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What You Need to Know About Equipment-Lease Renewals

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Finance expert Mike Periu on the ins and outs of equipment-lease renewals. For leasing equipment, a typical agreement is for a fixed term that ranges from 12 to 60 months and requires monthly or quarterly payments. Many equipment lease contracts also come with an automatic renewal provision, which extends the lease for an additional 12 months with the lessee paying the same amount as in the final month of the original lease term. For some small businesses, this is a good deal. If the equipment … [Read more...]

How Fiscal Cliff Negotiations May Impact Housing

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Finance expert Mike Periu on the potential for big changes to the housing marketing. Cliff Negotiations May Impact Housing. If Congress and the President can agree to a fiscal cliff compromise, it is almost certain that changes impacting the housing market will be a part of the deal. It's likely that the Mortgage Interest Deduction will be scaled back significantly or even eliminated entirely, making homeownership more expensive and less attractive compared to renting. However, it could also … [Read more...]

The Increasing Probability of a Recession

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Finance expert Mike Periu on the increasing probability of a recession. Jeremy Piger, Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Oregon, has developed a new model for determining the probability of an impending U.S. recession. The Federal Reserve Economic Dataset (FRED) has added Piger's model to its information database. The model looks at four variables: non-farm payroll employment, the index of industrial production, real personal income excluding transfer payments and real … [Read more...]

Go Global to Grow Your Business

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Finance expert Mike Periu on how to grow your business internationally. Go Global to Grow Your Business. Expanding into foreign markets or generating export sales are viable opportunities for small-business growth. While selling to a customer in Brazil can be far more complex than one in New Jersey, the margins and scalability of the growth can be far greater. Its important that your company has good local counsel to ensure that you address local regulations and sound operating procedures … [Read more...]

business structure to receive the maximum tax advantage

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Finance expert Mike Periu on whether your business is structured to receive the maximum tax advantage. Is Your Business Maximizing Its Tax Advantages? While taxes have always been an important factor to consider when making business decisions, their importance will go up significantly. One way small-business owners can ensure that they are managing taxes as efficiently as possible is to structure the business correctly from a legal perspective. When was the last time you evaluated if a … [Read more...]

Small-Business Owners: What to Expect in the Next Four Years?

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Finance expert Mike Periu on the financial challenges that may lie ahead for small-business owners. What to Expect in the Next Four Years? The next four years may prove challenging for small-business owners. According to Dr. Jeffrey Cornwall, the Jack C. Massey Chair in Entrepreneurship and Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn, it is a near certainty that taxes on small businesses will increase. This includes the potential approval of a Value … [Read more...]

Framework for Fiscal Cliff Compromise

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Finance expert Mike Periu on the framework for fiscal cliff compromise that is already in place. In mid-2011, Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner and Democrat President Barak Obama were negotiating a deficit reduction. While that negotiation ultimately failed, the terms of that deal could serve as a starting point for negotiations on addressing the fiscal cliff. In that potential deal, both sides had agreed to a tax increase as well as spending cuts. Also on the table were changes to … [Read more...]

Businesses Get Ready for Small Business Saturday

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Finance expert Mike Periu on the upcoming Small Business Saturday event. Small Business Saturday (SBS) was a great success last year and many retailers are counting on it to help boost sales in an otherwise difficult year. Across the country, small-business owners and SBS coordinators are preparing their promotional and social media campaigns to gain maximum exposure. Many local SBS campaigns are emphasizing "local" (not just small), and are driving shoppers to support businesses owned by … [Read more...]

SBA Opens Business Recovery Center

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Finance expert Mike Periu on the SBA efforts to help small businesses with a Business Recovery Center in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. November 08, 2012 The Small Business Administration has opened a business recovery center in Staten Island to assist business owners affected by Hurricane Sandy. The center has a team of SBA staff available to offer personalized support to owners that have experienced physical damage to their businesses or lost revenues due to the hurricane. Staff members … [Read more...]

Small Businesses Investing More in Social Media

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Finance expert Mike Periu on how small-business owners are spending more time and money on social media. November 08, 2012 According to a recent survey by Vertical Response, two-thirds of small-business owners are spending more time on social media, with 90 percent using Facebook and 70 percent using Twitter. Social media budgets are increasing at twice the rate of overall marketing budgets, indicating that social media is consuming a larger portion of overall marketing expenditures among … [Read more...]