Around the corner is the New Year of 2015 and many things will be changing with November 4th elections, technology, and healthcare. What is it you need to do to keep up with these ever changing areas to keep your small business?
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Technology: Are you up to date with technology? I feel like I just now understand the iPhone 4 and out of nowhere there is an iPhone 6 along with the Apple watch. Did I miss the iphone 5? The Apple Watch will have all your apps from your iPad, it is an entire computer on one small tiny chip. It is a small computer that not only keeps time but also has internet connection; it connects with other watches and keeps your appointments and calendar events. Apple is designing technology to not only be functional but personal as well. The iPhone 6 and digital payment systems are just breaking through and will help those small business owners who are more home based than brick and mortar.
2014 Elections Elections are in November and with every election come change or the same thing, the vote is up to you. Depending on the elected officials once they get in office their decisions could affect your future as a small business owner. They have the power to increase taxes, enforce rules and regulations that affect your business bottom line. A great resource for small business owners to see how Congress can help or hurt you & your business is to go to the website section179.org. Here on that website you will find things about Q&A’s on deductions and more. Right now Republicans and Democrats are fighting hard for both the Governor’s seat and a Senate Seat. It will be very interesting to see how these two major races turn out and what that will mean for the small business owner in Georgia.
2015 Taxes As we end the 2014 year over the next two months this is a perfect time to get up with your bookkeeper and accountant to start getting ready for the 2015 tax season. Many times small business owners and personal taxes get extended because they are running a business. The day to day operations can certainly make it difficult to get to the financial aspect unless you are leveraged with staff. If many of small business owners would just hire a bookkeeper to manage those receipts and monthly bank statements we would never see an extension again.
Health Insurance Insurance always seems to be one of those things at the bottom of the list for a small business owner or even non-existence in most cases. Don’t wait until you get sick, or are in need of an expensive medical procedure to enroll in coverage or switch to a more comprehensive policy. Getting health insurance coverage in 2015 means looking into it this month, the open enrollment period will run from November 15, 2014 to February 15, 2015. This is something you really want to speak with a person who specializes in it and we have many representatives who are in New Lawrenceville who can help you.
Planning Ahead How many times have you said where did the year go? Where did the month go? Where did the week or day go? A lot of times when we say this we realize we haven’t even taken time for ourselves or family and then we are rushed for a last minute get-a-way. When you have a business take time to sit down and really look at the calendar year ahead of you. I highly encourage you to get one of those BlueSky full year calendars for your wall. This way it is out in front of you all the time. Then, first and foremost block your vacations and any other family events that are near and dear to your hearts. These are the most important times in your life and give you the greatest joy so those take priority. When you put these on your yearly calendar nothing else will get on that spot because you will have intentionally blocked all other things around your personal time and vacations. Also know when your employee’s vacations are as well so that can be on the calendar. The holidays, off-site meetings and special events should be on there as well. This will narrow down the real amount of time you have for lead generation and making the business happen.
Goal Setting Each year your business goals change and hopefully they are changing for the better with growth and development. It’s not only having some goals in place but being able to know how to reach those goals. Each goal you have for the year should have three ways to reach the objective and each of those ways they should have five strategies to reach them. The further down and more detailed you can get on a goal or objective, the easier it is to break it into pieces that make it more manageable to maintain and achieve. Looking at goals sometimes looks like looking at an elephant and wondering how to eat it. The key is you don’t eat the whole elephant at once but in small bites. When you approach it in that manner than anyone and I mean anyone can eat an elephant. No one really has troubles setting goals it really boils down to doing the daily work it takes to make the goals appear. It is the accountability, the discipline and the endurance of the journey to the goal. If this is something you have difficulty in doing you may want to research hiring a business coach. Coaches help you set goals, work towards those goals and eventually achieve them. If you look at any professional athlete, professional singing, professional business person they all have coaches. Aren’t you worth the success of a life and business worth having? Then get a coach and let them show you the path to success in 2015.
Thank you to November 2014 New Lawrenceville media sponsors –
SHOP LOCAL!
This article is sponsored by New Lawrenceville. New Lawrenceville is a FREE networking organization of businesses and volunteers that are working to bring community together. https://www.facebook.com/NEWLawrenceville?fref=ts
Author Rodney Camren helps to lead New Lawrenceville in an effort to promote buying locally, educate the community on issues that affect our community. Rodney Camren is a Real Estate Agent with Keller Wiliams.
