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Employee Handouts: A Workplace Requirement You May Not be Aware of – but Should Be!

January 24, 2019
By ComplyRight –

Employee Handouts GuideDid you know you must distribute certain handouts to employees? This may be news to many small business employers, but it shouldn’t be because ignoring this responsibility carries some pretty hefty fines.

Along with year-long labor law posting compliance, you’re also required by federal, state and local laws to provide written notices under specific circumstances. It’s an additional compliance requirement that is more easily managed with the right resources.

What You Need to Know About Handouts

If this is the first time you’re hearing about employee handouts, here are some quick facts to get you up to speed: (more…)

Market Data Multiples – Things to Consider in Business Valuation

January 14, 2019
By Shawn Hyde, International Society of Business Appraisers (ISBA) –

Business valuationI had a conversation with an SBDC consultant recently, about transaction databases and how to best utilize an analysis of that data when valuing a business. She suggested I share this information with her colleagues in the America’s SBDC network, so here it is.

There are several different databases, each maintained by different organizations, that track transactions of privately held businesses — the prices they sold for as well as various other financial metrics for each transaction. The idea behind these databases is that one could analyze transactions of similar businesses that have sold, in order to identify an indication of value for a business. But there is more to it than simply pulling up the data for the applicable SIC or NAICS code and calculating the average or median of the data provided. (more…)

How to Help Your Small Business Recover After the Holidays

January 7, 2019
By Connor Wilson –

Small business meetingEvery year, businesses the world over spend a significant amount of time and money ramping up for the holiday season, and then, just like that, it’s over. As quickly as Halloween seemingly rolled into Thanksgiving, the New Year is here, and the holiday rush is a mere memory. But what about your business efforts? After weeks, if not months, of running at max strength, what do you do once the inevitable Q1 lull hits?

As you close out 2018 and dig your feet into 2019, it’s important to address the unique needs of this slower period, and in doing so, prepare your business for not only the first quarter, but for the rest of the year. Not sure where to start? Here are six tips to help you decelerate business and make the most of down time. (more…)

Common Pitfalls in Business Credit Cards and How to Avoid Them

December 17, 2018
By Linsey Knerl –

Almost every modern company runs on some form of credit these days. Even the most profitable businesses benefit from having a line of credit available for emergencies, well-planned purchases for perks, or improving their credit score. According to the Small Business Administration, 65 percent of small businesses rely on credit cards, but just 50 percent use business cards in the name of their company. This strategy can potentially harm a business owner’s personal credit, and it limits the opportunities to get business funding in the future.

If a business credit card is the wiser choice, why doesn’t everyone get one? For being a very astute business move, cards have their drawbacks. Here are some of the ways that business credit cards can do more harm than good and keep you from achieving the most important growth goals. (more…)

Rules of Thumb and Business Valuation

December 3, 2018
By Shawn Hyde, International Society of Business Appraisers (ISBA) –

Take a look at your thumb. Now compare your thumb to another person’s thumb. There are differences in size, shape, manicure, strength, and flexibility between these two thumbs. Remember this comparison, as we will come back to it at the end of this article.

A Rule of Thumb is a brief measurement, typically based on a specific part of the operations of a business, such as revenues or some other easily calculated income stream, including Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA). The application of a rule of thumb includes some basic math, usually multiplying the selected source of income by a range of numbers.

Each industry, or type of business, usually has three or more different valuation rules of thumb that could potentially be applied to it. This means there are literally thousands of different rules of thumb that are available to provide indications of value for different types of businesses.  (more…)