Top Reasons to Incorporate Your Business |  |
- Top Reasons to Incorporate Your Business
- How to Make Your Ad Go Viral and Save $4 Million
- Review of the Kickstand Micro Projector from BEM Wireless
- Amazon Could Offer Small Retailers a Kindle Checkout System
- Fewer Small Businesses Paying Late in 2013
- HP Expands Its “Just Right IT” Portfolio for SMBs
| Top Reasons to Incorporate Your Business Posted: 03 Feb 2014 04:00 PM PST
Not sure if you need to form an official business structure for your company now or just wait a bit until business picks up and you are ready to expand? Below are the top reasons why business owners take the step to incorporate or form an LLC. See if any apply to you. Reasons to Incorporate1. Separate Personal From BusinessWhen you're operating your business as a sole proprietorship or partnership, there's no separation between the business and the owner. In this case, the owners are the business. They're responsible for signing any contracts, and taking out any loans or lines of credit on a personal level. In addition, if there's any kind of issue with the business (i.e. a customer sues or creditors seek action), the owners are personally liable. That means personal assets and savings can be at risk. One important reason for incorporating a company or forming an LLC is to protect the owners/stockholders against personal liability. These official business structures put a wall between the owner and the business. As long as the company complies with all the necessary corporate formalities, then creditors/court judgments generally cannot reach an owner's personal assets to satisfy the company's liabilities. For this reason, people usually want to incorporate/form an LLC before launching their product or service, since the risk of liability increases once you add in customers, users or clients. 2. Prevent Misunderstandings Among Founders/PartnersWhen a business has more than one founder, there's always a chance of an argument over how equity should be split – no matter how close the owners may be. Incorporating a company and issuing stock to the founders will prevent misunderstandings among equity splits. Even if you choose to form an LLC and not issue stock, you will still have formal paperwork in place that outlines how ownership is split. 3. Allows You to Issue Stock OptionsMany entrepreneurs choose to compensate third parties (i.e. employees, vendors or contractors) by granting stock options or offering the opportunity to purchase equity at a low price. This is particularly attractive at the beginning of a business when cash is tight. It is possible to put together a pre-incorporation agreement stating that someone will get equity (stock) upon incorporation, but it's a lot simpler to incorporate the company first, and then make these kind of offers. 4. Allows You to Get Funding and Establish Business CreditIf a third party investor wants to invest in your business, there obviously needs to be some kind of entity set up to accept the investment. Venture capitalists and other investors often prefer to work with corporations, since they allow for different classes of stock. If you're not looking for VC or angel funding, you still may benefit from a formal business structure. That's because owners in partnerships and sole proprietorships need to sign contracts in their own name. That means you'll need to rely on your personal credit and assets to take out a loan or ask for a line of credit. But once you form an LLC or corporation, the business itself begins its own credit profile. 5. Gives Your Business More CredibilityYou may find your sales grow after forming an LLC or incorporating, as adding an LLC or Inc. after your company name boosts your credibility in the eyes of some customers. In some industries, a formal business structure is required to win certain contracts. Some larger companies are more comfortable hiring a business, rather than a sole proprietor to do the work. 6. Adds a Layer of PrivacyWhen you incorporate or form an LLC, there’s an added layer of privacy. In many cases, the registered agent of your corporation goes on record, and not your home or business address. 7. Offers Potential Tax BenefitsIn some cases, corporate tax rates are lower than individual tax rates. Corporations and LLCs often qualify for additional tax benefits and deductions that aren't available to individuals. Many sole proprietors choose to incorporate as a way to lower what they owe in self-employment (SE) taxes. Of course, specific circumstances vary, and you should consult with a CPA or tax advisor about your own particular tax situation. Incorporating or forming an LLC is a big step, but offers some key benefits, even for the small, solo or family-owned business. Having an Inc. or LLC after your company name isn't just for big business. Just keep in mind that once you decide to create a formal business structure, you'll have to keep up with ongoing filing obligations. But it might be one of the smartest steps you take for your business and personal finances. Incorporate Photo via Shutterstock The post Top Reasons to Incorporate Your Business appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
| How to Make Your Ad Go Viral and Save $4 Million Posted: 03 Feb 2014 01:30 PM PST
It seems like every year at least one controversy erupts over an advertisement that is rejected for the Super Bowl. But businesses have learned that you don’t have to even air your ad during the big game in order to get publicity. The Web — with social media, shared videos and blogs — has become a channel in its own right to be leveraged, just in different ways. With a Super Bowl commercial costing a cool $4 million, getting your ad rejected could give the publicity “hook” to make your ad go viral online. For savvy smaller companies especially, that’s not exactly a bad result. You save the $4 million that you don’t have to pay for air time. Yet you still get visibility because EVERYONE wants to see that rejected ad. This year the controversy centered around two different ads, one for SodaStream and one for Daniel Defense. SodaStream: First Ad Rejected, but Goes Viral OnlineSodaStream, a product to make carbonated soft drinks at home, got its ad rejected for using four little words. At the end of the commercial, the ad mentions two competitors by name. Fox, which aired this year’s Super Bowl, asked the company to omit actress Scarlett Johansson’s last line “Sorry Coke and Pepsi.” The Wall Street Journal’s SpeakEasy blog speculates the change was requested because Pepsi was a sponsor of the half-time show. Of course, the version with the extra four words is now everywhere on YouTube. Online audiences and at-home audiences probably spent more time talking about those 4 words than if the ad hadn’t been rejected. Daniel Defense: Ad Rejected But Message Gets OutThis year also saw an ad by Daniel Defense, a gun manufacturer, rejected because the NFL prohibits firearms advertising. However, the ad is tasteful. It shows a Marine Corps veteran who returns home and wants to protect his family. No weapons appear in the ad: Marty Daniel, president and CEO of Daniel Defense, in an interview at the NRA site pointed out that his company attempted to work within the NFL guidelines. But the ad was rejected anyway. Word spread through blogs, forums and social channels. ”This censorship is just a symptom of the attempt to silence gun owners and to deter gun buying, but the opposite of that has actually happened,” said Daniel. Daniel Defense, Inc. was started in 2000 as a hobby business, according to the company’s website. As its website says, it is a “success story that could only be told in America.” GoDaddy: Does a 180Meanwhile, at least one company that was the poster child for the “rejected ad” technique in the past, has a new strategy. Back in the days when it was still run by founder Bob Parsons, GoDaddy made a name for itself with racy ads featuring voluptuous GoDaddy girls. Through the years the company had over 3 dozen ads rejected for the big game. A tamer version would be aired during the game — but only after at least one racier version was salivated-over online. In recent years, GoDaddy has come under new management through a leveraged buyout. The racy ads are history. GoDaddy now considers Main Street small businesses, many of which are women-owned, its main target audience. This year the GoDaddy ad aired during the Super Bowl featured Gwen Dean, a 36-year old machine engineer in real life, who quit her job during the ad in order to pursue her own puppet show business full-time, setting up a new website using GoDaddy. She really did quit her job during the video (she also emailed her resignation). Dean said, ”I followed in the footsteps of my father and grand-father and spent 18 years in a male-dominated industry. I served in the Coast Guard for eight years … I’m proud of what I’ve done and very, very excited to be pursuing my dream to turn my passion into a business.” According to GoDaddy, this was a “transformative” advertising campaign for the company because it focuses on small businesses and portrays women as smart and successful. Blake Irving, GoDaddy CEO, said, “Gwen is a ‘spot on’ example of the customers we serve.” Here’s the GoDaddy ad: (Andrew Shotland at Local SEO Guide wonders if Gwen is real. We contacted GoDaddy, and they confirmed she is real. She was chosen from more than 100 applicants for the opportunity to be featured in a Super Bowl ad. Andrew rightly points out that her online local marketing is lacking today. To us, Gwen appears to be suffering from part-time-business-owner-itis. As long as you have a day job and run a business part-time you will never have enough time to also do online marketing without help. That likely was a key point behind the ad.) The Story Behind the AdEven for ads that don’t get rejected, hashtags make it easy to carry the discussion over onto social sites. This year there were 54 Super Bowl ads. The majority (57%) displayed hashtags, according to Marketing Land. It’s no longer just about the ad itself. It’s also about how to make your ad go viral by getting people talking about the story behind the ad or some controversy around it. While you may not be spending $4 million anytime soon on a Super Bowl ad, consider how to carry over that “story behind the ad” into other advertising campaigns for your business. The post How to Make Your Ad Go Viral and Save $4 Million appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
| Review of the Kickstand Micro Projector from BEM Wireless Posted: 03 Feb 2014 11:00 AM PST
Have you ever arranged a sales presentation with a prospect of one only to have four people show up to the meeting? Did you have to huddle around your laptop? Probably not ideal, but there are a variety of solutions. A relatively new entrant is the Kickstand Micro Projector from BEM Wireless. This tiny, handheld portable projector is elegant and compact. Kickstand Micro ProjectorOkay, micro projectors like this come with a lot of technical jargon (which I list a bit of below). But, let me keep it simple for now – if you need a small, travel-warrior-ready projector to show presentations to your prospects and customers, this baby is it. You can connect with a USB or HDMI cable (HDMI included). The BEM Wireless Kickstand Micro Projector is affordable at $499 when compared to similar quality projectors. As you can see in the photo above, the Kickstand folds out from a slender, closed position. The silver leg folds in, and the projector itself swivels into that frame. The opening at the top is your carrying handle, but it comes with a durable carrying case to protect it. You can place this projector just about anywhere that has a flat surface. Keep it close to a wall for a small one to two foot screen or move it as far as ten feet away for a 96 inch display (8 feet). The display resolution from the full ten foot distance is terrific at 720p. Of course, it may serve for more than business purposes with an auxiliary Audio Out jack – for a portable home theater or playing games on a big screen. I had fun with the evaluation unit the company loaned to me. What I Really Like:
What I'd Like to See:
You can get far more powerful portable projectors with 1,000+ Lumens, but you'll be carrying an extra bag. Likewise, you can find some smaller handheld projectors, but most don't offer more than 100 Lumens. So, like all technology, there are tradeoffs. You can read more about the Kickstand projector on the BEM Wireless site. For the road warrior or person giving lots of presentations, this is a lightweight, affordable projector that is worth checking out. The post Review of the Kickstand Micro Projector from BEM Wireless appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
| Amazon Could Offer Small Retailers a Kindle Checkout System Posted: 03 Feb 2014 08:00 AM PST
Amazon.com may be planning to give small and mid-sized retailers Kindle tablets that act as a checkout system. This plan could come to fruition by this summer or it could be scrapped altogether, according to a report from Wall Street Journal which quotes unnamed sources for the information. The plan likely would target small retailers that don’t have a complex or expensive checkout system already in place. Several acquisitions Amazon made last year point to the possibility the online retailer wants to get into brick-and-mortar retail, various news sources indicate. Amazon also hired engineers away from GoPago Inc., a start-up company that offered checkout services through a smartphone app, the Wall Street Journal also suggests. If Amazon does proceed with a plan to put Kindle tablet-based register systems in brick-and-mortar retail businesses, it would be joining an increasingly busy market. Square Inc. offers the Square Register to businesses as an alternative to the traditional cash register. Square Register uses an iPad or tablet that’s connected to a credit card reader to process transactions. Square also has a smartphone plug-in device to accept credit card payments, as does PayPal with PayPal Here, and Intuit with its GoPayment device. Though Amazon leads in online retail sales, about 90 percent of all retail sales are still conducted at traditional brick-and-mortar businesses. If Kindle register devices start appearing in traditional retail environments, Amazon could begin to have access to the data of millions of other customers. A Los Angeles Times report suggests that Amazon has already compiled information on consumers through the 230 million credit cards it has processed through online sales. Image: Amazon Press The post Amazon Could Offer Small Retailers a Kindle Checkout System appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
| Fewer Small Businesses Paying Late in 2013 Posted: 03 Feb 2014 05:00 AM PST
Small businesses were prompter at paying their loans and bills in 2013 than in 2012, data from several sources reveals. Moody's Analytics and Experian reported substantial declines in both 30 and 90 day small business credit delinquency rates during the past year, part of an improving trend since the summer of 2011 when those rates peaked. Thomson Reuters/PayNet also announced a drop in small business credit delinquency over the 2013 calendar year. According to credit information provider's Small Business Delinquency Index – a measure of the timeliness of loan payments created from proprietary data collected from more than 250 U.S. lenders – 1.16 percent of small business loans were between 31 and 90 days delinquent in November 2013, as compared to 1.38 percent in November 2012. The most recent available data put short-term delinquencies at only one-third of their peak in August 2009. Longer term delinquencies also ticked down in 2013, PayNet data reveal. Between November 2012 and November 2013, delinquencies of between 91 and 180 days declined from 0.32 percent of all loans to 0.29 percent. Long-term delinquencies are now substantially less than their September 2009 peak of 1.36 percent. Bankruptcy numbers also improved substantially over the past year. Federal court statistics showed bankruptcies totaling 1,107,699 for the 12 months ending September 30, 2013, a decline of 12.2 percent from a year earlier. Business bankruptcies dropped 16.9 percent over the year ending September 30, 2013, while non-business filings fell by 12 percent. On time payment of trade credit also improved last year. The National Association of Credit Managers Index – a measure created by the trade association from its monthly survey of approximately 1,000 trade credit managers–showed a small improvement, from 54.9 in December 2012 to 55.6 in December 2013. Components measuring timely payment by customers, including accounts placed for collection, disputes, and customer deductions, all improved. Measures drawn from the Credit Research Foundation's quarterly survey of accounts receivable and credit specialists also showed improvement over the past year. Between the third quarter of 2012 and the third quarter of 2013, the Foundation's collection effectiveness index improved from 85.3 to 87.4. Among components of the index that got better over the past year were: sales outstanding, which declined from 40.4 to 39.8; average days delinquent, which shrank from 4.8 to 4.6; the percent current, which rose from 87.9 to 88.3; and the percent over 91 days past due, which declined from 0.5 to 0.40. Together the different sources show improvement in the financial condition of the small business sector in 2013. Hopefully, this trend will continue in 2014. Paying Bills Photo via Shutterstock The post Fewer Small Businesses Paying Late in 2013 appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
| HP Expands Its “Just Right IT” Portfolio for SMBs Posted: 03 Feb 2014 02:30 AM PST |
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