Do my business taxes need to be filed by April 15th?

If you are on a calendar year-end reporting with your company, the answer is most likely yes. The only exception to that would be if you incorporated your business, in which case the company’s taxes are due March 15! You will at least have to pay any taxes you owe by that time. If you would like to file an extension for some reason you can do so, but the extension only gives you more time to file your taxes, not to pay your taxes. It’s always best to file by the original due date to get it out of the way. This way you can focus on building your business the rest of the year instead of having to be concerned about meeting your extension deadline.

Keep in mind that with your small business you will most likely have to complete your business taxes either before or at the same time you file your personal taxes. Since today is New Year’s Eve, it’s a good time to make your list of things to do in 2008 and completing your taxes on time is a great one to add to the list!

© 2007 eMarketing 4 Business LLC

Should I get a company credit card?

If you have good credit and you manage your finances well, you really don’t need a company credit card. All you need to do is keep your business expense separate and write the business reason on the back of the receipt. You’ll want to keep a running total of your business expenses for your taxes.

If you have a spouse or other people in your family using the same credit card, it is probably a good idea to get a credit card with your company’s name on it and only put your business expenses on that card. Typically you will be guaranteeing the credit card personally but the credit card company will put your business name on the card.

Here are a couple of good options for you if you are ready to get a company credit card. Click Here to view some credit card provider links.

See a related article titled: Should I add employees to my company credit card?

© 2007 eMarketing 4 Business LLC

My business needs money, should I get it from my home equity line if credit?

That is a tough question. First off, can you accelerate some of your accounts receivable accounts to get more cash flowing? If not, you can also try to send out your invoices faster and try reducing the timeframe for paying them to 15 days from 30.

Also, if you have some jobs pending out there you might tell the prospects you have an opening now and you may be able to reduce your bid to start a little sooner.

If all these suggestions still leave you tight on cash and you need a loan, taking it from your homes line of credit is certainly the easiest way to go but be careful…. If you’re planning on selling your house any time soon make sure the market hasn’t changed in your area and be sure you could sell the house with your current equity position, especially after you take the loan.

If you’re not sure on this one it might be a good idea to get a loan from your banker or a credit union. Credit unions usually have more less strict qualification guidelines and they may also have a lower interest rate than your bank.

If all else fails and you need the dough, your credit line may be the only alternative. Be careful and don’t take more than you need. Turn up your marketing efforts and try to get more business in the door!

© 2007 eMarketing 4 Business LLC

Pick up the phone every now and then!

Email is just too easy sometimes. It’s good to pick up the phone every now and then and have a real conversation with people. Not just friends but customers too. We get too good at email and text communication. If they’re in town, set up a lunch and get face to face. If they’re out of town then spend a few extra minutes and have a phone call with them.

Take a minute or two before you get on the call and jot down a few things to talk to them about. Ask how they are doing, the family and then after a little small talk you can transition to some business. You may find some other business you can do with them or a project for someone you know. Each time you give out a referral you should expect at least one back.

I know you’ll be on the phone longer with a real call than you will with a text or email but sometimes you just need to “put a voice” with the text....

© 2007 eMarketing 4 Business LLC

How do I know when its time to sell my company?

If you start spending a lot of time thinking about doing things other than running your business, if you’re oversleeping a lot and you dread the thought of having to keep going to work every day and if you’re day dreaming about what you would do if you didn’t go to work anymore….it might be getting time to sell.

Keep in mind there are lots of people who could never see themselves starting a new business but they can see themselves buying a business that’s already up and running and making money.

There are plenty of people that really enjoy the excitement and passion of starting a company and growing it but they get bored with the day to day of running of it. If you are the type of person who has built a successful business but you don’t enjoy managing and running a company on a day to day basis, it may be time for you to sell your company.

© 2007 eMarketing 4 Business LLC

What are the top 3 financial questions you must be able to answer about your company?

1) Are you making money?

In many new businesses, the owner is putting so many of the companies expenses on credit cards that answering this question is more difficult than just looking at the business check book balance. They never spend the time to create a profit and loss statement to figure out if they are REALLY making money! Whether you are or not, the profit and loss statement should give ideas of where to focus your time. That may mean watching expenses or increasing sales of more profitable items.

2) How much does a new sale cost you?

I am always surprised at how many business owners can not answer this question. To get the answer, you need to add up all of your expenses associated with a sale. Many people want to just include the price of the lead, but don’t forget to include items such as: costs of leads that didn’t close, other advertising you do, salaries/commissions for sales staff, cost of item sold (product or service). It is best to know these costs per product/service line. This helps you know if the selling expenses associated with a particular product/service is eating up all your profit margins for that product/service.

3) What is the future value, in terms of revenue, of each of your customers?

This means how much business can you plan on getting from each of your new customers in the future? If you have consumable products, how often can you expect each customer to reorder? If you provide a service, when can you expect to do more work for each customer? Knowing the amount and frequency of repeat business allows you to better plan your company’s growth with each new customer won!

Having the answers to each of these questions will help keep you on top of the financial well being of your company.

© 2007 eMarketing 4 Business LLC