Business Planning & Consulting

If your small business is strapped for cash (or likes to save money), you may find it beneficial to barter or trade for goods and services. Bartering isn’t new — it’s the oldest form of trade — but the internet has made it easier to engage in with other businesses. However, if your business begins […]

Does your company operate in the business-to-business (B2B) marketplace? If so, you’re no doubt aware of the double-edged sword that is customer credit. On the one hand, it’s common practice. Most customers likely expect to be offered a credit option when engaging in B2B transactions. On the other, credit arrangements inevitably come with risk of late […]

The driving revenue force of just about every kind of business is sales. But all too often, once a sales team is up and running, it’s left to its own devices to maintain its strengths, develop new skills and upgrade its technology. This can produce mixed results — some sales departments are remarkably self-sufficient while […]

If you own a small business, you might consider hiring your kids to work during their time off from school. In addition to teaching your children some financial responsibility and business sense, there are some tax advantages to factor into your decision. Here are the details. Tax Advantages for Your Child There are special tax breaks […]

Few and far between are businesses that can either launch or grow without an infusion of outside capital. In some cases, that capital comes in the form of a commercial loan from a bank or some other type of lender. If you and your company’s leadership team believe a loan will soon be necessary, it’s […]

Businesses of all shapes and sizes are well-advised to buy various forms of insurance to manage operational risks. But insurance itself is far from risk-free. You might overpay for a policy that you don’t really need. Or you could invest in cheap coverage that does you little to no good when you need it. Perhaps the […]

There’s no way around it — owning and operating a business comes with risk. On the one hand, operating under excessive levels of risk will likely impair the value of a business, consume much of its working capital and could even lead to bankruptcy if those risks become all-consuming. But on the other hand, no […]

Fraud occurs in companies of every size. But small businesses, especially new ones, have special risks because they generally can’t invest in expensive fraud-prevention programs. Thankfully, there are simple yet effective strategies that can reduce the likelihood of fraud, however small or new your company is. Understand the Risk Fraud schemes can involve employees (occupational fraud) […]

It would be hard to argue against the notion that almost every kind of business today is data-driven. Without the information you need to run your company — be it financial metrics, marketing demographics or productivity measures — you’d probably fall behind the competition, and fast. For this very reason, “data capture” has become a critical […]

Every business starts with a “seed” idea that germinates into a fledging business under the right conditions. The decisions that owners make when launching a start-up will impact its financial well-being for years to come. Here are five ways financial advisors can provide critical guidance at this phase of development: Business Planning You’ll need money to […]