Actual for You - Business

Quick Tip - Shushing a Loud Cell Phone Talker
Janet, one of my clients from Chicago, recently asked my advice on dealing with people who talk loudly on their cell phones while in public. I know I’ve been guilty of this offense before as my voice tends to project very well and sometimes I forget that I don’t need to speak very loudly for my phone to pick it up.Sometimes, like when you’re in a movie theater, any kind of loud cell phone talking needs to be quieted immediately and the most direct way is the best. But often in public, you may feel a bit awkward telling a stranger to mute him or herself.The other day at the gym, I found myself in this second scenario. I was on a treadmill with my headphones on. Despite the noise of the machine and my music, I could easily make out the cell phone conversation of a woman who was on nearby treadmill. She wasn’t directly next to me so she wouldn’t have heard a, “shush,” sent in her direction. I decided to try to use a different approach to the situation.After I finished my workout, I walked over to the woman, who by then had ended her call. I leaned in and whispered, “We have something in common.”She looked at me a bit puzzled and I added, “We both tend to talk a bit loudly on our cell phones. It’s always getting me in trouble.”The lady then nodded with understanding. “Thanks

· Minimum wage laws (in some states certain jobs do have a minimum pay rate).
· Race, national origin, color, religion, gender, etc. laws.
· The right to form or promote a union.
· Family leave time.

In states where permitted, employees can sue for wrongful termination, but such laws only protect independent contractors if a contract was breached and that breach can be proven.

Why Wouldn’t You Want to Hire an Independent Contractor

It sounds as if it is the best of all possible words to use independent contractors instead of employees, but you need to look at the other side of the coin to be sure that is true for you and your company. Let’s consider some of elements that must be factored into your final decision.

Independence Is a Key Reason People Become Independent Co

Who's Watching Your Money? 7 Tips For Hiring The Right Bookkeeper
While I’m a strong advocate of hiring virtual assistants, there are two things that no entrepreneur should ever fully delegate: marketing and bookkeeping. The marketing and the bookkeeping of your business can easily make or break you (just think “new” Coke and Enron). That said, if bookkeeping is not your forte, hire someone to do it – you will save so much in frustration – just be sure to keep your fingers in the books.If you choose to hire a bookkeeper, keep the following in mind:1. Get QuickBooks.For ease of use, I highly recommend using QuickBooks and hiring a QuickBooks ProAdvisor. QuickBooks ProAdvisors have taken certification exams to insure that they know the system. I have used QuickBooks both for myself and my clients since 1996 and highly recommend it for its ease of use/understanding.The online version is great in that you can see the latest version of your books at any time and eliminate the annoyance of emailing files back and forth and wondering who has the latest version.2. She must see both the forest AND the trees.You want your bookkeeper to be detail-oriented AND to see/understand the big picture. She needs to know what happens consistently – every month – and update your books without bothering you for items she should know

There are many pros and cons that must be considered by those thinking of hiring independent contractors, and if those are not factored into the hiring decision, there may well be legal consequences. Of course, it is always wise to go over your plans with your attorney, so this article is not to be construed as legal advice but rather some business alerts that need to be considered before making a decision.

Of course, the first thing to do is to consider the job that is to be done, the duration of the assignment, the pros and cons of choosing a permanent employee and the pros and cons of hiring an independent contractor. Then, you need to make certain that your classification decision will hold up if it is challenged by either your state’s or the federal auditors.

Why Would You Want to Hire an Independent Contractor?

The reason that drives most companies to decide to hire independent contractors is a simple one – money. There is no doubt that there is a definite financial advantage, and in most cases, the company does save money for a wide variety of reasons. Let’s consider some of the expenses that are almost always incurred when a regular employee holds a position.

· There is the 7.6% of the employee’s total pay that will be your share of the Social Security
and Medicare taxes. Obviously, this cost is one that cannot be avoided. · There is also state unemployment compensation insurance to cover, and that amount will vary from state to state. But, it must be considered and cannot be avoided.
· There is also worker’s compensation insurance to be paid.
· If you provide health benefits, then that figure must be identified and factored into your analysis.
· Retirement is another cost that is often ignored when the hiring analysis is being done, but if retirement is offered in one form or another, it must also be considered and added into the equation.

Actually, those who have researched compensation, tell us that in most companies the compensation package often equals 33 1/3%+ of the annual salary of a given employee. This figure must also be added to your payroll cost.

Flexibility Is A Major Factor

There are a number of reasons why employers want the flexibility that staffing with independent contractors can give them::

· Seasonal work patterns.
· Fluctuating workloads for various reasons.
· Specific tasks that need to be accomplished but not on an ongoing basis.
· Freedom from legal problems if it is necessary to let the worker go.
· Workforce expansion and contraction as needed or wanted.
· Specialized skills provide greater flexibility and also immediate productivity.
· Reduction in training time and related costs.

Fewer “Rights” Issues

Independent Contractors do have protection under some laws, but the rights guaranteed to the employee are far greater in number and can result in numerous legal claims that are both monetarily costly and time drains. Because Independent Contractors are not employees but self-employed business people, there are fewer laws to consider. For example, the independent contractors are not covered (at least only to a very limited extent if at all) by the following laws:

In states where permitted, employees can sue for wrongful termination, but such laws only protect independent contractors if a contract was breached and that breach can be proven.

Why Wouldn’t You Want to Hire an Independent Contractor

Independence Is a Key Reason People Become Independent Con

Six Figure Success: How Coaches Can Build the Ideal Business and Profits
Every consultant has had the feeling: the conviction that your own private service practice is your true calling. Your passion quest. Yet, the mundane details of actually running a business make even the most inspired business person ask whether the choice was the right one… The monthly budget. The humble billings. The everyday drudgery of start-up entrepreneurs.These modest beginnings lead many to question their own value.So how can you develop a six-figure service practice without taking on too many clients or pricing yourself out of the market?In the service professional industry especially, the ‘emergence' phase is the riskiest period. We all can feel a lot of stress when trying to establish our reputation and achieve high profits. Burnout is an ever-present danger. The blazing speed of today's work culture adds to the feelings of guilt.It's time to escape the guilt and master your business potential.The secret to Six Figure Success is a strong business foundation and a great reputation. In my work with clients, I have identified a series of tactics to build on the business foundation and reputation mantra. The methodology I use is tried-and-true and will produce financial results when worked into your business action plan. These things take time, but a consistent, systematic

ndependent Contractor?

Flexibility Is A Major Factor

There are a number of reasons why employers want the flexibility that staffing with independent contractors can give them::

Fewer “Rights” Issues

In states where permitted, employees can sue for wrongful termination, but such laws only protect independent contractors if a contract was breached and that breach can be proven.

Why Wouldn’t You Want to Hire an Independent Contractor

Independence Is a Key Reason People Become Independent Co

Lucrative Joint Venture Questions
When you ask the right Joint Venture questions, you open the vault to riches. People like to talk about themselves, their goals and their problems. When we help them make their dreams come true and offer solutions for their problems, we all win and everyone makes money. Savvy Joint Venture Brokers know that it’s all about the right approach. Here are five powerful approaches that you can use, today, to make real money, real fast.1. What do I have to create, bring to you or offer you in order for you to write me a check for $2,000 per month / $10,000?2. What do you want, more than anything else, in your life and your business, and why?3. If I was to bring you business and customers that you don’t have and would not have had, what percentage of the gross sales would you offer me?4. If I could show you how to make money from your existing resources, with no cost or risk to yourself and without any time spent, would you share the resulting profits with me?5. If I could double the amount of people in your restaurant, given that you have a 32% food cost and all your overheads and fixed costs are already covered, would you pay me 20% of every bill I generated?If you help other people to get what they want, you will get what you want. And by asking the right, open-ended questions

e health benefits, then that figure must be identified and factored into your analysis.
· Retirement is another cost that is often ignored when the hiring analysis is being done, but if retirement is offered in one form or another, it must also be considered and added into the equation.

Flexibility Is A Major Factor

There are a number of reasons why employers want the flexibility that staffing with independent contractors can give them::

Fewer “Rights” Issues

In states where permitted, employees can sue for wrongful termination, but such laws only protect independent contractors if a contract was breached and that breach can be proven.

Why Wouldn’t You Want to Hire an Independent Contractor

Independence Is a Key Reason People Become Independent Co

Electronic Contract Manufacturing
Companies that design, assemble, produce, and test electronic components and assemblies for original equipment manufacturers are known as electronic manufacturing services.The original equipment manufacturers, commonly termed as OEMs, retain the ownership of the said product designs and brand names. Electronic Manufacturing services sometimes branch out into contract electronic manufacturers, and specialize in rapid prototyping and product testing.Electronic manufacturing services offer large, small or medium production runs. The materials can be built from consignment, vendor-owned or customer supplied materials.Some electronic manufacturing services offer design services like conceptual product development advice, software, and mechanical and electrical design assistance.Various other electronic manufacturing services have testing abilities and can perform in-circuit, environmental, functional, analytical laboratory and agency compliance testing.They use several processes and manufacturing technologies. Some of them provide printed circuit boards, connected populated boards or assembly services into larger assemblies. Other products that can be made are flexible printed circuit boards, rigid boards and rigid-flexible circuit boards.Some vendors specialize in optoelectron

d but not on an ongoing basis.
· Freedom from legal problems if it is necessary to let the worker go.
· Workforce expansion and contraction as needed or wanted.
· Specialized skills provide greater flexibility and also immediate productivity.
· Reduction in training time and related costs.

Fewer “Rights” Issues

In states where permitted, employees can sue for wrongful termination, but such laws only protect independent contractors if a contract was breached and that breach can be proven.

Why Wouldn’t You Want to Hire an Independent Contractor

Independence Is a Key Reason People Become Independent Co

Expecting Your Staff to Multitask? It's Not Necessarily a Good Idea
Multitasking became a popular corporate buzzword in the mid-nineties, and now job ads routinely include the phrase "ability to multitask." For both support staff and management, juggling multiple responsibilities in the course of a day is expected, and employees who don't succeed in this juggling act rarely last long.However, more and more information suggests that multitasking, rather than being efficient and effective, more often than not results in outcomes that are far from optimum. Rather than doing one task at a time extremely well, many workers accomplish a lot in a day but with a significant drop in the quality of work. Executives that sit in on meetings and spend the time going over their plans for the day probably aren't going to retain all the information that was imparted in the meeting, and probably haven't planned their day as well as they could have if they'd taken a few quiet minutes to themselves, without interruptions.Is there a more effective alternative to multitasking? Yes! A combination of organization and scheduling can handle most routine tasks, whether at a management level or for support staff. Organizing needed information, both paperwork and electronic files, to allow easy access saves tim

In states where permitted, employees can sue for wrongful termination, but such laws only protect independent contractors if a contract was breached and that breach can be proven.

Why Wouldn’t You Want to Hire an Independent Contractor

Independence Is a Key Reason People Become Independent Contractors

Independent contractors see themselves as independent business owners, and they are. You cannot oversee their work nor dictate the approaches they use in the same way you would for an employee. Let’s look at some of those differences:

· They, not you, decide the best way to operate and perform. If you do interfere in the process, you may well have the IRS deciding that you have an employer-employee relationship with the person. Of course, that means that all of the costs outlined above are now going to be incurred for this individual or these individuals. (One of the major companies in the Silicon Valley learned this to their horror when they identified their trainers as independent contractors but required that corporate training materials be used, that the trainers maintain a given work schedule, and provided them with offices, phones, etc. The IRS stepped in and disallowed several years’ worth of deductions).

· When you enter into a contract with an independent contractor, that contract is binding on both the contractor and your company unless one or the other party violates its terms. Although you may well have a right to fire an employee, such is not the case with an independent contractor unless he/she violates the contract.

· Although you can reassess assignments, and the employee’s assignments can shift and change, you do not have that option when dealing with an independent contractor whose services are outlined and limited by the terms of the written agreement. If you decide you want other duties performed and fire the independent contractor when those duties are not performed, you may well be liable for damages.

Medical Coverage

Unless you carry a very unusual policy, it is highly unlikely that an independent contractor would be covered on your policy, yet workers’ compensation coverage would take care of any employee who is injured on the job. Of course, in return for that coverage, the employee gives up his/her right to sue you for any injuries incurred. Such is not the case with independent contractors who can sue for damages if they are injured on the job because of your carelessness. (Years ago my company was sued when the independent contractor claimed that due to our carelessness, furniture had been placed in her way causing her to fall and injure her back. Since no one was present when she fell, we were found guilty and made to pay ongoing medical expenses until we learned that the employee had been practicing this ploy for a number of years. We were released from liability. However, we were out thousands of dollars before it was over, there was no insurance coverage, and the cost of suing her for the monies was greater than the loss. We then had to get the contract voided through legal channels.)

Copyrights – Yours or Theirs?

Work done by an employee on company time (and sometimes during off hours) belongs to the employer. Such is not the case when such work is created by an independent contractor unless there is an agreement between you and the independent contractor providing for the work done to be copyrighted under your or the company’s name. A number of companies build that language into their agreements. (For example, a ma

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