Startup
Expanded Federal Contracting Opportunities for Small Businesses
The U.S. Small Business Administration’s Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman today announced the expansion of HUBZone, a program that provides small businesses in low-income communities that hire low-income residents opportunities to compete in the federal marketplace. The announcement makes Illinois the first state to have the newly created Governor-Designated Covered HUBZones. “This expansion of HUBZone areas in…
Read This Article
What Business Records Should You Keep?
Knowing what business records to keep is critically important to a small business entrepreneur. These records serve many functions. They help you quantify and monitor the progress of your business, and make decisions accordingly. They give you the information you need to prepare a financial statement. They allow you to identify your various receipts and…
Read This Article
Is Your Business Ready to Become a Certified B Corp? Ask These 3 Questions
Recently, nonprofit organization B Lab shared a quick note about B Corporation Certification Requirements on their website. The note mentions that B Lab is currently experiencing “overwhelming interest” in B Corp Certification. The review process for Certified B Corps is now expected to take anywhere between 6 to 10 months to complete. Certified B Corporations…
Read This Article
Incorporation and Self-Employment Tax
A significant difference between the S corp structure and the sole proprietorship and partnership structures occurs with respect to the Self-Employment Tax (SE Tax). Owners of sole proprietorships, partnerships and similarly taxed LLCs pay SE Tax on their share of the business net profit, whereas owners of S corps and similarly taxed LLCs do not.…
Read This Article
How does taxation differ between Corporations and LLCs?
A C corp is subject to what is known as double taxation. It pays corporate taxes on its own net income, and then that money can be taxed again, generally as dividends, under personal tax rates. This differs from sole proprietorships or general partnerships, pass-through entities that only pay personal tax rates. Pass-through entities are…
Read This Article
Handling Competition: Do’s and Don’ts
Almost every small business owner has to deal with competition, no matter what industry you’re in. Of course, like all things, there is a right way and a wrong way to deal with it, though. Knowing how to handle competition is vital to the small business owner, especially when a new kid comes to the…
Read This Article
How to Be a Successful Serial Entrepreneur
Running multiple businesses is not for the faint of heart—doing so requires a lot of work and dedication. But if you’re driven, motivated, and passionate about what you do and who you do it for, serial entrepreneurship might just be the next step to take your business in. With great power comes great responsibility and…
Read This Article
Streamlining Your Processes
Every startup has to develop a process for doing business. Whether that means the business owner has sketched a detailed map of each employee’s day-to-day functions or merely drawn out a list of guiding principles that lead the organization through each and every business transaction. There must be a process in place to set out…
Read This Article
Startup? Don’t Forget These 4 Areas
The final phase of starting a new business involves several administrative matters. With the business entity formed and registered, the physical facility ready, the new business owner must address outside professional support: banking, insurances, accounting and tax systems, and staffing. Some of these administrative elements significantly impact the financial health and management efficiency of the…
Read This Article
How to Tackle Your First Year as an Entrepreneur
If you recently decided that now is the perfect time to start the business of your dreams, you should be in the midst of making those dreams come true as you read this! To help get you started, here are five tips every new entrepreneur should keep in mind as they tackle their first year…
Read This Article