5 Keys to Weathering Tough Economic Times for Today's Small Business

During these tough economic times -as a small business owner - it's so easy to become immobilized by fear and uncertainty. However, believe it or not, there are things you can do now designed to get you through the rough spots of the next 6 to 12 months.

1) Get Organized

It is amazing the number of business owners who take being organized for granted. A study of the successful and wealthy shows that their lives are reflective of order. Everything should have a place and doing away with clutter will provide much needed energy to manage your business in these uncertain economic times.

2) Re-visit your business plan

Do you remember why you got into business in the first place? Hopefully it was for the love of what you do in addition to the hopes of making money. Know your product and service. Know your primary (or niche) target market. Know what differentiates you from the competition. To engage in this activity - if you have been in business more than 2 years - you'll discover how you've grown when in comes to how you look at business and how it should operate. Use this growth and maturity as a seasoned business owner to make your business plan better to prepare for a future of ongoing growth and prosperity.

3) Plan Ahead

Where can you go from here? For many, they are saying there is nowhere to go but up. With that, remember it is not over until it is over. Operating a business can be one of the hardest things you'll ever do. That's why you cannot go it alone. Be sure to have access to a team of trusted business associates who can provide you with solid business guidance and direction. This would include your accountant, lawyer, marketing representative and possibly even a mentor - someone you view as having demonstrated business success and who has a genuine, mutual interest in your success as well.

4) Revise your marketing plan and strategy

As you well know, sales and marketing is the lifeline of any business. You or someone in your business must always be selling or ABC (Always Be Closing). Without sales, you have no business because lines of credit and other forms of borrowed capital will only last for so long. Therefore take a good hard look at your marketing efforts. Are you telemarketing or cold calling? Do you have an online presence like a website, blog, business listing or e-mail marketing campaign? Do you have a way of regularly staying in front of your existing customers in order to be positioned for potentially new business opportunities? Do you network? Are you a member of your local chamber of commerce or small business/civic organization? People tend to do business with people, not businesses. Next to cash, relationships are king.

5) Give Cash the Respect It is Due

Finally, how are you treating your cash? Do you know how much you are spending and how often? Do you know your true bank balance? Do you know what your receivables are? Do you know how much cash you have on hand? Are you paying your bills the same time every month? Or, are you "robbing Peter to pay Paul" until - in your mind -you can catch-up on all your bills? Are customers starting to pay you later and later with each passing month? Are money management worries taking you away from servicing and growing your business? Are you starting to hate the very business you once loved?

If any of these questions resonate with you, stop! Re-focus. Make sure the your personal immediate needs and the immediate needs for the business are met like rent, payroll, lights, insurance, telephone, transportation and heat. Then, keep as much of a reserve of cash as you can while you stay in communication with creditors as you seek to weather this economic storm. Begin trying to work with your slow paying customers so you can begin at least getting some money versus no money. Know that more than likely, they are trying to weather the same financial storm you are.

Like the tips for making it presented here? Would you like more sound strategies for keeping your business together during rough times? Then contact Optimum Tax and Accounting Services at 336-854-7083.

We would love to help you however best we can.

Small Business: Time for the Year-End Financial Check Up

One of the most important tasks for small business owners is a year-end checkup of their companies’ financial health. It’s even more critical now as the economic downturn persists.

Revenue and tax projections are still a focus when owners meet with their accountants or other tax professionals, but credit and cash flow may now be even more crucial considerations. And owners may find they need to look deeper into the way their companies operate, pay bills and receive payment than they’ve had to do in the past.

As many banks tighten their lending, small businesses “have to revisit their entire credit strategy,” said Gordon Spoor, a certified public accountant in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Many companies might be tempted to take whatever cash they have and pay down any outstanding credit lines, leaving themselves debt-free. But Spoor advises against that move —- if a bank freezes or cuts back a company’s line of credit after the cash has gone to pay down debt, then the business will suddenly find itself with fewer options.

“They should hoard some cash right now,” Spoor said.

For more, visit the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

Small Business Survival 101

Small businesses can use the recent financial crisis as an opportunity to buckle down, refocus, assess and make their company more financially sound, disciplined and less reliant on credit.

During tough economic times such as these, it's important to maintain communication with your accountant and/or trusted financial/business advisor.

Remember, you are not alone.

For instance at Optimum Tax and Accounting Services, we understand the day-to-day challenges that small businesses face and we are committed to working with small business owners to navigate these turbulent times.

Believe it or not, as a small business owner, you have greater flexibility and can more easily adjust to changes in the economy than your larger counterparts. Accountants like these can be found at Optimum Tax and Accounting Services and are able to assist you in gauging your current business and financial outlook in the wake of recent uncertain market events.

A qualified accountant should be able to work with you to create a sound business plan to assist you with weathering these temporarily difficult financial times without the exhaustive costs often incurred by larger size businesses.

For more information contact Optimum Tax & Accounting Services at 336-854-7083.

U.S. Goverment Finally Comes Through with Financial Relief for Consumers

WASHINGTON (AP) — The government introduced a pair of new programs Tuesday that will provide $800 billion to help unfreeze the market for consumer debt and to make mortgage loans cheaper and more available.

The new programs from the Federal Reserve and Treasury Department are the latest effort to provides billions in government support to get the U.S. financial system back to more normal operations and keep the country from sliding into a deep and prolonged recession.

The Fed program for consumer debt will lend up to $200 billion to the holders of securities backed by various types of consumer loans such as credit cards, auto and student loans. The goal is to provide greater demand for these securities as a way of lowering interest rates consumers are paying and to make these loans more available.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson had signaled that the government was working on this new program. It will be supported by $20 billion of credit protection provided by the $700 billion government rescue fund.

The Fed also said Tuesday it will buy up to $600 billion in mortgage-backed assets in a separate attempt to deal with the financial crisis.

For more, visit the Associated Press.