Stay organized. Organization of your time, employees, finances and inventory is one of the keys to successfully run a small business. Develop a spreadsheet that helps you keep track of all the important details so you don't have to keep them straight in your head, and make time -- at least once a week -- to review everything. Organizing weekly, bi-weekly or monthly meetings between you and your staff can help ensure that everyone is on the same page and will help you avoid wasted time or overlap in the various responsibilities of your team members. Meetings can also help you analyze who is and who is not adequately performing the duties assigned to them.
6. Choose your employees carefully. With a small business, you will likely have the opportunity to hire your own employees and get to know them. Since your employees may influence your success in business as well as the comfort level in your business environment, it makes sense to hire workers who are skilled and have a solid work ethic. Pleasant personalities are also desirable in employees.
Consider hiring a financial professional. It may be fiscally worthwhile for you to hire a dedicated staff member who can control the financial affairs of your small business. Accountants can help you identify areas of your business that are not running efficiently from a fiscal standpoint, allowing you to maximize your profits. You do not necessarily need a full-time employee to handle financial responsibilities. For example, if you have a solid grasp on your inventory flow and cash flow management, you may only need a CPA when tax time comes around.
Berkshire has never split its Class A shares. As a result, one share is prohibitively expensive for many retail investors. (Track the latest price here.) That discouraged people from rapidly moving into and out of the stock, and that's exactly the way Buffett likes it. He wants shareholders who share his long-term view.
“After I failed to sell my company in 2004 I took a three week holiday without phone or email access,” she says. “It turned out to be a much-needed opportunity to plan and reflect on the business, and it paid dividends because I sold the firm happily four years later.”
What headings should I put on a spreadsheet to start organizing the finances of a small country estate business? wikiHow Contributor Start by setting up the main accounts to monitor. Separate your assets, liabilities, expenses, and equity. Assets are your cash on hand, inventory, accounts receivable, checking account, and savings account. Liabilities are your credit card and accounts payable (what you owe), then there are your general business expenses. Thanks! Yes No Not Helpful 2 Helpful 7
Do I need permission to run a business from home? You may have to inform some bodies of your intention to run a business from home. Mortgage providerEven though it shouldn’t require any change to your mortgage – if you have one – it’s prudent to let your mortgage company know. LandlordSome tenancy agreements prohibit running a business from home, so if you live in a rental property you need to check your contract. As a matter of courtesy you should also let your landlord know of your intentions. Local authorityYou should only need to contact the local council regarding planning permission if:You intend to make alterations – such as building an extensionYour home won’t be mainly used as your private residence Your activities could disturb neighbours, e.g. increased traffic and visitors, noise, smells.
8. Emotional self-confidence. Accumulating a pool of talent requires an ability to work with people who may be better at their job than you are at yours, and to guide and motivate them. Leaders who are jealous of their followers do not inspire loyalty. Self-confidence also allows people to admit to weakness and ask for help without feeling defensive or inadequate. Successful leaders need to be able to say, “I don't know what to do next,” without losing the respect of their colleagues.
To many working professionals, LinkedIn remains the social network for helping to find new clients, building relationships with others in their space and for raising brand awareness. If you’re looking to help run an efficient LinkedIn business page, you’re in the right place.
The two launched their own stall, Shrimpy, in 2013 to sell their own prawn rolls. She says that holders of pop-up stalls do not have to rely on market research – they can just look at the queues.
Plus his refusal to compromise on quality for fast bucks: Berger invested in the ultimate US smoker kit (paid off after their initial summer stint) and Pitt Cue's sourcing is impeccable, using only rare-breed meats. Drawing on head chef Tom Adams farming roots, they're now beginning to breed their own pigs, too.
https://greyreaders.com
Running a business from home You may need permission or separate insurance to run a home business, and you’ll need to check if you have to pay business rates. Permissions To run a business from your home, you may need permission from your: mortgage provider or landlord local planning office - eg if you’re planning on making major alterations to your home local council - eg if you’re going to get lots of customers or deliveries, you want to advertise outside your home or if you need a licence to run your business Insurance You may need insurance for your business. Home insurance may not cover your business (eg stock, computers, customers visiting your premises). You can find an authorised insurer on the British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) website. Tax allowances You can include your business costs in your Self Assessment tax return if you’re a sole trader or part of a business partnership. You can claim a proportion of the cost of things like council tax, heating, lighting, phone calls and broadband. You can use a flat rate to calculate your simplified allowable expenses starting from the 2013 to 2014 tax year. You may need to pay Capital Gains Tax on the part of your property you used for your business if you sell your home. Business rates You may have to pay business rates on the part of your property that you use for your business. This depends on whether the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) (local assessor in Scotland) has given a rateable value to a part of your home. You’ll still have to pay Council Tax on the rest of your property. To check if you have to pay business rates, contact the VOA (or your local assessor in Scotland). Valuation Office Agency 03000 501 501 (England) 03000 505 505 (Wales) Find out about call charges You may qualify for small business rate relief if your property has a rateable value of £12,000 or less. Health and safety You’ll need to manage health and safety as you would with any other business.
If you need to carry out a repair to a room or space used for business you can claim a proportion of this. For example, if you need to repair a window in a room you use as an office for 80% of the time you could claim 80% of the costs. However, if a repair relates to the whole property – e.g the roof – you can only claim a proportion of the costs.
9. Adaptability will prove invaluable when things go wrong. Surviving a reverse calls for resilience and flexibility. It is one thing to spot a change in the market, or in public attitudes, or in the political climate. It is quite another quickly to devise a completely different approach, even if that means abandoning an idea to which a leader has been passionately committed. Yale University's Mr Sonnenfeld is cataloguing ways to turn misfortune into fortune. The key seems to be an ability to “reframe”: to reshape a problem so that from some angles it can look like a success.
In his 1996 letter, Buffett wrote that being a "low-cost operator" is directly responsible for the success of Berkshire's GEICO auto insurance subsidiary. "Low costs permit low prices, and low prices attract and retain good policyholders." And when those customers recommend GEICO to their friends, the company gets an "enormous savings in acquisition expenses, and that makes our costs still lower."
3. Keep your focus. In that same letter, Buffett warns that even a great company can see its "value stagnate in the presence of hubris or of boredom that caused the attention of managers to wander." The result: A "sidetracked" leadership that "neglects its wonderful base business while purchasing other businesses that are so-so or worse." In this area, Buffett argues that "inactivity strikes us as intelligent behavior." In 1982, a year that saw a number of corporate deals, Buffett thought that in many of them, "managerial intellect wilted in competition with managerial adrenaline. The thrill of the chase blinded the pursuers to the consequences of the catch."
Do you ever switch off? Photograph: Ingram Publishing/Alamy Business essentials Making a holiday work when running a small business How do you juggle owning a business with taking a break? Small business owners share their tips Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share via Email View more sharing options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Google+ Share on WhatsApp Share on Messenger Close Heidi Scrimgeour @heidiscrim Friday 7 August 2015 02.00 EDT Last modified on Thursday 24 September 2015 06.00 EDT A recent survey found that three quarters (76%) of small business owners and entrepreneurs forego holidays in order to keep their business running smoothly. But while there may never be a good time to take a holiday when you’re the boss, entrepreneur Lara Morgan says time out can benefit your business. She sold her business (Pacific Direct) in 2008 and now invests her time in small, high growth ventures. “After I failed to sell my company in 2004 I took a three week holiday without phone or email access,” she says. “It turned out to be a much-needed opportunity to plan and reflect on the business, and it paid dividends because I sold the firm happily four years later.” Small business owners – how much holiday are you taking this year? Read more Brian Whigham, managing director at full-service digital marketing agency Venn Digital, says handing over the reigns to take a holiday can also boost your team, and it’s a mistake to assume they can’t cope without you. “If, after three years, you can’t leave your business alone then you’re doing something wrong,” he says. “It’s empowering for my team to know that they’re trusted to make the right decisions – without me ringing in every day to see what everyone’s up to – and it’s great to see my business carry on as normal when I’m not there. That’s how I know I have a successful business,” he explains. “That said, I’d never go on holiday without phone coverage.” Careful planning makes holidays workable, agrees Dawn Baird, of training consultancy Sensei. She says procedures should already be in place to ensure the walls stay standing when you take a holiday. That includes identifying potential problems before you go, and setting out clearly the circumstances under which an emergency phone call may be made. “If you truly want to get away from it all, appoint someone to act on your behalf in your absence,” she adds. “Automating key tasks gives you the confidence to step away from your desk without worrying about work piling up while you’re away,” says Matt Perkins, head of SME engagement at FreeAgent, which provides cloud accounting for freelancers, contractors and micro-businesses. He recommends using an automatic email responder and a tool such as Hootsuite to schedule social media posts. You can also set up email reminders to chase outstanding invoices while you’re away. Tom Horigan, director of the eponymous professional services marketing firm, agrees that technology is key to balancing business ownership with down time. “I just spent two weeks in Australia but only told one client I was going away; the others I serviced remotely via email or telephone,” he explains. “I checked voicemail by dialling in rather than paying for roaming, and purchased pocket Wi-Fi for when access was unreliable.” However, unless your idea of a break is business as usual from a sunnier clime, Gary Turner, of Xero, cautions against undisciplined use of technology on holiday. He disables access to his email on his phone to avoid work distractions while away. “If I must attend to pressing matters, I leave instructions in my ‘out of office’ to resend messages that can’t wait, marking them urgent in the subject line, and I’ve created a rule in my email settings to forward these to my phone,” he says. If holidays seem unworkable, media trainer Geeta Nadkarni recommends implementing regular short breaks into your working life. “Down time is crucial not just for family life but for fuelling business growth – I’ve had some of my best ideas lying on a beach not thinking about work. I therefore discipline myself to take weekends off without checking email,” she explains. “Regular breaks build muscle towards really unplugging on holiday, and allow me to shift the way I run my business from ‘problem-solving’ to ‘dream-building’, focusing energy and resources on what we want instead of putting out fires. I can’t do this without taking breaks. After all, quality of life was the reason my husband and I walked away from our corporate jobs and made the entrepreneurial leap, so we protect it fiercely.” What if – instead of ascribing to the notion that the fewer holidays we take, the more successful we’ll be – we reframed holidays as good for business, wonders Col Skinner, of digital consultancy Profoundry. Solving the productivity puzzle – why manufacturers hold the key Read more “Inspiration often strikes when we give our minds time to think about nothing, so a holiday is a vital opportunity to break the ties to your working life,” he says. “We can’t expect to sustain the same level of productivity, drive or enthusiasm by working 24/7. Not to mention the fact that my partner shouldn’t have to forego holidays just because I own a business.” Charlotte Ashton, managing director of AB Property Marketing, agrees that owning a business need not mean foregoing breaks, but says it might change your holiday priorities. While she used to have a “total work detox” – a fortnight with no phone, email or stress - now her key criteria for a holiday includes thinking about when the rest of the team are going to be in the office to cover any queries, what public holidays she can take advantage of to get extra days, upcoming work trips she can piggy-back a holiday onto to save travel time, which locations will definitely have Wi-Fi, and which time zones ensure some crossover hours with the UK office. Sign up to become a member of the Guardian Small Business Network here for more advice, insight and best practice direct to your inbox. Topics Business essentials Small business Entrepreneurs Work & careers sponsored features Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share via Email Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Google+ Share on WhatsApp Share on Messenger Reuse this content
6. Choose your employees carefully. With a small business, you will likely have the opportunity to hire your own employees and get to know them. Since your employees may influence your success in business as well as the comfort level in your business environment, it makes sense to hire workers who are skilled and have a solid work ethic. Pleasant personalities are also desirable in employees.
Consider hiring a financial professional. It may be fiscally worthwhile for you to hire a dedicated staff member who can control the financial affairs of your small business. Accountants can help you identify areas of your business that are not running efficiently from a fiscal standpoint, allowing you to maximize your profits. You do not necessarily need a full-time employee to handle financial responsibilities. For example, if you have a solid grasp on your inventory flow and cash flow management, you may only need a CPA when tax time comes around.
Berkshire has never split its Class A shares. As a result, one share is prohibitively expensive for many retail investors. (Track the latest price here.) That discouraged people from rapidly moving into and out of the stock, and that's exactly the way Buffett likes it. He wants shareholders who share his long-term view.
“After I failed to sell my company in 2004 I took a three week holiday without phone or email access,” she says. “It turned out to be a much-needed opportunity to plan and reflect on the business, and it paid dividends because I sold the firm happily four years later.”
What headings should I put on a spreadsheet to start organizing the finances of a small country estate business? wikiHow Contributor Start by setting up the main accounts to monitor. Separate your assets, liabilities, expenses, and equity. Assets are your cash on hand, inventory, accounts receivable, checking account, and savings account. Liabilities are your credit card and accounts payable (what you owe), then there are your general business expenses. Thanks! Yes No Not Helpful 2 Helpful 7
Do I need permission to run a business from home? You may have to inform some bodies of your intention to run a business from home. Mortgage providerEven though it shouldn’t require any change to your mortgage – if you have one – it’s prudent to let your mortgage company know. LandlordSome tenancy agreements prohibit running a business from home, so if you live in a rental property you need to check your contract. As a matter of courtesy you should also let your landlord know of your intentions. Local authorityYou should only need to contact the local council regarding planning permission if:You intend to make alterations – such as building an extensionYour home won’t be mainly used as your private residence Your activities could disturb neighbours, e.g. increased traffic and visitors, noise, smells.
8. Emotional self-confidence. Accumulating a pool of talent requires an ability to work with people who may be better at their job than you are at yours, and to guide and motivate them. Leaders who are jealous of their followers do not inspire loyalty. Self-confidence also allows people to admit to weakness and ask for help without feeling defensive or inadequate. Successful leaders need to be able to say, “I don't know what to do next,” without losing the respect of their colleagues.
To many working professionals, LinkedIn remains the social network for helping to find new clients, building relationships with others in their space and for raising brand awareness. If you’re looking to help run an efficient LinkedIn business page, you’re in the right place.
The two launched their own stall, Shrimpy, in 2013 to sell their own prawn rolls. She says that holders of pop-up stalls do not have to rely on market research – they can just look at the queues.
Plus his refusal to compromise on quality for fast bucks: Berger invested in the ultimate US smoker kit (paid off after their initial summer stint) and Pitt Cue's sourcing is impeccable, using only rare-breed meats. Drawing on head chef Tom Adams farming roots, they're now beginning to breed their own pigs, too.
https://greyreaders.com
Running a business from home You may need permission or separate insurance to run a home business, and you’ll need to check if you have to pay business rates. Permissions To run a business from your home, you may need permission from your: mortgage provider or landlord local planning office - eg if you’re planning on making major alterations to your home local council - eg if you’re going to get lots of customers or deliveries, you want to advertise outside your home or if you need a licence to run your business Insurance You may need insurance for your business. Home insurance may not cover your business (eg stock, computers, customers visiting your premises). You can find an authorised insurer on the British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) website. Tax allowances You can include your business costs in your Self Assessment tax return if you’re a sole trader or part of a business partnership. You can claim a proportion of the cost of things like council tax, heating, lighting, phone calls and broadband. You can use a flat rate to calculate your simplified allowable expenses starting from the 2013 to 2014 tax year. You may need to pay Capital Gains Tax on the part of your property you used for your business if you sell your home. Business rates You may have to pay business rates on the part of your property that you use for your business. This depends on whether the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) (local assessor in Scotland) has given a rateable value to a part of your home. You’ll still have to pay Council Tax on the rest of your property. To check if you have to pay business rates, contact the VOA (or your local assessor in Scotland). Valuation Office Agency 03000 501 501 (England) 03000 505 505 (Wales) Find out about call charges You may qualify for small business rate relief if your property has a rateable value of £12,000 or less. Health and safety You’ll need to manage health and safety as you would with any other business.
If you need to carry out a repair to a room or space used for business you can claim a proportion of this. For example, if you need to repair a window in a room you use as an office for 80% of the time you could claim 80% of the costs. However, if a repair relates to the whole property – e.g the roof – you can only claim a proportion of the costs.
9. Adaptability will prove invaluable when things go wrong. Surviving a reverse calls for resilience and flexibility. It is one thing to spot a change in the market, or in public attitudes, or in the political climate. It is quite another quickly to devise a completely different approach, even if that means abandoning an idea to which a leader has been passionately committed. Yale University's Mr Sonnenfeld is cataloguing ways to turn misfortune into fortune. The key seems to be an ability to “reframe”: to reshape a problem so that from some angles it can look like a success.
In his 1996 letter, Buffett wrote that being a "low-cost operator" is directly responsible for the success of Berkshire's GEICO auto insurance subsidiary. "Low costs permit low prices, and low prices attract and retain good policyholders." And when those customers recommend GEICO to their friends, the company gets an "enormous savings in acquisition expenses, and that makes our costs still lower."
3. Keep your focus. In that same letter, Buffett warns that even a great company can see its "value stagnate in the presence of hubris or of boredom that caused the attention of managers to wander." The result: A "sidetracked" leadership that "neglects its wonderful base business while purchasing other businesses that are so-so or worse." In this area, Buffett argues that "inactivity strikes us as intelligent behavior." In 1982, a year that saw a number of corporate deals, Buffett thought that in many of them, "managerial intellect wilted in competition with managerial adrenaline. The thrill of the chase blinded the pursuers to the consequences of the catch."
Do you ever switch off? Photograph: Ingram Publishing/Alamy Business essentials Making a holiday work when running a small business How do you juggle owning a business with taking a break? Small business owners share their tips Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share via Email View more sharing options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Google+ Share on WhatsApp Share on Messenger Close Heidi Scrimgeour @heidiscrim Friday 7 August 2015 02.00 EDT Last modified on Thursday 24 September 2015 06.00 EDT A recent survey found that three quarters (76%) of small business owners and entrepreneurs forego holidays in order to keep their business running smoothly. But while there may never be a good time to take a holiday when you’re the boss, entrepreneur Lara Morgan says time out can benefit your business. She sold her business (Pacific Direct) in 2008 and now invests her time in small, high growth ventures. “After I failed to sell my company in 2004 I took a three week holiday without phone or email access,” she says. “It turned out to be a much-needed opportunity to plan and reflect on the business, and it paid dividends because I sold the firm happily four years later.” Small business owners – how much holiday are you taking this year? Read more Brian Whigham, managing director at full-service digital marketing agency Venn Digital, says handing over the reigns to take a holiday can also boost your team, and it’s a mistake to assume they can’t cope without you. “If, after three years, you can’t leave your business alone then you’re doing something wrong,” he says. “It’s empowering for my team to know that they’re trusted to make the right decisions – without me ringing in every day to see what everyone’s up to – and it’s great to see my business carry on as normal when I’m not there. That’s how I know I have a successful business,” he explains. “That said, I’d never go on holiday without phone coverage.” Careful planning makes holidays workable, agrees Dawn Baird, of training consultancy Sensei. She says procedures should already be in place to ensure the walls stay standing when you take a holiday. That includes identifying potential problems before you go, and setting out clearly the circumstances under which an emergency phone call may be made. “If you truly want to get away from it all, appoint someone to act on your behalf in your absence,” she adds. “Automating key tasks gives you the confidence to step away from your desk without worrying about work piling up while you’re away,” says Matt Perkins, head of SME engagement at FreeAgent, which provides cloud accounting for freelancers, contractors and micro-businesses. He recommends using an automatic email responder and a tool such as Hootsuite to schedule social media posts. You can also set up email reminders to chase outstanding invoices while you’re away. Tom Horigan, director of the eponymous professional services marketing firm, agrees that technology is key to balancing business ownership with down time. “I just spent two weeks in Australia but only told one client I was going away; the others I serviced remotely via email or telephone,” he explains. “I checked voicemail by dialling in rather than paying for roaming, and purchased pocket Wi-Fi for when access was unreliable.” However, unless your idea of a break is business as usual from a sunnier clime, Gary Turner, of Xero, cautions against undisciplined use of technology on holiday. He disables access to his email on his phone to avoid work distractions while away. “If I must attend to pressing matters, I leave instructions in my ‘out of office’ to resend messages that can’t wait, marking them urgent in the subject line, and I’ve created a rule in my email settings to forward these to my phone,” he says. If holidays seem unworkable, media trainer Geeta Nadkarni recommends implementing regular short breaks into your working life. “Down time is crucial not just for family life but for fuelling business growth – I’ve had some of my best ideas lying on a beach not thinking about work. I therefore discipline myself to take weekends off without checking email,” she explains. “Regular breaks build muscle towards really unplugging on holiday, and allow me to shift the way I run my business from ‘problem-solving’ to ‘dream-building’, focusing energy and resources on what we want instead of putting out fires. I can’t do this without taking breaks. After all, quality of life was the reason my husband and I walked away from our corporate jobs and made the entrepreneurial leap, so we protect it fiercely.” What if – instead of ascribing to the notion that the fewer holidays we take, the more successful we’ll be – we reframed holidays as good for business, wonders Col Skinner, of digital consultancy Profoundry. Solving the productivity puzzle – why manufacturers hold the key Read more “Inspiration often strikes when we give our minds time to think about nothing, so a holiday is a vital opportunity to break the ties to your working life,” he says. “We can’t expect to sustain the same level of productivity, drive or enthusiasm by working 24/7. Not to mention the fact that my partner shouldn’t have to forego holidays just because I own a business.” Charlotte Ashton, managing director of AB Property Marketing, agrees that owning a business need not mean foregoing breaks, but says it might change your holiday priorities. While she used to have a “total work detox” – a fortnight with no phone, email or stress - now her key criteria for a holiday includes thinking about when the rest of the team are going to be in the office to cover any queries, what public holidays she can take advantage of to get extra days, upcoming work trips she can piggy-back a holiday onto to save travel time, which locations will definitely have Wi-Fi, and which time zones ensure some crossover hours with the UK office. Sign up to become a member of the Guardian Small Business Network here for more advice, insight and best practice direct to your inbox. Topics Business essentials Small business Entrepreneurs Work & careers sponsored features Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share via Email Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Google+ Share on WhatsApp Share on Messenger Reuse this content
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