Restaurants May Have to Change Tip Reporting Systems to Comply with IRS Ruling |  |
- Restaurants May Have to Change Tip Reporting Systems to Comply with IRS Ruling
- BlackBerry Says Small Biz Should Have the Same Tools as Big Biz
- The Experience Effect for Small Business is Full of Big Branding Strategies
| Restaurants May Have to Change Tip Reporting Systems to Comply with IRS Ruling Posted: 15 Jul 2012 02:00 PM PDT Small business owners who run restaurants or other businesses where tipping is customary may have to make some changes within the next year. The Internal Revenue Service has imposed some new rules regarding taxes imposed on tips that impact both employees and employers of service-based businesses. Some small businesses may have to adjust their automated or manual reporting systems for tips and service charges in order to comply with the new ruling.
For employers, the new ruling states that all service charges paid to employees that meet the guidelines for the new ruling are deemed as paid by the employer for FICA tax purposes. The IRS has imposed some guidelines to help determine whether funds paid to employees are to be considered tips or wages. According to the IRS's official announcement, tips must be made free of compulsion; the customer must have the unrestricted right to determine the amount; the payment should not be the subject of negotiation or dictated by employer policy; and generally, the customer has the right to determine who receives the payment. If there is any doubt relating to any of those qualifications, then the payment is deemed a service charge rather than a tip, and employers can be held responsible for any FICA taxes related to those wages. There are more guidelines included in the official IRS bulletin, as well as a question and answer section to help both employers and employees understand what their responsibilities are regarding the new ruling. In some cases, the IRS may only apply the new ruling to charges made on or after January 1, 2013 in order to give businesses the necessary time to amend their business practices. The IRS is also accepting public comments regarding the new guidelines and whether additional time is required to guarantee that systems are compliant. Comments can be submitted electronically to TIP.Program@irs.gov or in writing to: International Revenue Service, National Tip Reporting Compliance, 3251 North Evergreen Drive NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49525. For more information, see the IRS's official announcement and official ruling. Tip Photo via Shutterstock From Small Business Trends |
| BlackBerry Says Small Biz Should Have the Same Tools as Big Biz Posted: 15 Jul 2012 11:00 AM PDT As one of the earliest providers of mobile technology in North America, BlackBerry has become known in the business world for helping professionals stay connected via mobile devices. Since 1999, when Canadian-based Research in Motion (RIM) launched its first wireless technology, BlackBerry has ingrained itself in both the big business and small business communities.
In fact, the Waterloo, Ontario-based mobile manufacturer doesn’t differentiate between small businesses and large ones when it comes to the level of its service and support. Why not, you ask? Don’t we have different needs than big business? Turns out, we don’t, at least not when it comes to wireless. No Segmentation in Service There’s no difference to the communications company when it comes to the quality of services it provides a large corporation like Pitney Bowes Canada and what it provides to smaller customers. “We have the unique ability to offer products, services, and solutions that have the security and reliability required by large enterprises, but with the flexibility and cost effectiveness that small businesses find so beneficial,” explains Bryan Lee, a Sr. Director in BlackBerry’s US B2B & IT Channel Sales group. Many corporations are quick to create custom solutions for small business (read: limited solutions at a fraction of the enterprise pricing), so BlackBerry stands out in its policy to provide the same services to businesses of all sizes. Aiming to Make Small Business Juggling Easier It’s no secret that small business owners often juggle multiple roles and responsibilities. To that aim, BlackBerry strives to provide wireless solutions that make staying connected throughout the day that much easier. Its collection of smartphones and tablets, along with BlackBerry® Messenger, BlackBerry® Mobile Fusion and BlackBerry® Enterprise Server Express, all work to make communication easier. BlackBerry App World includes applications that help small business owners do more, like Mobile Conferencing 3.0, BlackBerry Travel and hundreds of other business-related apps. Staying Connected with Small Business Customers While BlackBerry might not see a difference in the products it delivers to businesses of different sizes, its marketing efforts tell another story. The company works to maintain visibility with the small business segment through sponsorship opportunities such as Small Business Influencer and SMB 150. Part of the BlackBerry website is geared toward helping small and medium sized businesses find the solutions they’re looking for. Just as BlackBerry forged a path to wireless connectivity for business owners over a decade ago, the company has also gone to great lengths to adopt social media as a channel for customer communication early on. Lee says the brand strives to connect to small and medium sized business clients through its BlackBerry for Business Blog, LinkedIn discussion group, SlideShare page, and Twitter feed. With followers in the millions BlackBerry seems to be successfully providing additional small business resources through these channels. “Small business owners are so passionate about their work, and it's amazing to be a part of the experience by enabling communication, CRM, and all other manner of activity in their business,” said Lee. Future Plans? Continuing to Deliver on Its Promises Research in Motion (RIM) is publicly traded on NASDAQ and the Toronto Stock Exchange, and reported 2012 revenues at $18.4 billion, having grown from $3 billion in 2007. RIM has 78 million subscribers in 175 countries around the world, and has over 90% of Fortune 500 businesses as customers. RIM plans to release its BlackBerry 10 platform in Q1 of 2013, which, according to Lee, will help “business owners be intuitively productive and stay richly connected to those who are important to them.” BlackBerry is one of the key brands showing their support of small businesses by sponsoring the Small Business Influencer Awards. From Small Business Trends |
| The Experience Effect for Small Business is Full of Big Branding Strategies Posted: 15 Jul 2012 05:00 AM PDT
Joseph is the author of the precurser book The Experience Effect where he shared how creating a relevant brand experiene can have a tremendous effect on your customers and your business. The Experience Effect featured some of Joseph’s big brand strategies and stories. It was a well received book and contained a lot of brand building processes and tips that any business owner can use. But it was a book that featured big brands and you would have to do some extrapolation to take some of those strategies and apply them to your small business. As the book begins, Joseph shares his inspiration for this follow up book. He talks about how he was writing his first book when the economy exploded and people started losing jobs left and right. He talked about how the big paychecks and bonuses disappeared and how this new economy brought to light the myriad small businesses out there that were springing up as newly “freed up” entrepreneurs launched new businesses. This is what inspired him to write The Experience Effect for Small Business. In this book, he aims to more directly give small businesses tools and tricks of the branding trade that the big boys use to build brands and make it easier for small businesses to apply at budgets that they can afford. How Jim Joseph Got His Branding Chops Jim Joseph has specialized in award winning branding and marketing strategies for over twenty five years. He’s built some very well known customer brands and marketing agencies along the way such as Kraft, Nestle, Cadillac, Tylenol, and any more. He is currently the President and partner at Lippe Taylor, an agency dedicated to “marketing with women” across all categories including beauty, fashion, shopping, food, home, wellness and healthcare. My Experience of The Experience Effect Since we’re talking about experiences, I guess I’ll give you my experience of The Experience Effect for Small Business. I’m both a marketer and a small business, so when I received my review copy and started reading it — that’s how I looked at it. I figured this was Jim’s product and I’m going to experience it. The first thing I noticed is that I had received an autographed copy — “That’s nice” I thought. The inscription used my name (so I know it wasn’t mass autographed) and it was sort of fun. It said “What’s your experience?” Hmm. Maybe that’s what inspired this paragraph. There’s that subliminal advertising at work again. Now, I had read his first book, The Experience Effect, and thought it was very good – but I didn’t end up reviewing it the first time. Maybe that was because I felt that it shared a lot of marketing and branding strategy for big brands and not enough meat for small business. So, I’m really happy that I have the opportunity to share what’s inside with you. The tone of the writing is fun and friendly. Jim seems to be a smart and likeable guy. When you read any of the chapters, it’s very much like being in a conversation with Jim. I like that. What I think that YOU will appreciate (especially if you’re not a marketing genius) is that he’s made the branding lessons more practical and used more small business examples. Here is just one example from the begining of the book:
Not Much Difference From The Original As I read through this version of the book, I have to say that there is not much difference from the original. There are still many references to BIG brands. This is what Joseph knows and understands and these big brands have lots to teach us. In fact, one benefit I can see by using all these big brand references is that all of us knows exactly what he’s talking about. We all know and understand and have a shared experience around Coke or the NFL. So Joseph’s tutorials on dissecting a message or analyzing the competition are much more easily understood when he’s referring to a big brand that you know rather than a mom and pop you’ve never heard of. But if you’re the kind of person who doesn’t like or appreciate big brand references or stories because you feel that your business isn’t like that — then you will find this book frustrating. Cool Insider Branding and Marketing Tips I wanted to call this section “cool tools” or templates – but that’s really not what they are. Joseph has peppered this book with some of his “insider” tips and outlines and charts for getting to the heart of a brand. My favorite one is called, “For-Who-Is-That-Because-So-Why.” Here’s how that works. Just write these words down in a column like this: For: (enter your target market – demographically) Who: (enter your target market psychographically) Brand Is: (Type of business) That: (Rational benefit) Because: (proof points – no more than three) So: (Emotional benefit) Best Expressed by: (Tagline) The best way to explain this is to give you one that he completed using the dry cleaner I mentioned earlier: For – Our beloved neighbors of Chelsea, NY Who – Are the best dressed folks in town Dry Cleaner is – Your safe haven for all your dry cleaning needs That – Takes good care of you and your clothes Because – Special laundry process and a commitment to care So – You can do more important things in our life Best Expressed by – Neighbors taking care of neighbors If you liked that – then you’ll find several more worksheets, tips or templates that you can fill out just like that. The really great thing about these is that you can use any market research you’ve collected already or you will get ideas for what kind of research to do with your market or customer so that you can get to the core of your brand. Overall, I would recommend The Experience Effect for Small Business. If you’ve already got the first Experience Effect, then I’m not sure you need to get this version. But if you’re a small business owner, entrepreneur or marketer – then this is the version to grab. While you do that, I’m going to play around with that For-Who-Is-That-Because-So-Why — template! From Small Business Trends |
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