Small Business Resource

The terms “partnering” and “outsourcing” are thrown about so frequently …. and in so many contexts …. that it’s hard to nail down an exact definition for either.

These two practices are becoming ever so common among the business community, and although the distinction between them is becoming increasingly blurred, they do have distinguishing traits, which bear consequential benefits and risks.

It has been said that the practice of outsourcing should be looked upon not as a simple customer-vendor relationship, but rather as a partnership where the engaging parties mutually benefit from their agreement. While this may be a sound management practice, and while outsourcing shares many of the same characteristics with strategic alliances, outsourcing should be recognized as its own distinctive tactic.

Outsourcing is the contracting of services via monetary means in order to minimize or limit the resources that would normally be required to perform business functions internally, thus reducing costs.

A partnership, on the other hand, does not necessarily involve monetary payment from one firm to another, or a binding contractual agreement between two companies.

Rather, it is a partnership in which business entities collaborate with one another in order to bring about mutual benefits.

Writen by Margo Masri

What is the difference between a bookkeeper and an accountant? A bookkeeper handles the day-in day-out financial record keeping and reporting. An accountant specializes in the preparation and filing of taxes. Having a good bookkeeper is just as important to the growing business as having a good accountant.

Another big difference between an accountant and a bookkeeper is usually, “About $140 per hour.” For this reason it is very important that you allocate your resources efficiently. You do not want to pay your accountant to perform bookkeeping functions. It does not make business sense.

Smart Businesss allocate their resources based on their needs

Fact: Accountants do not have the time to handle day-in day-out financial record keeping and reporting. What do they do? They hire Bookkeepers.

Bookkeepers perform a critical function for the firms and organizations they serve. Regularly challenged to maintain precise and accurate records, bookkeepers produce the vital reports that keep management up to date on the financial condition of their company.

Bookkeepers are responsible for maintaining the “business checkbook”, much like a personal checkbook. They record routine money transactions like customer payments into a “cash receipts journal” and checks to vendors into a “cash disbursement journal.” They also process payroll.

As a new business owner, you will be using your personal credit history and potentially personal assets to secure any credit lines from institutions. It is possible that you may be able to get 30 day terms on purchases from a couple of vendors, but for the most part you will be paying by credit card or COD. Over time, you will obtain 30 day terms from your vendors. As far as banks are concerned, you are likely to be required to go the SBA route which requires the business owner to nut up roughly 25% of the assets in the firm and, depending on your credit history, collateralize the loan with some assets. Even this loan will require you to personally guarantee it. As the firm grows and acquires assets, loans can be setup with security from the firm itself and if your business is strong you may be able to avoid a personal guarantee on this loan eventually.

With regard to Dun and Bradstreet, I wouldn’t bother contacting them. If you have been in business a while, they will already be tracking your credit. Furthermore, if you are just starting your business, they will begin tracking your credit via the firms you do business with.

Writen by Marco Terry

Trucking company owners know that cash is king and prompt paying clients are critical to the company’s success. But, what can you do if you get a good client that insists on paying their invoice in 30 days or more? How do you pay fuel, drivers and repairs while you wait to get paid?

In the past, the only option you had was to take the client and grit your teeth.

However, there is an option that has been gaining popularity with the trucking community. It’s called freight bill factoring. Freight factoring eliminates the payment wait and gets your freight bills paid in a couple of days. But, transportation factoring is very different than a business loan. It works by selling your freight bills to a freight factoring company, who pays you for them and then waits to get paid by your customers/freight brokers.

Transportation factoring can be easy to use and works as follows:

1. You deliver the load and issue a freight bill
2. You sell the freight bill to the factoring company, who pays you a first installment of 90% to 97% of the freight bill
3. You get immediate money while the factoring company waits
4. Once the factoring company gets paid, any remaining reserves (less a small fee) are returned as your second installment

Freight factoring rates vary, but they go from 1.5% to 3% per 30 days depending on volume, duration of transactions and customer selection.

Writen by Arun Pal Singh

If you own a small business, you should know that often times it can be the little things, rather than the large expenses, that can eat away at your budget. But many times, small business owners will try and increase their profits by looking around at what larger expenses they can cut.

If you are looking to save some cash in your business, why not pay attention to our “small time” cost cutter ideas. You’ll find that if you add them up, they may just save you more than a penny!

And actually together they do save a lot.

#Change Your Plastic Options

If you own a small web site that doesn’t do tons of online business, then chances are you don’t need a merchant account. These can be costly, and probably won’t pay for itself unless you do a robust business. But instead of losing business by not accepting credit cards, you can use one of the other options such as Paypal or Clickbank. 2checkout.com is another good option for the few countries not accepted by clickbank.

With these types of payment systems, clients can use their credit cards, and once the transaction is complete, the money is instantly deposited in your online account. Then you will simply need to transfer it to your bank account.

Writen by Debbie Jenkins

CARD SHARK

7 Card Tricks That Improve Your Personal Networking Power

The humble business card has been a mainstay of business and industry for years. But despite it’s small size and cost, it’s one of the most powerful marketing tools you will ever possess. Because of it’s low cost many people take the business card for granted and don’t even think of the effect it can have on their networking and sales success. Here are a few tips for making your card do the business for you…

Card Tricks

Your business card can perform many different promotional jobs and usually all at once. I call these little jobs “Card Tricks” because they work like magic.

All you need to do is be aware of what you want the end effect to be and then set your business card up to work the magic for you.

Here are 7 Card Trick ideas:

Get a Most Wanted Response (MWR)

Get Read (Break The Ice)

Get Kept (And Referred To)

Get Passed On

Qualify/Disqualify Prospects

Sell Stuff

Make You A Celebrity

1. Get A Most Wanted Response

This is the action you want your new contact to take next as a result of your communication.