Jimmie Wilkins

Consider these three simple areas that can make a tremendous difference in your tax liability exposure.

Failure to keep books.

If you do things correctly, your bookkeeping records will clearly reflect the earnings and expenses of your business. This makes for easy and accurate tax preparation as well as appropriate support in the event of a tax audit.

If this isn’t motive enough, think about this. In the case of an IRS audit, if your business does not have adequate financial records, they are in their right to “approximate” your income based on industry standards and are under no obligation to assume any legitimate expenses to offset your revenue — thus all profit, all taxable.

If you don’t know how to keep records for your business, go to the IRS Web site for small business recordkeeping publications. You can outsource your recordkeeping to a bookkeeping service or take a class and learn how to manage the financial records of your business. There is no time like the present.

Falling behind on tax payments.

Self-employed individuals do not have the benefit of someone else being responsible for tax withholdings. You are your employer.

As an employee, your employer makes these “deposits” for you. Each pay period, taxes are taken from you check and remitted by your employer, including their portion.

As both the employer and the employee (so to speak), you make these deposits. Estimated payments are required to be calculated and paid four times a year. Failure to make these deposits is subject to fines and interest.

Mixing personal and business funds.

Failure to separate business and personal funds can draw extreme scrutiny upon IRS examination (if you are one of the chosen ones for an audit).

In fact, in the case of a corporation, a commingling of personal and business funds can allow the IRS to “pierce the corporate veil” which, in essence, removes all protection of a corporation.

It makes sense to separate them out but I am still amazed at the number of people who keep one checking account and think they will/can keep track and separate the two tracks.

Set up two separate and distinct accounts. If you need personal money for the business or business money to pay personal expenses, make a loan and leave a paper audit trail. Keep them separate, including credit card purchases.

Jimmie Wilkins is the director of the Chemeketa Small Business Development Center. The Small-Business Adviser column is produced by the center. Questions can be faxed to (503) 581-6017, e-mailed to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or phoned in to (503) 399-5088.

When looking at a small business, it seems to come back to customer service quite often. Many small business owners say that one of their competitive advantages is that they can give high levels of customer service. Those that know me, know that I argue you should be doing that all the time anyhow, and that customer service is not a unique point of difference (UPD). Hopefully no company starts the day giving a pep talk to their employees saying that they should consider giving average customer service for the next day. It is a part of the job to offer all customers regardless of how you feel about them, high levels of service. I think that everyone can agree though, that there are challenging customers out there.

Many people that I know have commented that over the “Black Friday” shopping holiday the employees were extremely helpful and went out of their way to help the customers. I would agree, but this week I have not had the same experiences. Has this attitude started to change already since last week? All businesses need to make sure that this is a year round goal to treat your customers with adequate levels of service that will make them come back. Whether you are serving the needs of your business clients or every day consumers, a smile (even over the phone) and going the extra mile for a client or customer can mean the difference between a regular customer and one you may get once a year.

Make sure to train every member on your staff how you would like to treat the customer. The employees who are the first line to the customers can be the most crucial element to you getting a return customer or one even to begin with. This attitude needs to be replicated throughout your entire organization. Make superior service a required, everyday requirement in your business and it should start to pay dividends for you.

Kyle Hensel is the Area Director of the Clayton State University SBDC in the Georgia SBDC Network. For more information, please go to www.georgiasbdc.org. He can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Guest post by Christine Adolf of Brownbook.net

Customer testimonials are one of the most effective marketing tools for small businesses both off and online. Using customer testimonials in your company’s marketing collateral will provide potential customers with a viewpoint other than yours or your employees. If you have a website for your company, providing a page of positive testimonials can show would-be customers why they should choose to do business with your company over your competitors’. You can also ask satisfied customers to write reviews and testimonials in other online media such as review websites, where prospective customers will be able to find you when they search for your company, product or service online.

While customer reviews of your business or product are a great marketing tool, many people view them skeptically if they appear manufactured or unauthentic. Instead of reviews that are simply compliments, ask customers to give specific examples of why their experience in doing business with you was so positive.

Another thing you can do to enhance a customer testimonial is to provide multimedia along with the review. Posting photos or videos illustrating the business interaction will put a human face on the business and will make the review stand out.

Using the internet to showcase customer testimonials is a cost effective alternative and a great complement to producing offline materials. Asking customers to send an e-mail to their friends, share a link on their Facebook profile or post a picture to Twitter (Twitpic) for all their friends and acquaintances to see is an immediate customer testimonial that reaches a vast amount of potential customers.

When speaking with customers either in person, by phone or through e-mail, ask for their approval in utilizing any positive feedback they provide for future use. You can also go a step further and ask them to tell their friends, write an online review or pass out promotional materials branded with your company’s logo.

Harnessing a positive customer experience with your product, service and business in general has the ability to turn the satisfied customer into an evangelist for your business. Happy customers are often the ideal marketers a company can have, as they are genuine, enthusiastic and free!

Guest post by Ronan Keane

No business is an island in the online ocean. There are other businesses that sell complimentary (but not competing) products or services, bloggers who write about your industry and distribution channels that stretch across the globe. Big businesses are constantly negotiating and entering into partnership agreements and small businesses can reap the same benefits. Making connections with online partners can help you grow your small business whether you’re a one person entrepreneur or a fifity person company.

Give Me Four Reasons

Starting up a web partnership doesn’t happen instantaneously, but there are plenty of compelling reasons why you should invest the time into researching and building online partnerships for small businesses.

1. 1. Reach more customers: This is the big one. Advertising online is often a tricky affair that seems more like experimental art than science. You can take some of the uncertainty out of reaching new customers by partnering with businesses or bloggers that already attract visitors that would be interested in your offerings. For example, if you sell high end gourmet foods, you might look to partner with a well known food blogger or an online retail store that sells specialty cooking equipment.
2. 2. Save money: Two pocketbooks are more powerful than one. Splitting out the costs of a cross-promotional internet marketing campaign is beneficial to both partners. There’s more to this than just linking to each other or sharing the price of advertising. Leverage each business’s existing connections to reach potential customers and clients that would normally cost you a lot of advertising dollars to access.
3. 3. Expand your borders: The internet is a global phenomenon. When you’re ready to reach across borders, web partnerships can help you get a foothold in new markets. Look for partners that are well established in other countries or in specific local markets. For example, if you provide web-based data backup services that would be a good fit for internet users in Europe, look to partner with an internet services provider or computer retailer in the UK.
4. 4. Reach the media: A partnership agreement is a great way to meet the press. A joint announcement stating the businesses involved and the purpose of the partnership is an occasion to put out a press release and have your marketing teams follow up with key media people. This is even stronger if you can tie it into a current theme like marketing through online videos or using new web technologies to power your partnership.

Upcoming: We’ll look deeper into web partnerships, cover the types of web partnerships you can consider and get into tips and resources for starting a web partnership.

About the Author:
Ronan Keane is Chief Marketing Officer of MyBizHomepage, Inc. www.MyBizHomepage.com is the only free web-based financial service that includes MyBizDashboard, a new, secure easy-to-use online financial dashboard designed specifically for entrepreneurs and small businesses. The service has two private label partner programs available.

Are you monitoring what others are saying about you on the Internet? If you are not, you really should start thinking about it. With all of the new technology on the Internet including social networks, blogs, Twitter and others, it is easy for individuals to write anything that they want to at any particular time. Unfortunately, this can come at a price for a business. For example, there were many people out shopping this past weekend and not every one of them was happy 100% of the time. Do you think it could be at least possible that one of them may have complained or vented on the Internet out of frustration? I think that is entirely possible as I have seen many instances of that first hand. Now seeing that most of the technology is viral based marketing, this could mean that 1 complaint could possibly be seen by thousands if not more people. What if this was your company that was being complained about? Is there a way that you can find out when people are talking about you on the Internet? If so, how much will it cost?

Well, there is such a thing for you to monitor yourself on the Internet, and it does not cost a thing. It is as simple as going to Google and setting for alerts. Every time your company, name, or the topic that you select is mentioned online, it will send you an email with a list of where it was mentioned. After you have the list, you can look through them to see what others are saying about you and your company. This may be a way to solve customer problems, or see something that your customers really like about your company.

You have a brand whether it is for your company or individually. You need to make sure that you protect your image online as well as offline. By signing up for Google Alerts, you can at least start monitoring what others are saying about you.

Kyle Hensel is the Area Director of the Clayton State University SBDC in the Georgia SBDC Network. For more information, please go to www.georgiasbdc.org. He can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Using accounting software is smart. It’s beat’s the heck out of managing the lifeblood of your business –your finances– with a checkbook. But in almost every case the learning curve for accounting software like QuickBooks resembles the St Louis Arch, steep and high. QuickBooks does, however provide a lot of support including QuickBooks Pro Advisors, but the scope and depth of that support is telling to me. It leads me to believe that small businesses get lost when they transition from their checkbook to an accounting package. Managing your small business finances sounds great in principle, but in practice it’s difficult and time consuming.

As a mall business, you frequently pay your accountant upwards of $500 per month every month to get your accounting in order and often pay more when you need financial advice or QuickBooks help. That’s a lot of time and money at your expense. Don’t get me wrong, the service your accountant provides is probably the most important service you spend your hard earned money on. But I suspect that many small businesses don’t focus enough on their accounting data. Many don’t have the time or the tools needed to reap the ROI (return on investment) of all the key performance indicators embedded within the financial data.
But that’s all changed. Now there’s a free online financial tool that gives small businesses the tool you need to manage the day-to-day finances of your small business and leverage your accounting investment for better ROI. You’ve spent good money to have your accountant reconcile your accounts and more, now it’s time to leverage that investment by using the only free online financial dashboard from www.MyBizHomepage.com. Accounting ROI skyrockets when you use a financial dashboard like MyBizHomepage.com because you can see the important key performance indicators of your finances as easy-to-understand charts and graphs. This free service is a great start and a good solution for day-to-day monitoring of the financial health of your small business. The dashboard automatically and securely pulls all of your QuickBooks data and displays it on easy-to-understand dashboard. Not only that but Alerts and Notifications will tell you when, for example, your receivables are overdue, and will offer advice for next-step action. Notifications are sent by email and to your cell phone. And to wean you off accounting by checkbook, MyBizHomepage also offers a free copy of QuickBooks Simple Start when you sign up for the free service. And with lots of other Web 2.0 features for small businesses, what’s not to love about staying informed and staying connected. Sign up for a free account at www.MyBizHomepage.com.

It is that time of the year again where shoppers trudge out of bed in the wee hours of the morning to receive the door busters from whatever chain store they decide to line up in front of. Even though lines and sales are not expected to be as big this year, I am sure that many will still line up for the deals. What are they looking to buy? Look here. After the door busters are over, they complete the rest of their shopping in the other stores and businesses. As a small business owner, you probably don’t expect to have crowds banging down your doors at 5am, but you have a more important job when you open your doors.

Many of the shoppers you will get are tired and grumpy as they have waited in lines and marched along in line for hours. This is the time that you have the advantage and you can outshine everyone. Provide customer service, smile, and have a welcoming environment, doing this should make your regular and new customers happy. The larger stores have done you a favor this Christmas; they have lowered consumer’s expectations for service. When you the small business owner comes in with an ounce of energy and service, they should be happy with the result.

While they are there, try to make contact with the customers so that you can try to market to them in the future. Ask if they would like to sign up for you newsletter or receive information about promotions. Ask them if they need anything in particular that you don’t have and special order it. Always make sure to sincerely thank them and invite them back.

Use your advantages as a small business owner this year. Make a memorable experience for your customers so they want to come back to you.

Kyle Hensel is the Area Director of the Clayton State University SBDC in the Georgia SBDC Network. For more information, please go to www.georgiasbdc.org. He can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

While many people are coming to know terms like SEO and SEM, Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine Marketing, respectively, we have forgotten about the tried and true art of Public Relations as an web communications medium. The web, in many ways, makes this much more easy than to do than in the traditional way. Getting articles from websites is much easier than searching newpapers and video on the web is a just as easy and costs next to nothing when compared to the high cost of getting something carried by television. With the emergence of Web 2.0, more and more sites let people add their own comments and exchange information to yield endless possibilities. Try guest blogging on popular or related blogs, starting Facebook, Myspace, or Hi-Five pages and then ask your family, friends and co-workers to add it. Write articles about yourself on online encyclopedias, like Wikipedia or go to forums and answer questions and link back to your site or answer questions on sites like Yahoo! Answers to create positive impressions about your organization.

Jarrett Byrom is the Web & Marketing Coordinator for the SBDCNet.org; He can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Don’t fix something that isn’t broken. That is a saying that everyone has probably heard a thousand times in their life. What if you do not know if what you have is broken? For the longest time, the economy was looking good as sales were on the upswing. Within the past few years, sales are leveling off for many and in some unfortunate cases sales are declining. Many small business owners are feeling the crunch and tightening their hold on their business. As times get more hectic, the problems that you did not know you have will start to come out for you to see.

It is definitely time to get back to the basics in all areas of the business. Entrepreneurs are cuttings costs and making sure that their spending is at a minimum. Many businesses (small businesses included) are bracing for a slow holiday season that normally pulls companies out of the hole. I was in a retail store before Halloween that was already offering 50% holiday discounts!! This was certainly not a good sign of the times.

One thing I ask you to do though is focus on your customers too. When I say that, I mean the right customers. Marketing and advertising dollars are close to an all time low as many companies just do not have the time or sometimes energy to market. Here are a few ways to help you find your market and customers. When you do advertise, make sure you do it to the customers who will eventually buy from you. I know that sounds easy to say but hard to do. Hopefully for the past few years when times were good, you were tracking where all your sales were coming from. Did you notice that maybe you sell to one type of industry or set of customers more than others? If you did, do you know why? Once you find out who buys the most from you, try to sell to that industry or customer. That customer group must have a need for what you are trying to sell, or maybe you have a reputation in that industry that may lend to helping you find similar customers. It is always easier to sell to someone if you have expertise selling to a group similar to them.

Make sure that you are also being efficient in your communication; I have clients who use Google Talk to communicate with their customers if they need immediate help. Other forms of technology can also aid your customers in being able to reach you, or for you to remind them that you are out there. Your time is valuable, and you need to make sure that you and your employees are being not only effective, but efficient in your efforts.

Start focusing on the basics again; focus on a group of customers that you know will buy from you. Track where your sales come from, this would be a good way to find your niche if you did not know it already. Make communication an essential part of your mix that is beneficial for you and your customers. Streamline communication, but make it easy for your customer to get in touch with you. Frustration by the customer will just lead them to go the competition that needs the sales just as much as you do.

When you make it through these rough times, you will be even stronger and you will have processes that will hopefully lead to growth down the road.

Kyle Hensel is the Area Director of the Clayton State University SBDC in the Georgia SBDC Network. For more information, please go to www.georgiasbdc.org.

Special post to the SBDC National Blog by Christine Adolf of Brownbook.net

Whenever we are looking for a new product or service, we generally ask our friends and family for recommendations. We trust that our social network will give us their honest opinion and that they are not being paid to endorse a certain product or service. Consumers place a higher level of trust in word of mouth marketing than they do in other promotional activities such as ads because they don’t see it as a marketing activity, but as a recommendation from a personal connection they trust.

With the internet enabling word of mouth to travel faster, farther and to a greater number of people it is crucial that small businesses understand the importance of creating positive buzz for their business online. How can small businesses use word of mouth marketing to reach potential customers? There are several things small businesses can do to leverage the voice of their satisfied customers online. Here are a few things you can do to engage customers and utilize in word of mouth marketing online.

• Use Social Networking Sites

  While it is easy to become overwhelmed by the number of different social networks out there today, they provide a huge opportunity for small businesses to create free buzz online. It is not necessary to join every social networking site, but popular and easy to use sites such as Facebook, Flickr and YouTube can help you to interact with your customers and spark a conversation online about your product or service.

• List your business in online directories

  It goes without saying that in order for people to buy what you are selling, whether a product or service, they need to know it exists. Online business directories are a great way to have an online presence and to provide potential customers with your contact information and a description of your business. At Brownbook.net, you can list your business for free and increase awareness of your company whether it is a restaurant or a dog walking service.

• Listen to your customers and respond when appropriate

  There are many tools available that facilitate tracking what your customers are saying on the internet about you and your industry. Google Alerts is one of my favorites because it is easy to use and allows you to track mentions of your company and related keywords from both websites and blogs. One of the simplest and most important things you can do is listen because you will gain valuable insight that will help you better serve your customers.

• Solicit customer feedback online

  If your company has a website, make it easy for customers to provide their feedback, preferably in a public forum such as a company blog. Even if you do not have a website or blog for your business, urge customers to write reviews on third party websites. While you might worry that negative comments will surface, you get the opportunity to transform an unhappy customer into an advocate for your business.

Creating and encouraging word of mouth marketing online can accelerate business growth and create awareness of your company in an internet age, even if your company does not have its own online presence in the form of a website or blog. According to a global Nielsen survey of 26,486 Internet users in 47 markets, consumer recommendations are the most credible form of advertising among 78% of the study’s respondents. (Nielsen, “Word-of-Mouth the Most Powerful Selling Tool”) Clearly, word of mouth marketing is an important marketing tool for small businesses.