Survival Tips For Small Businesses Essay Paper Example For Students

Survival Tips For Small Businesses Essay Paper Youmay be in Mail Order, Direct Mail, or you may be a localmerchant with 150 employees; whichever, however orwhatever youve got to know how to keep your businessalive during economic recessions. Anytime the cash flow ina business, large or small, starts to tighten up, the moneymanagement of that business has to be run as a tight ship.Some of the things you can and should do includeprotecting yourself from expenditures made on suddenimpulse. Weve all bought merchandise or services wereally didnt need simply because we were in the mood, orperhaps in response to the flamboyancy of the advertisingor the persuasiveness of the salesperson. Then we sort ofwake up a couple of days later and find that wevecommitted hundreds of dollars of business funds for an itemor service thats not essential to the success of our ownbusiness, when really pressing items had been waiting forthose dollars. If you are incorporated, you can eliminatethese impulse purchases by including in your by-laws aclause th at states: All purchasing decisions over (a certainamount) are contingent upon approval by the board ofdirectors. This will force you to consider any impulsepurchases of considerable cost, and may even be areminder in the case of smaller purchases. If your businessis a partnership, you can state, when faced with a buyingdecision, that all purchases are contingent upon theapproval of a third party. In reality, the third party can beyour partner, one of your department heads, or even one ofyour suppliers. If your business is a sole proprietorship, youdont have much to worry about really, because as anindividual you have three days to think about yourpurchase, and then to nullify that purchase if you think youdont really need it or cant afford it. While you may thinkyou cannot afford it, be sure that you dont short-changeyourself on professional services. This would applyespecially during a time of emergency. Anytime you commityourself and move ahead without completely investigatingall the angles, and preparing yourself for all thecontingencies that may arise, youre skating on thin ice. We will write a custom essay on Survival Tips For Small Businesses Paper specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Regardless of the costs involved, it always pays off in thelong run to seek out the advice of experiencedprofessionals before embarking on a plan that could ruinyou. As an example, an experienced business consultantcan fill you in on the 1244 stock advantages. Gettingeligibility for the 1244 stock category is a very simpleprocess, but one with tremendous benefits to yourbusiness. The 1244 status encourages investors to putequity capital into your business because in the event of aloss, amounts up to the entire sum of the investment can bewritten off in the current year. Without the 1244classification, any losses would have to be spread overseveral years, and this, of course, would greatly lessen theattractiveness of your companys stock. Any businessowner who has not filed the 1244 corporation has in effectcut himself off from 90 percent of his prospective investors. Particularly when sales are down, you must behard-nosed with people trying to sell you luxuries for yourbusiness. When business is booming, you undoubtedly willallow sales people to show you new models of equipmentor a new line of supplies; but when your business is down,skip the entertaining frills and concentrate on the basics. Great care must be taken however, to maintain courtesyand allow these sellers to consider you a friend and callback at another time. Your companys books should reflectyour way of thinking, and whoever maintains them shouldgenerate information according to your policies. Thus, youshould hire an outside accountant or accounting firm tofigure your return on your investment, as well as theturnover on your accounts receivable and inventory. Suchan audit or survey should focus in depth on any or everyitem within your financial statement that merits specialattention. In this way, youll probably uncover any potentialfinancial problems before they become readily apparent,and certainly before they could get out of hand. Many smallcompanies set up advisory boards of outside professionalpeople. These are sometimes known as Power Circles andonce in place, the business always benefits, especially intimes of short operating capital. Such an advisory board orpower circle should include an attorney, a certified publicaccountant, civic club leaders, owners or managers ofbusinesses similar to yours, and retired executives. Settingup such an advisory board of directors is really quite easy,because most people you ask will be honored to serve. .u6e4714792bf177dc63a0bddc1d80a570 , .u6e4714792bf177dc63a0bddc1d80a570 .postImageUrl , .u6e4714792bf177dc63a0bddc1d80a570 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u6e4714792bf177dc63a0bddc1d80a570 , .u6e4714792bf177dc63a0bddc1d80a570:hover , .u6e4714792bf177dc63a0bddc1d80a570:visited , .u6e4714792bf177dc63a0bddc1d80a570:active { border:0!important; } .u6e4714792bf177dc63a0bddc1d80a570 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u6e4714792bf177dc63a0bddc1d80a570 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u6e4714792bf177dc63a0bddc1d80a570:active , .u6e4714792bf177dc63a0bddc1d80a570:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u6e4714792bf177dc63a0bddc1d80a570 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u6e4714792bf177dc63a0bddc1d80a570 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u6e4714792bf177dc63a0bddc1d80a570 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u6e4714792bf177dc63a0bddc1d80a570 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u6e4714792bf177dc63a0bddc1d80a570:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u6e4714792bf177dc63a0bddc1d80a570 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u6e4714792bf177dc63a0bddc1d80a570 .u6e4714792bf177dc63a0bddc1d80a570-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u6e4714792bf177dc63a0bddc1d80a570:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: My Struggle With Self Confidence EssayOnce your board is set up, you should meet about once amonth and present material for review. Each meetingshould be a discussion of your business problems and aninput from your advisors relative to possible solutions. These members of your board of advisors should offer youadvice as well as alternatives, and provide you withobjectivity. No formal decisions need to be made either atyour board meeting, or as a result of them, but you shouldbe able to gain a great deal from the suggestions you hear. You will find that most of your customers have the moneyto pay at least some of what they owe you immediately. Tokeep them current, and the number of accounts receivablein your files to a minimum, you should call them on thephone and ask for some kind of explanation why theyrefalling behind. If you develop such a habit as part of youroperating procedure, youll find your invoices will magicallybe drawn to the front of their piles of bills to pay. Whilemaintaining a courteous attitude, dont be hesitant, or toomuch of a nice guy when it comes to collecting money. Something else thats a very good business practice, butwhich few business owners do is to methodically build acredit rating with their local banks. Particularly when youhave a good cash flow, you should borrow $100 to $1,000from your banks every 90 days or so. Simply borrow themoney, and place it in an interest bearing account, and thenpay it all back at least a month or so before its due. Bydoing this, you will increase the borrowing power of yoursignature, and strengthen your ability to obtain neededfinancing on short notice. This is a kind of business leveragethat will be of great value to you if or whenever your cashposition becomes less favorable. By all means, join yourindustrys local and national trade associations. Most ofthese organizations have a wealth of information availableon everything from details on your competitors to averageindustry sales figures, new products, services, and trends. Ifyou are given a membership certificate or wall plaque, youshould display these co nspicuously on you office wall. Customers like to see such seals of approval and feeladditional confidence in your business when they see them. Still another thing often overlooked: If at all possible, youshould have your spouse work in the business with you forat least three or four weeks per year. The important thing isthat if for any reason you are not available to run thebusiness, your spouse will be familiar with certain peopleand situations about your business. These people shouldinclude your attorney, accountant, any consultants oradvisors, creditors and your major suppliers. The long-termadvantages of having your spouse work four weeks peryear in your business with you will greatly outweigh theshort- term inconvenience. Many couples shareresponsibility and time entirely, which is in most cases evenmore desirable. Whenever you can, and as often as youneed it, take advantage of whatever free businesscounseling is available. The Small Business Administrationpublished many excellent booklets, checklists andbrochures on quite a large variety of businesses. Thesepublications are available through the U.S. GovernmentPrintin g Office. Most local universities, and many privateorganizations hold seminars at minimal cost, and oftenwithout charge. You should also take advantage of theservices offered by your bank and local library. Theimportant thing about running a small business is to knowthe direction in which youre heading; to know on aday-to-day basis your progress in that very direction; to beaware of what your competitors are doing and to practicegood money management at all times. All this will prepareyou to recognize potential problems before they arise. Inorder to survive with a small business, regardless of theeconomic climate, it is essential to surround yourself withsmart people, and practice sound business management atall times.

Recognizing Employee Contributions with Pay

Recognizing Employee Contributions with Pay Introduction Compensation presents one of the most preferable ways through which employee contributions are recognized. Compensation program s is evaluated based on various job responsibilities which are assigned specified monetary value. However, various forms of compensation are undertaken based on federal laws of which organization managers are expected to be familiar with.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Recognizing Employee Contributions with Pay specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Payment for individuals, groups or excellent performances are done in form of executive pay, incentive pay as well as balanced scorecard. Organizations compensate their workers through various incentives supported by their company objectives. However, incentive pay for executives within an organization is usually different from that of other employees hence requires special attention. Such incentives either long-term or short-term are ne cessary for the purposes of developing some sense of commitment within organization’s leadership and workforce (Noe et al., 2009). Review of the case Considering that Xcel is a company dealing with environmental issues, Merit pay may not work well with its strategy on improving operations at the lowest cost. According to the case study, merit raise, works best during hard economic times since it caters for high cost of living. At the same time there are always high possibilities of prevailing conditions to shrink available range of increases. Additionally, merit pay spread pay increment evenly across all employees hence rewarding poor performance on the same level as good performance. Such method may ultimately not concur with the company’s strategy on lowering costs since it is expensive (Fossum, 2002). Spreading the merit pay evenly across all employees may benefit those who lazy around and cause frustration to hardworking employees. Suggestions might at times look a ppropriate but might not work well in line with the company’s business objectives (Gerhart and Milkovich, 1990). To ensure that incentives work for the benefit of the company, they will require improvement within communication channel and at the same time increase level of employee participation. Xcel should incorporate employees in pay-related decision since there contributions at times reflect hands-on knowledge on kinds of behavior essential for organization improvement (Gowen, and Jennings, 1991).Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Since Xcel focuses on being one of the most celebrated top utility facilities offering efficient services at low cost, there goals and performances should be based on cooperation. Applying such principles would make employees feel more concerned about changes and goals of the company. They will always be eager to put across their contributions. Improvement on merit pay system For improvement purposes the company can include profit-sharing plan within the pay system. This is because merit pay is more directly linked to individual behavior compared to profit sharing plan. This is capable of linking to the strategy since it assists in increasing employees’ commitment towards organizational goals. Additionally, Xcel can utilize the use of balanced scorecard which enables combination of performance measures towards organizational goals. This enables easy utilization of employees’ potential through customization of balanced scorecards which would clearly distinguish Xcel’s operations based on strategy (Gerhart and Milkovich, 1990). Extension of the stock plan to other low-level employees might also be good idea for progress. This is since stock ownership plan contributes towards creation of some sense of ownership within employees. It makes them feel part owners of the organization hence maki ng them to focus more on ideas contributing towards success of the company (Gerhart and Milkovich, 1990). Conclusion Organizations use various ways to reward employee performances and at the same time measure such performances in terms of profits and stock prices. Incentive pay presents one of the most notable ways of organizations use for the purposes of ensuring that employees focus on company’s success goals. Such incentives ensure that employees realign their activities towards organization’s goals. References Fossum, J. (2002). Labor Relation. New York: McGraw-Hill Gerhart, B, Milkovich, G. (1990). Organizational Differences in Managerial Compensation and Financial Performance. Academy of Management Journal 33 (1), 663–91.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Recognizing Employee Contributions with Pay specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Gowen, C, Jennings, S.(1991). The Effects of Changes in Par ticipation and Group Size on Gainsharing Success: A Case Study. Journal of Organizational Behavior Management 11 (1), 147–69. Noe, R., Hollenbeck, J., Gerhart, B., Wright, P. (2009). Fundamentals of human  Resource management, 3rd edition. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.