Author: Jennifer Brazer

Whether you are a startup enthusiast or an experienced businessperson, if you plan to begin a new venture this year, there are certainly some business ideas better than others for your next startup. Considering everything, you must ask yourself what excites and inspires you that can render peace of mind.

Though you may be earning a handsome salary from your current job, it may not offer you the happiness, flexibility, and independence you deserve. Remember, having a higher quality of life and more freedom is always better than making more money. Your happiness and satisfaction immensely impact your workplace productively. Hence, if you are simply unhappy with your present employment, it is time to either switch or follow your passion that can get you money.

With that in mind, the following are ten exciting business ideas suitable for your next startup. Fortunately, you can run most of them as a location-independent company. Indeed, they are great for you if being a digital nomad is your inherent lifestyle.

Photographing or Video-making

If you are smart enough to capture a story through your camera, then photographing or video-making are professions you can turn into your next startup. These business ideas are a sort of job that you can do as a freelancer and a side business along with your 9-5 job. Just remember, choose an exciting niche and stick with it. If you love capturing weddings, focus on that; likewise, market that expertise if you specialize in filming promotional videos or taking professional headshots.

Smart Device Repair

Smart devices like tablets and cell phones are in everyone’s hands. Regardless of where we are talking about, almost everyone uses them to converse, surf the internet, and even conduct online commerce. So, when the devices break or perform disorderly, people need someone to help repair them. Regardless of location, you can fix those devices and make this business idea your next startup.

Website Flipping

Website flipping is buying and selling a website on existing platforms to make some fast cash. There is an art to this business idea that requires some research. However, once you have a good hand over it, it can be your next startup to earn money.

Vacation Rental Management

With an expanding tourist industry, vacation rentals are rising exponentially. And this segment is certainly one of the hottest business ideas in the hospitality industry. Suppose you reside in a highly preferred tourist destination. In that case, you could easily manage apartments from homeowners who simply do not want to handle the hassle of listing, cleaning, stocking, and dealing with prospective guests, thus turning this opportunity into your next startup.

Education Contents and Courses

Suppose you are an expert in some areas and are passionate about sharing your knowledge, skills, and experiences. In that case, creating educational content relevant to your expertise is one of the smartest business ideas you can easily turn into your next startup. There are people out there seeking new learnings and expanding their skills. Thus, offering great instructional content can enable you to earn easy money.

Coaching Services

Continuing the fifth great business idea, why not become a coach when you are an expert in health, business, bookkeeping, or computers? Becoming a coach is easier, irrespective of your location. Please make the most of tech tools like Skype or Udemy to provide coaching services online and turn them into your next startup. 

Writing

If you enjoy writing and people love what you write, turn your art of writing into your next startup, which will help you earn great money, depending on how you use it. Blogging is one of the easiest ways to do this. Money websites like Make a Living Writing, The Write Life, and Be a Freelance Blogger pay their guest bloggers handsomely.

Guided Tours

If you are located in a tourist area, guided tours are a great business idea to consider turning into your next startup.

Social Media Management

Unsurprisingly, businesses are spending big budgets on social media management because of its potential to boost their business. As social media management is an accessible area to an expert ind a potential business idea that can earn a great income, you should consider turning it into your next startup.

Ad Management Agency

This is relevant to the most recently discussed business idea. Although ad management is a bit trickier than social media management, it is far easier than website development or app debugging, yet offers great income. Also, learning it is simply a matter of a few weeks. Thus, if you want to get into a new business as soon as possible, attempting to establish an ad management agency would be a great next startup.

About Complete Controller® – America’s Bookkeeping Experts Complete Controller is the Nation’s Leader in virtual bookkeeping, providing service to businesses and households alike. Utilizing Complete Controller’s technology, clients gain access to a cloud platform where their QuickBooks™️ file, critical financial documents, and back-office tools are hosted in an efficient SSO environment. Complete Controller’s team of certified US-based accounting professionals provide bookkeeping, record storage, performance reporting, and controller services including training, cash-flow management, budgeting and forecasting, process and controls advisement, and bill-pay. With flat-rate service plans, Complete Controller is the most cost-effective expert accounting solution for business, family-office, trusts, and households of any size or complexity.

Cloud computing is a technological feat of the modern era. With the internet’s evolution, many concepts like sharing resources and information flow have been coming up and captivating businesses worldwide. To be the market leader, business deploys all sorts of cloud computing techniques that help the company grow and flourish. But is it only the business that is growing? What about everything around it including its employees and consumers? From getting an email to dynamic host configuration protocol servers, such technologies enhance a business in multiple ways. The good news is it’s a win-win situation for all.

To better understand how cloud computing can help your business, we need to understand what it is and how and why it benefits the business.

What is Cloud Computing?

Cloud computing can be defined as “the practice of using a network of remote servers hosted on the internet to store, manage, and process data, rather than a local server or a personal computer.” Clouds are not some passing phase but something that is destined to stay with us and develop. The next decade is forecasted as the decade of cloud computing, which promises more innovative and newer ways to help businesses push themselves to the top with nothing but a cell phone! 

It helps eradicate frequently occurring headaches like storing data manually or monitoring a business for employee performance. With cloud computing, businesses can focus on other vital and integral business elements like customer support and leave the giddy details like monitoring and information sharing or data storage to the electronic gizmos.

Business Growth

Business growth is an aim of every organization, and anything that helps it along the way is embraced with extra passion. What separates the good from the bad is the usage and functionality of a system implemented in an organization. If a business grows, it helps its employees reach a better lifestyle. Through cloud computing, input and research can make a significant difference in the ever-changing and evolving marketplace.

Also, as a business grows, it provides economic relief not just to the employees or owners and stakeholders but to everyone involved. This economic relief includes the country in which the business is located. To get ahead of the curve, businesses need to develop various strategies that can help them get faster, more efficient, and, above all, proficient. These cloud systems help it get off its mark easily and steadily allowing the business to flow consistently. It can help it grow at a noticeable rate and also get a sensation of “digitization.”

Uses of Cloud Computing

Using cloud computing in a business has many benefits, which help it make a more profound impact on its clientele, and employees who work there are more passionate and aware of their job roles. Integrating systems that store and manage data is essential for a business. For example, purchase orders are usually complete with details like address, name, and contact information, which most organizations can utilize when promoting or marketing a new product that the clientele would prefer. Other things like requesting information regarding services are also achievable outcomes, but they are menial ones as cloud computing can do much more than recall information.

It can store, organize, break down, and even process data for any required purpose, making it a versatile and impactful mechanism for a business that can get much more done with this technology than not having it. All large organizations and major players in the business world use clouds for HR, client relationship management, accounting, and IT, and almost every department of the organization has a system to help it coordinate with others to increase operations and output.

About Complete Controller® – America’s Bookkeeping Experts Complete Controller is the Nation’s Leader in virtual bookkeeping, providing service to businesses and households alike. Utilizing Complete Controller’s technology, clients gain access to a cloud platform where their QuickBooks™️ file, critical financial documents, and back-office tools are hosted in an efficient SSO environment. Complete Controller’s team of certified US-based accounting professionals provide bookkeeping, record storage, performance reporting, and controller services including training, cash-flow management, budgeting and forecasting, process and controls advisement, and bill-pay. With flat-rate service plans, Complete Controller is the most cost-effective expert accounting solution for business, family-office, trusts, and households of any size or complexity.

Internal fraud is a significant problem faced by organizations today, and most companies don’t even readily admit that their business may be vulnerable to employee theft or fraud. Gone are the days when it used to be a rare thing. It is an everyday activity, causing businesses to lose billions of dollars in annual revenues and profits.

According to a report published by the ACFE (Association of Certified Fraud Examiners), organizations lose 9% of their revenue to fraud each year. This number indicates that a substantial portion of annual profitability is drained due to this curse, and businesses need to develop a fraud prevention plan to secure their invaluable assets.

You Cannot Blindly Trust Your Employees

With the right technological tools and techniques, fraud prevention is possible. However, it would help if you devised an effective plan to reduce fraud or employee theft in your organization. Initially, businesses had the margin to trust their employees almost entirely due to the long-term faith and trust developed on personal and professional grounds.

Now, businesses cannot trust their employees as they used to. Why? People have lost morality and faith and would exploit the business they might be working in as much as possible and seize any opportunity they find.

Maintaining Effective Internal Control

Organizations need to maintain effective internal control for the prevention of fraud. Fraud is devastating for a business, both financially and culturally. Business owners who ignore the fraud cases in their organization will face repercussions in losing their competitive advantage, growth, and working capital.

Employee fraud has many forms, and roughly three major categories reveal how employees steal from their company. They include corruption, asset misappropriation, and financial statement fraud. If an organization successfully maintains effective internal control, it can significantly reduce employee fraud.

Preventing fraud is not as complicated as it seems; it takes awareness of your staff’s mentality and the proper practices to avoid it.

Poor Internal Control Is Costly to Businesses

Using the right tools and techniques can significantly reduce the percentage of employee fraud. Prevention of fraud is only possible when it is done right. Inadequate internal control is one out of four primary reasons due to which any fraud occurs. The other three include collisions between employees, collisions and personal rifts between employees and third parties, and management override of internal controls. If you expect to prevent fraud and eliminate fraud risks, you must design an internal control to deter fraudulent activities.

What Comes Under the Banner of Effective Internal Control?

Before creating an effective plan for preventing fraud, you need to define your company’s culture and how your business is governed. You need to assess every employee to know them well. Educate your employees by integrating various interactive methods in which every employee must participate.

Once the training is finished, continuously remind your staff to uphold standards that will help ensure continuous growth and success. Lastly, it would help if you documented everything without errors to ensure that employees understand the code of conduct and theft prevention policies well.

Building solid relationships and communication with your employees is significant for a company’s growth and success. Maintaining strong interactions and communication with your employees can also prevent fraud.

Moreover, segregation of duties is one way to track your employees’ productivity and performance. When roles and duties are assigned, the employees who dare to steal from you can be traced easily. Bookkeeping records can reveal who is stealing from you; it takes effective monitoring and tracking.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the pervasive threat of internal fraud demands proactive measures. Businesses facing a daily risk must acknowledge the need for robust fraud prevention plans. The erosion of blind trust in employees necessitates a shift towards effective internal control. By leveraging technological tools, fostering employee awareness, and implementing comprehensive strategies, organizations can fortify themselves against the devastating impacts of fraud.

Recognizing the three major categories of employee fraud—corruption, asset misappropriation, and financial statement fraud—underscores the importance of maintaining strong internal control. With a clear understanding of company culture, employee assessment, education, and meticulous documentation, businesses can create an environment that deters fraudulent activities. Emphasizing communication and relationships further solidifies defenses, making organizations need to continuously monitor, track, and adapt in the relentless pursuit of fraud prevention.

About Complete Controller® – America’s Bookkeeping Experts Complete Controller is the Nation’s Leader in virtual bookkeeping, providing service to businesses and households alike. Utilizing Complete Controller’s technology, clients gain access to a cloud platform where their QuickBooks™️ file, critical financial documents, and back-office tools are hosted in an efficient SSO environment. Complete Controller’s team of certified US-based accounting professionals provide bookkeeping, record storage, performance reporting, and controller services including training, cash-flow management, budgeting and forecasting, process and controls advisement, and bill-pay. With flat-rate service plans, Complete Controller is the most cost-effective expert accounting solution for business, family-office, trusts, and households of any size or complexity.

An accounting system assemblages interconnected processes intended to amass, organize, and account for an organization’s transactions. The ultimate goal of this bookkeeping system is to engender informative reports to sustain an organization’s decision-making. Managers can make well-informed decisions based on their knowledge from these reports generated through an automated system.  

Follow a step-by-step approach to assimilate a novel and efficient accounting system into your business. Implementing this approach for your accounting system includes a series of steps that must be undertaken before you are ready to go digital and say goodbye to your old ledgers.

The following list of steps is a theoretical impression of the implementation process in a formal organization. Factors such as the proficiency of your IT department, available resources, and ability to adapt to change will influence the design and related implementation stages essential to achieving the go-live plan.

Plan for Implementing an Accounting System

Before you start with anything else, it is imperative to devise a proposal as a project plan and perform a cost-benefit analysis of the whole project. Rest assured, the benefits outweigh the costs if you are serious about running a professional business. The plan should include:

• The timelines.
• Key milestones to be achieved.
• A list of all required resources for the project.

Planning is the most critical phase of the full implementation because necessary details must be considered for everything to go smoothly.

Hire a Project Manager

The implementation of an accounting system has to be managed carefully. It would help if you designated an individual as a project manager. The project manager’s job is to lead the entire process and form cross-functional teams. Team members represent all departments with a vested interest in the system, using it in one way or another. Since these departments will eventually be the end-users, it is vital to have their input in the implementation process.

Tidy Records in the Previous Accounting System

Insufficient data is one of the main reasons for nuisances when you move to a new system. If you know that your books are imprecise, there is bad transaction coding, invoicing issues, and other areas that need to be fixed, you should always prioritize this.

Trying to start fresh without eliminating old mistakes can result in a colossal blunder. Even the best system in the world will not help you if you have issues related to the credibility of your data. The project manager is responsible for designating a special team to remove bad data clusters and repair them for reuse in the new accounting system.

Data Migration and Pilot Testing

A data conversion plan must be devised as most of your old data needs to be transferred to the new system. The key highlight of a conversion plan is mapping the data according to the new format. Depending on the format support of the old and new systems, the conversion can vary from relatively simple to highly complex. Therefore, before choosing the new system, it is essential to gather all of its technical details to avoid complications later on.

Once all data is transferred, the accounting system must be pilot-tested to ensure it works perfectly. Apart from being technically sound, you need to acquaint the critical people in your company with the new system to work with it efficiently. Arrange a conference room pilot testing for everyone to learn about the essential features from an expert hands-on. You may need to hire someone for the training session, or you can do it yourself.

Configure and Generate Reports

Once everyone is on the same page and your employees understand how to work with the new system, it’s time to configure it to their devices and reap all the benefits. The new accounting system will generate better, more detailed financial reports such as balance sheets, income statements, cash flows, and other reports that can significantly assist you in making critical decisions for your business.

About Complete Controller® – America’s Bookkeeping Experts Complete Controller is the Nation’s Leader in virtual bookkeeping, providing service to businesses and households alike. Utilizing Complete Controller’s technology, clients gain access to a cloud platform where their QuickBooks™️ file, critical financial documents, and back-office tools are hosted in an efficient SSO environment. Complete Controller’s team of certified US-based accounting professionals provide bookkeeping, record storage, performance reporting, and controller services including training, cash-flow management, budgeting and forecasting, process and controls advisement, and bill-pay. With flat-rate service plans, Complete Controller is the most cost-effective expert accounting solution for business, family-office, trusts, and households of any size or complexity.

A business credit score, which is rated on a 0 to 100 scale, reflects a business’s ability to repay a loan. 

Calculating Your Business Credit Score

Your business credit score is calculated using the statistical algorithm designed to measure several traits of your company and financial history.

Among these factors are:

• Credit use ratio
• Payment history
• Length of credit history
• Unpaid debts
• Public records, such as bankruptcies, liens, and judgments
• Business size
• Business risk

Some of the factors are similar to calculating a personal credit score. However, many factors are different in building business credit scores.

How to Build and Improve Business Credit Scores 

Get a Business Credit Card or Line of Credit

Of course, the first step in building a business credit score is to get a business credit card. You can also get a line of credit for your business. Be sure you are getting a business credit card for your business financing, not a personal credit card for your finances.

Separate your Business and Personal Expenses

Separating your business and personal expenses is essential for avoiding accounting mistakes and building your business’s credit score. If you keep the business expenses mixed with your personal, there can be confusion when completing accounting tasks for the company.

Select your Supplier and Lenders with an Eye on your Business Credit

Many small businesses have incomplete business credit accounts because their dealers and money lenders don’t report costs to the business credit unions. If possible, choose vendors or lenders that report to one or all credit bureaus and keep your accounts current.

Pay Your Bills On Time or, Better Yet, in Advance

You must pay on time to ensure your business credit score is high. A delay in payments ruins your business credit, and a delay in payments from your company affects the cash flow of other businesses. This failure to pay on time is the same as when your clients do not pay you on time, and it badly affects the cash flow process of your small business.

Much of your business rating depends on how you pay your suppliers and other contractors within an approved time frame. Paying in advance or on the spot will improve your business credit. Your suppliers and contractors will make remarks like “prompt,” “pay early,” etc. 

Other companies might also be experiencing cash flow problems. Early payments or payments made on time significantly reduce cash flow problems. Your business credit score measures the lending and credit risk linked to your company. A good business credit score shows that your company can manage debts and finances efficiently.

Utilize Credit, but Not Too Much

Your business should utilize its credit score, but make sure not to overuse it. It will be beneficial if you continue utilizing your business credit score for your business operations. You will keep building and using some of your credit scores. It is just like taking a loan and paying it back promptly. It builds trust in your business’s ability and financial stability. But consuming all of the credit score or too much of the score means your company is not financially stable and relies on the credit score it builds over time.

Fix Errors on your Business Credit Score Report

If there are errors in your consumer credit report, there is a fixed process for disputing them. However, there is a different process for business credit report errors everywhere. Every credit bureau has a process for disputing business credit errors. You can submit disputes electronically.

Conclusion

Using a business credit card or line of credit helps to build your business credit score. You must develop and keep improving your business credit score by making on-time payments, using the business credit card, and utilizing some of its scores to your benefit. These steps build a better and more trusted image of your business.

About Complete Controller® – America’s Bookkeeping Experts Complete Controller is the Nation’s Leader in virtual bookkeeping, providing service to businesses and households alike. Utilizing Complete Controller’s technology, clients gain access to a cloud platform where their QuickBooks™️ file, critical financial documents, and back-office tools are hosted in an efficient SSO environment. Complete Controller’s team of certified US-based accounting professionals provide bookkeeping, record storage, performance reporting, and controller services including training, cash-flow management, budgeting and forecasting, process and controls advisement, and bill-pay. With flat-rate service plans, Complete Controller is the most cost-effective expert accounting solution for business, family-office, trusts, and households of any size or complexity.

When business finances are relatively simple, DIY tax prep software can be used to complete your tax returns. Initially, the magnitude and frequency of financial transactions stay within the range of the software, which is a healthy sign for businesses who prefer using DIY financial tools to cater to their daily and evolving financial needs.

Since people always strive to make life easier, accounting tools and software can significantly help achieve perfection in the accounting and financial aspects of the business. These tools are ideal for small businesses that don’t have complicated financial transactions, as they are known to file clean tax returns.

As soon as a small business grows, its financial needs also grow. To achieve the intended results, businesses need to reevaluate their tax prep software’s effectiveness in the expansion phase.

The Right Tax Prep Software must be Integrated

Although the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, signed into law on December 27, is supposed to reduce and simplify income taxes paid by US citizens in the next year, there is a lot of DIY tax software that lacks practical evaluation of tax returns. This lack of assessment is why SMEs have become doubtful about whether to trust DIY tax software entirely.

Although industry veterans have claimed the authenticity and legitimacy of DIY tax prep software, you may be surprised to know that they promote different DIY tax software due to their vested interests. Money talks! Perhaps this is why industry veterans have played an active role in changing business owners’ perceptions on a massive scale.

The vast majority of tax preparers are small businesses that can’t afford to hire the expertise of in-house tax professionals. Since tax-related activities are seasonal, companies’ extra costs to bear after tax season accumulate to become a mere burden on their shoulders.

This cost is the core reason small businesses prefer to use DIY tax prep software instead of hiring the expertise of tax professionals. That’s precisely why most industry veterans endorse DIY tax software as an ideal alternative to hiring in-house tax preparation expertise.

Does This Perspective Ever Change?

Yes, it does change from time to time, depending on the nature of the change. When a business grows, so do its bookkeeping and financial needs. The frequency of financial transactions helps trigger the change, and companies that don’t deal with this change should prepare for the worst.

For example, let’s take a small business with an accumulatively 400-500 monthly business transaction. When the business grows, so do its transactions and the tax impact on those transactions. When this happens, the company must let go of its DIY tax prep software and hire a tax professional for seasonal tax preparations.

Why Have People Started to Take More Interest in Tax Preparation?

Tax preparation has become a big deal, so people have specialized in taxes. Preparing tax returns as a career can be lucrative as it offers people safe and healthy financial returns. This billion-dollar industry is expected to speed up exponentially as more and more businesses are stepping into the industry.

According to studies, tax preparers in the US alone generated about $24 billion last year. This dollar amount indicates that the industry is expected to grow, and tax professionals are likely to make more money than ever in the years to come.

There are a wide variety of tax prep software options on the market. All you need to do is select the right platform to fit your business’s financial needs and requirements, especially if your business is small-scale and desires to use DIY tax prep software to file a clean tax return. However, as soon as your business grows, you must consider hiring a tax professional or third-party vendor to file accurate tax returns.

About Complete Controller® – America’s Bookkeeping Experts Complete Controller is the Nation’s Leader in virtual bookkeeping, providing service to businesses and households alike. Utilizing Complete Controller’s technology, clients gain access to a cloud platform where their QuickBooks™️ file, critical financial documents, and back-office tools are hosted in an efficient SSO environment. Complete Controller’s team of certified US-based accounting professionals provide bookkeeping, record storage, performance reporting, and controller services including training, cash-flow management, budgeting and forecasting, process and controls advisement, and bill-pay. With flat-rate service plans, Complete Controller is the most cost-effective expert accounting solution for business, family-office, trusts, and households of any size or complexity.

The concept of restaurant inventory management is directly tied to planning your menu. Tracking inventory is one of the best ways to be efficient and cost-effective. It’s an ultimately crucial task that certifies and ensures supply. In the restaurant business, clientele satisfaction is essential, and every customer’s orders are met to the best of your abilities.

Saying, “Sorry, we are out of that,” or recommending another item on the menu is not always what the customer wants and may discourage them from visiting again. Without proper inventory tracking, that happens a lot! Additionally, businesses’ yearly profit by regular inventory tracking and monitoring leads to increased profits.

Restaurant inventory management brings growth and positively impacts planning your menu, kitchen activities, staff protocols, etc. It is detrimental to understanding operations. Being aware of raw materials is essential for staff to perform daily functions.

Showing attention towards providing ease in their daily workload is encouraged. Small takeaways would benefit from regularly purchasing on a day-to-day basis. Each day, a new menu may be offered. Therefore, buying things is recommended. To keep ingredients fresh and with a small number of resources and staff, supervision is made more accessible.

Restaurant inventory management helps with planning your menu and other important aspects. By effectively handling all material coming in and out, along with what is needed or procured, a positive effect is achieved, setting things on the road to growth for a restaurant.

Menu Rapture

Effectively planning a menu is the first of many benefits of proper inventory management. Half of the menu dilemma is solved by knowing what is in the kitchen and the tools needed to deliver it to hungry clients. You can quickly determine how many you can serve by tracking the ingredients used and utensils required to furnish an item on the menu. By planning your pantry, crafting menus becomes convenient and practical, and by keeping variety high, it is appreciated by devoted clientele.

Avoid Wastage

Tracking well must become a habit to avoid wastage. Keeping an excessive amount of perishables must be minimized. Tracking also keeps a healthy stock so that no emergencies happen. Always check how ingredients are used over time. By buying enough ingredients, it is understood that a certain level is maintained, which is vital for cost-effectiveness. For example, sometimes, a particular ingredient in restaurant inventory management is often in high demand for salt. Therefore, a sufficient quantity is procured as it’s cheap and vital. 

Calculating Costs

After all, money is spent to produce everything, so keeping records and files helps in financial matters such as setting prices. A record gives a clear picture of how much you’ve spent and how much you need to earn to yield profits. Budgets can be created from these records, and an item’s usage frequency can be determined. This determination helps reveal an image of overall financial health.

Other Restaurant Inventory Management Benefits

By knowing and planning your costs, many cost-effective benefits allow business owners more control over their business. An accurate inventory will lead you to cope confidently and more effectively with customer orders and requests. Because of the First-In-First-Out (FIFA) rule, inventory of vegetables, meats, fruits, and dairy products is easily handled, and with a bit of effort, nothing will be wasted.

Also, by utilizing everything and not wasting food, businesses can tackle expenses that overburden them by lowering wastage and utilizing efficiency. Chances for success increase while creating an atmosphere for growth. Restaurant inventory management is crucial for more than just planning your menu.

Inventory Taking Pointers

• Organizing and regular upkeep help decrease time-consuming activities such as item-wise stock-taking. By setting up a daily schedule and tasking a responsible staff member to update and maintain all stock levels, you can quickly pay attention to the quantities available.
• Throwing out expired or non-usable items is strongly recommended, and managing space well is essential.
• Label and store containers and boxes in a specific order for ease of retrieval. Kitchen operations are automated, and your staff executes and processes orders with careful attention to stock. Track the availability of ingredients by creating routines and kitchen protocols with restaurant inventory management details and information.
• Planning your business and using cost-effective, proficient, inexpensive software and computer programs will significantly help on many levels.

About Complete Controller® – America’s Bookkeeping Experts Complete Controller is the Nation’s Leader in virtual bookkeeping, providing service to businesses and households alike. Utilizing Complete Controller’s technology, clients gain access to a cloud platform where their QuickBooks™️ file, critical financial documents, and back-office tools are hosted in an efficient SSO environment. Complete Controller’s team of certified US-based accounting professionals provide bookkeeping, record storage, performance reporting, and controller services including training, cash-flow management, budgeting and forecasting, process and controls advisement, and bill-pay. With flat-rate service plans, Complete Controller is the most cost-effective expert accounting solution for business, family-office, trusts, and households of any size or complexity.

While initiating your entrepreneurial venture without needing a business account can be enticing, this might not be the shrewdest of decisions. With time, your business will grow, and it will become critical to differentiate your business and personal day-to-day finances.

Start-ups and part-time business holders often mix up their finances, and while it looks like an easy, practical, and cheap way to operate, it certainly won’t be the same later on. Any business operator must treat their business with due diligence, regardless of its scale. While setting up a separate bank account means additional bank fees and expenses, you will save yourself from inconvenience in the future.

Manageability

Many people who own businesses will attest that, to manage your spending and money from your business activities, it is indispensable to have a business account. Business accounts may appear to charge much more than regular, personal accounts. However, some banks only charge minimal fees if you deposit a certain amount of money regularly. This is an excellent deal because if your business is doing well, the money will keep flowing, resulting in minimal fees. At minimal cost, you can handle all of your start-up’s financial matters proficiently.

Legitimacy

Suppose things spiral downward, and you are stuck in a bad situation. In that case, it will be hard for you to explain the legitimacy of your business to any government institution or your partners if your finances don’t reflect that. Also, there are some other government fees that you will need to pay for running a business, and your business account is often checked for verification. You can only get away with it if you prove you are running your business as a hobby. Still, it is better to be safe than sorry.

Filing a Tax Return

Filing your tax return can be a nuisance in itself, let alone also suffering the exhaustion of going through your account statements and deciphering your business-related transactions. For a start-up, filing seamless returns in the first few years can provide your business with a solid credit history. When your credit report is unblemished, you can apply for loans, business credit cards, and other financial perks that can eventually lead your business to success.

A business account will also facilitate auditing as you will be able to provide a clear picture of all of your transactions, making the job of an auditor much easier. And you certainly don’t want to anger an auditor!

Professionalism

When working with clients or seeking new partners, a business account will reflect your professionalism. No one will take you seriously if you get into a business deal with them through your account. It would help to treat your start-up like a real business before expecting others to do the same. Business environments these days are hugely competitive, and you will most likely not get a second chance with the same client twice. Therefore, it is always beneficial to learn from the mistakes of others and do it right the first time.

LLC, Partnership, or Corporation

Having a separate account is a must if your registered company is an LLC, Partnership, or Corporation. Because more than one person owns such a business, there can’t be an exclusive account for it due to legalities. An account in the business name gives all partners equal authority over managing the account, ensuring that everything runs smoothly.

Protection

Many experts call for a business account for a start-up from the beginning, as this protects you and your business. An account in your business name provides you with asset protection and corporate veil protection. There will be a lesser chance of having an issue with the IRS, and you will sail smoothly through any financial troubles.

Conclusion

With all of the overwhelming arguments supporting having a business account, it must be the first thing you do when starting an entrepreneurial venture. Your personal and business success highly depend on your professionalism and ability to stay out of trouble when times are tough.

About Complete Controller® – America’s Bookkeeping Experts Complete Controller is the Nation’s Leader in virtual bookkeeping, providing service to businesses and households alike. Utilizing Complete Controller’s technology, clients gain access to a cloud platform where their QuickBooks™️ file, critical financial documents, and back-office tools are hosted in an efficient SSO environment. Complete Controller’s team of certified US-based accounting professionals provide bookkeeping, record storage, performance reporting, and controller services including training, cash-flow management, budgeting and forecasting, process and controls advisement, and bill-pay. With flat-rate service plans, Complete Controller is the most cost-effective expert accounting solution for business, family-office, trusts, and households of any size or complexity.

Most motivated professionals and expert entrepreneurs know the importance and advantages of investing in themselves – developing and sharpening valuable skills that boost their strengths over time. While you certainly require guts and patience to initiate and run a new venture, you also must concentrate on nurturing these six essential business skills, which are vital to succeeding as an entrepreneur in critical situations.

Communication

Your company can instantaneously turn from a good to a bad situation when your communication lacks clarity, purpose, and impact. On the contrary, effective communication has enough potential to revolutionize an idea, thus breathing new life into your product or brand. Besides being a creative and design genius, Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, was also an influential communicator.

If you revisit his marketing taglines and keynote speeches, you will immediately realize how communication played a crucial role in building one of the most valuable companies in the world. Many psychologists and business experts also believe that effective communication is essential to becoming a successful entrepreneur.

Branding (Personal as well as Business)

In today’s digitally evolved corporate environment, knowing how to establish yourself as an expert professional in your industry is critical to your entrepreneurial success. Branding now includes being active on social media platforms like Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Snapchat.

Content marketing, both on and off your business website, shapes it. However, poor content can result in negative branding. Consequently, it is necessary to determine how to share your content and marketing resources so that your target audience wants what you have to offer and finds it valuable.

Critical Thinking

The objective analysis and assessment of a matter to form a logical judgment are collectively known as critical thinking. It typically begins with questioning assumptions, hypotheses, opinions, and claims rather than simply accepting them as gospel. Just like bookkeeping is fundamental to creating business accounts, critical thinking is essential to intelligent, entrepreneurial decisions, making that, in turn, a key to becoming a successful businessperson.

Today, we are continuously bombarded with tactful content and sound bites. That is why our ability to question what is real and what is not, understand casual relationships, and reason logically instead of generalizing from a given data point has become more critical.

Listen to people who challenge your popularly held beliefs. Resist habitual pressure to view matters in “us vs. them” or black-and-white terms. In addition, learn to view the world from different viewpoints, perspectives, and angles.

Sales

Although you may not identify as a salesperson, you are greatly involved in sales when running a business. You might have a great sales team handling all of your corporate sales. However, you typically tap into your sales skills when you give a presentation about your business products, negotiate with a vendor, or convince anyone of anything.

There are numerous strategies to sell even without selling. Take a moment to think about corporate conversations you have with your potential clients. Those that rendered a sale are probably not hard pitches to get your potential customers to purchase from you.

They primarily focus on helping them find a solution to their problem. Thus, it would help if you also concentrated on helping them instead of selling. This will give you more confidence in the sales process, which will result in more sales.

Confidence and Assertiveness

While listening is necessary for effective business communication, you must also determine when to take control of a conversation and assert your viewpoints, opinions, and beliefs. Although you need to be attentive to other people’s requests and claims, you also must understand when to say no. It would help if you learned to be consistent and open-minded to earn the trust and respect of those around you.

Perseverance

Most successful entrepreneurs have faced devastating failures and defeats in their lives. Instead of looking at such situations as a demotivating factor, they view them as stepping stones towards their business success. Besides maintaining their perseverance and optimism, they also make smartly calculated changes to their future efforts. Remember that you fail when you do not try, as persistence is the key to success in just about any aspect of a business.

About Complete Controller® – America’s Bookkeeping Experts Complete Controller is the Nation’s Leader in virtual bookkeeping, providing service to businesses and households alike. Utilizing Complete Controller’s technology, clients gain access to a cloud platform where their QuickBooks™️ file, critical financial documents, and back-office tools are hosted in an efficient SSO environment. Complete Controller’s team of certified US-based accounting professionals provide bookkeeping, record storage, performance reporting, and controller services including training, cash-flow management, budgeting and forecasting, process and controls advisement, and bill-pay. With flat-rate service plans, Complete Controller is the most cost-effective expert accounting solution for business, family-office, trusts, and households of any size or complexity.

Large corporations are no longer the ONLY target of cyber-criminal activities. SMEs (small and medium enterprises) have become increasingly exposed to the cyber world’s dangers, which is why SMEs are having difficulty securing their systems and networks. Cyber-criminal activities have reached the point where industry IT experts have started assuming a universal threat. Unless security measures aren’t implemented, systems and data security are doomed.

Unfortunately, there isn’t a single organization in the world that can claim that it has fool-proof cybersecurity. The biggest threat to SMEs is not the breach of their system. It does not realize the fact that cybercriminals can target their small-scale businesses.

Cybercrime is costly to SMEs, causing them to lose millions of dollars each year. The US alone is at the top of the list with the highest number of cyber-criminal activities. According to estimates, the reported cases of cybercrimes account for about $700 billion yearly, multiplying rapidly. The thing is that the culture of “cyber-stealing” is growing, and individuals with hacking knowledge and expertise are considering it a safe career path that has a lot to offer to them.

That’s why con artists and highly organized crime syndicates are coming up with sneaky tactics to break into SME accounts to steal sensitive information from companies. In short, cybercrime is a reality, and those who ignore it can expect to face troubles in the future.

What Do Cyber Criminals Usually Look For?

To protect your business from cybercrime, you must implement a prevention plan to push infiltrators away from your company’s servers. Since cybercrime is multiplying, SMEs must adapt to improved network security protocols to prevent leaking sensitive data. Hackers, intruders, cyber criminals, or whatever you name online scammers usually look for business data, bookkeeping and accounting records, vendor details, sensitive personal and client information, banking details, and more that can be sold on the dark web for money. Therefore, improving your system and network security can help you prevent costly loopholes.

What Can Cyber Crime Mean for SMEs?

First things first: business disruption with an immediate effect! Cyber-criminal activities can be hefty for SMEs, costing them a sustainable competitive advantage and financial and reputational damage. Those who trust you with sensitive information and rely on you for essential aspects like data security, the secrecy of business transactions, the privacy of vendor details, and more significant business interests need not be disappointed.

So, you must ensure that business data is protected against all predictable or non-predictable cyber threats. It is ideal for keeping proper checks and balances to prevent information leakage from the company’s servers.

Keeping Your Business Safe from Cyber Crime

To protect your business from cyber-attacks, creating and implementing your security policy is ideal as it will give you more control over your company. Having a written, clear-cut security policy helps your employees know the menaces of cybersecurity threats and repercussions they might have to face due to an incident of cyber fraud. Also, you must encourage your staff to use complex passwords and shut down their computers once they leave the office.

Cybercrime occurs when you fail to update your system and networks. You must update your operating systems, software, and browsers and install anti-virus software and firewalls to prevent cyber-attacks. Moreover, it would help if you were very careful with software installation, as hackers are inventing new ways by which they can target SMEs that are vulnerable to cybercrime.

Hiring an IT Expert

Hiring an IT professional is the best way to secure your business from cybercriminals. SMEs can employ IT experts to ensure their data safety and network security when they independently fail to comply with network security protocols. They are not as expensive as you may think. The choice to hire an IT expert is a fair trade. Spending money on data safety and network security is a wise move compared to what you could lose if you are not protected.

About Complete Controller® – America’s Bookkeeping Experts Complete Controller is the Nation’s Leader in virtual bookkeeping, providing service to businesses and households alike. Utilizing Complete Controller’s technology, clients gain access to a cloud platform where their QuickBooks™️ file, critical financial documents, and back-office tools are hosted in an efficient SSO environment. Complete Controller’s team of certified US-based accounting professionals provide bookkeeping, record storage, performance reporting, and controller services including training, cash-flow management, budgeting and forecasting, process and controls advisement, and bill-pay. With flat-rate service plans, Complete Controller is the most cost-effective expert accounting solution for business, family-office, trusts, and households of any size or complexity.