To Sell or Not To Sell – That is the Question

You may not realize it, but selling your business does not have to be a solely financial decision. Although, you do need to make sure that any sale you make is as financially advantageous as possible.

This is why it often makes sense to get help from the experts at CBS-CBS.com when you are considering the prospect of a sale. They can help you with knowing the value of your business and understanding if selling is the right decision. The question is, why might you be considering the sale of your business? Here are three potential reasons for the sale of a business, not all of which are financially based.

The value of the business

Working with a professional partner is an excellent way of understanding the value of your business. Some of the main factors that contribute to the value of a business are:

  • Projected revenue.
  • Industry fluctuations.
  • Availability of businesses on the market.

If your business has a high value, and you can secure a substantial amount of liquidity, it may be time to sell. This is because it’s important to recognize that you may not always be in such a financially advantageous situation.

Lack of appetite for business risk

For many business owners, there comes a time when the risk of running a business is tiring rather than exhilarating. This can mean that they become risk-averse and are less willing to innovate and change. This means that business growth is likely to be stifled. It could even mean that the business begins to fail.

If you are a business owner who recognizes themselves in this description, it may be a good idea to sell your business. This is especially the case if your business is in a good position at present. If this is the case, you should be able to make a good sale and get out of the business before your risk aversion starts to have an adverse effect.

The chance of a new opportunity

Becoming tired of the risk of running a business, is almost the exact opposite of another potential reason for selling. Many entrepreneurs feel that they need a new challenge, even when their current business is successful.

This could be because they lack the motivation to continue to innovate in the same field, or because they simply want to experience something new and be challenged by mitigating new risks. If you are a business owner who feels as though they need the challenge of a completely new direction, it may be a good idea to sell. You can then use any profits that you make to help get your new enterprise off the ground.

Businesses are bought and sold every day; for many different reasons. If you are thinking of putting your business on the market, you will have your own personal reasons for doing so. Whatever the reason, it’s important to consider the sale carefully and seek assistance from the experts if you need help with valuing your business.

Why Business Taxes Do Not Need to be Taxing

Taxes cause nightmares for many business owners. This is because they can be so complicated to understand. Completing taxes is also frustrating for many small business owners because it involves time spent away from other business-related activities.

If you are a small business owner who recognizes this situation, you may want to take a look at Corporate Business Solutions Reviews and find a professional who can help with your taxes. You may also want to take some time to get a better understanding of taxes yourself. Here is some basic information to get you started, and to help make completing your taxes less taxing.

Understanding business tax

Corporate or business tax is charged on the profits that a company makes. These taxes are due at different times of the year, depending on which type of tax is due. For instance, partnerships and S-corporations pay federal taxes which are due on March 15. In the case of Individual taxes and C-corporation taxes, they are due to be paid on April 15.

It’s possible to get a 6-month grace period which extends the deadline for these taxes. It’s also possible for taxes to be paid in installments, with an amount due every quarter.

Paying tax as a small business

It’s important to know that most small business owners pay tax at the personal tax rate, both personally and for the business. This is because around three-quarters of small businesses in the US are not corporations.

Another piece of information that small business owners should know is that they are entitled to a Qualified Business Income Deduction. This means that they are entitled to a 20% deduction of QBI which is the net amount of items of income, gain, deduction and loss that qualify.

Other taxes that a business needs to pay

There are other taxes that a business is responsible for paying. One of the main taxes is payroll tax which amounts to 7.65% of the gross payroll of a business. Other applicable taxes include:

  • Capital gains tax which is payable on business investments and the sale of assets.
  • Property tax which relates to buildings that are owned by the business.
  • Tax on dividends from business investments.

You can see that there are several different tax considerations that business owners need to be aware of.

The benefits of getting help with taxes

While getting a better understanding of taxes, is good for any business owner, it may still be a good idea to get help with taxes. This is because completing tax returns can take time away from other business activities.

It’s also worth remembering that accountants and tax professionals have high levels of experience and expertise. This means they can ensure that a business gets the benefits of any potential tax advantages.

If you are a small business owner, you should be able to see the advantage of this. You should also remember that the best way of making tax less taxing is to get an expert to help you with it.

What Do You Want, Do You Really, Really Want?

As the owner of a small to medium business, it can be tempting to try and do everything in -house. In fact, many small business owners take it one step further and try to complete many tasks themselves.

The problem with this is that no-one can be an expert in every aspect of running a business. There is also a chance that tasks will not be completed effectively when a business tries to do everything itself. This is why it often makes sense to seek professional help with

CBS-CBS.com. Doing so can help a business get the expert assistance it needs when dealing with complex issues such as analytics or tax issues.

Knowing what help you want

If you are running a business, and decide that seeking professional assistance is a good idea, you need to understand what help you want. In order to get this understanding, you need to examine your current business structure. This helps you to determine what expertise you have in-house.

You also need to be critical about which areas of the business are not being addressed as they should. For instance, you may not be making the most of tax opportunities. You may also be missing out on marketing opportunities because you are not paying enough attention to your analytics. There are many areas where seeking professional expertise can be useful for a business. Here are three of them.

Tax and accountancy

Tax rules can be complicated for business owners to understand. This means that they serve as a distraction from other business-related tasks such as creating a marketing strategy.

Likewise, business finance decisions can also be complicated and difficult to negotiate. This is why working with a partner that can provide accountancy services is a good way of optimizing your tax position and ensuring that your business finances are managed efficiently.

Analytics

No business can operate to its full potential, without measuring its performance. There is usually an array of data that businesses can use to inform their operational decisions. The problem is that not all businesses have personnel who have the time and/or knowledge to use analytics effectively.

If this applies to your business, it’s a good idea to work with professionals who can provide you with analytics solutions. This is because you get accurate and transparent information that you need in order to make the best decisions for your business.

Human resources

This is actually one of the most important aspects of running a business. However, it’s also one that is often neglected. This is because business owners and managers tend to concentrate their efforts on the numbers when it comes to productivity and profits.

However, without a good HR system in place, it’s impossible to manage one of the most important resources of a business; its workforce. This is why many businesses work with professional partners in order to get the HR solution that they need.

You can see why you should stop and think about what assistance you need to make your business run more efficiently. Then you need to find a reliable and reputable partner to provide this assistance.

Improving the Fortunes of Your Business – What You Should Know

Any business owner wants to optimize the fortunes of its operations. In order to do this, they need to monitor different aspects of the business and ensure that they are working to their full potential.

It’s important that this is done effectively as many businesses fail because analysis and improvements are not carried out. Around 50% of small businesses in the US fail within the first 5-years. Many business owners choose to enlist help from Corporate Business Solutions, in order to ensure that their business performance is optimized. There are three main areas where this help can be useful.

Focusing on people

People are the most important asset of any business. The people who work for business help to determine the level of customer satisfaction. They are also responsible for the productivity of a business.

If there is a disconnect between the goals of the business and the actions of employees, this can have an adverse effect on the overall performance of the business. It’s important to reduce the risk of this happening by ensuring that employees are motivated and onboard with the aims of the business.

Examining the brand

Businesses build a brand in order to attract custom and improve sales and profits. This brand should obviously have positive connotations and should reflect the aims and services of the business. However, creating a brand is not the end of the story.

A business brand can start to fail if it’s not analyzed and monitored efficiently. For instance, the attraction of the brand may wane. There could also be an issue with production being able to meet the demands of the brand. These are issues that need to be identified and addressed as soon as possible, in order to improve the fortunes of the business.

Analyzing the performance of operations

If the wheels of a business are not working as well as they should, the fortunes of a business cannot be improved. This is why operational excellence is so important to the overall success of a business.

In order to achieve operational excellence, businesses need to analyze how their processes are performing on an ongoing basis. They then need to use the information that is gathered in order to make beneficial operational improvements.

In summary

No business owner can afford to allow their business to become stagnant. If this happens, the business begins to fail and profits fall. In order to stop this from happening, it’s important to take action to improve the fortunes of a business.

Business owners can enlist professional help in order to do this. Doing so means that they can analyze the effectiveness of vital features of the business such as people, the brand and operational performance. They can then use the information that they gain to make necessary improvements. These improvements can have a positive effect on the fortunes of a business. This gives it a better chance of surviving and thriving.

An Apple a Day Keeps the Doctor Away – Does This Work for Employees?

You have probably heard the apple a day saying. Originating from a Welsh proverb, and reworded by Benjamin Franklin, it’s been around for almost two centuries. So, is there any truth in it and can it work for your employees?

The truth is that there is no medical evidence to suggest that an apple a day results in fewer visits to the doctor. However, eating fruit can form part of a healthy diet which can, in turn, lead to healthier employees. Ask any expert in

Corporate Business Solutions and they will tell you that a healthy workforce is a valuable asset to any business.

Why is a healthy workforce important?

So why is it so important to have healthy employees? There are actually several benefits to be had.

Reduction in sick absence 

An obvious advantage of having employees who are healthy is that they are less likely to be absent due to sickness. This means that if you promote the health of your employees, they are likely to be in work more often, thereby protecting the productivity levels of your business.

Enhanced business performance 

Just because people are in work does not mean that they have an optimum level of health. They could be overtired or suffering from stress. This has an adverse effect on their performance levels. Therefore, taking action to improve the overall health of your workforce helps to improve personal performance and the performance of the business as a whole.

Improved employee engagement 

When people see that their employer is interested in their health and well-being they feel as though they are valued. This means that if you pay attention to the health of the people who work for you, they are more likely to engage with you and be motivated to work towards the ongoing success of the business.

How to keep your workforce healthy

While there is no way to guarantee that your employees will remain healthy, there are things that you can do which make it more likely to happen.

  • Make healthy food available to all employees. Many businesses provide vending machines which contain snacks such as candy and chips. Employees may get a short-term energy boost from eating these items, but they are not healthy in the long term. It makes sense to provide easy access to a selection of fruit instead. While apples may not keep the doctor away, they can help.
  • Encourage employees to exercise. This is an essential aspect of helping to protect the health of your workforce. Employees should be encouraged to move their limbs regularly while seated at their desks. They should also be encouraged to move away from their desks during their lunch break and go for a walk or a run.
  • Provide furniture that is supportive. This type of furniture helps to protect the joints and muscles of employees, making chronic pain issues less likely.

You can see that while giving your employees an apple a day may not keep the doctor away, providing a healthy workplace can make a real difference.

5 Operational Issues That Corporate Business Solutions Can Assist With

If you are running a business your aim is for it to grow and thrive. Over time, you are likely to experience operational issues that can have an adverse effect on growth and success if you let them.

This is when you start to look at Corporate Business Solutions Reviews to find the expert help that you need. So, what are some of the operational issues that your business may encounter and the solutions that you can be assisted with?

The meaning of an operational issue

In order to understand the effect that an operational issue can have on your business, you need to know what operational issues are. In short, this type of issue can have an adverse effect on the profits of a business.

This is because these issues can hamper the execution of business strategy, drain resources and reduce growth. You can see why it’s important to know about these issues and get help when necessary. With this in mind, here are five of the main operational issues your business may encounter.

Management of overheads

Overheads are an important consideration for any business. If they are not managed effectively, they can seriously diminish profitability. There are many reasons why overheads can cause problems, such as an overspend by the business. If this happens to your business, you need to examine your expenditure and remove any unnecessary spending. For instance, you may be able to use video calling instead of paying for business travel.

Monitoring of employee performance

If you fail to monitor employee performance effectively, you also fail to optimize the performance of your business. This is why you need to have a series of KPIs in place; at a business level and an individual level. These KPIs enable performance to be measured accurately and fairly. Initiating an efficient performance appraisal system also helps to alleviate issues with the monitoring of employee performance.

Compliance with regulatory requirements

It can be easy for any business to miss out on knowledge of rules and regulations; especially in a world where technology is advancing all the time. Doing so can be costly, both financially and reputationally. This is because if a business does not comply with regulatory requirements it can be fined and it’s standing with customers can be damaged. One of the easiest ways for a business to avoid this issue is to get help from experts.

Risks to cybersecurity

Cybersecurity is a risk that every business needs to be alert to. If you do not pay attention to the cybersecurity of your business, you could face exposure to hacking and data leaks. This can leave your business at risk of financial issues and can lead to distrust from customers and potential customers. Solutions to cybersecurity issues need to be all-encompassing and implemented through all parts of the business.

Employing the right people

There is no doubt that employing the wrong people can be destructive to any business. This is because employees are one of the most important mechanisms when it comes to securing business success. Issues that can occur when the wrong people are engaged to lude:

 

  • Clashes of personal ambition with the ethos of the business.
  • Lack of relevant knowledge and skills.
  • Loss of team structure and effectiveness.

All of these problems can damage the performance and profitability of a business.

In order to ensure that the right people are hired, your business needs to build job descriptions and people profiles that are directly related to the ethos and strategy of the business and to the requirements of each role.

If any of these issues are experienced by your business, you can implement the relevant solutions, with assistance from corporate business solutions specialists when necessary.

3 Tips for Finishing Out the Year Strong

As we move through the second half of the year, you’ve probably begun to turn your attention towards your productivity and revenue goals for the year to see if you are on target. If you’re like most business owners, you could always use a little extra support when it comes to finishing the year strong.  The following field-tested tips will fit that need with precision, with each tip providing insight into an issue or method you can use to optimize your success.

When it comes to staying on track with for your goals, you need not go at it alone, though. Corporate Business Solutions consultants are ready and waiting to meet with you to create a personalized management plan that meets your business’ short- and long-term goals.

Tip #1 – Look at Your Last “To Do” List

Though it may sound obvious, your efforts towards planning should include a full review of your goals. During the course of such a review, you can check off any goals that you have been successfully met as well as make modifications to ongoing goals that reflect their current priority status.

If a previously completed goal has fallen by the wayside, don’t be afraid to add it back in for next year’s “to do” list. This can help emphasize its overall importance, as well as provide a stepping stone for making that company-wide goal or milestone a permeant feature.

Tip #2 – Use SMART Goals

There’s an old saying that the best way to eat an elephant is “one bit at a time.” While you need not go to such carnivorous ends to achieve your goals, you should use a goal-setting method that helps you incrementally break down your goals into easy-to-monitor criteria. SMART goals are just one method of accomplishing this standard.

“SMART” goals are those that are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely. When creating a new line item for next year’s “to do” list, ask yourself, “Is this goal specific? Is this goal measurable?” and so forth. If not, take time to further pare down your goal until you are able to communicate its qualitative and quantitative components with precision.

Tip #3 – Identify Systematic Problems and Solutions

Finally, while looking at the company-wide “to do” list, take some time to determine if any system-wide barriers to efficient operations stand in your and your employee’s path. Though these hurdles can appear on a variety of fronts, they most often prevent employees from completing their assigned tasks in a timely fashion or communicating with one another with a respectable degree of clarity.

Many companies resolve these systematic problems by implementing new tools to supplement their existing capabilities. App-based messaging programs such as Slack, for example, have helped many small and large businesses streamline their team-based internal communications. Even non-communications problems can be solved by looking at the root cause of the barrier and then implementing a purpose-built tool or plan that helps eliminate that barrier substantially.

Onboarding New Employees with the Teaching EDGE

Onboarding new employees can be a challenge, especially if you expect that they’ll need extensive training using your business’ equipment or require extensive support to slot into your company’s workflow. Regardless of the skill or system, you need to teach to your new employee, you can do so using a method promoted in the Scouting program known as the “Teaching EDGE.”

This four-step cycle is designed to incrementally guide an individual from a position of deficit understanding to a position of fully independent operation. Using this Teaching EDGE can certainly take the edge off of both large and small training scenarios. For additional insights into managing your business, consider checking out CBS-CBS.com and their portfolio of informative consulting services.

E – Explain

Before your new employee ever picks up a tool or receives any projects, you (or a relevant manager) should work one-on-one with the new employee to fully explain what is expected of them with regards to this specific task. After explaining these expectations in detail, you should physically walk through every step in the relevant process. During this walkthrough, be sure to go slowly and make all of your actions deliberately geared towards the stated outcome.

At this stage, the new employee will not engage the new skill on their own. Instead, they will watch while you perform the task to gain a broad understanding of the bigger picture.

D- Demonstrate

Continuing on from the “Explain” stage, this next stage is focused on demonstrating the proper methodology behind completing the desired task, as well as explaining the underlying rationale for those actions. To this extent, you’ll repeat the previously completed process while breaking down each step in language familiar to the new employee. This step should also include an emphasis on intricacies that would not otherwise be obvious to the new employee.

By this time, new employees may possess (or should be prompted for) questions. Answer these questions fully and on their terms. While the new employee won’t work hands-on at this stage, they should be empowered to retain as much information regarding the skill’s successful completion as possible.

G – Guide 

After watching both a broad and in-depth implementation of the desired skill, the new employee is ready to begin attempting the new skill in a low-stakes scenario. As the teacher, you may walk your new employee through the steps on the first several cycles before allowing them to complete the task from memory.

Some mistakes are bound to happen, which is perfectly normal. Reassure your new employee and provide input to support their fundamental understanding of the task. At this stage, the new employee should grow in confidence and be able to complete the desired task with some auxiliary support.

E – Enable

Finally, it is time for you, the teacher, to step away and allow the new employee to apply their new skill in a live or realistic scenario. In other words, it is time for the new employee to act on their own and take responsibility for reinforcing their own mastery.

Some mistakes may still occur at this stage, which is okay. Remember that learning a new skill should be treated as cyclical, requiring occasional reinforcement in order to provide your new employee with an opportunity for skill mastery.

3 Tips for Harnessing Social Media to Meet your Business Goals

Regardless of your professional field, gaining new clients and building your revenue is likely at the core of your business planning efforts. While these plans should always be well-aligned with trends in your specific industry, nearly all business large and small can benefit from harnessing the raw communications potential of contemporary social media platforms.

Like the Yellow Pages of yesteryear, social media is where many consumers today turn to in order to ascertain key business information. It is up to you to meet your clients where they are and create a robust social media presence that meets their expectations.

While the following tips for harnessing social media resources will start you down the path towards success, Corporate Business Solutions reviews will help you further solidify these digital gains.

Tip #1 – Identify Your Audience(s)

First and foremost, you’ll need to know your audience before you can ever hope of reaching out to them on social media. While this may broadly include folks working in or in need of services from your specific industry, you should further pare down your audience based upon specific demographics (such as hierarchical position in a company and geographic region).

In all likelihood, you will end up establishing several “target audiences.” This is perfectly normal and can actually help you draw in clients and customers from several different entry points. For example, a bakery may maintain a social media profile that targets both regular bread-seeking customers as well as potential partners (such as a coffee shop) that could sell their products at a commercial level.

Tip #2 – Choose the Right Channels

With your target audiences in mind, you should begin to select social media platforms that are demographically tailored to engage those audiences with precision. Simply put, not all social media platforms are designed to reach every audience, so these selections may be the difference between striking it rich with your audience and wasting your resources on a fruitless digital venture.

Facebook remains the best social media platform for reaching a broad audience and advertising, though its impact on younger audiences is greatly waning today. Meanwhile, LinkedIn remains a great option for networking with other industry professionals and publicizing your business’ services. Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube each respectively hold potential as well when it comes to digitally communicate with your target audiences.

Tip #3 – Engage and Respond

Unlike other communication platforms of the past, social media revolves around the core concept of “engagement.” When you make a post on a social media platform, your audience can immediately respond (both positively or negatively) to your content through verbal and iconographical indicators. This can change how much visibility and productive reception your business receives online as a whole. Often, social media platforms will include analytical tools to help you make heads or tails of your platform-specific engagement.

Engagement isn’t a one-way street, though. When an audience member engages your social media presence, you can respond with feedback based upon their identified needs. Regardless of the feedback’s content, you should always maintain a professional demeanor in order to project the best possible digital brand voice for your physical business.

Are Your Employees Stressed? 5 Ways to Reduce Stress and Boost Productivity

Did you know that stress in the workplace costs companies around the United States to lose $30 billion a year in lost workdays? For any size of the business, that is a significant hit to your profits. A small business, though, the amount of money lost from stressed employees could be detrimental to the bottom line.

Trying to be productive while stressed is one of the hardest things to do. Stress causes us to lose focus on the task at hand, affect our mental wellbeing and can cause physical symptoms as well.

To prevent your employees from being stressed while working, Corporate Business Solutions has five ways that you can keep your workplace stress-free and boost productivity.

Have Open Communication at All Times

Lots of employee stress comes from not having enough communication with their manager. One of the everyday stressors for staff members is their boss.

Luckily, you can do something about that. Evaluate your management skills and see if that’s what is contributing to the stress. Keep your door open for communicating with your team at all times. If someone is having issues, he or she should feel comfortable enough to discuss the problem with you.

Offer Mental Health Days

Although the purpose of reducing stress is to keep your employees productive, there will be times that the only way to do this is by giving stressed employees time off, with pay. If someone needs a break but worries about not getting paid, it won’t solve anything.

Offer mental health days to your staff. These days should be for when someone is highly stressed due to work or personal related matters. It will allow them to relax and ease their mind before coming back to work.

Have an Outlet Room

If you get highly stressed, it’s nice to have somewhere you can go to get all that built-up frustration out. You can offer that in your office by having an outlet room. Think of it as a break room, but for getting rid of stress.

Have things like a ping pong table, dartboard, basketball hoop, and other board games that will relax their minds and help ease up on the everyday stressors of work.

Have a Take Your Dog to Work Day

It’s common for people to have dogs nowadays, and rightfully so. Pets offer so many health benefits to us, as long as you don’t have any allergies to them. They can help reduce your stress and make you feel happier.

Have a day where employees can bring their dogs to work. Before doing this, check to ensure everyone is okay with this idea, as not everyone is a dog lover. Incorporating this into your week, though, can help create a more comfortable work environment that is less stressful and more productive.

Have a Workout Place

If it’s feasible for your office, have somewhere that employees can get in a quick workout. Physical exercise is a great way to reduce stress and keep you healthy.

Having a spot to workout doesn’t necessarily mean you need a full gym in the office. It could be a meditation spot, an area for yoga and stretching, or having a treadmill for a quick run.