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A 14-Step Checklist to Make Your Business Legit

May 25, 2017
By Gerri Detweiler
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Grand OpeningPerhaps you’ve got a hot idea for a new business and decided it’s time to turn a dream into reality. Or you’ve given up on finding your dream job and decided to create your own. No matter what your motivation for launching your own business, the journey ahead is no doubt both exciting and scary. Where do you start?

The first thing you’ll want to do is lay a solid foundation for your venture. Here’s a step-by-step list to get you started.

1. Choose a business name. Think this one through carefully. Not only do you want to make sure it will be unique and memorable, you’ll also want to make sure it is legally available. Just because there are other businesses with similar names doesn’t mean you can’t use it, but be careful. If your business name is similar to another business — particularly one in your geographic area — your business credit profiles could get mixed up with one another. While you are at it, check domain names, social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.). Do a Google search. Before you make your final decision, consider a trademark search to avoid any legal challenges down the line. If your business name is too similar to another, you may not be able to register that name when you create a legal entity. (See step 4.)  (more…)

Email Marketing Strategy. Take the 15 Minute Challenge: PLAN

May 17, 2017

(Part 1 of a 5-part series on email marketing strategy)

By Bria Sullivan

Email Marketing Strategy - PLAN

Each year around this time, I make a plan for the coming year.

I cross off goals that I accomplished in the previous year and circle the ones I didn’t.

Sometimes the circled goals make it back onto the coming year’s list for a second attempt. (more…)

Building Great Cabinets – and Great Lives

May 15, 2017
Success Story: Missouri

Phillip CohenPhillip Cohen, founder and CEO of Cohen Architectural Woodworking in St. James, Missouri, is the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2017 Small Business Person of the Year for Missouri.

Not bad for a former hippie.

And one-time, self-described, homeless drug user.

And father of nine, most of whom work in the business.

And savvy businessman who began woodworking as therapy and turned it into a 75-employee, 54,000 square foot state-of-the-art facility in St. James, with a branch office in Lenexa, Kansas, that can accommodate large-scale and multi-unit rollouts. Projected sales are in the $14 million range.

“Back in the 90s, when I was real broken, I wrote a book for a missionary in Nicaragua,” says Cohen. “He told me God would heal me someday, that I would have a story to change peoples’ lives. That I have to quit thinking about myself, start thinking of others.”

“I never thought God would heal me. But I made a promise that if he would, I’d spend my life healing others.”

And that’s the cornerstone of Cohen Architectural Woodworking, a full-service cabinetry and millwork facility where personal and group development are emphasized over the scrum of orders.  (more…)

What’s QuickBooks Self-Employed?

May 10, 2017

If you are a freelancer or independent contractor in any field, QuickBooks Self-Employed can help you stay prepared for tax time throughout the year. With your input, and by eventually understanding your way of doing business, QuickBooks Self-Employed will help you separate business and personal expenses as well as identify Schedule C deductions. If you need more guidance, or have loyalties to a tax preparer, you can invite them to sign-in to your account so their job becomes easier as well!

What makes it so special? Along with the tax readiness, QuickBooks Self-Employed offers tools that help you find and maximize deductions so you can focus on doing what you love. Yep, that means more money back in your pocket and more time to do what you do best.

On average, QuickBooks Self-Employed subscribers identify $4,340 in potential tax savings per year.*

But how does it work? QuickBooks Self-Employed customers get these where-have-you-been-all-my-life features:

1) Easily track your expenses. Once you connect a bank account, expense tracking helps you separate your personal and business spending with just the swipe of a screen. (more…)