More Tips For Local Business Retail Success
Earlier I related part of a conversation I had with Alignable cofounder and CEO Eric Groves. I explored his excellent observation that the biggest advantage small businesses have over their mega-corporate competitors is “proximity to the customer.” Our conversation ranged beyond that point and I want to share a few more areas that we covered. With Alignable‘s goal of promoting local businesses, we touched on some of the efforts currently underway to increase awareness and boost sales. These range from the cash mob movement, to think-shop-buy-local, to mombizmondays twitter parties and Small Business Saturday. Small Business Saturday is an American Express program and because it’s backed by a huge company, it is probably more well known than some of the other efforts to promote small businesses and shop locally. We see the Small Business Saturdays being publicized by American Express quite a lot right now, and that’s a good thing. SBS strength and weakness “The greatest strength of the program (Small Business Saturday) is the attention it brings to supporting local business communities at a time when a significant percent of consumer spending is occurring,” Eric notes. Interestingly, its ties to American Express is at once what gives the program its power, but it is also what hampers the overall impact of Small Business Saturday. “The greatest weakness (of Small Business Saturday) is that by design it can’t become a national movement,” Eric explains. “For that to happen Amex would have to be willing to let go of it as a marketing campaign, allowing it to be co-opted completely by local businesses regardless of the cards they accept.” Because of its fee structure, many small business owners take a pass on accepting American Express cards. If the company would let the movement grow beyond its merchants, it would serve the greater good of small businesses. And, I’d be willing to venture that ultimately, American Express would enroll more merchants. Holiday season strategies With the big retail sales days of the year fast approaching – Black Friday and Cyber Monday – we talked about ways local businesses could compete with the national brands and Eric pointed out that consumers are always attracted to unique experiences. (By the way, are you watching The Paradise on PBS? If you’re a retailer you should. You’ll get some very interesting promotional ideas.) I’m certain that you and the employees of your small business have a level of product knowledge that exceeds what is available in the big box stores – even when you can find an employee among their aisles. Local businesses should use that edge “to create unique in-store experiences for their consumers – tastings, demonstrations, hand-on training, pop-up stores, and more – rather than follow the big box retailers down the path of deep discounts and free shipping,” Eric suggests. Those suggestions sound like a good blueprint for holiday season sales success. Be inventive and find the ones that are the best fit for your business and don’t stop when this season is over. Continue being more clever than the big players through the entire year. Image: Secretary Kathleen Sebelius participates in a cooking demonstration, US government...
read moreBe Vigilant as More Health Insurance Changes Kick In
November is a notable month. Not only do we have Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but we have the start of open enrollment in health insurance plans. For years, open enrollment was a fairly routine exercise. Employees waited to see if their carriers would change and how much their out-of-pocket expenses would increase. However, as the Affordable Care Act has been increasingly implemented over the last couple of years, open enrollment has been delivering more than its usual share of surprises. Small biz exchanges go live This year marks the debut of the federal government’s “Small Business Health Options Program” or SHOP exchange. (I guess SBHOP didn’t seem catchy enough.) The federal government rolled the exchanges out early in five states for some live testing. Hopefully, they will avoid the debacle that last year’s exchange debut proved to be. However, the SHOP exchanges are only for small businesses with 50 or more full-time employees. Employees at smaller businesses need to go to the individual exchanges. There’s one more major change this year that you and your employees need to know: the penalty for carrying no health insurance triples. The penalty for tax year 2015 will be 2 percent of a household’s income or $325, whichever is greater. There are some exemptions based on income. Have employes in multiple states? If your small business has employees in more than one state and you want to use the SHOP exchange to get health insurance, it may get tricky. That’s because some states operate their own exchanges. In that case, employers will have to create accounts in state exchanges. Further, plans, participation and eligibility vary from state to state. How will this be sorted out? It could be that state and federal governments will use the same approach they used with the debut of exchanges last year – a combination of figuring it out as they go along, delaying some aspects of the ACA and exempting certain groups. Double check your coverage Let’s look at one more ACA ball that is up in the air for anyone who received health insurance through one of the exchanges last year: Don’t assume your coverage will continue. The federal exchange (healthcare.gov) should be auto-renewing people, however some states do not offer auto-renewal. In addition, everyone who signed up with Medicaid needs to reapply due to eligibility requirements. And finally, everyone who signed up online should revisit their plans and status. Even if your provider auto-renewed you, price changes might make you want to change plans. These are just some of the bumps on the road that we believe are coming our way. There’s a good chance more unintended consequences will come to light as we’re shopping for our Thanksgiving turkey. Stay tuned. Image: “Obama signs health care-20100323” by Pete Souza. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 via Wikimedia...
read moreDon’t Give Away Your Power. Stay Focused on Your Success.
Many years ago, a newspaper reporter asked me, “Susan, are there people who would like to see you fail?” “Absolutely. And I’m glad there are,” I replied. Surprised by my answer the reporter asked me to explain what I meant. The explanation is simple. The more successful you become in your life and in your business, the more there will be people who want you to fail. People who lack the ambition and drive to work hard to achieve their own success would rather throw daggers at you in order to make themselves feel better. While their actions may be hurtful, they are only harmful if you give them credibility. When people attack you, they are hoping for a reaction from you. So if you react, they win and you’ve given away your power. But if you ignore their comments you’ve taken away their power and you’ve protected yourself. Your parents may have told you, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” The only time words hurt you are when you give them permission to detract you from focusing on your success. Never give anyone the power to ruin your day or to cause you to second guess your greatness. When your detractors try to slow you down on your road to success, simply turn down the volume. It’s nothing more than background noise....
read moreHoliday Party Tips to Protect Your Small Business
It’s not even Thanksgiving and my holiday decorations are up. I love the holidays. It’s such a festive time. It’s also a perfect time to show your team how much you appreciate them by hosting a holiday party. However, we all know stories about those company parties that have gotten out of control — such as Sally from accounting dancing with a punch bowl on her head. But what you might not know is that type of behavior could result in serious consequences for your business. As an employer, you can be held liable for actions that occur during or as the result of your company-sponsored social event – particularly if alcohol is being served. It’s a concept known as social host liability, and it is recognized by many courts across the country. While each state’s laws differ, there are some general guidelines you can follow to make sure your holiday festivities are fun, safe and don’t land you in court. Make sure employees understand attendance at the company-sponsored event is purely voluntary. Eliminate any perception that work is being conducted. Plan your menu carefully so as there aren’t a lot of salty foods. When people are thirsty, they naturally drink more. Don’t provide a self-serve bar for guests. Either serve your guests their drinks or hire a professional bartender who can recognize when someone has had enough. Opt for a cash bar instead of an open bar. Or limit the number of free drinks for each guest. Consider hosting your holiday party in the afternoon instead of the evening. People tend to drink less during the day. Arrange for designated drivers and/or provide alternative transportation. Don’t let someone talk you into driving home when they have had a few too many. Make sure there are plenty of non-alcoholic beverages available for your guests. Close the bar about an hour prior to the end of the party. As an alternative, provide a coffee and desert bar. Don’t consume alcohol yourself during the event. It is important for you to keep a clear head so you can make prudent judgments. As a business owner, remember, even though it’s a party, it is still business related. You should manage it with the same propriety you manage your business every day. It is possible to host a fun holiday event, without exposing your business to potential costly...
read moreThe Home Office Deduction for the Rooted and the Rootless
This scenario is becoming more common every year: Digital nomads are roaming the world, seeing the sights, visiting friends and earning a decent income through their web-based businesses and activities. They might be renting apartments as they roam. They may be living on their boats or RVs; there are many possibilities. However, the footloose and fancy free lifestyle gets somewhat less fancy free every April 15. It turns out nomads aren’t exempt from income taxes. But what about one of the basic deductions many small business owners take each year – the home office expense? Can you deduct a portion of the cost of keeping an apartment you only rent for a season, or part of the cost of your boat, or RV? Home sweet home The answer is yes. However, anyone who works closely with a good tax advisor will know that home office deductions can be red flags for the IRS auditors, so you need to be sure that you understand the rules, have your situation documented and are properly calculating your costs. Otherwise, someday you’ll find yourself peering across a desk at a guy from the government, armed only with a prayer and a shoebox full of receipts. The IRS defines “home” to include house, apartment, condominium, mobile home, boat, or similar property which provides basic living accommodations. Whether you’re a digital nomad or located in one place throughout the year there are two basic requirements to qualify some of your living accommodations as a legitimate home office expense. The space must be used “regularly” and “exclusively” for your business. The records you keep must show that you use that portion of your “home” exclusively and regularly for your business activities. You must also have records that document the area of your home that you use for business, the square footage or percentage for example. Two expense methods Until the 2013 tax year there was only one way to claim this deduction and that was by taking percentages of actual, documented expenses. In 2013, the IRS added a second, simplified, way to claim the home office deduction: they decided to allow $5 per square foot, without documenting actual expenses. However, they capped that at 300 square feet. In 2014 you can choose either approach for the deduction; however you have to stick with one method for an entire tax year. Although IRS videos may not be the most popular viewing on the Internet, they can give you some sound information that will be useful to your small business. There’s a video of a webinar on the “business use of your home” as well as a PDF that outlines the basics. The IRS has an extensive collection of presentations available through its video portal. Take a few minutes to explore. You’ll probably find some topics that will help your financial...
read more‘Tis the Season to be Preparing for the Season!
“Ho, ho, ho!” That’s a direct quote from Santa. He’s sharing his Christmas cheer all the time while he’s making his deliveries on Christmas Eve and on into the early morning hours of Christmas Day. For many in business, it’s convicting to think that Old Saint Nick can maintain his infectiously great mood throughout the entire season, especially when you consider how long he and his crew have been working to make everything go smoothly on their big day. Lots of us have a somewhat more difficult time keeping our attitudes properly aligned to the spirit of Christmas. But, as with almost everything in life, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” so it makes good sense to get your business ready for the holiday hustle and bustle. That way you’ll be more able to consistently spread good tidings starting on Black Friday and extending all the way into the “returns season.” Get your assignments and schedules in order. Do you have key employees who excel at certain jobs, like preparing displays? Meet with them and make sure their schedules work out with when you want their special jobs to be completed. Also, poll your team and see if anyone is going to need specific days off at any point in time during the holiday season. Make sure you’ll have the coverage you need for crunch time. Last minute requests for time off can cause real problems. Be flexible but stress that it’s only fair to you and coworkers to know well ahead of time about special requests for time off. Are all your special promotions already mapped out? If you’re having flyers or post cards printed, make sure you give your printer sufficient lead time. My favorite sign is from a local print shop. It had a cartoon of a guy doubled over in laughter saying, “You want it when?” Not all of our graphics are printed today, many of them exist only in cyber space and get displayed on our websites. Decorate your site – especially your home page – to reflect the holidays. Customers notice details like that and they reflect well on your business…plus it’s inexpensive to do. Get greeting and thank you cards out to your customers and clients. Staying “top of mind” is, well, on everyone’s mind today and a nice card sent via snail mail makes a lasting impression. There is much to be said for old-fashioned courtesy. Get your financials in order. Following close on the heels of the holiday season is tax season – Ugh! – and you’ll be closing out your books for 2014 before all the bowl games are over and we crown a national champ in college football. Start thinking about it now and do what you can to make your job easier at the top of 2015. A little bit of planning and attention to detail now will help you maintain your state of “jollyness” through to the end of the year. Image: Christmas gift bag, by christmasstockimages.com, used under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike...
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