The post-holiday season is the time for taking a physical inventory of your merchandise and restocking your shelves. According to U.S. Census Bureau information reported by Trading Economics, inventories in general rose at the highest level in October 2021 were the highest since May 2011. Sounds rosy? If you’re an inventory-based business, things related to your items haven’t been easy in recent months and likely some problems will continue. Here are some challenges you may or are likely to face in optimizing your inventory and what you can do about them. Inflation Inflation has both a financial and tax cost […]

Combat fatigue, according to the dictionary, is a psychological disturbance caused by prolonged exposure to active warfare, especially being under bombardment. But this sounds a lot like the psychological disturbance that many small business owners are experiencing from going through two years of COVID-19, supply chain disruptions, labor shortages, and most recently, spiking inflation. Not to belittle or even equate the wartime experience, small business owners need to find ways to handle their “combat fatigue”—severe stress—and move ahead. Here are some ideas to help. Recognize the symptoms of severe stress The symptoms of combat fatigue in the military listed by […]

For the past several years, a monthly blog of mine throughout the year has focused on a theme (developing leadership qualities in 2019; preparing for economic change in 2020; recovery strategies in 2021). The theme for 2022 is “Startup Ideas for Success.” The reason: startups are exploding. Intuit’s survey predicts 17 million new businesses will start up in 2022. The survey found that nearly three out of five people wanted to start a business and 20% will actually do so in 2022. Of course, there’s a lot of important information that new business owners need to know. The first idea for […]

Many businesses and enterprises rely on the cloud for all of their data needs. With more people working remotely and more business being done online, it’s no surprise that cloud technologies are going to change. An emerging trend within IT is the “distributed cloud.” The concept of a distributed cloud system involves businesses being able to migrate their data into different cloud locations at will. What Is a Distributed Cloud? Companies rely on traditional data centers and individual clouds for all of their business requirements. As businesses evolve, naturally, cloud computing tech needs to adjust to keep up with the […]

UPDATE: On January 13, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the federal government could not impose OSHA’s mandate on private businesses with 100 or more employees that would require everyone to be vaccinated or regularly tested. However, in a separate decision, the Court ruled valid the vaccine mandate by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for all employees in health care facilities—hospitals, nursing homes, etc.—that receive federal funding. It’s been nearly two years since COVID-19 debuted in the U.S. We now have variants and there are no guarantees there won’t be more to come. The federal government, the states, […]

If you engage independent contractors and pay them in the aggregate $600 or more during the year, you must report payments to them and to the IRS. In fact, business tax returns ask whether you’re required to file 1099s and whether you have or will do so. You may report payments that are below this threshold, even though not required to do so. The failure to report nonemployee compensation—payments to independent contractors—meeting the threshold can result in costly penalties to you. Here are 5 things to know about this reporting obligation. 1. Don’t confuse 1099-NEC with other 1099s Before 2020, […]

New Year’s resolutions have become a perennial activity. For personal reasons, resolutions usually focus on becoming healthier, saving money, and learning a new skill. Nearly three quarters of all Americans made resolutions in 2021. But a New Year’s resolution is merely a promise to do something differently than in the past. For business reasons, it’s easy to make a list of promises you’d like to see happen in your company the coming year, but how are you going to make this a reality? You need more than a promise and a prayer. Make a plan NerdWallet has a list of 10 New […]

Whether the past 12 months have been profitable or not, one thing you surely can say is that it hasn’t been dull. The past year has seen the rise of inflation to historic levels, unprecedented supply chain issues, and the unemployment rate drop from 6.7% announced in January to 4.2% in November, which has translated into labor shortages. Each business has been affected in different ways. But now’s the time to look ahead. What kind of year will 2022 be? While economic factors will surely have an impact, your actions now can go a long way in steering you in the […]

In the past several years, business owners have grown accustomed to adapting to many changes in tax rules. Some new rules have been temporary in response to COVID-19; some have been permanent. All have required businesses to comply with new tax rules. As we head into a new year, it’s helpful to recognize that some things haven’t changed, yet they continue to be problematic. The following tax issues continually trigger IRS scrutiny and often result in litigation; taxpayers may not always win. Review your actions with respect to these tax issues and follow the better course of action. Worker classification […]

With the “Great Resignation,” in which 4.2 million employees quit their jobs in just October 2021, small business owners need to be smart about handling their staff. They may be inadvertently contributing to the mass exodus from the workplace. Here are 5 actions that likely will trigger job openings in your company…unless you take action now to avoid this result. 1. Demanding overtime Due to the labor shortage, some companies are asking employees to put in overtime to complete the work needed to get done. Yes, they’re paid for the overtime if they’re covered employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (i.e., […]