As your business grows it can be exciting and scary. One of the biggest leaps of faith is going from a one man show to having employees. Here’s a great article from Business News Daily filled with tips regarding this topic.

Hiring your first employee can sometimes seem daunting. And if it doesn’t, you aren’t doing it right.

One of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make is thinking that they can simply go to someone they know, such as a friend or a family member, pay them something, and that would be it. But while we may have fond memories of family-owned local shops, most businesses can’t work that way.

Here are some things you must know before you hire your first employee:

Legal requirements

Besides filing the relevant forms with the Internal Revenue Service, there’s making sure that someone is legally able to work in the U.S. It starts with the I-9 form. Once that is filled out you keep it – it’s for USCIS (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services) officials to look at if they need to, and you have to keep it for at least four years. (It must be on file for three years after hiring someone and at least year after they leave, whichever is later).

There are a number of verification services – in fact, if your business is a government contractor you’re required to use them. The USCIS has a program called E-Verify, which makes the whole process easier.

Fines can be heavy – knowingly hiring someone not authorized to work can cost you up to $3,200 for a first offense. Giving that summer job to the nice exchange student from Finland probably isn’t worth it.

To read the full article click HERE.

Every day we are asked questions about business licenses. Generally, the business license is obtained in the city, township, county and/or state, and even on the federal level in many cases. The determining factor is usually whether your company is physically conducting business in the “jurisdiction”. Depending on your locality, you’ll file for two, three or four licenses, maybe more. Almost every company files for a license in at least one locality.

Licenses are just another way to tax companies, although the government agencies that require the licenses are quick to point out that without licensing the consumer would have no protection against unscrupulous rip-off artists, posing as reputable companies.

Licenses aren’t fair. Building contractors file in every little town they have customers in, yet internet mail order companies file only where they are located, even though they have customers in many localities. Since it’s a government mandated fee the local, state or federal government can raise the fee anytime they want to. That said, they are usually minimal in the overall scheme of things. Most locations charge a minimal fee to register for a license to operate there – sometimes as low as $25.00 per year.

At Harvard Business Services, we cannot file your business licenses for you, since our customers are located in tens of thousands of locations around the globe. Your best bet is to call your local city, county and state development departments to find out the local requirements for licensing, or check out the following:

I recently read a great article on business.gov called “A Start-Ups’ Guide to Business Licenses & Permits – Be Compliant from the Get-Go” that will better explain and help answer all your questions regarding permits and licenses. Below is an excerpt from the article:

“Most of us are aware of common business licensing laws-whether it’s a license to sell alcohol and food, or a permit to expand your business premises. But business licensing is a lot more complex and broad than it first appears.

Unfortunately, business license and permit violations occur all the time leading to costly penalties, tax problems, and even the closure of your operation.

So if you are starting a company-be sure not to overlook federal, state and local licensing requirements for your business or industry. Get the right license and permit in One Simple Step with “Permit Me”

Permit Me - this government-developed online tool helps small business owners understand their regulatory requirements by matching basic information about your business type and location to the state and local permits, licenses, and registrations you’ll need to run a business in your location.

Pay yourself first.  This is a statement that we have all heard at least one time or another. In the book, The Automatic Millionaire, David Bach describes this as a requirement for anyone who would like to be financially successful.  He goes on to explain the why, the how, and even show you how to make it automatic.  He states, “People should take every opportunity they can to save money because it really adds up, and the best way I know to do that is to make your savings automatic.”

Paying yourself first allows the average person to save money, that they normally would not be able to save.  This money can be used to start a business, retirement, a vacation, for college, for a rainy day, or whatever your goals are.  Typically, a person allocates their money in this order.  Pay bills, have fun, and then save.  The problem with this order is that there is never any money left over to save.  People excuse this with “I don’t have enough money leftover”,  or “I don’t make enough.”  Bach quotes, “Change is a funny thing.  Although most people say they want to change — so they can have a better life, with more love, more dreams, and more fun — the fact is that many of us are afraid of change.”  Paying yourself first allows you to save money, without even knowing that you are missing it.  Per Bach, the easiest way is to make it automatic.  Automatic means have your employer deduct a percentage of your paycheck to go into a savings account before you even get a chance to see it.

Paying yourself first means to save, pay bills, and then have fun.  Paying yourself first means to take out a percentage of your check before you do anything else.  It means that you are making a personal commitment that saving is important to you and that you will save a percentage of your income no matter what.  How much should you save?  Bach answers the question this way. To be poor, don’t save anything. To be middle class, save at least 15% of your income, and to be rich, save at least 25%.  To visit David Bach’s website, click HERE.