Harvard Business Services BLOG: Information on Delaware LLC, Registered Agent, Franchise Tax Payments in DE. » Carleigh Lowe

Customer-Centric Marketing Plan

Carleigh Lowe — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 12:00:37 +0000

Marketing can be a tough area for small business owners to tackle. Most of the time marketing plans are too company-centric and not customer-centric. Blogging Innovation just published a great article featuring 5 simple questions to ask yourself that will help you create a marketing plan, focused on your customer’s perspective. Below is an excerpt:

What/who are your targets?
What do they care about? What outcome are they seeking?
Where do you find them?
What or who influences them?
How do they want to engage and (eventually) buy?

To read the full article click HERE.

Six Traits of Successful Entrepreneurs

Carleigh Lowe — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 12:00:58 +0000

There is no special equation that will equal success but there are certain traits that will help you along on your entrepreneurial journey. Inc Magazine recently reported the results from a report by The Guardian Life Small Business Research Institute.

Here are the Top 6 Traits:

Ability to Collaborate
Being Self Fulfilled
Future-Focused
Curious
Tech Savvy
Action Oriented

Read the full article HERE.

TED Talks: Let’s Raise Kids to be Entrepreneurs

Carleigh Lowe — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 12:00:45 +0000

Harvard Business Services has always believed that entrepreneurs are the true innovators of the world. They are the creative life blood of the economy that propels us forward. Imagine a future where the next generation is taught the skills to be an entrepreneur. Check it out!

Must Read Business Books

Carleigh Lowe — Fri, 28 May 2010 12:00:08 +0000

As the Summer season quickly approaches it is nice to have a list of books to read in case your busy life allows you to head to the beach. I often find that entrepreneurs usually don’t have the time or interest in reading the latest novel to hit the shelves, so here is a great list of essential business books from Forbes.com. So sit back and relax with a book and a beer and call it “work research”!

Click HERE for the list of books.

New Tax Law Affects Small Businesses

Carleigh Lowe — Mon, 24 May 2010 12:00:04 +0000

Small business owners need to read this recent article from The Washington Post. It does a very good job explaining the new law buried in the healthcare bill requiring small businesses to issue 1099 forms to people or companies that sell them more than $600 worth of goods or services and it offers ideas on how to handle all this new paperwork. Read an excerpt below:

Tucked away in the health care overhaul bill that became law this year was a provision that will require small business owners to keep better records of what they buy. They’ll also have to report some purchases to the government.

This new law requires small businesses to issue 1099 forms to people or companies that sell them more than $600 worth of goods or services. It takes the 1099 beyond its most common business use, which is to report money paid to independent contractors or freelancers.

The law doesn’t take effect until Jan. 1, 2012, which means owners won’t have to worry about the paperwork until early 2013, when they’re compiling their 2012 returns. But owners whose books and finances are chaotic might want to get themselves organized in the meantime so keeping track of such payments and reporting them becomes routine.

The law, called a revenue provision, was attached to the health care legislation that Congress passed and President Barack Obama signed into law in March. According to Congress’ Joint Committee on Taxation, under the new law a business is required to file a 1099 form “for all payments aggregating $600 or more in a calendar year to a single payee.”

Between now and the Jan. 1, 2012 effective date for the law, the IRS will be formulating regulations that spell out what businesses must do under the law. Eric Smith, a spokesman for the agency, said that as with any regulations, the public will be able to comment on those regulations before they also take effect.

Because the regulations don’t yet exist, it’s hard to predict exactly what businesses will have to do to comply.

The law is designed to stop businesses, in this case vendors, from evading taxes on their income. The fact is, there are companies that don’t report all their sales, particularly small transactions. But if a customer has to issue a 1099, which reports a payment to the government, the vendor that doesn’t report a matching sale could get a letter from the IRS questioning the discrepancy.

PAPERWORK OVERLOAD?

There’s no getting around the fact that a requirement that companies issue 1099s for purchases will create more work. How big the burden is will depend in part on how many purchases a business makes. But the greater determinant will be how organized the company is. Owners whose accounting system is a pile of receipts jammed into file folders are going to have a miserable time.

The easiest way to keep records of your business purchases is with software that tracks all your expenses. But while software to help small businesses keep their books is relatively inexpensive – some programs cost less than $200 – accountants say many owners are still shy about going high-tech.

The new 1099 requirement might persuade some of the reluctant ones to make the change. Software designed to help run a small business includes payroll applications that can generate 1099s. The companies that make the software will have updated versions that comply with the new law by the time it goes into effect. So the same software that tracks your purchases will be able to create 1099s and make it easy for you to send them to the IRS.

Read the full article HERE.

To read another informative article on this same topic click HERE.