Tag: business savings

Business Savvy, growing your business, Uncategorized

4 Ways to Save In Running Your Business

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I have found over the years that as business owners are consumed in running their business, often times they don’t know about potential money saving opportunities that are available.

As a Virtual Assistant providing business support services, it’s my job to stay up to date on the latest and greatest techniques, softwares, programs, and…. money saving opportunities that can increase my clients bottom line. Because I am based in Colorado these top “3 Ways to Save” mostly apply to Colorado companies, however most states do have similiar programs available.

Cost Containment Certification

This is a cost savings opportunity available to all businesses in The State of Colorado who pay for Worker’s Compensation. The State rewards businesses who implement a proper safety program that meets the following criteria:

* A safety policy statement
* A safety committee or coordinator
* Posted safety rules
* Consistent safety training
* A designated medical provider
* Claims management procedures
* Once a company receives certification, your workers’ compensation insurance carrier,           will apply a discount to the policy at the next renewal period after certification. A 5                 percent discount is applied to companies with:

* An experience modification rating
* Lower frequency and severity of losses for the most recent policy period      as compared with those from the previous policy period.
* If the company is not eligible for an experience modification rating: The      discount depends on the accident experience during the 12 months                before the renewal date. Discounts are awarded on the number and cost      of accidents and range from 2 percent to 10 percent.

If you have your worker’s compensation insurance through Pinnacol, they provide you with a workbook that walks you through the process as well as providing sample forms. I’ve helped several businesses with the set-up process of their Cost Containment Certification and it can save at a minimum of 5% on your worker’s compensation premiums and more. I had a client saving 13% annually on their premiums.

Enterprise Zone Tax Credit

The State of Colorado provides a range of tax credits available to businesses that are located in what they call Enterprise Zones. You can click on this link to see if you are located in one of these zones, http://choosecolorado.com/doing-business/incentives-financing/ez/. Here are some of the available credits.

EZ – Investment Tax Credit: Providing businesses a tax credit of 3 percent for equipment purchases.

EZ – Job Training: Companies that implement a qualified job-training program for their enterprise zone employees may claim an income tax credit of 12 percent of their eligible training costs.

EZ – New Employee Credit: A tax credit offering businesses $1,100 per new job.

EZ – Agricultural Processing: A tax credit of $500 per new business facility employee may be claimed by business adding value to agricultural commodities through manufacturing or processing.

EZ- Enhanced Rural Enterprise Zone New Employee: Offers $2,000 total per new job for new businesses located within an enterprise zone.

EZ – New Employee Enhanced Ag Processor Credit: Businesses located in an enterprise zone may be eligible for a credit of $500 per new employee, if the business is an agricultural manufacturing or processing business.

EZ – Health Insurance: Offers businesses $1,000 per insured job available for the first two years in state enterprise zones.

EZ – Research and Development Tax Credit: A tax credit for businesses up to three percent, based on the increase of a company’s research and development expenditures within an enterprise zone during the previous two income tax years.

EZ – Vacant Building Rehab: Allows owners or tenants of a building in an Enterprise Zone that is at least 20 years old and that has been completely vacant for at least two years to claim a tax credit of 25 percent of the cost of rehabilitating the building for commercial use, up to $50,000.

EZ – Commercial Vehicle Investment Tax Credit: Offers businesses a state income tax credit up to 1.5 percent on commercial trucks, truck tractors, tractors, or semitrailers, as well as associated parts. Learn more.

EZ – Contribution Projects: Enterprise Zone (EZ) Contribution Projects encourage community participation and public-private partnerships to revitalize EZs. EZ Administrators may propose projects for EZ Project status to implement the economic development plan of that specific EZ. EZ Administrators work with their communities to bring forward proposals that meet the economic development needs, result in job creation/retention and business expansion, and have the support of the community. Colorado taxpayers may earn Colorado income tax credits by contributing to targeted efforts. Learn more.

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Save Energy, Save Money

Throughout the U.S., everyone is interested in saving energy and money. Many local and state governments are offering programs that provide rebates, tax credits, and more. In my area, our county has a group called Garfield Clean Energy. They offer free walk through to business owners, and will help design an energy plan for you, provide coaching, and connect you with contractors. Rebates are available for up to 50% of a cost of project that will save energy according to your energy plan developed. For more information visit, http://www.garfieldcleanenergy.org/com-rebates.html

Complete an Office Systems Audit

Having an office systems audit or analysis completed takes an in-depth look at where you spend money within your business and provides an opportunity to analyze where savings can be implemented. I personally take it a step farther and look at potential increased revenue streams that might be left untapped.

Generally you review your company as a whole; your business structure, products and services offered, your target market, goals, overall efficiency, expectations, employee morale and turnover rates, training, safety, expenses, sales volumes and reports, marketing strategies, a thorough review of policy’s and procedures, processes, softwares, weaknesses, strengths, exit plan, procurement, contracts, and your future outlook.

Savings and increased revenue are almost always located in an Office Systems Audit and with the New Year coming, this might be a terrific resolution to start your New Year off with a bang.

Tina Holtz is a seasoned business professional with more than 20 years of experience in business development, business management, sales, marketing, and procurement. She is the owner of Executive Business Services, LLC and provides virtual assisting and business support services to business owners, entrepreneurs, professionals, and executives. You can reach her at 970-989-8047 or email at tina@execbusinessservices.com – www.execbusinessservices.com

 

Uncategorized, Virtual Assisting

Don’t Hire an Employee. NOT YET!

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First, imagine that just by reading this blog article you could save about $40,000 a year? Hmmmm. Read On.

THE PROBLEM

Over the years I’ve found that the majority of small business owners need help in running their businesses but they just don’t know where to turn. Who do they call? No, not Ghostbusters :), but they should most definitely call a virtual assistant. So where can you find this awesome knowledgable professional who is super biz savvy and can help you with multiple aspects of your business? I could give you my number but I really want business owners to know that there are many virtual assistants out there in the market place just waiting to help you. However, if you do want to call me, I would love the opportunity to speak with you.

Virtual Assistants are popping up everywhere thanks to the wide use of technology. As long as I have a computer and smartphone I can work from anywhere, although I do operate my firm most of the time out of my traditional office space in beautiful Rifle, Colorado.

Truth be told, a Virtual Assistant can save you not only a ton of money, but a ton of headaches too! Believe it or not, you may be thinking you need to a hire a full time in house assistant, or a business development manager, or a marketing/sales person. I’m here to tell you, that you may not need to do that at all.

Imagine that I can save you the headache of advertising costs for the position, time in developing a job description, time in establishing work hours and figuring out how to keep that new employee busy, save you the time for interviewing, checking references, and training. That adds up to quite a bit of an investment, on average these costs total around 10% of the annual salary of that new employee. Which means if your new employee’s salary is $50,000 annually, just to hire that person will cost you around $5,000. That’s before they even really get to work. Plus you have to pay for a desk, a chair, a computer, a phone, office supplies, paid time off, worker’s compensation, unemployment, taxes, benefits, and more! PLUS all the time to track and report that information as well. That employee ends up costing you way more than $50,000 annually.

THE SOLUTION

A Virtual Assistant is a true professional highly experienced in business, not only in day to day adminstrative duties, but can also be highly skilled in many other aspects as well. You want to seek a VA that aligns well with your specific needs. It’s kind of like finding a specialist with doctors, you need to ensure that your VA has the skillset you desire and need.

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Courtesy of http://www.udeserveit.me

A VA is an ideal solution because you only pay for their services as needed. Perhaps you only need 5 hours of assistance this week but need 20 hours next week because you have a project coming up. Not an issue. You NEVER have to worry about paying for all the stuff you do with an employee because a VA is an independent contractor. You just reach out to your VA, tell them what you need, and BAM! you have a delivered result. Most VA’s charge on average around $30.00/hr for their services, so let’s say you use your VA 10 hours a week, that equals $15,600 annually. If you consider your prospective employee’s annual salary plus all the addittional costs, this is about $40,000 savings per year! That is a huge amount of savings and money well spent for your business.

If you’d like to speak more about virtual assisting, please contact me today.

Tina~Miss Executive