Successful Businessman

Small business owners are becoming acutely aware of the importance of establishing business credit scores that are completely separate from their personal credit scores.

In addition, many have found this to be a viable solution to overcome personal credit challenges that prevent them from obtaining credit.

While strong company credit files and scores can open the doors for various types of financing business owners should continue to work on improving personal credit scores as well.

This can benefit their business in several ways:

First, with good credit scores you have more choices for obtaining funding simply from the fact that certain lenders require a personal credit check as part of their approval process.

Secondly, it strengthens the credit picture of your business overall as many lenders will consider your personal credit scores as a strong indicator to how you will handle your company’s financial obligations.

Finally, a potential business partner or investor will look at your personal credit scores as a factor for determining how financially responsible you are.

This alone should bring you to the conclusion that raising credit scores is not only good for your business today but it’s also vital to its long term growth as well.

Here are several strategies that you can apply for increasing your scores:

*Become an Authorized User – If your spouse has an existing aged credit card account then add yourself as an authorized user on that account. As an Au

Read full article…

While all types of entity structures serve a specific purpose forming a Limited Liability Company (LLC) for a small business is growing in popularity. It’s a structure worth looking into from both a tax and asset protection standpoint.

LLCs are great for businesses that:

• Are being used to invest in appreciating assets such as real estate, stocks, bonds or other securities
• Want to have the maximum flexibility to distribute profits and losses amongst owners (called Members)
• Anticipate that all of their Members will live in the United States

LLCs allow you to:

• Have flow through taxation (i.e., the profits and losses flow through to the personal tax returns of the LLC’s Members), avoiding the double-taxation of C Corporations
• Protect the assets of the LLC from lawsuit judgments against individual Members
• Protect your family home and assets without losing the valuable IRS homeowner deduction
• If set up properly, to allow for estate-planning and succession to your children on a tax-free basis through gifting 

Instead of shareholders, a limited liability company (LLC) has members, who either operate the LLC directly or leave it to be managed by a separate group of Managers, or Managing Members.

Members and Managers are protected from liability in the same way that officers, directors and shareholders of corporations are which means that as long as they are acting legally and in the LLCs best interests, they will not be found liable for debts or other liabilities incurred by the LLC. The m

Read full article…

There are quite a bit of obstacles that every aspiring entrepreneur faces as they strive to do all the right things in order to make their dream business a reality.

It can be an overwhelming experience especially if you have limited support, funding and tools at your disposal. Whether you have a product or service to bring to the marketplace careful planning and execution can greatly improve the success of your new venture.

To help you in your preparation I have assembled my top 25 rules which can greatly improve your ability in obtaining the credit your company needs.

1. Select the proper entity structure that best serves the needs of your business.
2. Choose a business name that does not trigger red flags with the business credit bureaus.
3. Assemble a winning financial team that understands the nature of your business and its vision.
4. Avoid selecting a high risk SIC and NAICS classification code for your company.
5. Do not use a P.O.

Read full article…

Kingston, ON – August 9, 2010 – Queen’s School of Business hosts our world’s future international business leaders this week at the 40th Annual Next Generation Leaders (NGL) Forum. The event opens on Saturday, August 7 and runs through to Friday, August 13.

The Next Generation Leaders Forum is recognized globally by JA Worldwide® as the premier international conference for Junior Achievement Youth. This six-day intensive student conference brings together Achievers from around the world and connects them to expert business professors and industry leaders. These JA students are award winners and participants from their local JA Company, Titan, and Globe programs, planning to embark on their post-secondary ambitions with specific interest in business-related careers.

“Queen’s School of Business is proud to be working with JA Canada to inspire and challenge young people to succeed in the world of business,” says David Saunders, Dean,Queen’s School of Business. “As the future l

Read full article…

Small businesses are the “places where most new jobs begin,” President Obama said in his weekly radio address Saturday, a day after announcing new measures to create jobs.

Obama has proposed tax incentives and credits, expanded government loan programs and aid to community banks that he said will help small businesses hire new employees, reported Bloomberg News.

The president’s plan would eliminate capital gains taxes on small businesses in 2010 and give small businesses a $5,000 tax credit for every new job created. In addition, $30 billion from repaid bank bailout money would be distributed to community banks to spur small business lending, said the Associated Press.

The plan would also temporarily increase the cap on Small Business Administration loans from $350,000 to $1 million and expand the SBA program to help refinance commercial real-estate loans, said the AP. All of the proposals would need to be approved by Congress.

Read full article…

Austin is the best city in the country to start a small business, according to a Portfolio.com/bizjournals study.

The Portfolio study analyzed the nation’s 100 largest metro areas, looking for the places that are most conducive to the creation and development of small businesses.

The highest scores in the study went to areas that have prosperous economies, are expanding rapidly, and are densely packed with small businesses. A small business is defined in the survey as any private-sector employer with 99 or fewer employees.

Despite the recession, Austin experienced impressive population, job and small business growth. The number of small businesses in the Texas capital increased 5.6 percent between 2006 and 2007, the latest period covered by official statistics. The typical metro area experienced small-business growth of 1.4 percent, said Portfolio.

The most promising region for entrepreneurs is the South, which is home to 12 of the 20 best metros for small businesses, according to Portfolio.

Rounding out the top five cities are Baton Rouge, La.; last year’s top city, Raleigh, N.C., came in third; Charleston, S.C. was

Read full article…