So You Want To Be An Entrepreneur??

Starting a small business can be one of the most rewarding experiences that a person can have. If, the entrepreneur knows what it takes to get the business started and also making a profit. In addition to money and resources, there is a time and “sweat equity” factor that plays into the equation. What many entrepreneurs must realize is that it takes a great deal of energy to keep the wheels of your operation moving together. Entrepreneurs need to take time away from the business to regain lost energy, thus taking a vacation is an important part of your strategy.

A recent study done by Information Strategies, Inc. is stating that entrepreneurs take only 5.5 days of vacation a year, compared to 14 by the average American. Among their other findings:

·41% had not taken a vacation of more than seven days in the past two years.
·33% had not taken a vacation in two years.
·27% said they did not expect to take a vacation this year.
·31% had not been abroad in three years.
·41% said their business suffered when they were on vacation.
·44% said their families had taken vacations without them.

Rather high numbers, but just goes to show that the entrepreneur is putting in the work for their business. Let’s also think about the reasons for starting your business now. I’m sure one of them was to have more time to spend with friends and family. Might be a little confusing now…huh?

It is good to know that you are the entrepreneur type before starting a business. Once you know that you are, you then move to your business idea and starting planning your business. By properly planning to prohibit poor performance, you will have your business profitable, use less energy, and enjoy more vacations.

For more information on finding out if you are an entrepreneur, stop by for one of our seminars starting next month (June 12th) at the College Park Library Atlanta, GA. More information is on our website below.

Keeping your Business N Synergy and Using Less Energy

http://www.thebricogroup.com/

USA the best place for Entrepreneurs?

I was able to read an interesting article on CNNMoney.com this week regarding the climate for small businesses in the world. I was rather shocked to find out that the USA is NOT on the top of the list. Although we are near the top, the US did not make the first spot. The major factors that make a country entrepreneurial friendly include but are not limited to bankruptcy laws, tax policies, and employment regulations. Countries that have a solid foundation of laws and regulations typically faired better than their counterparts who did not have established laws, policies, and regulations.

For a look at the detailed list of countries by their rank, and to read the article on CNNMoney.com, check out the following link:

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fsb/fsb_archive/2007/06/01/100049637/index.htm?postversion=2007052305

This article is a great read for those thinking about starting a business in the near future and/or thinking of starting an international operation. After gaining insight from the article, be sure to stop at the College Park library for the “Small Business Series” seminars, hosted by The Brico Group, Inc. These powerful seminars will provide the attendee with useful information on various topics including are you’re an entrepreneur type, business formation which entity is right for your business, taxes, and accounting, organization, filing and much more. For more information feel free to visit our website.

Keeping your Business N Synergy

http://www.thebricogroup.com/

FREE E-Newsletter for Small Businesses

The IRS has started a new service called “e-News for Small Businesses”. This e-Newsletter will be distributed every Wednesday (today) and will provide small business owners and the self employed with useful tax information including:


Important, upcoming tax dates
What’s new on the IRS website
Reminders and tips to assist business with tax compliance
IRS news releases and special IRS announcements

The new e-Newsletter will be an easy way for small business owners and self-employed to gain insight from the IRS regarding tax issues and how they will affect their businesses. It also give the IRS an new angle to provide information electronically to small business owners, keeping in line with their strategy of embracing technology and cutting down on sending paper information to taxpayers.

For more information regarding the e-Newsletter, simply go to the IRS website at http://www.irs.gov/

Keeping Your Business N Synergy

http://www.thebricogroup.com/

The IRS Results Are In!!!

Now that the 2007 tax filing season is behind us (well some of us at least), the IRS has come out with their report regarding electronic filing of returns for the season. It would appear that the IRS is making good on their strategy to increase the number of e-filed returns and cut down on paper filings, a strategy that the IRS has been trying to implement for some time now. The major IRS statistics are:

The over 76.7 million e-filed returns accepted through May 4 topped the more than 73.2 million electronically filed returns received for all of 2006. That is also an 8.9 percent increase over last year at this time, with most of the increase coming in March and April.

A record 22 million taxpayers e-filed from a home computer, up 11 percent over the same time last year and eclipsing 2006’s year-long total of 20.3 million.

This filing season visits to IRS.gov, the agency’s popular Web site, climbed almost 10 percent, to more than 140 million.

More than 59 million refunds, a new record, were deposited directly into savings, checking and brokerage accounts, representing more than 61 percent of all refunds issued.

Nearly $158 billion has been directly deposited so far this year, an 11 percent jump over last year at this time, which surpasses the 2006 year-end total of $149.2 billion.

The number of balance-due returns filed electronically surged 14.2 percent to a record 9.4 million. For all of last year, almost 8.9 million balance-due returns were filed electronically.

Rather interesting information and it looks like the individual taxpayer is jumping on board of the idea of paperless tax filing. The IRS is embracing technology and many taxpayers are beginning to see the light also. It is possible that in the future ALL returns will be filed electronically. If you are one who still paper files your tax return, this may be the year for you to jump on the technology wagon. There are many resources out there to provide you with information on how to e-file your returns and you can always speak to your accountant about the benefits of e-filing.

Keeping your Business N Synergy

http://www.thebricogroup.com/

5 Most Important Decisions to Make When Starting a Business

ere is something I came across today in my inbox. Paul V Thompson, EA, ABA, ATA, ECS and fellow member of the National Society of Accountants wrote an article listing the 5 most important decisions potential entrepreneurs came make when starting a business:

1. Create a Business Plan
2. Choose the Right Business Formation
3. Setup a Good Recordkeeping system
4. Know Your Tax and Filing requirements
5. Acquire a Banker, Accountant, and Attorney

I really feel that the last one will greatly increase the chances of your business venture becoming successful because those individuals can assist you with the preparation of any of the other four decisions.

In an ongoing effort to assist individuals thinking of starting their own business, The Brico Group, Inc. is bringing back their Small Business Seminars. The first seminar will begin Tuesday June 12th at the College Park Library. For more information feel free to visit our website.

Keeping Your Business N Synergy

http://www.thebricogroup.com/

Keeping Your Small Business from Falling in the “Tax Gap”

The IRS has developed an equation for reducing the “tax gap” (the amount between the taxes that should be paid and the amount that is actually paid), and the equation was provided compliments of the recent SSA/IRS Reporter:

SERVICE + ENFORCEMENT = COMPLIANCE

How will this affect the small business owner?

Staying in “compliance” with the following obligations will ensure that your small business is not an audit priority for the IRS:

Business Income and the Tax Gap
Cost of Goods Sold (COGS)
Third Party Reporting
Home Office Deductions
Car and Truck Expenses
Depreciation
Business Supply Deductions
Travel, and Entertainment and Gift Expenses

For more information regarding these issues and how the affect your small business visit the following links:

IRS Tax Gap Website:

http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=158619,00.html

Get the facts and keep your Business N Synergy

www.thebricogroup.com

Can You Shorten Your Work Week???

As with most small business owners and entrepreneurs, finding more time to actually “do” your business is a must. Most small business owners are always trying to find time to bring in more business, but usually get caught up doing the day to day tasks and rarely get time to plan for the growth of their operation. By delegating some of their daily tasks to a trusted advisor, a small business owner can take back some of that lost time. A small business owner can also borrow some of the techniques applied by Timothy Ferriss in his own business from the article on CNNMoney.com “The 4 Hour Work Week”. Check this article link out and see if these techniques can work for you.

http://money.cnn.com/2007/05/04/magazines/fsb/4_hour_week.fsb/index.htm?postversion=2007050706

Also feel free to post your opinions about some of his techniques and if you have some of your own that are not listed within the article, please post those also.

Time management techniques to keep your Business N Synergy.

Brian N. Stovall

http://www.thebricogroup.com/

No Tax Consequences for FSA's, HRA's and HSA's

The Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 allows rollovers to be made without any tax consequences when rolling assets from flexible spending accounts (FSA's), health reimbursement accounts (HRA's) and health savings accounts (HSA's). To obtain this tax free treatment on rollovers the following conditions must be met:

1. The employer must have amended the FSA or HRA to allow for qualified HSA distributions to any qualified individual by year-end;
2. The employee must elect the rollover by year-end;
3. The year-end balance must be frozen;
4. The funds must be transferred within two-and-a-half months after the end of the plan year;
5. The transfer must result in a zero balance in the FSA or HRA; and
6. The individual must remain eligible to make HSA contributions for the month of the rollover and the next twelve months.

For more information regarding these changes, be sure to speak to your tax advisor.

Keeping your Business N Synergy

Brian N. Stovall

www.thebricogroup.com

5 Productivity Killers in Your Small Business

According to Laurie Shufeldt, VP of Strategic Business Development at FileVision the following are the top five productivity killers that many small business experience. See if YOUR firm is affected by any of these:

Disorganization
Lack of automation
Inefficient internal communications
Lack of planning and workflow processes
Handling the same papers (or data) more than once

For more information on these productivity killers and ways to combat them, be sure to check out the details of her article at:

http://www.accountingweb.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=103465

Using Laurie’s strategies for productivity will keep your Business N Synergy.

Brian N. Stovall

www.thebricogroup.com