line. With an e-mail tool, you can see how many people open different e-mails. The open rate can help you understand which subject lines are more effective.

The beauty of e-mail marketing is that you learn with each e-mail sent.

Take a look at this 47-second video clip on SCORE Chicago’s YouTube channel to learn more.
Posted in Internet, Marketing, SCORE, Small business. Tags: , , , . Leave a Comment »

More Highlights from Twitter June/July

July 21, 2009 — markegoodman

Here are some highlights from our Twitter postings in June and July.  We are at www.twitter.com @scorechicago

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Buying a Business – Think about Seller Financing

July 20, 2009 — markegoodman

This is an excerptfrom a Blog Posting By Domenic Rinaldi.  Domenic will be presenting “Buying a Businesss” Workshop at score on July 30th.   Information about the workshop is at http://bit.ly/BuyBusiness

…… The good news is that business acquisitions are possible without the government and banks. In fact, there was a time when banks played a minor role, if any, in small business acquisition lending. So, we now see the market retraining itself on the practice of SELLER FINANCING. In essence, the seller fulfills the role the banks have played, and in the process, gains back control of their goals. For obvious reasons, this form of financing is met with trepidation by sellers. However, with the proper guidance from seasoned advisors, these types of transactions can be more lucrative and provide better security for both sellers and buyers.

One recent transaction will serve to illustrate the need for sellers to embrace the idea of seller financing. We confidentially represented a business services firm in the Chicago area that had a 17-year track record, a stable client base and growing revenues. Our firm attracted multiple buyers and secured an offer from a private investor with solid financials. The deal structure was as follows:

50% – Buyer Down Payment
25% – Seller Note
25% – Bank Note

This business had physical (hard) assets on the balance sheet that exceeded the amount being requested in bank financing. The sellers had a long-standing banking relationship and offered to introduce the buyer to their banker, who was very bullish on this deal. The bank loan was difficult to get…..

The buyers and sellers were undeterred and we renegotiated the deal with the buyers. We increased their down payment and thus had the sellers fill the void left by the bank.

This type of financing requires tons of creative thinking, experienced advisors and motivated buyers and sellers.

Biz Broker Journal is at: http://www.bizbrokerjournal.com
Posted in Chicago small business, Financing and Loans, Management. Tags: , , , , , . Leave a Comment »

4 Tips on avoiding an audit

July 9, 2009 — markegoodman

Are you paying enough in taxes? Most small business owners would say they already pay plenty.  But the IRS disagrees.  The agency calculates the “tax gap”—that is, what it expects to collect and what taxpayers actually fork over—at more than15 percent of total taxes due.

Personal income from business activities—rather than wages or investments—is the single greatest source of this discrepancy, according to the IRS, accounting for between $83 billion and $99 billion of missing tax dollars.  That’s why the agency directs the  greatest share of its enforcement budget—41 percent in 2006—toward small businesses, almost as much as it devotes to corporations, high-income individuals, and criminal activity combined.

Since the IRS already sees the bulk of small business owners—those with businesses structured as sole proprietorships,  LLCs,  partnerships, and S-Corps—as a greater risk of misreported income compared with individuals or large corporations,  you need to be careful to avoid cutting any corners that could trip you up during an audit.

The comments above and these 4 tips are from a list of 25 Tips, provided in a Business Week article.

1. Classify workers properly

Are your workers employees or independent contractors?  If you classify workers as  independent contractors and don’t contribute the employer’s share of their payroll taxes, make sure they truly meet the IRS’s definition.

It has less to do with how many hours they work and more to do with how much control you exercise over them.

2. File and pay on time

It sounds obvious, but if you don’t pay your taxes or file for an extension by Apr. 15, the IRS can file a substitute return for you, collect the money from your bank accounts, or get a tax lien against your property.

3. Pay estimated taxes

Since taxes aren’t withheld from your business income as they are from W-2 wages, you have to pay the IRS estimated taxes four times a year.  While some business owners may not owe estimated taxes—sole proprietors who expect to owe less than $1,000 for the year, for example—failing to pay them could leave you on the hook for a penalty come April.

4.  Keep careful records

Don’t stuff all your receipts and invoices in a desk drawer.  Make sure you have records to back up your sources of income and expenses. The burden is on the taxpayer to prove a deduction is a legitimate business expense, so you should have receipts to show an auditor that your write-offs are above board.

Information on Accounting, Taxes and Risk Management is available in a SCORE Chicago workshop on July 17th.  Registration information is at: http://bit.ly/AccountingRisk

Special thanks to Irv Williamson, who will be presenting this workshop.

Posted in Accounting, Chicago small business, Management, Small business. Tags: , , , , . Leave a Comment »

4 Questions to help you get started on line

July 1, 2009 — markegoodman

1.  Do you have a thorough understanding of your business requirements?

  • Goal for the website
    • on-line brochure
    • e-commerce catalog
    • customer service
    • e-conversation
  • Measurements
    • leads
    • sales
    • cost reduction
    • customer satisfaction

2.  Have these business requirements been documented in a form that allows them to be communicated to others?

  • One or two page document that has been shared with staff (aligns with business requirements)
  • Study of competitive websites
  • List of your favorite websites – do not have to be in your business  ( why do you like them)

3.  Have you prioritized these requirements?

  • Identified must haves vs. would be nices
  • Allows for the creation of a foundation that can be added upon

4.  Have you established a budget for the development project?

  • Establish early in the dialogue with your developer
  • Allow for an alignment of the deliverable to your budget
  • Identify  tasks you can perform to lower the costs
  • Can you tie expansion to increased sales or improved costs
  • Are you allowing for the continued addition of content
  • Consider monthly hosting and maintenance costs

(This is one section covered in the SCORE Chicago workshop “Taking Your Business On Line” – July 13)

Register for Taking Your Business On Line.

Posted in Chicago small business, Internet, Marketing. Tags: , , , . 1 Comment »