One of the biggest goals that many people have in this country is to start and grow their own business. But, when we go through school and/or college very few places have an “Entrepreneurship 101” course or anything resembling a course on how to open and run your own business. Luckily, some people grow up with parents that are entrepreneurs and they can learn by observing and asking questions along the way. Others work for entrepreneurs and see them on a daily basis running and managing their companies. But, are either of these the best ways to learn how to open and run your own business? Does growing up in an entrepreneurial family or working for an entrepreneur teach you all the steps to opening and running a business? The answer is probably not. And accepting that fact and finding professionals to assist you with overcoming that fact is extremely important.
Whenever I meet with new or aspiring entrepreneurs I give them the same piece of advice, “Figure out what you are good at and that will make you money and out-source the rest.” This is a hard concept for many new entrepreneurs to grasp because they don’t feel like they can afford to outsource anything as they start their business because they have limited funds available and want to spend those funds wisely. What I point out to them at this point is that spending wisely is admirable but how do you know that you are spending that money wisely? “What experience do you have running payroll, bookkeeping, taxes, graphic/website design, SEO, marketing a business or even ordering inventory?” I’ll ask them. A lot of the time the answer is “None or very little.” Then I’ll ask them, “How much do you expect to make on an hourly basis selling your product/service/widget?” They then give me an answer and I tell them that if they can find an out-sourced professional that is cheaper on an hourly basis than the number they just gave me it doesn’t make any sense for them to do that task, especially if they have little or no experience in the past.
There are many options out there today for low or no cost services to help small business owners. These range from subscription services where you pay a minimal monthly fee to become a member and if you need to use the service more fully you get discounted or free services to other local small business owners, like Practical Accounting Solutions, that focus on assisting small business owners with tasks that they are not professionals in, to organizations like SCORE or the Small Business Development Center at the University of Mary Washington.
Practical Accounting Solutions can be your fully out-sourced accounting department. We can assist you with your payroll, bookkeeping, sales/meals/lodging taxes, income taxes and most everything in between. We deal with the IRS, the Virginia Department of Taxation and the Virginia Employment Commission on a regular basis and can assist you with issues you may be having with any of them.
We can also discuss with you the benefits and drawbacks of your entity type for tax purposes (sole proprietor, partnership, S-Corporation or C-Corporation) as well as help you with tax planning and using the tax code to your advantage rather than having the tax code take advantage of you. We price our payroll and bookkeeping services from client to client because every business is different and every business has different needs. The best part is we provide free quotes to every small business owner and the first consultation meeting that we have to discuss all of these things is free.
Why don’t you call us at 540-642-4138 or email us at info@practicalaccountingva.com to set up your consultation today? At most it will take an hour of your time, but it could be one of the most valuable hours that you have taken in the process to opening your own business.
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