Remote working has exploded in the last few years, especially in professional services. Now that companies are seeing the benefits of remote working, they are also seeing the benefits of an expanded pool of potential employees. Some firms are hiring employees that live several states away from where the office is located, which comes with quite a few ramifications for the business.

Let’s say your business is based in Texas. You already file quarterly payroll reports and pay federal payroll taxes for your Texas-based employees. You also already file all the required state payroll reports and have Texas workers compensation. In May, you hired an employee that lives in Cleveland, OH. And in June, you hired an employee that lives in San Francisco, CA. You’ll need to get set up to pay employees in each of these states:

• You may need to get set up as a Foreign Corporation in these states (the exact paperwork depends on your type of entity as well as the state’s requirements and where your business originates). This means filing legal paperwork as well as complying with annual tax filings and statements of information. You may also need to hire a firm who can be your registered agent and legal contact in that state.
• You must get workers compensation in those two states.
• You must sign up with the unemployment agency in those states. For California, it’s the EDD (Employee Development Department), and for Ohio, it’s the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
• You’ll need to work with your payroll provider to give them your account numbers so they can accurately create the paychecks with the appropriate state withholdings.

We’re not quite done yet. You’ll need to make sure you file the correct quarterly payroll reports in addition to your federal ones. Continuing our example: in California, this consists of Forms DE-9 and DE-9C, Quarterly Contribution Return and Report of Wages. In Ohio, there are multiple forms: one for SUTA, IT 3, IT 941, and IT 501, all with exacting filing requirements.

Some states that are small and close together may have exceptions that you can follow to save time.

Nexus

Having an employee in another state creates nexus for your organization, which means that you may have additional tax and legal requirements beyond payroll taxes.

• If you have sales in these states, you may also need to collect and remit sales tax on those sales and file sales tax returns. The first step is to register with the sales tax agency in the state.
• As the business owner, you may even need to file a state income tax return and pay state income taxes as an individual, even if you’ve never set foot in that state!

Hiring a remote worker is so easy, but the paperwork that comes after it is anything but easy. Make sure you stay in compliance with all the tax and legal requirements of hiring an out-of-state worker. There can be some lead time in getting all this set up, so be sure to plan for this prior to your new employee’s start date.

As always, if you need help with any of these overwhelming tasks, please feel free to reach out to us any time.

When starting a business, most entrepreneurs excel at the specific technical skill set they need in order to deliver their services and products to clients.  For example, if you own a bike shop, you are pretty great at all things related to bikes. If you own a law firm, you are probably good at practicing law. This skill is your core skill.

As your business grows, you need different skills beyond your core skill in order to thrive. That skill depends on the type of business model you want to succeed at. Here are some examples of business models and the key skill you need to be outrageously successful.

People-Based Business Model = Leadership

If your business is one of the 25 percent of small businesses that have employees and you have a team that serves customers, then you most likely have a people-based business model. The revenue you earn is dependent on how your people perform and serve clients.

Some examples would be a mid-sized law firm, a nail salon, a marketing agency, and a mid-sized plumbing company. Each one has a team of people that generate revenue.

These people need to be hired, trained, and motivated, and that is where the skill comes in.  If you have a business model like this, you need to excel at leadership, which includes managing people as well as hiring and firing. You need to be great at developing a productive, happy team in order to reach your highest pinnacle of success. Your core skill is still needed, but without leadership skills, you won’t grow as much as you could.

Acquisition-Based Business Model = Negotiation

Some companies grow through acquisition of other companies. In this case, your top skill should be negotiation; you will need to make excellent deals to keep your business growing.

Project-Based Business Model = Project Management

If your job revolves around delivering large projects, such as construction, possibly IT companies, and some real estate, then your business model might be project-based. While knowing how to be a general contractor might be your core skill, your top skill should become project management.

How well you manage the project timeline, delivery of materials, and management of the right number of people with the right skill at the right time all factors into completing the project as quickly and profitably as you can, with the quality needed so you can move to the next one.

Volume-Based Business Model = Merchandising 

If moving high quantities of products or services is your business model, then your revenue depends on volume and how much you can sell. Some examples of these types of firms include grocery stores, software companies, some retail stores, and wholesalers.

How you display and market your products will affect how many customers you can get in the door and how fast you can sell. Your top skill should become merchandising and all things marketing.

Your Top Skill Is No Longer Your Core Skill

These four types of business models serve as a sampling to show that once you achieve some level of success, your core skill will no longer be the keystone to further success. Developing skills beyond your core skill will take you farther than you ever imagined you could go with your business.

Whether we’re headed for a recession or not, it’s always a good time to squeak out more profits from your business books. We’re not talking about drastically slashing expenses or spending a lot to raise revenue; the tips in this article are long-term ideas to gently lift up your profits.

Timing on Capital Purchases

The timing of asset purchases, such as equipment, a truck, or even a PC, can be tricky. Understanding the best timing for asset purchases and replacements can make a difference in your profits.

When purchasing a new asset, gain a good understanding of the return on investment so that you’re prepared from a cash flow standpoint. With more complex businesses, it’s a good idea to hire an accountant who knows your industry and has capital expenditure experience.

When replacing an asset, it should be timed so that the asset is replaced before you have to spend a lot on repairs, but not so soon that you don’t get good use out of it.

Rent and Utility Contracts

When rent and utility contracts come up for renewal, this is the time to bargain. If your landlord hasn’t fixed something, you can at least use pressure to get the repairs accelerated.

For utility contracts, especially internet and phone, the price often goes up when the contract runs out. This is the time to get it lowered back down by asking for a new customer deal (it never hurts to ask!). Communications companies are constantly creating new deals and packages, so you should be able to jump into one of those to keep your costs from going up.

Profit in Leftovers

What assets have you got lying around that aren’t working for you?  Put them to work!

Here are some examples:

1. Cash – make sure your excess cash is safely invested or at least in an interest-bearing account.
2. Extra space – rent out space that you are not using or only using some days. This solution can have many different looks to it beyond the monthly renter. As an example, virtual workers looking for a conference room for a day could be a money-maker for you.
3. Manufacturing firms can sell the scrap from their assembly lines as well as their obsolete inventory.
4. Excess construction materials can be sold, donated, stored for the next job, used on a new small project, or used as firewood.

Training

If employees are wasting time, they are wasting money in the form of salary you pay them. There are three good solutions:

1. Offer training – perhaps they haven’t been shown what to do correctly or how to do it efficiently. Or they may need to break bad habits.
2. Re-energize employees with incentives, new benefits, or motivational training and events.
3. Redesign your processes and automation, then retrain – it could be your workflow needs revamping to make it more efficient.

If these options don’t work, it could be your employee is a bad fit. You know what you have to do in that case.

Stop the Subscriptions

Those recurring monthly charges just keep adding up. The average small business uses dozens of apps, meaning they also likely have dozens of $20 to $50 automatic monthly charges going on a credit card somewhere in your business. This includes magazines, memberships, dues, conferences, newsletters, gadgets, and software.

If you’re making a lot of money, you may have trouble finding the time to research what subscriptions you really need versus what you don’t. But in the long run, you will make more the sooner you sit down and examine this area of spending. Stop the $20 to $50 madness by reassessing what subscriptions you really need and cancelling the ones you don’t.

Try these five ideas to give your profits a permanent, long-term boost.

Every business has competitors of one sort or another, and in many industries, it’s crucial to know what your competition is offering their customers. The good news is you can often find out what your competition is up to, and this is where mystery shoppers come into play.

A mystery shopper is a person who is hired to visit and shop your competitors for the purposes of sharing information about their experience. Mystery shopping is one way to collect input so you can complete a Competitive Analysis – a report on who your competitors are and what they are doing. This report should be part of your marketing plan and will help you spend your marketing dollars wisely.

Let’s say you own a fabric store, and you want to know what other stores in your area are doing. You can make a list of the four or five fabric stores in the three zip codes around you. You would then provide that list to your mystery shopper, who would visit each of the stores. You might also provide your mystery shopper with a list of questions or a checklist of things to observe and/or purchase. The mystery shopper will take detailed notes about their experiences at each place and report their findings back to you.

From your mystery shopper’s notes, you can find out many things:

• How does their storefront look? What is their curb appeal?
• Was it easy to find parking or was it congested?
• What are their opening hours and do they open on time? Are there people waiting to get into the store at opening time? Or do you need an appointment or reservation to use their services?
• Did employees provide a greeting when entering the business? How friendly or approachable are the employees?
• How does the store look? Is it crammed full with items or sparse?
• What kind of displays do they have and how attractive are they?
• Is their inventory broad or deep or both? What type of items and brands do they carry compared to our store? Are there brands, items, or product lines I should be carrying that they do that I don’t?
• If a service firm, what does their waiting area look like? What do their service areas look like?
• Were there a lot of customers in the store? How long are the checkout lines?
• How clean is the store? Do you feel comfortable with the level of cleanliness?
• Taking a sample of items and checking price, how do my prices compare with theirs?
• What was the purchase experience like? Were you offered an upsell or a coupon? What does the checkout area look like? Were customers offered a bag for the items?
• What was it like to return an item? How strict is the return policy, and was the service friendly or hesitant?
• Was there follow-up, such as with email promotions or a thank-you note?

You can also find quite a bit online to supplement your competitor research, but the focus here is on the face-to-face experience.

Mystery shopping is not just for retail; you can use it for professional and personal services, health care, some real estate services, restaurants, trades, and nonprofits. You can also adapt the idea to other industries, such as construction and manufacturing.

Once you have compiled the information on your competitors, you can look for ideas to improve your business that are in line with your own business brand and culture. These improvements are often in the area of customer service, but can also include adding inventory, changing hours, adding store features or events, and more. You may even be able to find ideas to implement at a lower cost than your competitors, giving you an edge on profits.

Where do you find a mystery shopper? You can hire individuals or a company that specializes in providing mystery shoppers. Many people consider a friend for this role to save money, but we don’t recommend it unless they are trained observers with significant customer service experience. You’ll need a budget to pay the shoppers for their time as well as what they will be purchasing on your behalf.

Hiring mystery shoppers provides easy access to your competition and is very often well worth the time and money spent.

Almost every successful business owner craves accountability. We’re wired to respond to crises and to help others, sometimes before we help ourselves. Entrepreneurs are excellent in running their day-to-day businesses, but some need more accountability to meet internal deadlines and long-term goals. Let’s take a look at how we can increase our accountability.

Setting Goals and Deadlines

The first step to being accountable is to have something you want to achieve, and this means setting goals. We all have projects we want to do that haven’t been done for a variety of reasons. Just choose one, and make a timeline of tasks and milestones that you would like to be held accountable for. Mark your calendar for each milestone and the project’s end date. Display your list of milestone dates prominently on your desk or wall where you work. Carve out time to work on your project by blocking out your calendar.

Connect with Your Purpose

Take some time to analyze why you want to complete your project. How does it connect with your business purpose, mission, vision, and values? Document your why and display it prominently next to your milestone list. This will help you stay focused.

Publish Your Goals Publicly

Use social media or another means of communication to share your goals publicly with peers, friends, or co-workers. At this point, it becomes “real” for many entrepreneurs. It’s a big step to put yourself out there. Now you have to do it or face embarrassment and other consequences later. It may feel scary to do it, but this step works!

Consider an Accountability Partner

Some people do very well by partnering with a peer or trusted business person. This can be a mentor, a paid coach, an advisory board, a mastermind group of people, a nonprofit group, a co-working group, a peer, a vendor, an incubator, or an investor. Most experts do not recommend that you choose a friend.

Your relationship can be one-way or two-way. Perhaps you will hold them responsible for something they want to achieve, so that the relationship is reciprocal.

Tell your accountability partner to push you and to be candid and honest. They may need your permission if it’s an informal arrangement. Set meetings in advance every week (or two weeks), where you review your progress and report on your milestones. Allow your partner to point out mistakes, or acknowledge them yourself. Make course corrections, using your partner as a sounding board.

Make sure you are candid and honest as well, focusing on results and not excuses. Know when you’re procrastinating and dig deep to discover why. Often, it can be a lack of resources or time, but coupled with that is usually a mindset issue or simply fear of failure that needs to be brought to the surface.

Celebrate

Celebrate every milestone achieved.  Reward yourself, especially if it’s a project you’ve been putting off for years that is finally getting off the ground. This reinforces positive behavior and creates enthusiasm and momentum.

Beyond Project Accountability

You can use this same formula to achieve accountability in many areas of your business, such as these areas:

• Financial accountability via your accounting firm or financial consultant
• Staffing or supervising accountability via HR consultants or a coach
• Technology accountability, via an IT firm or consultant

This type of accountability makes the functions of your business run better. You can also apply these ideas to your personal life goals.

Accountability can make a tremendous difference in achieving the success you want, so try it and let us know how it’s working for you.