Accounting & Marketing: The Winning Combination for Surviving in Business

Aside from offering a quality product and service and possessing and maintaining the proper capacity to service your customers, the two most essential components needed by any business to survive in economic times such as these are accounting and marketing.

If you have been in business more than two years, you need an accountant; preferably one that specializes in small business. Why? After awhile – especially if you are a one person shop – burnout is bound to set in.

As one starts his or her business, it is easy to get lulled (or fooled) into thinking you can do everything yourself. However, the reality is that you cannot; particularly if there are plans to grow and expand the business. This is why, prior to starting your business, you should be duly mindful of what your business model preference is: do you want to serve as an independent contractor/consultant - just serving a finite number of clients at any one time or do you envision duplicating your product/service and processes to grow into a high net worth organization? As they say, "more money, more problems." It is up to you to do the hard work and examine whether or not you possess the emotional maturity and threshold for risk (pain) to withstand the ebbs and flows of operating a business and managing people on a daily basis.

So, while you are in the throws of generating sales and servicing your customers, who do you trust to manage your finances, set budgets, alert you with your debt to income ratio is upside down, provide you with realistic cash flow projections based on your business and/or marketing plan and is able to do a full-fledged interpretation of numbers that are most important to any bank, creditor or - God-forbid - IRS agent? You owe it to yourself to have a trusted financial advisor with a consistent and demonstrated track record in the arena of small business –especially if you possess plans of not being a small business forever.

Like accounting, marketing is a crucial part of any business right from the start. Once you have determined the product and/or service you are to provide; coupled with the processes for delivery of said products and/or services, you have to find a way to let people know that you exist. Solely advertising or just putting up a web site is not the way. You need a mix of marketing strategies that work together simultaneously that help build your brand while providing you with the optimal number of impressions – exposure in front of people multiple times in your most likely market.

Armed with a marketing budget – based on a designated market niche - the business owner needs to employ strategies that encompass, SEO (Search Engine Optimization), in-person as well as social networking, strategic sponsorships and partnerships and low-cost advertising that provides a high rate of exposure – especially to your prime target market – all designed to give you a substantial return on your investment (ROI). Ideally, you want to identify a reputable marketing and business development expert or firm that has a proven track record of marketing success for itself as well as other businesses similar in size and scope to yours. Like your accountant, if they are having success for themselves and their existing clients, chances are they’ll be able to provide the same type of service for you.

For more information on how to optimize the combination of accounting and marketing in ways that will work for your small business, contact Optimum Tax and Accounting.

The Small Business Survivor: Four Things You Can Do Now to Weather the Economic Downturn

It’s no secret that these are tough economic times – especially for small businesses. However, guess what? People are still buying. The question is, are you selling what people are buying?

Take Apple Inc. for instance. While most manufacturers and retailers struggled through the past holiday shopping season, Apple managed to shatter analysts estimates for profit and sales last quarter in spite of the U.S. having its worst shopping season in 40 years.

What was the key to Apple’s success? Apple had what the market demanded: updated Macintosh notebook computers and revised and reduced iPod designs and prices. While stock in Apple declined (like most companies) last year by 57%, its stock price shot up 8% on the announcement of its most recent milestone.

So, you are not an Apple. That doesn’t mean you two can’t have business success in these tough economic times. Here’s how:

1) Establish, tweak and build your brand online. With the advance in technology, there is no reason anyone with the right idea that can meet a market need and demand cannot be successful – even in these economic times. The best and most cost effective way is to do this via the Internet. Build and/or reconfigure your web site. Make regular updates and changes as often as possible no matter how basic your site. Develop a blog and establish yourself as an expert in your area of focus and service. Utilize and maximize social networking tools designed to drive traffic to your site. Build your contact list and engage in a regularly scheduled e-mail marketing campaign.

2) Maintain a commitment to high quality standards. It’s been said that these times will result in a “natural and healthy thinning of the heard" where only the strongest businesses will survive. To remain fresh and relevant, quality customer service must be a priority. Ensure you have and are creative in managing essential capacity so that your customers don’t feel the pinch just because you do – even if it means moving your business back into your home.

3) Negotiate and re-negotiate. Everyone is feeling the pinch. Therefore, finding ways to cut-back on your greatest expenses can be a big help. Among the two greatest expenses of any business are payroll and lease/mortgage payments. Daily we hear about the sky rocketing unemployment, so clearly businesses are letting go of staff to save money. However, how many are going to their landlord or mortgage holder and seeking to re-negotiate the terms of their lease or mortgage contract? Don’t be afraid to ask for such a consideration. An occupied building with some money is far better than an unoccupied building with no money any day.

4) Team up with other small businesses to create a network. Convene a meeting with your web developer/IT person, marketing person, and accountant. See about forming a virtual corporation that enables you to share resources, make referrals and engage in strategic networking. No man (or woman) is an island. While as a stand alone business, neither of you may have the capacity of an Apple, yet, with a little creative thinking and the formation of strategic partnerships with other small business people whom you trust, who have a demonstrated track record and are as motivated as you are to stay and thrive in business, you might just create a winning combination.

Entrepreneurs Optimistic About 2009

Sixty percent of small business owners say 2009 will be better than 2008, according to a survey by Microsoft Inc.

The poll, conducted by Microsoft Office Live Small Business and Elance Inc., indicated that 37 percent of small business owners are worried about 2009, but believe their businesses will weather the current economic storm.

In the survey, 86 percent said they are happier running their own businesses than working for someone else. And more than half said they will maintain their current staffing levels. One-third said they may need to hire contract or freelance help.

The survey of 600 small-business owners was conducted online between Dec. 10-16, according to Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT).

Story comes courtesy of Nashville Business Journal.

TARP, Obama and Small Business Bailout: The Struggle to Survive the Mess of Our Financial Crisis

With the turn of a New Year and on the eve of the swearing in of a new administration, the financial condition of the United States is still a mess. It's hard not to feel like Leonardo DiCaprio near the end of the movie The Titanic where is his holding on to the remains from a sinking ship in the freezing ice cold waters of the Atlantic while trying to stay alive.

This pretty much define the financial circumstances of many in the U.S. today, particularly small businesses.

During the darkest days of the credit crisis last October, Congress granted President Bush's urgent request to address growing problems in the credit and financial markets by passing the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (EESA).

A centerpiece of EESA is the $700 billion Troubled Assets Relief Program, also known as TARP. The government is supposed to use the money to purchase failing bank assets. The goal is to free up reserves so banks can start lending money again. To date, nearly all of the TARP's initial $250 billion appropriation has been distributed. So where has the money gone?

Not to small businesses.

Most of the nation's 8,000 community banks, which provide loans to 48 percent of all small businesses, have yet to receive any TARP money. Of those, 3,000 community banks have been declared ineligible for the program simply because they are Subchapter S corporations or mutual institutions.

In times past, community banks, a traditional conduit for SBA lending programs, could serve as a counterbalance to tight credit for small firms. But just the opposite is happening. In the first quarter of the government's 2009 fiscal year, which ended Dec. 31, the number of flagship SBA 7(a) loans dropped by 57 percent compared with the first quarter of FY2008 and by 62 percent compared with the first quarter of FY2007.

Lending through the SBA's Community Express program, which targets low- and middle-income areas and firms owned by minorities, women, and veterans, has been hit even harder. Loans are down 76 percent from a year ago.
Most of this blog post comes courtesy of Keith Gerard of AllBusiness.com.

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Optimum Financial Solutions Premiers on BlogTalkRadio

Greensboro, North Carolina - On the heels of a year riddled with economic uncertainty, people are hungry for strong, reliable financial advice designed to help them weather what some refer to as the worst economy yet to come.

To help people begin to re-build their financial lives for the New Year, Optimum Financial Solutions recently premiered on BlogTalkRadio. Featuring Pamela Murray, President & CEO of Optimum Tax & Accounting Services based out of Greensboro, North Carolina, Optimum Financial Solutions is a BlogTalkRadio program focused on offering solid tax and accounting advice with the small business owner and potential small business owner in mind.

“Americans are ready for immediate financial remedies to stop the damage done by and within our financial markets in 2008,” said Murray. “As someone who has been in finance and accounting for over 12 years, I feel strongly that in order to keep people empowered when it comes to their money, they must first be armed with quality, sound financial information. The Optimum Financial Solutions internet radio program is one way by which we can begin to do this.”

Embarking upon its fifth year of operation, Optimum Tax & Accounting Services spent the last quarter of 2008 executing a newly devised market strategy designed to educate as well as secure an increased client base.

Over the last three year, Optimum Tax & Accounting has expanded its services to include: monthly bookkeeping and banking, payroll management, tax and accounting services for non-profit organizations, financial statement preparation, support services to CPAs and small business and non-profit organization accounting and marketing consultation.

To kick-off the new year and the beginning of tax season, Optimum Tax and Accounting is offering 15% off all tax preparation services to its new clients who sign up before February 15th.

“Since there is no apparent government bailout for the small business owner or individual tax payer, we at Optimum are just looking to do our part to help ease the minds of Americans and provide solid financial management advice while delivering quality tax, accounting and bookkeeping services to our clients,” said Murray.

For more information, visit http://www.optimumtaxandacc.com/.