How’s your business doing?

Do you feel like you’re still struggling and the cash is still tight?

Or worse, has the “Great Recession” put your back up against the wall?

Just last week I heard about a colleague whose bank, without warning, called his business operations loan. He’s scrambling and there’s a very real possibility that he will be forced to close his doors before the end of the month.

Scary? Yes. A reason to panic? No.

In reality, you have choices and opportunities open to you right now, even if cash is pinched. But you need to be able to see them…instead of running for cover. In fact, your entrepreneurial side may even enjoy the ride!

It’s really all a matter of mindset … and the actions you choose because of it.

Open Your Eyes to the Opportunities

Choosing a positive, proactive approach to your business, even when things are rough, will enable you to see and focus on the opportunities that are created whenever problems come up.

Opportunities are the brighter side of problems. And they always come together. In the case of a sales slowdown, you’ll have new incentive to look for ways that you can provide solutions your clients need most, and are willing to pay for right now. It’s a creative challenge (and that’s what we entrepreneurs thrive on, isn’t it?)

Fortunes have been made using this simple, positive shift in focus.

An example I’ve seen lately is with how online technology is being used. To save energy costs and provide more convenient training options, trainers are now using online platforms as a “green” alternative to on-site training and seminars.

And it’s working! Everyone wins!

Could you adapt your products or services to benefit and attract customers who really want what you offer, but are on a tight budget?

Think win-win.

Streamline Your Own Business

When times get tough, it can be a blessing in disguise, because that bite in the financial butt is great motivation to do what you should be doing anyway.

In the case of my colleague who may be forced to close his doors, it may turn out to be opportunity for him in the long run.

I happen to know that his present business completely consumes his day (and then some), thus preventing him from working toward new, business expansion projects he really wants to pursue. In his case, being forced to downsize, lose the heavy overhead and start over will immediately free him to go for the new projects without distraction. (These new projects will ultimately be more profitable than his existing business with less demand on his time.)

Have you been putting off a clean-up or restructuring of your business? Now is the perfect time to cut the fat and streamline your efficiency. What could you be doing to strengthen your business? (Or get rid of it and start fresh?)

Here are some areas you may want to consider:

• Create standard systems that focus time and resources on cash-generating activities. These should be your top priority.
• Identify and plug any cash leaks in your business. Review all overhead expenses and consolidate or eliminate as necessary for maximum return on investment.
• Delegate administrative and non-cash generating activities first. Assess the activities that you must do yourself and delegate the rest to existing staff, or consider outsourcing.
• Automate and outsource wherever possible. This includes determining whether it is worth the substantial expense to carry employees in your business or not.
• Keep up with your bookkeeping and examine the financial health of your business. Without accurate and up-to-date financial reports, you cannot identify serious weaknesses or emerging opportunities that could sink or bolster your business, not to mention be in a better position to minimize your tax burden.

For those who will step up and choose to streamline operations while providing desperately needed economical solutions for their clients, growth and abundant cash flow are nearly unavoidable.

If you’d like more specific mindset, strategy and tactics you can use to streamline your business and pull in more cash flow in as little as 7 days, take a look at my Cash Flow Mastery online training course specifically designed for small business owners and make this your best year yet!

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This is the first of 5 most common small business cash flow killers that so many small business owners complain about when discussing finances.

The good news is, each of the Cash Flow Killers can be quickly conquered by taking simple but focused action.

So let’s attack and conquer the juiciest one first!

Small Business Cash Flow Killer #1: Not Enough Sales

Are there REALLY ever “enough” sales? Every business owner I know wants more. Or, should I say, they want more of the cash flow that comes with more sales.

But if your sales are down and the cash is getting tight, this is no time to sigh and blame the economy. It could be a symptom of some deeper issues coming to light…the kind you DO have control over.

To maximize sales, you must first make it easy for customers to do business with you. How are you doing with that?

Here are some fast ways to put the power of convenience to work for you to boost sales:

• Make sure they can FIND you online!

You must have a business website, even if you have a local, brick and mortar business. The phone book has been replaced by online searches. If you don’t have a website you are losing sales.

Next, your website needs to be easy for your customers to find when they run a search online. You want to be there when new customers are looking for what you’ve got to sell them! So at bare minimum you need a listing of your business website in all the search engine local directories. Start with Google Places and Yahoo Local.

• Give them a reason to visit your website

Once they get to your website, reward them by making sure they don’t leave empty handed. Offer coupons or something of value for free.

By using a simple “opt-in” form on your website you can gather prospect names and emails in return for giving them coupons for future purchases or free, useful digital information, such as a downloadable tips sheet.

• Make it easy for customer to give you their money
  

Accept credit cards, if you aren’t already. A quick and easy way to do it if you don’t have a merchant account is to use PayPal. You can accept payments online, or you can open a business account that includes Virtual Terminal so you can also accept credit cards at your physical location or by phone.

• Build a relationship with your existing and future customers.

No matter what size your mailing list is now, start sending out relationship-building communications on a regular basis. People do business with those they know and remember. If they know and like you, they’ll talk about you to their friends too.

Send out physical newsletters, email newsletters, or just short tips. Any and all of these will do the job well. Just be sure to include time-limited coupons, run subscriber-only private sales, or spot-light a specific product or service you offer as part of the info mix. You want to be educating, providing value, along with “invitational” promotions.

Keep your communication short with quick bits of information, and people will respond to them.

Can you apply any of these ideas to YOUR business right now and make it easy for more customers to find you AND buy from you? If you can, you’ve taken one big step in the right direction for conquering the #1 Cash Flow Killer and your boosting sales!

Congratulations!

If you’d like more tips on identifying areas where you can kick up your sales and cash flow, get your copy of my brand new FREE interactive, multi-media Cash Flow Audit tool.

=> CLICK HERE for your free Cash Flow Audit tool.

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Have you ever thought about what a little bit of fame could do for your business?

If you were well-known in your field as an expert, what kind of customers could you attract?

Best-selling business authors are assumed to be the best in their field, usually because they’ve written articles and/or published a book. That’s the catalyst that helps get them invited to appear on TV spots or radio talk shows. And you can be sure that that kind of publicity works wonders for their business.

SECRET REVEALED: Business authors don’t write books to make money from the book sales, but to make sales because of the authority and notoriety they get from the books!

But when we think about it, what great feat have they accomplished?

Nothing too difficult, really. They’ve provided some helpful information related to their field of expertise…and made it easily accessible to the public. That’s it!

Guess what?

You can easily (and quickly) do nearly the same thing and start positioning yourself as the go-to authority in your field too! That’s what will help attract high-quality customers to your business like a magnet (and they won’t complain about your prices, either!)

Why So Few Do It

Q: If it’s so easy, why don’t more business owners do it?

A: Because writing a book can be a huge, time-consuming project…when done the hard way, which is how most people do it. It can take a long, LONG time. Most entrepreneurs cannot afford that much time. And once it’s finally written, they don’t know how to get their book published.

But that’s actually VERY good news for you!

With the Internet and online technology, it is quite easy (and MUCH faster than traditional methods) to publish information, whether in writing, as audios, or with videos (or all three!).  You can even SELL your information to create another income stream for your business!

This is exactly what I’ve done in my own virtual bookkeeping business, and it has brought me FAR more high quality clients than I can possibly serve myself. I regularly refer incoming client inquiries to colleagues because I am truly booked solid. (And they always want to know how I’m able to keep pulling in so much business!)

How did I get my business to this point?

Simply by providing helpful, instructional information online surrounding my expertise as a QuickBooks trainer and consultant. I’m just sharing my knowledge using what are called info-products.

And here’s the secret – if you are a professional in your field, you can DEFINITELY do this too. You could start by offering a free or low-priced special report on your company website.

That’s actually how I got started.

And the best part is, once you do it, it’s like having a little salesperson working for your business 24/7! Online technology automates the whole thing.

And I’ve got to tell you, it sure is a nice little bonus to open your email in the morning and find out that you’ve made sales (and found new customers and prospects) overnight while you were sleeping.

Will This Work For YOU?

Creating small, but effective info-products works for ALL kinds of businesses, but it’s especially powerful for service-based businesses.

Because so few people are doing this effectively, creating small but valuable informational products positions you as the obvious expert and the person your prospects will trust and want to do business with when they need your services. In effect, you won’t have any competition!

If you can see how powerful it would be for your business to position yourself as an authority simply by providing useful information geared toward your best customers’ needs, then I highly recommend you serious consider publishing simple information products as lead generators for your business. It’s really quite easy.

And remember, you can even sell the information to create an additional revenue stream. Few ways of marketing your business is sweeter than that!

But I bet you’re wondering, “Where do I begin?”

I’m glad you asked!

This coming Thursday, February 10th at 7:00 PM (Eastern Time) there’s a FREE online webinar that shows you how to create your first info-product fast AND avoid making BIG mistakes that can really backfire on you and actually KILL your reputation.

Even though I’ve been doing this successfully in my business for years now, I’ll definitely be attending this online event. The guy teaching it is (in my opinion) the absolute BEST!

I always pick up time-saving tips every time I attend one of his events.

If you’d like to attend too (remember, it’s 100% FREE), you can get all the details here:

=> Click Here to attend the Webinar

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1. Live Training

2. In-Person Networking

Nothing can take the place of live training and networking.

Training helps you to keep up with what’s going on in your industry or adapt new strategies that could give your business a fresh angle that puts you miles ahead of your competition.

In-person networking helps you to build strategic alliances and stimulate new ideas that can make a HUGE difference in your business. When you look for ways that you can complement other businesses and make friends in the process, that’s a powerful way to build your business that you just can’t do any other way.

In fact, for many years it’s been my goal to attend at least one major seminar a year. And my business has always prospered from making the investment in attending live events.

This year, I’ll be attending three important training events. And when it comes to getting extremely valuable training AND making important connections by networking, nothing can compare with the event I’ll be attending in Las Vegas November 5-7, 2010

It’s called the Big Seminar (I know, not the most creative name)

If you’ve got a business and you’re trying to use your website as a way to market your business, then I guarantee that learning the best ways to market online EFFECTIVELY will put you MILES ahead of your competition!

(Most businesses have absolutely no idea how to use the Internet to explode their bottom line!)

In fact, this seminar has made a HUGE difference for me in my business.

Ever since I started attending (and using what I’ve been learning) from the Big Seminar several years ago, my revenues have increased…dramatically.

That’s because this is the largest Internet marketing seminar in the U.S. with the best trainers in the industry. All of the faculty members are business owners themselves (many of them self-made multi-millionaires) who are using what they are teaching in their own highly successful businesses.

Doesn’t it make sense to learn from and model those who are already making millions? I think so. In fact, the business owner who runs this seminar, Armand Morin, has an expression worth remembering:

“Success leaves traces.”

Like other seminars, you can learn from the faculty on the stage. But there’s something that makes this one really rock…

You also get to network with the faculty and other extremely successful business owners…it’s actually part of the scheduled program! Many of the people you meet are world class business marketers. And THAT is what has kept me coming back year after year. I’ve made some amazing connections that have had a direct effect on my bottom line.

I never could have been able to meet such influential people any other way.

In fact, this seminar has created more success stories than any other seminar in the history of Internet Marketing.

The only sad part is that this is the LAST Big Seminar (after 7 years straight!)

But…

It’s going to be a BIG finale worth remembering!

See what I mean and get all the details here:

http://bit.ly/Big-Seminar

I know I wouldn’t miss it for anything! Will I see you there?

If so, let me know, and we’ll get together!

I’ll introduce you to my friends and we can brainstorm some ways to get YOUR website boosting sales and being the vehicle to take your business to a whole new level of success in the coming year!

Hope to see YOU there!

http://bit.ly/Big-Seminar

Gabrielle

PS – Even if you can’t make it, it’s worth getting onto the mailing list because between now and when the Big Seminar begins in November, there will be completely free live online training calls with each of the faculty members for FREE! So check out the speakers and then make sure you attend the free one-hour training that Armand will do with that person… and take notes!

Sign up for the free training here:

http://bit.ly/Big-Seminar

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Time	Friday, November 5 at 8:00am – November 7 at 7:00pm
Location	Las Vegas
Created By	Gabrielle Fontaine
More Info	If you’ve got a business and you’re trying to use your website as a way to market your business, then I guarantee that learning the best ways to market online EFFECTIVELY will put you MILES ahead of your competition! (Most businesses have absolutely no idea how to use the Internet to explode their bottom line!) In fact, this seminar has made a HUGE difference for me in my business. … Ever since I started attending (and using what I’ve been learning) from the Big Seminar several years ago, my revenues have increased…dramatically. That’s because this is the largest Internet marketing seminar in the U.S. with the best trainers in the industry. All of the faculty members are business owners themselves (many of them self-made multi-millionaires) who are using what they are teaching in their own highly successful businesses. Doesn’t it make sense to learn from and model those who are already making millions? I think so. In fact, the business owner who runs this seminar, Armand Morin, has an expression worth remembering: “Success leaves traces.” Like other seminars, you can learn from the faculty on the stage. But there’s something that makes this one really rock… You also get to network with the faculty and other business owners…it’s part of the scheduled program! Many of them are world class business marketers. And THAT is what has kept me coming back year after year. I’ve made some amazing connections that have had a direct effect on my bottom line. I never could have been able to meet such influential people any other way. In fact, this seminar has created more success stories than any other seminar in the history of Internet Marketing. The only sad part is that this is the LAST Big Seminar (after 7 years straight!) But… It’s going to be a BIG finale worth remembering! See what I mean and get all the details here: http://bit.ly/Big-Seminar I know I wouldn’t miss it for anything! Will I see you there? If so, let me know, and we’ll get together! I’ll introduce you to my friends and we can brainstorm some ways to get YOUR website boosting sales and being the vehicle to take your business to a whole new level of success in the coming year! Hope to see YOU there! http://bit.ly/Big-Seminar See More

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What better way to kick off the Fall than by getting some useful information on how to effectively promote your business and increase your bottom line?

If that’s what you want, then you’ll want to read this article by my favorite online marketing expert. It cuts to the chase to solve the mystery of effective marketing using the Internet. You’ll find it on this brand new blog especially designed for small businesses.

Small Business Marketing Weekly

Although I’m primarily a freelance bookkeeper and QuickBooks trainer and consultant, I love to learn what makes small businesses really prosper – and apply it to my own, as well as suggest improvements for my clients’ businesses.

I’ve learned a lot through the MANY books I’ve read and seminars I’ve attended. And the vital conclusion I’ve come to is that, as business owners, marketing is really job #1 for all of us. That’s what keeps the sales coming in, which keeps the cash flowing. And as we know, cash is the lifeblood of your entire business! No sales = no business.

And I can tell you honestly, out of everything I’ve studied over the years and all the people I’ve learned from whose techniques I’ve actually used in my own business, there is no one that has given more high value and true nuts-and-bolts information that really works like Jim Edwards.

No one.

So I hope you enjoy this article as much as I did for a big picture reference of what we really must to be doing to pull more business in locally or virtually with our websites (and beyond). This one’s a keeper:

Small Business Marketing Weekly

And it looks like Jim will be writing a series of these helpful articles. I’m definitely going to be following them, so I thought you’d like to know about them too.

Enjoy!

Gabrielle Fontaine, PB
BookkeepingDirect.com

By the way – I’m a long-time member of Jim’s monthly training program, The Net Reporter. As I said, I think he’s the best (and I’m picky!) because he tells it like it is… AND shows you exactly how to market your business effectively online. (My business is proof of that!)

Most of his training, though, is primarily geared toward building an information-product based online business. So I usually have to try and translate what I’m learning to work for my own QuickBooks consulting business.

But this month he’s doing something I’m quite excited about… Tomorrow he’s starting a 2-webinar training series entitled:

“Using Internet Strategies on a Brick and Mortar Business”

No translation needed! So I’ll definitely be attending this one LIVE! If you’d like to attend the first webinar on Tuesday too, just join The Net Reporter and try it out for a month (you can get two of these live webinars AND get access to Jim’ “Fast Track Video Coaching” for less than most other people charge for a single webinar!)

The Net Reporter

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Whether you realize it or not (you probably already do), the Internet is a highly cost-effective way to promote your business… even if you’re a business of one.

But here’s the thing. If you are in any way actively promoting your business, whether with word of mouth, networking or any form of online or offline advertising, everyone is  going to want access to more information about you and your business from your website.

You do have a website, right?

Many prospective customers judge businesses and freelance professionals based on their website. That’s a fact.

So whether you already have your own website (and you should), or you need to get one going, I just found out about a free LIVE webinar coming up this week that you’re going to want to attend.

It’s called, “5 Critical Elements of An Effective Website”
by professional web designer and business marketer Ely Delaney

I’ve known Ely personally for a few years now, and he knows what he’s talking about, both from a technical and a marketing standpoint. He works with local small businesses and runs his own home-based business.

So Ely is right here in the trenches with us.

In the time I’ve known him, Ely has generously passed along some great website tips and tools that were a big help to me in my business. So I’m sure he’ll be giving away fantastic tips and tricks, especially for small businesses like us on this webinar.

It’s all about making our websites work harder for us and pulling in more inquiries and sales 24/7 on autopilot.

So don’t miss a chance to tap into Ely’s real world experience and cut straight to the good stuff by attending his free LIVE training this week.

When:
WEDNESDAY, August 4, 2010 at 7:00 PM Eastern Time
(That’s 6:00 PM Central, 5:00 PM Mountain, and 4:00 PM Pacific)

Register right here:

Click Here ==> Webinar Registration

You’ll discover specifically what needs to be included on your website in this economy to turn it into an effective 24/7 low-cost salesperson for your business.

Reserve your spot now. This webinar is very limited. ONLY 50 people will be able to attend. Procrastinators will literally get locked out. So that’s why I wanted to get this to you now, before it’s completely booked.

Here’s to YOUR success with the Smart Choice of turning your website into a hard working salesperson that works for you 24/7…. and never even takes a coffee break!

Gabrielle

PS – Remember, the webinar is time-sensitive, so if you want to get in on this free professional training, I suggest that  you register now, before the class is full (a total of only 50 spots available).

Here’s the link again:

Click Here ==> Webinar Registration

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Not enough cash coming in?

Many small businesses battle cash flow problems, sometimes for years. This can be dangerous, especially in a choppy economy.

If you have frequent cash flow pinches, these days you’re really living on the edge.

If you’re tired of the “excitement” and want to avoid ultimate disaster, you need to be asking some important questions, and then taking decisive action.

How do you know there is a real problem?

This may seem obvious, but you need to know from a very basic standpoint if there are serious issues brewing in your business  as soon as possible. A cash pinch could be a serious warning sign.

Besides looking at your bank account balance, your Profit & Loss Report (also known as your Income Statement) is a quick way to identify the main issue(s).

Has there been a big dip in how much you’re bringing in in Sales recently? Do you compare your sales numbers on a monthly basis. Knowing your numbers helps you identify dangerous trends that could be emerging.

What about your expenses? Has there been a big increase in overhead over a short period of time? Or has the change in the economy caused some of your cost for making each sale to creep higher and higher?

Another question to ask is….

Do cash flow problems keep coming back?

Many businesses are seasonal and typically have a high season and a low season. If you’ve had a crunch like this before, you will want to compare your numbers to last year at this time. Did you have the same problem? Is there something you can do that would help to even out the cash flow?

For example, often landscaping companies will create another income stream in their off season (wintertime) by attaching a plow to their trucks and offer snow plowing services. Or accountants whose bread and butter comes during tax season, add tax planning or bookkeeping services to their service mix to help even out the slow times.

Your highs and lows may not be as obvious, but if you see a pattern, is there some other product or service you could offer that would sell well during your lean time?

Aim to build several sources of income to keep the money coming in build stability throughout the year.

How to handle the short-term issues and solve your cash flow problems for the long term

When in the midst of a cash crunch, what you need more than anything is more cash quickly. That can take the form of a boost in sales, or it can mean collecting the money already owed to you.

One the easiest ways to solve a cash flow pinch is to run a special promotion to pull in some quick sales. More short-term sales may not solve the real problem, but it will get you to a place where you can breathe and focus in rationally to identify what’s really going on in your business.

To solve recurring cash crunch woes, you can’t just live in the moment. You need to identify what has changed or is changing. You also need to come up with a strategy to protect yourself for the long term.

Here’s my three-phase approach for getting into action so you can conquer the cash flow monster before it gets out of hand:

1. Maximize the money coming into your business from as many different sources as possible, creating systems and policies that keep the cash streams flowing consistently and simultaneously.
   .
2. Evaluate what it costs to run your business and how much it costs to sell your products / services. Identify your most profitable items, and dump any that do not have a reasonable margin. You will also look at your overhead and identify any areas where cash is needlessly leaking out of the business (Hint: To do this right, you will want to review both your P&L Report and your Balance Sheet over the period of a year)
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3. Prepare a budget and a forecast for at least the next 3 months, and track your progress. If your business is seasonal, you will need to build into your budget a cushion fund that you will contribute to in the busy season, and draw upon in the slow season.

By going through these basic steps, your business will become much stronger. You will be able to recognize and navigate changes that affect your cash flow. You can protect yourself and ward off cash crunch crises before they ever hit.

Would you like specific strategies and step-by-step action plans to pull in more cash FAST and turn your business into a solid cash flow machine? Then be sure to check out my new Cash Flow Mastery Course.

If you are using any version of QuickBooks 2007 (or older), you need to pay attention to this.

Effective May 31, 2010, Intuit (the makers of QuickBooks financial software) will discontinue live telephone support and add-on services for QuickBooks 2007 software (all versions).

Services that will be discontinued:

Assisted Payroll
Basic Payroll
Enhanced Payroll
Standard Payroll
Employee Organizer
Merchant Service
Billing Solution (formerly QuickBooks Online Billing)
QuickBooks Email
Bill Pay
Online Banking
Terminal Download
Technical Support Plans and Services

This is not really surprising news, since according to Intuit’s official Discontinuation Program, they only support “the most current version of QuickBooks, plus the prior two versions.” So that means after May 31st, QuickBooks 2010, as well as all 2009 and 2008 versions, are the only years they will continue to support.

Do I HAVE to upgrade?

That depends on how you use the software.

If you are currently using an older version of QuickBooks and do not need any technical support or add-on services, you can continue to use the software as you have in the past. It will keep working just fine.

However, if you need to use add-on programs and support for services such as payroll or merchant services,  you will need to install and register a supported version of the QuickBooks software by May 31, 2010.

But what if I don’t know which version of QuickBooks I’ve got?

That’s easy. If you don’t see which version you have on the “splash” screen when you are opening QuickBooks, then from within the program simply press Ctrl+1 (from the keyboard, not the number pad) and you will get all the information about your current QuickBooks program, including which version you’re using.

An important reason to upgrade if you’re still using QuickBooks 2007 (or older) is because even though Intuit promises to help you out if you lose your keycodes or have licensing issues, their terms and conditions say they will do so only “if that data is available.” In other words, there’s no guarantee they can help you if you are still using an old unsupported version, and you lose your password, have data recovery issues, or need a replacement software CD.

This is significant.

If you are locked out of your data file because you’ve lost your administrator’s password, or you can’t get into your program because of a registration issue, you’re dead. Not being able to access your financial records could literally cripple your business.

But if you are determined to stick with an outdated version of QuickBooks and you do happen to lose your password, you can use the Automated Password Reset Tool available for free on the QuickBooks website. But of course, there’s no guarantees there either. You are still on your own.

If, however, you are ready to give in and upgrade, here are my best suggestions.

Your Upgrade Options

You can, of course, upgrade directly through the Quickbooks website and get a $40 discount (as of this writing, the upgrade price is $159.95)

But you quite likely can get a better price by shopping around a bit. Generally you’ll find QuickBooks at all the major office supply stores locally and online. Amazon is currently selling QuickBooks Pro 2010 for $123.

Some other places you could check out are:

www.staples.com
www.officedepot.com
www.officemax.com
www.bestbuy.com
www.costco.com
www.samsclub.com

And if you are a real bargain hunter, you might be able to find a legal copy of a supported version (QuickBooks 2008 or 2009) on eBay. But realize that you’ll be in the same pinch in another year or two.

So my best suggestion is to just bite the bullet and upgrade to 2010 and be done with it (for three years anyway). There are some great new, truly helpful features you’ve been missing out on in the years you’ve fallen behind.

Getting Up To Date Using QuickBooks

For quick and free mini-lessons in QuickBooks, make sure you get in on my QB QuickTips video series.

And if QuickBooks has always been a struggle for you, why not go all out and get some proper training on using the program more easily and efficiently? I’ll teach you all the must-know functions in QuickBooks in my QuickBooks Core Training course. (The next class starts this coming Monday, May 24th.)

If you are upgrading from QuickBooks 2005 or older, training is especially recommended for you, since QuickBooks is practically a whole new program since that far back. it won’t be an easy transition without some assistance.

We are already one-third of the way through the year. Have your revenue numbers been improving?

I came across some revealing stats recently that are quite eye-opening about what’s really going on with A LOT of small businesses. I made a quick video to show what the numbers are really telling us about what we need to be doing to turn it all around.

Click above to start video

This is important stuff for so many entrepreneurs. If you know someone who could benefit from this new information, by all means, go ahead and let them know about this video. They’ll appreciate it, and so will I!

www.CashFlowMasteryCourse.com

The major tax deadline of April 15th is quickly approaching for non-corporation businesses (sole proprietorships, partnerships and LLCs). Here are five quick tax-savings tips you don’t want to forget before the deadline arrives in all its glory.

1. Home Office Deduction

Generally, you can deduct business expenses that apply
to a part of your home if that part is exclusively used on a regular basis…

• -As your principal place of business,
• -As a place to meet with your patients, clients, or customers in the normal course of your trade or business, or
• -In connection with your trade or business if it is a separate structure that is not attached to your home.

This deduction includes both expenses that are directly related to your home office (painting, repairs, etc.), as well as a portion of your indirect costs, which include utilities for your whole house, mortgage interest or rent, real estate taxes, even depreciation on your home.

This can really add up to a substantial deduction.

And if you took the home office deduction last year, but couldn’t use it all (it’s limited by your business profit), you can also carry over any leftover deduction you couldn’t use last year and add it to this year’s deduction. (Check your 2008 Form 8829 and look to see if there is any carryover available for 2009 at the bottom of the form.)

The home office deduction is worth the trouble because it also reduces your self-employment tax amount.

Click here to get the details on how to take the deduction here:
IRS Instructions for Form 8829

2. Write off new equipment (Section 179 deduction)

Rather than depreciate business property over several years, you can choose to expense business assets in the year of purchase. Here are basic guidelines for what qualifies:

• Tangible property, like machines, equipment, furniture
• Off-the-shelf computer software

It does not apply to:

• Real estate
• Property used less than 50% in your business
• Property you inherited or received as a gift

You can “write off” (deduct as an expense) newly purchased assets up to $250,000 for 2009.

This is another smart deduction that helps to reduce both your income tax and your self-employment tax.

Click here to get all the specifics here:
IRS Instructions for Form 4562

3. Use Per Diem Rates for Business meals & incidental expenses while Traveling

As long as you can document your away-from-home business travel, you can deduct a per diem rate (per day) for meals and incidental expenses instead of the need to keep records of and report your actual expenses. This can give you a much bigger deduction if you spend less than the daily rate, not to mention it makes the recordkeeping easier.

Of course, you only get a 50% deduction on meals and entertainment for business purposes, but if you’re frugal, you will still get a much better deduction than you would with claiming actual expenses.

And, yes, this one reduces both income and self-employment taxes.

Click here to get all the specifics here:
IRS Publication 1542

4. Maximize your HSA Contributions

If you have a high-deductible health plan (HDHP) for your health insurance and a Health Savings Account (HSA) for your out-of-pocket medical expenses, you have until April 15th to make your 2009 deductible contributions. That’s up to $3,000 ($4,000 if you are over 55) for a self-only coverage plan, or $5,950 for a family coverage plan.

While this one won’t reduce your Self-employment tax, it is a nice deduction in addition to any self-employed health insurance deduction you can take for what you paid in insurance premiums on that high-deductible haelth plan. This winning combination makes 100% of your medical costs deductible, even if you do not itemize. That’s sweet.

Click here for all the specifics are laid out here:
IRS Publication 969

5. Maximize your IRA Contributions

If you have a traditional IRA, you can still make your 2009 contributions up until April 15, and still claim any deduction you are entitled to (usually for a traditional IRA as opposed to a Roth IRA) now. This is an especially smart choice because when you make contributions to your retirment accounts, you will likely also get the retirement savings contributions credit (depending on your income level, among other things). It’s one of the very few times you can legally get a double-dip for a deduction.

General traditional IRA contribution limits for 2009 are:

$5,000 ($6,000 if you’re over 50 or older) – there are, however, several factors that affect how much of your contribution is deductible.

As a self-employed person though, you may seriously want to consider opening a SEP-IRA, since this type of retirement plan allows you to make larger contributions and thus get bigger deductions on your tax return.

IRAs have lots of twists and turns, but if you already have one set up, or want to set up a quick traditional IRA (you can do this easily) and make a contribution for 2009, it’s just smart to max out your contributions and take the deduction for 2009 by April 15.

Click here to get all the ins and outs of IRAs here:
IRS Publication 590
IRS Publication 560

To keep your tax bill as low as possible, the smartest choice is to do your tax planning BEFORE the end of the year. But at least these tips will help you pay as little as legally possible right now for 2009, and then be all the wiser for 2010.