Business Planning

• Posted in: Business Planning

Jane Austen once wrote “There will be little rubs and disappointments everywhere, and we are all apt to expect too much; but then, if one scheme of happiness fails, human nature turns to another; if the first calculation is wrong, we make a second better.” Such an (eventually) optimistic philosophy is good to have in […]

• Posted in: Asset Protection

The Wall Street Journal says that family limited partnerships are finding renewed favor as an estate planning tool, thanks to recent tax-court decisions. In an article entitled “Covering Your Assets” Journal writer Mark Klimek asserts that despite some IRS opposition, tax court rulings in recent years have endorsed the use of FLPs when they are […]

• Posted in: Business Planning

We live in anxious economic times, but it’s not all bad. If you’re a small business owner, or if you’ve been thinking about starting a small business, you may be in exactly the right place. According to Stephanie Chen of CNN.com, this may be the perfect time to take the leap you’ve been thinking about […]

• Posted in: Business Planning

Big corporations may be laying off employees in distressingly record numbers, but big corporations are not the only employers in the U.S.—as long as we have our small business community, all may not be lost. According to this article on Reader’s Digest.com, small businesses are taking the economic downturn in stride, and in some cases […]

• Posted in: Business Planning

It used to be that people stayed at one company—one job—for their whole lives. Employers were benevolent, and almost part of the family; took care of families, once upon a time, offering health care coverage, life insurance, retirement packages… all this and an annual company picnic to boot! As we all know, the world is […]

• Posted in: Business Planning

It takes a certain type of person to be a successful small business owner; someone resourceful, optimistic, and willing to work hard and take risks. People with these qualities aren’t going to feel daunted by a recession or slow economy.  In fact, some will even look with relish upon the challenge it presents.  One recent […]

• Posted in: Business Planning

Small business owners are some of the hardest working people I’ve ever met.  They not only take their work and their clients seriously, they take them to heart . . . sometimes to their detriment. Yes, hard-working small business owners can take on too much.  They give up family time and workout time; they lose […]

• Posted in: Business Planning

Most of our small business clients probably already know that the federal minimum wage increased this week from $5.85 to $6.55 an hour. The increase is the second in a three-step process to bring the minimum wage to $7.25 an hour next year.  In California, the minimum wage was increased to $8 an hour on Janunary […]

• Posted in: Business Planning

“Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family . . . in another city” — George Burns I just returned from a nice visit with my parents and brothers who live in beautiful San Francisco area. To those who start hyperventilating at the mere thought of a family reunion it’s almost inconceivable that there […]

• Posted in: Business Planning

Some of our clients are business owners and the hot months from June to August, can be an excruciatingly slow period for some of them. They experience a slow summer slump while their client base goes off on vacation or relaxes at the beach. But rather than viewing this time with dread, why not look […]