Daily Biz Solutions

As an entrepreneur you are the lifeline of your business. You handle everything yourself, from bringing in new customers to paying the bills and everything in between. But not every aspect of running a business comes naturally to everyone. There comes a time when you must outsource tasks to become more efficient.

Whether you don’t have the knowledge to perform a task on your own or you simply don’t have the time, outsourcing can be a huge relief. For example, you could take the time to learn everything you need to know about online marketing and perform the tasks yourself, but it would take away time from your customers and the overall management of your business. In addition, an expert can get you much better results than you could get on your own.

Another example of something that could be outsourced is IT management. Most small business owners have no clue how to install or develop new software, troubleshoot problems with a network or server, or set up and maintain a website. All of these tasks can be easily outsourced to one company or several individuals who are experts in their particular niche.

In addition, most small business owners have the ability to maintain daily bookkeeping of invoices and income, bills and payments to vendors. There are a number of easy to use software that are available for this purpose. However, the bigger aspects of accounting and tax preparation are beyond most entrepreneurs. Federal taxes must be filed and paid quarterly, with a return filed annually. Separating personal and business tax returns can be troublesome, especially if you run a business as a one man show. Outsourcing these tasks could not only save you time, but also save you hundreds of dollars in taxes.

Outsourcing may not be as difficult as you think. Online marketing and similar tasks can be outsourced to experts in the field using job boards like eLance or oDesk. IT tasks can be outsourced in a similar fashion, or by contacting local IT companies. Tax preparation and accounting tasks can be outsourced to an experienced accountant that operates locally or online. As long as the accountant is familiar with best practices for your state and community, it doesn’t really matter where they are located.

It may be scary to hand over the reins of a particular area of your business. However, in many cases it is in your best interests to do so.

Some of the worst forms of business fraud cannot only lead to a business paying heavy fines but may also lead to jail time and to the business being completely dissolved. In some cases, businesses do not even realize that they are perpetuating fraud and are surprised when they receive a call from a regulatory agency. Fortunately, there are many steps that a business can take to avoid fraud in the workplace.

Perform Background Checks and Ask for References

The first step in avoiding fraud is to be careful with whom is brought into the company in the first place. Businesses must take the time to perform a background check and obtain references from former employers to verify that a job candidate is trustworthy.

It is true that many fraudsters have not been arrested for fraud and will not have a criminal conviction in their background checks. However, this valuable part of the job process will still deter many fraudsters from applying to the company.

When performing background screenings, it is important to remember to verify references. There are many fraudsters who will provide bogus references and will hope that the references are not checked. There are cases when fraudsters use references that either do not exist, are dead or would never recommend the fraudster.

Education is the Only Way

Business owners themselves may need to take steps necessary to avoid committing financial fraud. It is possible to carry out financial fraud accidentally. The only way to avoid this is through proper education and by locating a legal professional that can provide financial fraud prevention resources. Business owners should be willing to allow someone to look over their shoulders to verify that the business is in compliance with all financial regulations.

Have Cross-Departmental Audits

Fraud often does not survive when there are regular checks and balances put into place. Departments should perform regular cross-departmental audits to verify that there is no fraud occurring. For example, the department that is responsible for inventory could easily sell merchandise and take the merchandise off the books. Regular cross-departmental audits can identify these forms of fraud.

Make Whistle-Blowing Anonymous

Many employees are aware of fraud occurring within a business but refuse to blow the whistle out of fear of retaliation. For this reason, the business must make it possible for employees to blow the whistle anonymously. Fortunately, there are third-party intermediaries that can help with this process.

Many people like thinking about the future but not so far into the future that they are planning their funeral. The fact of the matter is, everyone passes away at some point and it is important to make sure that you are leaving your family a properly prepared estate. This will help to ease confusion, defuse tension, and to help the healing process.

Don’t Rush It

It does not matter whether or not you think you have a large estate to plan, you are going to want to plan it early and to do it carefully. The last thing you want to do is to rush through the process. The more you rush through this, them more likely you are to make some mistakes, which could be extremely costly for those you love the most.

Get Help

One of the best things you can do, besides planning in advance, is to get help with the planning of your estate. Even if you have a friend or relative that have gone through this before, it is imperative that you seek the advice from professionals. LawyerLocator.com is a great resource for this kind of legal search. There may be laws and loopholes in place that you would not otherwise be aware of. Without the help of the best professionals in the business, you may not get the results you want.

Seek Peace Of Mind

Not only will help of professionals help you legally, but they will give you a sense of peace. The peace of mind that you will have will be well worth it as you will not have to live out the rest of your life wondering if you did everything correctly. You will know without a doubt that your estate was planned properly and that everything will be distributed in the exact manner as it was intended.

Finding The Best Lawyers

Of course, you might find yourself concerned when it comes to selecting the best lawyer for the job. This is very important because you want to make sure that you have a professional that has a lot of experience with estate planning. Just make sure that you are getting referrals and that you are getting a chance to have a consultation with a few lawyers before you get started. This will help to make sure that you are on the right track.

Now that you are a little more comfortable with the idea of planning your estate as soon as possible, you are going to want to get started. Since this is not something that you want to put off and it is not something that you want to rush through, you need to start right away. This way, you will be able to take your time with it.

 

Quick – name a species of snake. Chances are that the first species names that came to mind were venomous snakes rather than harmless snakes. People tend to remember negative information because, like remembering what venomous snakes look like, this information keeps them from getting hurt. This is the reason why false negative business reviews spread like wildfire while good reviews get buried.

The good news is that there are three basic steps a hospitality business owner can take to fix a tarnished online reputation. Businesses can hire hospitality business reputation management experts or use their own employees to monitor online information, taking positive actions against complaints and cultivate new guests.

Monitoring Online Information 

Become a member of leading hotel and travel review websites like Tripadvisor.com so you can monitor what’s being said about your business. Many travel websites are free to join. Make sure you study the Terms and Conditions of each website so you do not accidentally violate the terms and get banned. For example, some sites will allow links in your signature while others frown on this practice.

Another way of monitoring your latest online reputation is to sign up for news alerts about your business with Google or your favorite search engine. Whenever your business name pops up on social media, blogs or review sites, an email and link to the content is sent to your email inbox.

Taking Positive Action 

When you find a negative review, resist the urge to threaten legal action. This makes it look as if you have something to hide. Read the review carefully and dispassionately. If it’s a genuinely constructive piece of criticism, thank the reviewer for bringing this issue to your attention and offer restitution if applicable.

Ignore any reviews that are merely expletive-laced rants. Bring these rants to the attention of the webmaster as profanity is often a breach of the Terms and Conditions. People who continually post rants are called “trolls” and thrive on attention.

Cultivating New Guests 

Take advantage of free social media websites like Facebook and Twitter to place positive content about your hospitality business online. Update information regularly so it will place higher on Google and other search engines. Place special offers for your business on these websites.

Invest in a domain name for your business website. Showcase your business’s amenities, how long it’s been in business, any awards earned and any customer testimonials. Allow customers to comment on your website, but make sure that only customers with a valid email address are allowed to post.

Are you prepared to meet the new 1099-K requirements? Find out what you need to know!

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