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5 Cash Flow Mistakes New Businesses Must Avoid

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Finance expert Mike Periu on the most common Cash Flow Mistakes small businesses make, and how to avoid them. December 04, 2012 Debt solutions attorney Emily Chase Smith has seen many small businesses fail throughout her career. She finds it frustrating that many of the businesses, especially newer ones, fail for reasons that were completely avoidable with better financial planning on the part of the founders. She offers the following advice to business owners to avoid failure: 1. Don't … [Read more...]

$80 Billion in incentives state and local governments are offering

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The money incentives state and local governments are offering to lure new companies their way. $80 Billion in Business Incentives Up for Grabs State and local governments across the country are aggressively competing to have companies—both old and new—relocate to their territories. Last year, $80.3 billion in business incentives were awarded across 1,875 different programs. The incentives typically consist of sales tax exemptions, sales tax discounts, property tax abatements, income tax … [Read more...]

Rebuilding Your Business Credit After a Disaster Like Hurricane Sandy

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Finance expert Mike Periu on how businesses can minimize damage to their credit score after a disaster like Hurricane Sandy. Even though Hurricane Sandy doesn't dominate the headlines anymore, small businesses in the affected regions are only just beginning the long road to recovery. Among the casualties are small business credit scores as invoices go unpaid and bills pile up creating a short-term cash crunch. To minimize the damage to your score, it's important to first notify all of your … [Read more...]

Big changes in estate tax laws take effect next month

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The best way to leave assets, like your business, to heirs before big changes in estate tax laws take effect next month. Take Advantage of Expiring Tax Rules to Benefit Your Heirs Current estate tax laws exempt the first $5.12 million per person (double per couple) in assets from estate taxes. This limit drops to $1 million in 2013. and the tax rate on all assets above that threshold will be taxed at a rate of 55 percent. If you plan to leave your business to your children or other heirs, … [Read more...]

The Right Market opportunity for Your Business

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Finance expert Mike Periu on questions to consider when syncing your business with the right market opportunity. Choosing the Right (and Most Profitable) Market for Your Business Many entrepreneurs and small-business owners spend too much time focused on their product or service and not enough time on finding the right market opportunity. Without the right customers, you won't have revenues, profits or much chance of success. It's important to ask yourself these questions to determine if you … [Read more...]

Top Resources for the Novice Investor

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Finance expert Mike Periu on the books and resources top investment experts recommend for the Novice Investor. U.S. investors have over $10 trillion in retirement accounts like IRAs and 401(k)s. These accounts require investors to make decisions about what to do with their money. Unfortunately, financial literacy tests generally show that we as consumers simply don't know enough about finance and investing to make good decisions. In general they make the point that it's unrealistic to try to … [Read more...]

Cost of Health Care Reform Start to Emerge

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Finance expert Mike Periu on the cost of health care reform under the Affordable Care Act. Several independent organizations, including the Kaiser Family Foundation, have released new data on the expected cost of heath insurance under the Affordable Care Act regulations soon to go into effect. In their view, most families have an unrealistic expectation of how much assistance they will receive in government subsidies and are not aware of how much health insurance will continue to cost. A … [Read more...]

New Small Business Tax Break Being Proposed

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Finance expert Mike Periu on President Obama's New Small Business Tax Break proposal for a $25 billion dollar tax break for small businesses. The President announced a proposal for a new $25 billion tax break to small businesses. Calling it a stimulus package, the proposal would offer small businesses a tax credit equivalent to 10 percent of the cost of salaries for new hires and increased pay to existing workers. The purpose of the credit is to stimulate new hiring and increase compensation to … [Read more...]

Financial Apps for Small-Business Owners’ Mobile Phones

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Finance expert Mike Periu on helpful financial apps specifically designed for small-business owners. Small-business owners interested in keeping better control of their company's finances now have access to a series of mobile apps designed just for that purpose. Square allows you to process payments directly from your iPhone, iPad or Android phone using a small adapter that reads credit cards. InDinero is the Mint.com of small businesses, offering a user-friendly, consolidated view of your … [Read more...]

How Consumer Spending Patterns Change With Age

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Finance expert Mike Periu on how shifting consumer spending patterns can help inform your marketing strategy. As consumers get older, how they spend their money changes significantly. Economic forecasting firm HS Dent performed an extensive analysis of consumer expenditures across 35 categories of products and services and then graphed the changes by age. Small-business owners should consider the age of their existing customers to determine if there is a good fit between what you sell and to … [Read more...]