Category Archives: Corporate Business Solutions LLC

Investing in Onboarding to Benefit Your Business

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Running a company involves making a lot of decisions, and one of the most important is where you’ll be making investments to further your business goals. Although it may be challenging to determine where and how money should be spent, it’s certainly worth considering investing it in onboarding your new employees. Evidence shows that employees who enjoy an excellent onboarding experience will be almost 70% more likely to remain with that employer for a minimum of 3 years, so it’s well worth making this investment.

Corporate Training and Its Role

Corporate training could have a vital role in your company’s strategic plan if you want to improve your new employee onboarding experience. Culture development and increased retention are two key areas that organization is usually focus on when drawing up a strategic plan, and implementing corporate training can tackle both of those priorities effectively.

Many businesses choose to train new employees themselves through one-to-one sessions with staff members, managers, and other employees. As an approach, this makes sense, since it creates a more organic transition into the company by learning from those who are already working in it. Yet, there are some shortcomings associated with DIY training too. A more effective approach could be to pair in-house training with professional training services so onboarding plans can be designed that facilitate a successful and smooth professional development for new staff from their very first day.

Introduction to Your Company’s Culture

When introducing new hires into your organization, part of the onboarding process should be an introduction to your company’s culture. Every staff member needs to fully embrace the workplace culture if the business is to thrive. Therefore, part of this early phase of your recruits’ employment should help them to immerse themselves in the cultural experience of your business and introduce them to its goal’s missions and values so that they can align themselves with them.

Communication and Continuation

Communication is central to the success of any workplace, so part of your recruits’ onboarding experience must involve helping them to integrate with the team and to forge strong connections with their new colleagues. It’s also vital to remember that the process of onboarding is an ongoing one – it doesn’t come to an end after the first day or even week. Checking in regularly with new hires is essential to ensure that they are coping and increasing confidence as they settle into their new role.

Seeking Business Consultancy Advice

The onboarding process is essential for any small business that wants to grow its bottom line and thrive in today’s competitive marketplace. Corporate Business Solutions reviews show that our clients experience significant benefits when they adopt our advice regarding implementing more effective organizational socialization. New employees enjoy better morale and have a more positive welcoming experience when joining the company, while retention rates increase exponentially.

New employees are an asset to your organization, so ensuring that recently recruited staff members enjoy the best and smoothest transition process into your company is imperative.  By investing in onboarding, you can set your business up for a positive and successful future.

Valuing Small Businesses to Determine Their Earning Potential

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When it comes to valuing small businesses, you need to do more than simply look at their tax records. You’ll also need to consider other factors like its location, the way it’s being managed, and its financial track record. If the management style and location are good, closely examining its financial history is a good indicator of the company’s earning potential.

When you’re keen to take over a business, you’ll need to know just how much income you can expect to gain. Looking at the company’s financial history will enable you to work out the amount the business actually makes as well as how much its owner is currently making for themselves when the business running costs are subtracted. The advice that you’ll find offered by consultants such as those at CBS-CBS.com includes the following four steps to work out the company’s earning potential.

1.Determining The SDE

The main earning metric used to value any small business is the SDE (Seller Discretionary Earnings). This is the company’s net income before any depreciation, taxes, interest expenses, amortization, and any other owner benefits. The majority of small business financial records tend to be compiled to minimize their tax burden. Therefore, those records are unlikely to fully reflect the true financial performance of the company. This means that the financials will need to be formally reconstructed or recast to determine an amount of income that more accurately reflects the company’s earnings.

2.Asking The Seller About Specifics

To obtain greater insight, it’s necessary to ask the business’s owner specific questions about the amount their business is currently making for them. This might include details about how the sales have been calculated, adjustments that have been made for tax purposes and breakdowns of operating expenses. You may worry about asking the seller for this kind of detail, but there is no reason for concern. Sellers should expect this information to be requested and, if they’re serious about wanting to sell, sharing their financial specifics should not be a problem.

3.Using Annual Gross Sales

A business’ annual gross sales may be worked out by examining its tax returns and financial statements. Usually, small business owners make between 10% and 20% of gross sales. When you determine the figure, remember that if you decide to buy the business you need to subtract the acquisition’s cost then add the costs involved in improving the business in the future.

4.Estimate SDE By Using The Business’s Selling Price

In general, if you examine the selling price of the business, you may be able to work out the SDE. So if, as an example, the asking price is $625,000, it’s safe to assume that the business owner’s SDE is around $250,000 to $312,500. If the business is losing money, don’t automatically assume that it isn’t worth buying the business. After all, you’re buying it for its future and existing earnings potential. It’s possible the business is making a loss because it is poorly managed, but its employees may be skilled, it may have a good reputation and a great location. If you buy the business then improve its management, it’s possible to boost potential earnings and create healthy profits over time.

Acquisition Or Acquihire? Which Is Right For Your Business Exit Strategy?

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When you’re planning your business exit strategy, you’ll need to determine which approach is right for you. One of the most common options is a merger or acquisition in which your business will be bought by or will merge with another similar organization. There are a few advantages to this, but there are also a few downsides to bear in mind. One alternative is to consider becoming part of an Acquihire. This is a less common option, but it also offers a number of benefits. Here, we compare the two options so you can determine which one, if either, is right for your needs.

The Advantages Of A Merger Or Acquisition

When you opt for an acquisition or merger to exit your business, you could benefit from extra flexibility depending on who you decide to sell the company to. You may be able to have a more flexible involvement in terms of your time, or you may be able to have the freedom you need to walk away from the business.

One excellent thing about adopting this strategy is that you can negotiate how much you will sell your business for, whereas if you sell to the public, your company will be valued relative to others in your industry.

There is a major downside, though. It can be an extremely time-consuming and expensive process to sell your business in this way. In fact, evidence shows that 90% of businesses fail to get bought at all. Even if you achieve a successful sale, your company no longer exists in its original form, and there are numerous consequences linked to this action. It’s therefore always wise to have an alternative plan in place, just in case your dream of a merger or acquisition doesn’t pan out.

Becoming Part Of An Acquihire

An acquihire is different from a standard acquisition. With this exit strategy, a company will buy out your company purely to acquire its skilled or talented employees. While this means that your business legacy won’t endure in terms of its name, your employees will be provided for. You will, however, need to work on negotiating terms with the specific needs of your employees in mind.

One of the advantages of this type of exit strategy is that you’ll have the opportunity to negotiate terms so you’ll increase your profits as well as a positive future for the employees who have been loyal to you. You’ll also benefit from a neat exit from the business with no need to have any concerns about lingering obligations and responsibilities.

Again, however, there is a downside. Just like with a standard acquisition or merger, the process may be expensive, difficult and time-consuming. It may also be harder to find buyers who are interested in acquihire arrangements. Of course, you’ll also lose the business legacy that you have built up over the years.

Which Exit Strategy Is Right For You?

There are many different possible exit strategies for you to consider, and these are just two. If neither is a good choice, Corporate Business Solutions can help you to make a well-informed decision. You can get all the information you need to choose the right type of exit strategy to suit your own needs and the needs of your employees.

Cut Costs Not Corners

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At some point, you’re sure to need to cut costs in your business. Finding a way to maximize your profits is essential if you want your organization to be successful, and following through with your business plan is impossible if you’re weighed down with obsolete expenditures and wasteful spending.

Cutting costs is one thing, but you certainly don’t want to reduce the value you provide to clients and customers. Your business needs to stay effective, and so you need to take the right approach to cost-cutting. You need to find a way to maximize what you can get using the resources you have rather than trying to find a way to manage without the essentials. With this in mind, here are some strategies which could prove helpful.

Focus On Keeping It Simple

One problem that many businesses face is overextending themselves and putting out products that lack demand. Experts recommend that you list each product and process in place and ask whether they are contributing to the company’s primary goals. Focusing on what clients and customers want will help to improve your business’ main focus and make it more profitable.

Plan Ahead

It’s possible to get some excellent deals for your business when you plan ahead. Signing up ahead for services or purchasing in bulk can help to save money while also guarding against logistical errors which would mean paying extra for an urgent service.

Use Time-Saving Technology

The latest technology helps us to save money and time, so automation can often be well worth making an additional financial investment. For example, investing in online management systems and services can help to reduce the amount of time spent on endless paperwork.

Could Freelancers Be the Answer?

The remote and freelance economies are booming, so if you don’t actually need someone to be physically present in the office to carry out certain tasks, you may be better off finding an affordable freelance worker online. This could help you to get better value for money from your hire. It’ll also help you to reduce costs by only employing additional help when it’s actually required and for the precise number of hours necessary rather than having somebody constantly on staff.

Use Expert Advisors

One way to ensure that you are maximizing your business potential and cutting costs without cutting corners is to bring in professional business analysts and consultants who can help you to pinpoint savings opportunities while also enabling you to get maximum profit from your company. Check out Corporate Business Solutions reviews to find out more about how we can help you.

Our expert team can work with you to identify potential pressure points and determine ways to circumvent them so your business can stay profitable while shaving off unnecessary expenditures. Since every one of them has extensive experience in the world of business so you can rest assured that they’ll be well-placed to ensure the best possible outcomes for your organization, whatever its nature or size.

Are You Focusing On The Wrong Numbers For Your Business?

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If you’re considering how much your business is worth, it’s possible that you’re focusing on completely the wrong numbers. It’s true that a business’ value all boils down to one equation: the multiple of the profits that the acquirer would be willing to spend to buy your company. However, most business owners make the mistake of believing that the most effective way of improving their company’s value is to increase their profits. For this reason, they work on finding ways to increase the amount that they sell and, as they’re experts within their field, it’s only natural that clients and customers are keen to engage personally with them. That means spending a lot more time meeting clients face to face, speaking on the phone and traveling to increase their sales.

When a business owner adopts this model, it’s true that their company can grow slightly, Yet, the owner’s own life becomes considerably more challenging. Clients demand a lot more service and time. The business’ employees start to burn out. Soon, it begins to feel as if there aren’t sufficient hours in a day. Health starts to suffer, relationships become strained and revenue flatlines. All of this comes from working too hard and too much.

If this feels all-too-familiar, it’s time to look at which numbers really matter for your business.

Which Numbers Matter?

When you spend too much effort and time on increasing profits, the company’s overall value can actually diminish. So, what’s the solution? Remember that we said above that the important equation is a multiple of the profits that your business’ acquirer would be willing to spend to buy your company? You need to instead focus your efforts on driving that multiple. By doing this, your company’s value can actually grow, improving your profits and redeeming your freedom.

So, what is driving your multiple? Here, we take a closer look at some of the key factors that you should be concentrating on.

Your Differentiated Market Position

Buyers only purchase what they can’t easily create for themselves. Therefore, you can expect your business to be worth more to a potential purchaser if you’ve got a monopoly over what you’re selling, or you’re one of just a handful of companies with a license to supply the specific service or product within your market.

Plenty Of Runways

Although most business owners think that having a larger market share is something they should be striving towards, in the eyes of business acquirers, this may actually reduce the company’s value since most opportunities have already been stopped up.

Recurring Revenue

Buyers will need to know how well the business will cope if you leave. If there is plenty of recurring revenue, this will assure them that even when you’ve left the company the business will continue to thrive.

Well-Kept Financials

The profitability and size of your business matters to potential investors and the quality of bookkeeping is something that will be extremely significant to anyone who wants to buy your company.

Seeking Professional Advice

If you’re seeking an effective exit strategy to leave your business, it’s important to get help from a team of professional consultants. Visit CBS-CBS.com to find out more about how our expert team can give you the help and advice you need.

Tax Planning Trends Your Business Needs to Be Aware Of

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Over the past few years, we’ve seen some major changes in the tax legislation landscape. The complexity and frequency of those changes have meant that businesses have had an increasing need to focus more resources on staying compliant. Worldwide, more than 40 governments have changed hands in a short space of time, and tax legislation has been harnessed in numerous ways by those new leaders. There seems to be no sign of a slow-down any time soon, and it’s becoming clear that tax enforcement will probably just get stronger in the months and years to come. It couldn’t be more important to be aware of the key trends which are currently at the top of global tax authorities’ agendas, so here, we’ll take a closer look at four of them.

Digital Tax

Globally, there has been an ongoing attempt to switch to more digital forms in order to report taxes. This is already having an effect on companies around the world. Not only is there a new format to consider but the level of detail which is required is also more extensive. Increased scrutiny through auditing is also becoming more widespread. This means that businesses are increasingly required to invest more money into expertise and new technology. You need to ensure that you’ve planned your annual budget accordingly to take into account this extra investment and taken the time to source suitably experienced professionals to help you with your strategic tax planning needs such as Corporate Business Solutions Consultants.

Changes in Rates and Rules

In the USA as well as in other parts of the world, tax reforms are well underway. Companies that trade across international borders are going to increasingly need to assess what impact this is going to have on their operations. GST and VAT laws are in the process of being amended around the globe to ensure overseas digital suppliers have liability for their remittance and collection, and many jurisdictions and countries are planning to expand their GST and VAT to digital services across borders.

Greater Transparency

Tax authorities around the world are now focusing on TP (transfer pricing) thanks to political and public pressure, as well as the transparency that is afforded by CbCR (country by country reporting). As transfer pricing is moving from a location-dependent model into the digital environment, businesses that deploy it must generate new strategies, especially as detected of transfer pricing risk is going to be facilitated by technology.

Tax Incentives

Although the goal is to provide businesses with a level playing field, tax incentives remain a mainstay since governments must attract overseas investors to certain sectors. In recent times, tax breaks have focused on R&D on both a corporate and personal tax level. However, there are signs which suggest this trend could be reversing since the figures internationally year on year is down.

With these four key tax planning trends in mind, it’s important to ensure that you have taken appropriate advice from experts in the field. Tax legislation can be a minefield, and you need to ensure that you’ve maximized your opportunities to benefit and mitigated your potential for risk.

A Guide to Business Planning for The Year to Come

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2019 is almost at an end, and it’s time for business owners to start planning for their next calendar year. There’s no better opportunity to review your progress and your strategies to see how they can be honed and improved over the twelve months to come. This expert guide will help you to ensure you get the most out of your 2020 business planning.

Setting the Scene

The first step to effective annual business planning is to know what your company’s long-term goals are. Not just for the next few months or even years, but for the next decade and beyond. When you begin with your longer-term plans, you’ll be able to better connect the work you’re carrying out today with the impact that it will have on your business’ future, keeping you inspired and focused over the months to come. What must you achieve over the following year to move a step closer to those long-term goals? Break those goals down into smaller steps and start following them over the course of the next year.

Start Planning for Next Year

Once you know your overall business landscape you can begin to plan what you’re planning to achieve this year. It’s vital to decide what the focus of your operations will be in the short-term so you’ll be able to bring a few key projects to fruition rather than dividing your attention between countless half-finished projects. Once you’ve established annual goals, they need to be broken down into sections that can be reviewed on a quarterly basis. Knowing what you need to achieve in each quarter helps to give you sufficient time to keep momentum, make meaningful progress and adapt to changing situations.

Your Quarterly Business Plans

For each quarter, there are three areas that you need to consider to ensure that you set relevant milestones that will help you to move one step closer to your overall long-term goals.

  • Focus – what must you achieve by the quarter’s end? What research must be carried out and what must be learned to achieve this? Who can assist you with this? Could you benefit from using professional business analysis and consulting services such as those provided by CBS-CBS.com?
  • Revenue – what are your revenue targets over this quarter? Where will you gain this revenue from? How many customers are you going to need? Do you need to remove or add any revenue streams?
  • Marketing – what’s your marketing strategy for the next quarter? What is your target audience? Which platforms are you planning to use? How much of your time will you be devoted to this? Draw up your quarter-long marketing plan, divided into weeks and months. Make sure you’ve included all of the techniques and strategies that you’ve found helpful over the past year, and pre-empt anything which prevented you from achieving any of your goals over the last year.

Most of all, you need to believe in yourself. You can reach the goals that you set for yourself!

Ten Top Tips for Increasing Your Productivity

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The key to making your business more successful is to improve your productivity. Achieving more in less time is the best way to ensure higher revenue and greater profits. However, while it might sound simple to say “be more productive”, it isn’t always easy to know how to achieve that goal. Here are ten expert tips that should help you get started.

  1. Plan to Check Your Emails

Rather than leaving your email notifications on 24/7, try switching them off. Constantly having to stop the task you’re working on to respond to a notification makes it difficult to concentrate and delays your progress. Instead, try to schedule certain times of the day when you’ll check your emails and reply to any which need a response.

  1. Plan Your Day to Suit Your Working Style

You know best what works for you, so plan your day around your individual working style. For example, if you’re more focused in the morning, plan to do the hardest tasks before lunch. When you plan your schedule around your energy cycles and personality you can get more done in the most efficient way.

  1. Try Batching

Batching is a great productivity technique that helps you to maximize your concentration by focusing on similar tasks at the same time. For example, if you’re writing a newsletter, why not write them for the next few months as well to save you time in the long-run. If you’re already in the flow, it makes sense to stick with the task in hand.

  1. Establish A Routine

If you do certain activities at a regular time, it removes the time-consuming decision-making process which is involved with determining what you should do next and when you should fit in specific tasks.

  1. Outsource to An Expert

You can hugely increase your productivity by outsourcing tasks that you find time-consuming to those who specialize in them. Not every business owner is an expert in every field, so it makes sense to use professionals who offer those services and who can carry them out to the highest level. For example, check out our Corporate Business Solutions reviews to find out how outsourcing to experts can be extremely helpful to small and medium-sized businesses.

  1. Stop Checking Your Phone

Evidence shows that we check our phone an average of thirty times during a standard working day. That means that you’re losing up to two and a half hours of every business day, not to mention interrupting your flow and disturbing your concentration on the task in hand. Put down your phone in a drawer and leave it until you hear it ring!

  1. Try The “Pomodoro” Method

The Pomodoro method involves setting an alarm and focusing on a single task until the alarm sounds. Plan 25 minutes for each task and focus on it until you hear the alarm go off. This helps you to avoid getting distracted by other things you need to do and helps you to stay productive. Take a five-minute break in between each 25-minute session.

  1. Lot Your Activities on A Timesheet

It might sound ridiculous, but if you log your activities on a timesheet over the course of a week, you’ll be surprised to see exactly how you’re using your time. Once you know what you’re actually doing, you can make an informed decision about where optimizations can be made.

  1. Harness the Power of Technology

There are lots of helpful apps, pieces of software and technological solutions that can save you time, effort and energy when running your business. Identify your pain points then find an appropriate technological solution to improve your productivity.

  1. Improve Your Processes

Take the time to write down all your processes and the way in which you carry out certain tasks. Are you tackling things in the best way? Are you doing more than you need to? Could you automate any step of the process? Once you’ve carried out a review, you can see where improvements can be made and action them.

Is Size Important or Not?

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The importance of size obviously depends on the situation. For instance, a business benefits from having a larger customer base. In cases such as this, it’s important for a business to optimize the size of its assets.

One of the best ways to do this is to use analytics. Doing so helps businesses to see where improvements need to be made. The problem is that many businesses struggle to have the time and expertise to make the best use of analytics. If this applies to your business, you may find that getting help from Corporate Business Solutions Consultants is a good idea. Let’s take a closer look at why getting this type of help can be so important.

What is analytics?

Analytics has come to the forefront of the business world in recent years. It’s a field that makes use of data, IT, statistics and quantitative analysis in order to provide detailed information. This information is used by businesses in order to plan and strategize effectively.

Analytics can be applied in many different areas including customer relationship management, management of business finances, HR management and management of the supply chain.

Why is business analytics so important?

Considering the question of the size that was raised earlier in this article, you can start to see why analytics are so important to a business. For instance, how can your business understand the size of its customer base, or its revenue, if it does not have analytics in place? It’s important that your business has this information so that it can make decisions about improvements that need to be made.

The simple fact is that analytics can help your business grow the size of its share of the market and increase the number of customers that it has, and the resulting revenue. This means that your business can remain competitive and continue to grow. Obviously, these are important considerations for any business.

Different types of analytics

Most full analytics processes involve the use of three types of analytics; descriptive analytics, predictive analytics, and prescriptive analytics.

Descriptive analytics

This is the part of the analytics process that deals with the interpretation of historical data. It provides a business with information about what has happened in the business up to that point.

Predictive analytics

Predictive analytics involves using techniques such as machine learning and predictive modeling to analyze the current and past situation with the business in order to predict future situations.

Prescriptive analytics

This is the stage in business analytics which involves the use of predictive and descriptive analytics to help make informed decisions for the business. This is done using mathematical and computational sciences.

The answer to the question about whether the size is important or not is that it certainly can be. Businesses need to concentrate on the size of their revenue and market share in order to thrive. Using business analytics helps them to do this. If you want to ensure that you use analytics for your business, as effectively as possible, it may be a good idea to seek professional assistance.

 

To Sell or Not To Sell – That is the Question

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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.