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- 2021: The Year to Catch Up on Your Business Finances
- What Small Businesses Should Know About Snapchat Brand Profiles
- How to Run a Family Business Smoothly
| 2021: The Year to Catch Up on Your Business Finances Posted: 29 Jan 2021 02:39 PM PST  "I can't wait to update my financial records and bookkeeping" is a sentiment rarely expressed by small business owners. For many entrepreneurs, staying on top of finances is a tedious, time-consuming task that they often put on the back burner. Because running your business often requires you to wear many hats, it's easy to fall behind on bookkeeping. While the turbulent atmosphere of 2020 didn't make it any easier, there are strategies you can use now to find your financial footing and keep your finances up to date throughout the year. Catch up and stay on top of your business financials by adopting these key bookkeeping practices. 1. Put bookkeeping on the schedule.The first step in catching up on your bookkeeping and keeping your business finances up to date is to just take a deep breath and get started. There's no shame in taking time to get organized, even if you've fallen behind. Schedule a couple of hours each day to focus on updating your books and organizing your financials into a format that can be used to file taxes. While a host of other tasks might jump ahead of bookkeeping on your list of priorities, setting aside time each week to review the books can give you critical insight into the financial health of your business. Reviewing a basic snapshot of your revenues, expenses and cash flow provides necessary data to inform your business decisions. Blocking out time on the schedule at least once a week – preferably in the morning, when your mind is fresh – is optimal for taking on the tasks of updating your bookkeeping software, reviewing your income and expenses, managing your accounts receivable and payable, monitoring cash flow, and paying bills. 2. Track and categorize expenses.Make it a habit to review your bank statements and categorize transactions to determine how they should be classified. Is it an office supply, rent, or insurance? Keeping your books up to date by tracking purchases and payments helps you track your cash flow in real time and develop sound money management strategies for day-to-day business operations. Scanning and digitizing receipts is a good way to record, label, and categorize each expense so they are correctly logged. Ultimately, this can help you avoid missing tax write-offs or overstating expenses on your tax filings. There are document management software apps that make this easy to do anytime, anywhere. You can also use a business credit card to ensure your personal expenses do not get mixed in with your business expenses. The great news is that many business credit cards sort expenses by category, which can simplify your expense tracking. Expense tracking has a bottom-line impact for business owners. If you don't account for legitimate costs, you could be increasing your tax liability, which ultimately eats into your profits. 3. Use accounting software.Cloud-based software like Xero and QuickBooks can also help you keep your books up to date by allowing you to download transactions directly and save the time of manually entering data into spreadsheets and reconciling every transaction. Accounting software like this can save you time and money, automating many bookkeeping functions such as tracking daily transactions, running payroll, and managing invoices. Many major banks integrate with these software solutions, allowing you to link and download your bank account transactions and any business credit card transactions, which can make it easier and more efficient to classify transactions. These software products provide a secure, central repository of financial data that you can easily access without sifting through piles of paperwork. Many of these products offer packages geared toward small business owners, providing a variety of templates for common business processes, such as invoicing and budgeting. Software goes a long way in automating the process; however, to get a clear picture of business finances, you'll need to make sure the information you enter is accurate and up to date. [If you're looking for this type of solution, start with our reviews and picks for the best accounting software.] If your business has few transactions, investing your time in learning a new software program today might not make sense. In this case, you can enter the transactions in an Excel spreadsheet, but be sure to classify these transactions so that tax filings are accurate. 4. Consider outsourcing your bookkeeping and financial management.Can't find the time? Don't let this be an excuse to fall behind in your bookkeeping. Small business owners who can't keep their books up to date themselves should consider hiring a bookkeeper or turn to cloud-based online solutions to manage and monitor their finances. Online bookkeeping solutions do your bookkeeping for you at a reasonable price. These online services provide both the cloud-based accounting software and technology necessary to automate the process, as well as skilled, certified bookkeepers to ensure consistency and accuracy. These robust platforms offer the data and analytics you need to make more informed business decisions and remain competitive. For example, online bookkeeping solutions can connect your bank account and credit card transactions to track your expenses and cash flow, providing a clear picture of your financial performance to inform your business strategy. This data can also help you track key performance indicators and make wise, timely business decisions. Cloud-based accounting software allows small businesses anytime, anywhere access to their financial data and provides a whole suite of tools to help you stay on top of your financial management. Cloud technology is often perceived as a solution designed only for large enterprises. In reality, cloud-based bookkeeping and accounting subscription services are an affordable way for small business owners to improve their operations by saving on infrastructure, gaining the flexibility to scale up or down with business conditions, and eliminating the need to keep up with the latest versions of software. Technology solutions that automate accounting, bookkeeping, and tax-filing functions can give you more hours in the day to focus on higher-value activities. This technology does the monthly bookkeeping, which gives you a monthly profit and loss statement in addition to a balance sheet. It can also keep you compliant with the IRS and take care of your annual corporate tax returns. You can see your revenue and profitability trends over time, which can help you become more financially literate about the health of your business. Automation speeds up repetitive accounting and bookkeeping processes and improves accuracy and efficiency. If you don't practice good bookkeeping habits, it's easy to lose sight of your business's performance, miss out on tax deductions, and accrue a bookkeeping backlog that can negatively impact your cash flow. In contrast, small business owners who keep their books up to date reap the following benefits:
As an entrepreneur, you probably started your business to focus on something you are passionate about – and this passion is likely not for bookkeeping. While bookkeeping is a necessary evil for all, consistent financial management is critical to long-term business success. Resolve to start this year with these good bookkeeping practices, which include scheduling time for bookkeeping, tracking and categorizing expenses, using accounting software, and possibly outsourcing your bookkeeping and financial management. These best practices will allow you to maximize tax savings, spend less time managing finances, and devote more time to innovating and growing your business. |
| What Small Businesses Should Know About Snapchat Brand Profiles Posted: 29 Jan 2021 02:30 PM PST  2020 was a big year for Snapchat, and 2021 is poised to accelerate that growth. Snapchat's rise in stock price, improvements in advertising offerings, and the recent release of brand profiles have businesses of all sizes buzzing about Snapchat. The hotly anticipated Brand Profiles represent a major step in Snapchat's ability to build features that can be used effectively by small and medium-sized businesses. Without Brand Profiles, businesses have only a couple of ways to engage on Snapchat. The first is to build and operate an organic profile, which is the same type of profile available to anyone on Snapchat. Organic profiles can be an effective tool for businesses, if maintained and updated regularly, but are notoriously difficult to grow, as discovery options are limited within the app. Most businesses that operate successful organic Snapchat profiles have grown them by cross-promoting from other social networks, collaborating with influencers, or posting their Snapchat Code in a brick-and-mortar location. Another way for businesses to engage with Snapchat is to create a business account. This type of account provides options for businesses to create various paid advertising campaigns within Snapchat Ad Manager. Source: Snapchat
The newest option for businesses is Snapchat Brand Profiles, which is expected to roll out beta and be available widely later in 2021. With this option, brands can have a more complete presence on the app, similar to other social networks. Because this new addition is so compelling, here's what you need to know about Snapchat Brand Profiles. What are Brand Profiles?Brand Profiles offer a permanent home to brands on Snapchat and give businesses the ability to display and showcase all their unique investments into Snapchat in one place. This includes created AR Lenses, native commerce stores, and content highlights. Think of Brand Profiles as your own website and storefront inside the Snapchat app. Source: Target
Brand Profiles are also verified on Snapchat, which allows them to be featured prominently on the For You page, alongside verified creators and Discover Shows. What are Snapchat AR Lenses?Snapchat Lenses AR experiences can be created to augment videos taken inside the app in a variety of ways. Lenses can add 3D effects, objects, characters, and transformations to snaps. The Snapchat Lens Studio is available for any brand or business Once you've created a lens and uploaded via Lens Studio, it is automatically added to your Brand Profile. What is a native commerce store on Snapchat?One of the most exciting parts of the Brand Profile is the ability to host an online store within the app. Snapchatters can view and purchase items directly within the Snapchat app, which can be reached via the brand's profile page. The interface, which is powered by Shopify, creates a seamless buying experience for the user without forcing them to leave the app. What are Content Highlights?Content Highlights allow businesses to select which videos to highlight on their Brand Profile. Highlight product videos for items you are selling in your store, or just post your favorite snaps and videos for all to view. Source: Kylie Cosmetics To add to Highlights:
How do you get a brand profile?Before businesses attempt to get a brand profile, they should sign up for a business account. Brand profiles are currently in beta while Snapchat continues to analyze what features will provide the most value to businesses. Snapchat is onboarding brands on a by-request basis, with a priority given to brands who opt to create AR lenses. To request a brand profile, brands should work with their account teams to request to be included in the beta. If the brand in question doesn't have an account team, they should request one through a support ticket, which can then be routed appropriately. Once accepted into the program what can you expect?Once a brand is approved to be in the beta, a Public Profiles section will appear in the business manager, where brands can complete set up. For brands that are accepted into this learning phase, Snapchat offers an onboarding guide. Once you have access to the public profile, you can edit it by:
Source: Snapchat Public profiles also give brands numerous features that are not traditionally available to most Snapchat accounts by default. One important feature is the ability to assign different roles to people managing the account. As a business, this feature will be tremendously important, as you can allow employees access to certain functions of the account without them having to leave their own personal Snapchat account. Roles included in public brand profiles include: Profile adminAdmins can manage a public profile, add, or remove any snaps from your public story, assign roles, and view insights. Admins cannot remove access to your own public profile. Profile collaboratorCollaborators can view your account insights and add or remove any snaps from your public story. Story contributorContributors can view all of your past snaps. They can also add, remove, and view Insights on their own snaps. Insights ViewerViewers can only view your insights. Public profiles are also given access to Insights and analytics that allow businesses to understand the reach, engagement, demographics, and psychographics of your profile and followers. What are the advantages of being verified on Snapchat?When a business is approved and given the ability to set up a brand profile, they are also given a verified Snapchat profile. While brands have been allowed to create organic profiles for a number of years, they have never had the opportunity to be verified, with the exception of various sports teams and leagues. Verified profiles have the ability to show up in the exclusive For You section of the app, alongside other verified creators and Discover shows. The For You page is the best place to grow organic subscribers on Snapchat, as your content can be shown to people who are not currently subscribers. What other features should small and medium businesses know about Snapchat or brand profiles?Businesses should be aware they can sign up for Places (place listings), to be showcased on the Snap Map. Businesses are also encouraged to create location stickers that Snapchatters can add to their snaps when they are physically at a business location. With the addition of brand profiles, Snapchat offers businesses more opportunities than ever to reach their audiences on social media. When considering jumping into a new platform, it is critical to understand how it fits into your overall social media strategy to invest the time and effort to do it right. Snapchat expects brand profiles to roll out to businesses and brands of any size broadly later this year. |
| How to Run a Family Business Smoothly Posted: 29 Jan 2021 11:50 AM PST  There is no team more natural than a family, and successful business owners often inculcate a spirit of entrepreneurship in their children. Ideally, the vicious office politics of the corporate world are diminished because everyone has a bigger emotional and economic stake in making sure things work out. Working with family means more emotional honesty, more tears, more laughter, and more freedom. This stems from the deep bonds of trust that unite everyone. Ultimately, what sets family businesses apart is the chance to work on something enduring with people you love. In this article, we will analyze the conditions under which a family business can thrive. It is hard to overstate the importance of family businesses. SCORE found that they make up 19% of small businesses in the United States, employ 60% of the workforce, and generate 64% of the GDP. Important as they are, running them comes with specific challenges and opportunities. For one thing, you cannot quit your family. The biggest challenges family businesses face are due to intra-family dynamics: the family history, the joys and traumas, and the relationships that define a family. Trust, love, and affection are the foundations of success; resentment, jealousy, and rivalry can destroy the business. These intra-family dynamics add a layer of complexity to decisions around human relations and what ideas are supported. For example, whereas bad performance might be enough to fire or demote an employee in a non-family business, in a family business, such decisions carry more emotion and consequences outside the business that make firing or demoting a family member very difficult. As the shareholder group is a family and not a set of institutions, many decisions are governed by values that are foreign to a non-family business. For example, a father might hire his son even if there are more qualified candidates out there, because that father wants to build something with his son. Business problems must not carry over into family settings. Family and non-family members must be held to the same standards, and this must be made clear from day one. [Read related article: Should I Hire a Family Member?] These dynamics affect succession planning and battles over ideas, as well as human resources questions. Human relations in a family businessHuman relations can be a minefield for a family business. There are very good reasons to hire your children, but parents often misjudge the talents of their children, overpromoting or overpaying them. A culture of nepotism can emerge, in which outsiders, no matter how qualified, cannot shine. This culture can affect the morale of non-family members within the company. It is also true that family members might be underpromoted or underpaid, leading to resentment within the family. Many family businesses are run by siblings. We have all experienced or heard of sibling rivalry, and the emotions of this can derail a family business. Successful family businesses run by siblings are characterized by overcommunication to iron out any residual misgivings about decisions and the course of the business. Another family business scenario is working for one's parents. This can be particularly hard because there is a monarchical sense that pervades founders that makes succession planning extremely difficult. Many founders simply do not want to leave and will not change. They identify with the business, it is their other child, and letting go is very hard. This creates generational as well as succession problems. Founders must learn to listen actively to the younger generations. MindTools lists five tools for active listening, which founders are encouraged to foster:
Succession planningSCORE also reported that only 30% of family-owned businesses survive from the first to the second generation, and only 12% survive from the second to the third generation. Yet a whopping 47% of owners expecting to retire in the next five years do not have a successor. Founders must decide what they want to do with the business when they retire or die. Remember, founders are not obligated to pass the family business on to their children, and their children may not want to take over the family business anyway. If the business will be passed on to the next generation, that generation must be prepared for succession. The next generation must be involved in management of operations and informed about financial matters well in advance of succession, so they will be equipped to take over. Financial implicationsA family business is often a big asset, so it is important to think about death taxes. Federal estate tax exemptions are substantial, standing at $11.8 million per individual and essentially double that amount if a person is married. A number of states have death taxes, some of which diverge from the federal exemption amounts. For example, in Massachusetts and Oregon, the estate tax exemption amount is only $1 million. Consequently, the founders must prepare well in advance for the payment of state death taxes in a way that will not debilitate the business. Work with an estate planning attorney who can advise you on measures to minimize estate tax problems. The family business plan must begin with clear ideas on succession and the handling of death taxes. If the business employs both relatives and non-relatives, it is important to set salary and benefits according to the position, not according to the relationship. Analyze the work that each person is doing and set compensation accordingly, without regard to family relations. Make it clear to all that there is a level playing field for rewards for good work. Transparency is critical; everyone should be clear on how promotion will work. It is also advisable to have your children work outside the family before working for the family business, so they have an idea of what it's like to work in the real world. Company/family cultureThe values of the family become the values of the business. The downside of this is the creation of a "clan culture" closed to outsiders. The company's values must be made explicit to all and adapted to the marketplace so that outsiders do not feel excluded. It is harder than ever to attract family members to the family business. Young college graduates want to work for hot startups, tech giants, or similarly exciting companies, and family businesses often fail to ignite the imagination. Family businesses are particularly risky for them because exiting the family business often has long-lasting implications for family relations and might even mean exiting the family. The fundamental element of running a family business smoothly is in managing the family. The family must be kept united, lines of communication kept open, and family bonding exercises carried out to keep the family happy, connected, and in the same boat. Effective leaders take into account the emotional components of the family business when making decisions. |
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