Searle Business Solutions

Most business owners have a plan, written down or not. Those plans usually focus on keeping things running day-to-day – having enough inventory, staff, and money. But what about planning to be ready for a great opportunity?

Opportunities come in different forms, depending on your industry or market. For example, a new housing development in the area means potential new customers. Businesses get new customers by marketing to them. Seizing that opportunity takes more than luck – it takes planning and resources.

Continue reading “Is Your Business Ready for an Opportunity?” →

Last week, I was honored to talk about business taxes with the 2016 Class of the Arlington Chamber of Commerce Young Entrepreneur Academy, also known as YEA! Over the six-month program, young entrepreneurs, grade 8-12, develop their ideas into robust business plans that are pitched to an investor panel to compete for funding.

YEA! entrepreneurs, like all business owners, need to know about taxes. All kinds of taxes: income, employment, sales and use, and property. We only had an hour, so we covered the four basic tax areas that small businesses need to know:

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Your business is a huge success. New customers every week, full schedule, busy team. But can your back office keep up with your growth? When your business is taking off is not a good time to find out that your processes aren’t keeping up.

If your business has been around for a while, chances are your haven’t changed since the beginning. Back then, you had limited resources for your back office. Plus, you didn’t know all that it takes to get accurate, real-time information to manage your business. Now you have the knowledge and resources to upgrade your processes. But how?

Continue reading “Help your Business Grow with a Process Upgrade” →

Grants don’t need to be re-paid, but the money is not entirely free. To raise non-profit awareness about the hidden costs of managing grants, I conducted a workshop last month in Washington, DC, sponsored by the United Way of the National Capital Area and PBMares.

The grant management workshop focused on five important questions that non-profits should answer for themselves before applying for a grant. How your organization answers these five questions can help avoid cost and stress.

Continue reading “Did You Plan for those Grant Costs?” →