Winning Strategies03 25 10

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Welcome to our first-ever Winning Strategies Workshop!

A d b i i d d d dAre you ready to be inspired, educated and empowered?

Heidi Mankoff, Tall Ideas

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S ll S Wid tSally Sue—Widgets

• She opened her biz 10 years ago, after she saw that widget owners weren’t happy with the BIG WIDGET companies in the area.

• She found that the most effective marketing tactic was yellow book advertising. Today she’s spending about $200,000 annually on yellow book advertising.

• Times are getting tough for valley residents.

• She wonders, “How can she make sure she’s getting the highest return on these marketing dollars?


STEP 1:

LOTS of Research. LOTS of Questions.

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3 Conclusions:

Phone system inefficienciesLack of employee trainingp y g

Patterns in customer needs


3 Suggestions:

Phone menu improvementFormal employee training programp y g p g

Website enhancement

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Cost/Benefit Analysis:Before

Income $400,000Expense $200,000

$Profit $200,000


Cost/Benefit Analysis:After

Income $550,000Expense $223,000

Yellow Book ($200K)Consultant ($5K)Phone System ($3K)Employee Training ($10K)Website Restructure ($5K)

Profit $277,000

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Return on Investment:

38.5% Improvement!


Key Take-A-Ways:Reach Out For Help

Tall Ideas Small Biz Community

FREE 30-Day Membership for all of you!

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Robyn Cottier, Sound HR Solutions

Springboard for Success 5 Hot HR Topics

– Misclassifying employees– Meal and Rest Periods– Overtime

Timekeeping– Timekeeping– Email/Social Networking

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Misclassifying Employees

• Exempt vs. Non Exempt– Administrative– Executive– Professional– Computer professionals– Outside sales

• Independent Contractors– IC vs. Employee

• Penalties– Overtime premiums, meal period pay, workers’ comp,

tax liability and penalties, criminal liabilities

Meal and Rest Periods

– When employee works more than 5 hours, employer must provide a 30-minute unpaid, duty free meal period

– When working less then 6 hours, meal period may be waived by mutual consent of the employee and employer

– When working more than 10 hours, employee must take a second meal period

– Penalty for failing to provide a break or meal period is one additional hour of pay for each day the meal period is not provided

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Overtime

• 1 ½ times pay for all hours worked beyond 8 in a single workday or 40 in a workweek and first 8 hours on the 7th consecutive day.

• Double time for work beyond 12 hours in a ysingle workday and beyond 8 on the 7th

consecutive day.• Compensatory time off is not permissible

Timekeeping

• Record start and stop time of all work• Record beginning and end of each meal

period• Pay for all work you know or “should

know” is being performedknow is being performed• Avoid “off the clock” work• Insure paycheck stubs provide correct

information

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Email and Social Networking

• Have a sound Internet and Computer and Communications Policy addressing:– Monitoring– Software downloading

E il– Email use– Cell phone use– Social networking– No expectation of privacy

Why Bother?

• Sleep better at night• Professional work environment/employee

satisfaction• Invest in your business not in fighting

claims• Stay focused on your business• Build a solid foundation for future growth

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5 Minute Break!

Tracy AhnTahari

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Star Ladin

Values

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Toms Shoes

Zappos

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Brand You

J. K. Rowling

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Tiger Woods

Creative

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Nike

Starbucks

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Oprah

Thank You!

Contact Us:

• www.Starmarketingmedia.com

• [email protected]

• Facebook.com/starmarketingmedia

• Twitter.com/starmktg

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Robin McConnellStone, Rosenblatt & Cha

Making Your Legal Dollars Work For You

• FORMING YOUR BUSINESS ENTITY

C CORPORATIONS: “Regular” corporation. Benefits include a shield for shareholders from personal liability for corporation’s debts and liabilities.

Drawbacks: Filing requirements; corporate minutes and record keeping; corporate income tax (corporation may be taxed on net income and profits/income to shareholders will be taxed) which means some dollars will be subject to double taxation.

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• FORMING YOUR BUSINESS ENTITY

S CORPORATIONS: Corporation with no more than 100 shareholders, one class of stock, and other requirements.

Benefits: Enjoy the same limited liability of C Corporation shareholders, with some tax benefits (losses can be passed through to individual shareholders for deduction, and corporation owes no corporate income tax on profits).


• Forming Your Business Entity

Limited Liability Company (LLC): Many of the S Corporation advantages without the disadvantages.

Benefits: Offers limited liability to members; avoid corporate income tax; members can deduct losses; do not have to meet S Corporation requirements.

Don’t forget to handle City, County, and State licenses.

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• ARE YOU INSURED FOR THAT?

• Ask if you have the proper types/limits of coverage in place before you need it. Have your counsel/broker review your business and the policies you have. You need to know the

li ’ t d d t d h tpolicy’s terms and understand what coverage you have and don’t have.

• Do this before a problem occurs!


• THE EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIP

Have an updated employee manual and make sure employees review and sign off on it.

Be aware of the law and your duties as an employer.

Examples: Rest/break periods; employee v. independent contractor designations.designations.

Consider non-disclosure and non-compete agreements for outside contractors and employees.

Be proactive in addressing termination issues. Know and use your opportunity to obtain liability releases at termination when appropriate.

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• PROTECT INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

• Protection can provide barriers to entry from competitors and protect from theft of your ideas/property.

Trademark: A word or phrase, symbol or design (or combination of these) that identifies and distinguishes your goods from those of others.

Copyright: Protection by federal law to authors of “original works ofCopyright: Protection by federal law to authors of original works of authorship,” including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and other intellectual works.

Patent: A monopoly on an invention, method, machine, or manufacture, that is useful.


• KNOW WHAT YOU ARE SIGNING

• Need to review and understand contracts you may enter into with third parties and vendors Have lease agreementsvendors. Have lease agreements carefully reviewed as well. It is never fun to realize that the contract you signed has hidden pitfalls.

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• BE PROACTIVE AND PRODUCTIVE

• Don’t wait for a lawsuit to be filed. Talk with counsel who can suggest possible solutions and ways to avoid litigation.

• Don’t think of your lawyer as a necessary “evil.” Your lawyer can be a a cost saving tool; part of your “strategic team” that shares your goals of building a strong healthy business.

• Work with your lawyer to identify “how” you can do what you want to do, not what you “can’t” do.

Marie LynchDKNY

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Shannah ComptonSLC Insurance Services

The GLUE Holds it Together

What does a Financial Planner provide a female business owner?

How is that different from a business consultant?

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Tip #1-“Protect Your Paycheck”

Cash flow is always your BIGGEST Asset!

What if your cash flow disappears?

How long could you sustain your business and your lifestyle?


Probability of a Disability lasting at least 90 days between the age shown and age 65 for women

Age %25 29.930 28.635 27 035 27.040 24.845 21.8

- Women are at higher risk, nearly 4-10% more than men!

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Homework:

Figure out how much Cash Flow you need each month

- Subtract- Subtract

How much you have on reserve_____________________________________

= “Protect Your Paycheck”

Tip #2-“Cash Creative”

Most biz owners don’t recognize the

VALUE

of their biz and don’t know how to

GLUE

it together properly!

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Get “CASH CREATIVE”

For example: People Magazine$4.50 in Store

$225 00 Every year$225.00 Every year$48.00 Subscription

__________________________$177.00- Found $


Homework:

Sign up for my comprehensive list of “Cash Creative” strategies on my blog-

www.SlcInsuranceServices.com/Blog

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Tip #3-Biz Legacy Planning

• To be able to control my business for as long as I want. In theevent of my disability, I want to be able to continue thebusiness…or receive value from the business so that the businesscontinues to provide for me and my family.

• When I no longer want to control my business…or in the event ofmy death…I want to be able to transfer the business to whom Iwant, the way I want, & when I want., y ,

• If not transferring the business itself to my family, I want to be ableto transfer at least the value of the business to my family. I want tominimize every tax dollar, professional fee, and transfer costwhile affecting such transfer as smoothly and efficiently aspossible.


Only 37% of bizs have a Legacy Plan

You biz is never too big or too small to have a legacy plan in place!

Don’t let your biz become Road Kill!

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Homework:

Attorney create an agreement

Financial Planner provide the fundingFinancial Planner provide the funding

Tip #4-We Are Family!

“What would we do for you if you were family?”

“How would we provide the GLUEto your biz if it was ours?”

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Homework:Checklist to know if your FP is treating you like family

• Do they belong to any professional organizations that have a code ofEthics?

• Do they listen to you – find out what your goals and desires are?• Do they represent only one company of products- are they trying to fit y p y p y p y y g

you in a box?• Do they review your plan every 12-18 months with you and provide

new strategies when necessary?• Do they have a network of other trusted professionals they can refer

you to?

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Tip #5-GLUE It All Together

ANNUAL Brainstorming, Reviewing and Planning are key to making the GLUE stick!

Tip #5-GLUE It All Together

Homework:

Documents to compile for a thorough Annual Review

1. Most Recent Completed Tax Returns2. All Brokerage Firm Statements3. All Life Insurance & Annuity Policy Statements4. All IRA and Retirement Statements5. List of Your Key Corporate Advisors (CPA, Attorney…)6. A List of Your Goals for the next 1, 3, and 5 Years

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Free Business Financial Planning Session to First 25 To Email Me

[email protected]

Thank you for attending our first-ever Winning Strategies

Workshop!

W h i i d d d dWe hope you were inspired, educated and empowered!!!

Winning Strategies03 25 10

Business

Transcript of Winning Strategies03 25 10