5 Guidelines for Small Business Success

Guideline #1 Finances: Use a Bookkeeping and Accounting System

Enter receipts weekly in a system that keeps all records in order. Each month, business owners and reps in the field should print records of travel expenses and other reimbursable costs. Hire a qualified bookkeeper to enter the information. It may only take 3 - 5 hours a week (or less) and yet save dozens of hours (and possibly hundreds) in sifting through receipts at tax time.

Guideline #2 Cost to Get Customers

It costs money to obtain customers. But how much money does it take to acquire one customer? The answer will vary but business owners and managers should know roughly the cost of making a sale, completing a proposal, and the advertising or marketing effort that is most likely to generate customers.

Consultants may spend months cultivating a sale while brick-and-mortar operations like toy stores may get a flock of customers when announcing a sale. The consultant needs to add in the cost of driving time, gasoline, and time in writing a proposal while the store will need to add in advertising or the cost of discounting products.

Do existing customers want to purchase again in the next six months to a year? If not, why not? It's more cost effective to have existing customers purchase.

Guideline #3 Taxes and Employee Law

Knowing tax ramifications of decisions and what constitutes an employee from an independent contractor are vital for small business owners. IRS regulations are easy to find on the IRS.gov web site under business.

Guideline #4 Know the Reason for Being in Business

Being in business requires making a profit. Why are you in business? A day spa, for example, may say it's in business to give therapeutic massages. However, it can also say it gives clients a chance to regroup and refresh so they can be more successful in their lives.

Guideline #5 Get Business Advice

There are many ways to get low cost, yet quality business help. In the Los Angeles area, the PACE Business Development Center offers low-cost workshops on topics like online marketing for business, legal issues, and using Quickbooks. Costs may be only $ 35 for most one-session workshops or $ 80 for two-session workshops. See upcoming workshops at http://www.pacelabdc.org

Find employee information on the IRS site at http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/index.html