Blog

With the right infrastructure, small businesses can not only survive, but thrive by giving employees parental leaves. For example, Becca Apfelstadt has a $3 million, 20-person company, treetree, that works with large corporate marketing departments. Her company expanded 10-fold after her first maternity leave three years ago. She credits the... Read more

Generally, debt that is forgiven by a lender is considered taxable income by the IRS and must be included as income on your tax return. Examples include a debt for which you are personally liable such as mortgage debt, credit card debt, and sometimes, student loan debt. When that debt... Read more

Knowing how to effectively give positive feedback is a powerful tool to develop employee skills and talent. However, many leaders on the front lines, middle management, and upper tiers of organizations often overlook positive feedback and reinforcement, or are unsure or uncomfortable about giving it. Why Positive Feedback Is Important... Read more

Finding good staff members is consistently in the top three priorities for small business owners. It seems that business owners will tell you that this problem is worse in their country than any other.  Clearly that can’t be true, but it gives an indication of how serious the problem is.... Read more

What makes an excellent team?  Diversity, an entrepreneurial spirit, and ambition are some of the key ingredients of a successful team in any industry. Gathering talent from a variety of backgrounds can better ensure that all kinds of tasks get done by qualified people. Promoting a culture of creativity and... Read more

Managing good business books isn’t something you should only do as a tax-saving strategy It also gives you peace of mind, ensuring you haven’t mixed up funds or miscoded data entries that require a lot of reversal work or resolution by your accountant. Here are four important reasons why maintaining... Read more

Developing strategy to succeed in business A recent survey, conducted by The High Center for Family Business at Elizabethtown College and the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, found that 65% of family businesses do not have a strategic plan. Many businesses misuse the term strategy As leaders of businesses,... Read more

Tax season is over. Is hindsight really that helpful? Now you can take a sigh of relief and push any thoughts of taxes far from your mind, right? Then repeat and rinse by doing the stress-filled mad dash all over again in just under 12 months (just like you swore... Read more

Matching their passion for jewelry with their drive to revolutionize the industry… Dallas-based Jewelry Theory is not a jewelry store: it is a new approach to jewelry design and creation. And it’s catching on fast. We spoke with one of the four owners and Head of Design, Tony Logan, about... Read more

Getting closer to your goals, one day at a time requires some planning… But when it comes to our to-do lists, far too many of us become undisciplined yes-women and yes-men. We complete easy tasks as we attempt to feel productive, instead of actually being productive. In actuality, the tasks we... Read more

Four Ways Technology Can Help With Bookkeeping Does it seem like every time you plan to work on your business’s books , you get distracted? Well, if so, you’re not alone. Tackling the books is one of a business owner’s biggest headaches. Luckily, there’s technology that can help any business... Read more

The Power of Drafting an Annual Business Plan ….If you want to grow, one of the most important steps is to develop a plan for growth — and then make planning an ongoing process of your company. Remember: You can’t reach a goal you haven’t set. It’s planning that’s important,  not... Read more

Nurturing clear strategies for growth Effective growth plans are built from a targeted strategy that builds sales and profit  by channel, customer, and product to identify what can be achieved. These plans are usually more realistic and will include a new customer or new product business pipeline to define potential... Read more

Hiring your first employee is a big step. You’ll want to make sure that you help your new hire to maximize their performance. We suggest following four steps that are simple, but time tested: 1. Set the right goals Goal setting is essential. It helps employees to prioritize their activities and... Read more

Entrepreneurs need to be effective team leaders… …..since no one can transform an idea into a product and a business without some help. Fortunately, team building is a skill that can be learned and practiced, for those willing to put in some effort. Take a look at this checklist as... Read more

Helping your business reach its goals for success is within your power. Boosting productivity and efficiency gives small businesses a competitive edge and can often mean the difference between thriving or barely hanging on. Though increasing efficiency can be hard at times, finding small ways to boost your team’s productivity... Read more

The dog days of summer can be a time for retooling and opportunity. Although it can be hard trying to keep a business running, there’s still hope for growth. Here’s a list of tips for small business owners who want to turn downtime into opportunity. Conduct a mid-year goal review... Read more

What’s a team without trust? Mary Scannell, author of “The Big Book of Low-Cost Training Games” and several other team-building books, says a lack of trust among team members is a major concern for many managers she consults. “Everybody’s just clamoring for ‘How do we build more trust on our team?’” she says. “Well, you... Read more

It’s important to thoroughly vet a process before going to all the effort of changing your business. Checking in with important stakeholders and customers is a critical step to undertake before the change effort. Sometimes we live in our own little world even though we’re surrounded by plenty of team members... Read more

Each new financial year is a common time for people to reconsider their approach to their business. Whenever we meet a business owner, we like to ask about their business model and what they are looking to achieve in the next three years. It’s rare to get a concise response... Read more

It’s the middle of summer, and you’re stuck behind the desk at your small business — working and sweating. Your friends’ Facebook feeds are filled with pictures of them happily enjoying a drink on some beach. It’s no wonder you’ve lost that loving feeling for your own business. Falling out of love with... Read more

Building a high-performance organization means successfully outperforming one’s competitors for the long haul. But…how exactly is this done? If you start by looking at key characteristics of high-performing organizations, a blueprint for achieving long-term success emerges. This can be mapped out in five steps, along with some commons traps to... Read more

If you’re thinking about hiring an accountant, you’ve probably discovered that you may need one for more than just crunching numbers. Today, many accountants strive to serve as small business financial advisors. Many of them want to be there for you at every stage of your business’s growth. Helping to write... Read more

Running a business is not easy. It requires a lot of time, hard work, and sacrifice. If you operate your own small business, you’re likely all too familiar with the never ending to do list. Maybe you’ve even given up weekends and burned the midnight oil to make sure everything... Read more