Do you work 55+ hours per week in your small business? Heed this warning…
Hey small business owner: Would you like to know an easy way to tell if you’re at a higher risk for depression, alcoholism, type-2 diabetes, heart attack, stroke and just about every other modern health and wellness nightmare? You can find out by answering one question: Do you work more than 55 hours a week in your small business? If you answer yes to that question, there’s a good chance that you’re on a road to some severe health problems, if you haven’t arrived there already. The British medical journal, “The Lancet,” recently published a study that uncovered many of these health issues related to being a workaholic. However, there have been many studies over the last decade or so that have found similar associations between overwork and bad health. It’s important to make one thing very clear: These health issues are associated with long hours of work. In other words, where overwork is found, there is a good chance that overconsumption of alcohol (and other health problems) will be found as well. I make this point because there is a difference between association and causation. In my drinking example, both might be caused by a bad marriage, a failing business or any number of reasons. However, since so many bad outcomes are associated with working too many hours, we can consider “hours worked” as sort of a “canary in the coal mine.” Miners used to take canaries down into the mines with them because the birds were more sensitive to hazardous gases. If the canary died, the miners knew they had to take action. In the same way, if you’re logging upwards of 55 hours a week in your small business, your canary is starting to stagger around its cage. You need to take a step back and figure out what’s wrong in your approach to managing your small business. Start asking yourself questions like these: Is my business model bound to fail? Am I too reluctant to delegate? Am I avoiding other aspects of my life by filling the hours with work? Is fear my primary motivator? Perhaps I haven’t listed the exact question that applies to your situation. If so, the point is to find out why you are working so many hours and then do something about it. Further, if you’re logging this many hours, not only are your harming your health, you aren’t doing your small business any favor either. A Stanford University study showed that productivity starts to fall off after 50 hours of work. Once you get that that point, you’ll be working more and more and achieving less and less. That’s not the best way to get the edge you need to be successful in your small business. By the way, cognitive skills decrease as well, so when you’re overworked you’re more likely to make bad decisions. Have I scared you, or at least warned you sufficiently? You should take the concept of work-life balance seriously, for the good of both your work and your life. Check out the series of guest posts work-life balance expert Jeff Davidson has written for us. While you build your small business up, don’t let your small business run you down....
read moreConstant Contact Presents: The Power of People — How to Grow and Market Your Small Business Through Relationships.
People can make – or break – your business. It’s a simple fact. You can’t build a successful and sustainable business single-handedly. But it’s not just about finding warm bodies – you need the right people in the right places who share your vision of success. Whether it’s your first hire, a professional advisor or a strategic partnership, the choices you make about the people who surround you can have meaningful and lasting impact on your business. Susan Solovic is THE Small Business Expert and, in this session, your personal mentor. Her proven strategies and lessons from the trenches are sure to help you succeed. Susan is an award-winning entrepreneur, New York Times, Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author, media personality, keynote speaker and attorney. Behind every achievement, Susan embodies ideas that make her universally —and intimately— relatable to all entrepreneurs: hard work, fortitude, and persistence. Her Small Business Expert Academy educates hundreds of small businesses every week in how to build a solid brand promise and achieve outrageous success! Webinar Agenda: In this session, we will cover topics including: When – and who – to hire (hint – family and friends might love you but aren’t always the best candidate) How to keep employees engaged and loyal, and what that means about your employment ‘brand’ The importance of strategic partnerships Advisors and coaches and how to choose wisely And much more! Date: September 17, 2015 Time: 1 – 2:30 p.m. ET Where: Your Computer. Register now and invest in your small business success. ...
read moreAre Independent Contractors the Answer to Your Staffing Needs?
I get a lot of questions from my community about using independent contractors and/or freelancers instead of going through the hassle and expense of actually hiring employees. It’s tempting to categorize workers as independent contractors (ICs) rather than employees, because ICs are people considered to be in business for themselves. Therefore, your business is not required to pay state and federal payroll taxes or other employee benefits, which can add 20 to 30 percent to payroll costs. Instead, the IC is required to pay estimated taxes directly to the IRS four times per year. Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? Well, it won’t seem like such a good idea if the IRS determines that the worker you’ve classified as an IC is actually an employee. Yes, they can do that, and if they do — get out your checkbook. Not only will you have to pay the back taxes, but you’ll also be hit with a penalty of 12 to 35 percent of the total tax bill. To avoid the heavy hand of the tax man, it’s important to understand the criteria used to judge the status of a worker. Different federal and state government agencies use a variety of tests to determine whether an actual independent contractor relationship exists. These agencies include: state taxing authorities, the U.S. Department of Labor, and state unemployment and workers’ compensation agencies. The most commonly recognized assessment is the IRS’s 20-factor test. Primarily, the classification hinges on the degree of control you exercise over the individual. Some of the IRS review criteria include: The individual’s ability to set his own hours and do the job in his own way. The individual’s ability to use her own methods as opposed to being required to undergo training from the purchaser of her services. The individual can earn a profit or suffer a loss from the activity. The individual is able to assign her own workers to do the job and is not required to do it personally. The individual is hired for one job and does not have a continuing relationship. The individual has more than one client at a time. The individual pays her own business and traveling expenses. The individual works off the employer’s premises and uses her own office, desk and equipment. The individual agrees to complete a specific job and is responsible for satisfactory completion, or she is obligated to make good for any failures. Sometimes a written IC agreement can establish the nature of the relationship with the individual you are hiring. The agreement should clearly spell out the scope of the work the individual will perform, when it will be performed, and how much he or she will be paid. However, an agreement alone won’t be enough to avoid an IC being reclassified as an employee. So before you take the easy way out, make sure you carefully review what your relationship will be with the individual you are going to hire. A few dollars saved today could be a costly mistake tomorrow. Note: The information in this article is provided for informational purposes only and should not be considered legal advice and not warranted or guaranteed. Keep in mind laws change over time and differ by jurisdictions so it is recommended you consult an attorney in your regarding business legal matters....
read moreThis Week in Small Business: Rekindle old contacts, double check your website, and more
This week many of the most popular small business articles I’ve shared on social media deal with critical, “meat-and-potato” topics, such as networking, business valuation techniques and making sure you aren’t missing a critical item on your website. Leadership, management and productivity Sometimes in small business (and life) it’s not how good you are, but who you know. That’s why learning how to reach out to old networking contacts can be valuable. A 22-year Army career prepared Fred Wellman for the challenges of building successful firms. Here’s Fred’s story. This guest article on my site about how to value small businesses has been a big hit with readers. Marketing and sales Honestly, sometimes the obvious is the easiest to overlook. Check your website against this list of critical home page items and make sure you haven’t dropped the ball. Want to find out what content works best? This blog looks at a study that examined one million articles. Infographics are a powerful small business content marketing tool. Just make sure you’re telling the truth with yours! Emotional marketing can be very powerful. Sarah Dawley gives you five ways to use it in your B2B company. Entrepreneurship, startups and innovation If you’re an entrepreneur or small business owner, I think you’re probably pretty competitive. Check out this comprehensive list of contests that I’ve put together for you. Is your startup a good fit for “storefront America”? If so, here are the best locations along with the best businesses. A lot of today’s startups are born in coworking spaces, accelerators and incubators. Get the big picture of how those places compare and which is best for your plans. Politics, government and the economy As various polling firms pick up and peer into their Magic Eight Balls, they seem to be agreeing that small business hiring is fairly...
read moreNeed a Startup idea? How about One of Most Profitable US Small Businesses?
I’ve recently published a couple of articles suggesting businesses that need to be on your short list if you’re considering a startup. First I looked at businesses that are typically more able to withstand the strains of a recession and then I put together one of the longest lists of home-based small businesses you can start. A list from Sageworks, a financial information company (www.sageworks.com), related to the concept behind those lists came to my attention and I thought it would be interesting – and hopefully revealing – to find the areas where these lists overlap. Sageworks just issued its annual ranking of the most profitable industries in the United States. These are the businesses that boast the highest profit margins. Further, Sageworks was able to breakdown its data and give us the most profitable small business industries in the country. How can you beat that? After all, if you’re going to start a recession-proof, or home-based business, why not plunge into an industry that is know to have some of the highest profit margins? Here’s the list from Sageworks: Industry Name Percent Net Profit Margin Accounting, tax prep, bookkeeping, payroll services 20.5 Automotive equipment rental and leasing 20.4 Lessors of real estate 16.0 Dental offices 15.4 Legal services 15.2 Offices of real estate agents and brokers 14.7 Offices of other health practitioners 14.4 Offices of physicians 14.1 Management, scientific and technical consulting services 13.5 Activities related to real estate 12.3 Commercial and industrial machinery, equipment rental and leasing 12.2 Warehousing and storage 12.0 Specialized design services 11.7 Support activities for mining 11.4 Coating, engraving, heat treating and allied activities 10.7 The first thing I need to point out is that accounting and tax preparation services score a hat trick. This business area is at the top of the Sageworks list, it’s a business that can be based out of your home and it’s also one of the best recession-proof businesses. The only thing that might threaten this sector is if Congress ever goes to a flat tax or national sales tax and eliminates the IRS. I’m not holding my breath. Also note that virtually every aspect of the healthcare industry is represented in the Sageworks list. If you’re old enough to remember “The Donna Reed” show, or saw it in reruns, you’ll recall that her husband was a doctor whose office was at their home. I don’t think very many physicians have that set up today, but there are some healthcare-related businesses you can start from home that are highly recession proof. The Sageworks data suggest that they could deliver healthy profit margins. While the real estate industry isn’t immune to recessions, there are many real estate related businesses that can be based out of your home. In our list of 80 home-based businesses we specifically mentioned property management and that has a 16 percent profit margin, according to Sageworks. Now that we have an idea of which startups deliver the best profit margins, which are recession proof and which can be run from your home, the only other information you need to plug into this array is your passions. Do you have the deep interest in any of these industries that would sustain you through the challenging months and maybe even years of getting your business up...
read moreThe Big List of Business and Startup Competitions
Enthusiastic small business owners and contests go together like peanut butter and jelly. Similarly, entrepreneurs are always looking for new sources of funding and building their networks. Lots of these boxes can be checked off when you enter a startup or business competition. By the way, although many entrepreneurial and small business contests have only one or two winners, the connections the entrants make and the exposure they get can be worth more than the cash prize that goes to the grand prize winner. Often the entrepreneurs who walk away with mere participant ribbons end up being more successful than the contest winners. Further, entering a small business or startup contest the first time helps you sharpen your business plan and better understand what it takes to be a winner – in the contest world and in the actual business world. With a few exceptions – which I’ll get to in just a moment – most of the 2016 contests start taking applications in January. However, the practical way to approach contest entries is to size them up early and start planning which best suit your situation. With that thought, I’m going to share a list of recent contests so you can study them and see if any warrant further study and planning as the 2016 approaches. Roll Tide! But before I give you the list of contests to check out for the future, let me mention one cool regional contest that you can enter right now…if you’re a Business Council of Alabama member: The Small Business Game Changer 2016. Registration just opened and runs until Jan. 29, 2016. The winner will get promoted at Alabama’s Bryant-Denny Stadium and mentioned during Crimson Tide football radio broadcasts for the entire 2016 regular season. If that’s not enough, ’Bama fans, you get two season tickets and free parking. The following list starts with a few programs that are already accepting or close to accepting applications. One of those, Y Combinator, puts two groups of startups through its program each year. I know there are other accelerators, as well as state and local programs, so if you don’t find what you need here, keep looking and talk to local entrepreneurs. Finally, speaking of local and regional competitions, you’ll note that several on this list are associated with universities. These are usually open to both students and alumni. Y Combinator (October 13 deadline) Rhode Island Business Plan (Kick-Off Oct. 15) Start it Up | eMerge Americas (apply now for 2016) Carnegie Mellon University Venture Challenge QPrize | Qualcomm Ventures MassChallenge | World’s Largest Startup Accelerator Build a Business Competition by Shopify. Arch Grants MIT$100K | The Entrepreneurship Competition Startup Battlefield – The premiere startup launch competition | TechCrunch WJF – Sustainable Business Plan Competition New York StartUP! 2016 Business Plan Competition | The New York Public Library FastPitch – The Creative Coast HATCH pitch Innotribe » 2015 Startup Challenge Competition Nw Hampshire (NH) Startup Challenge | Manchester Young Professionals Network Wisconsin Governor’s Business Plan Contest GW New Venture Competition | The George Washington University Hult Prize: start-up accelerator for social entrepreneurship Up-Start! Competition – MaRS Test Your Business Mettle :: UNM Business Plan Competition | The University of New Mexico Competitions – Gordon Institute French-American Entrepreneurship Award| FAEA Club 600 Salem State University Business...
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