Beyond 401(k)s for Small Business Owners. A Practical Guide to Incentive, Deferred Compensation, and Retirement Plans

A practical approach to better customer experience through service design Service Design for Business helps you transform your customer's experience and keep them engaged through the art of intentional service design. Written by the experts at Livework, this practical guide offers a tangible, effective approach for better responding to customers' needs and demands, and provides concrete strategy that can be implemented immediately. You'll learn how taking a design approach to problem solving helps foster creativity, and how to apply it to the real issues that move businesses forward. Highly visual and organized for easy navigation, this quick read is a handbook for connecting market factors to the organizational challenge of customer experience by seeing your company through the customers' eyes. Livework pioneered the service design industry, and guides organizations including Sony, the British Government, Volkswagen Procter & Gamble, the BBC, and more toward a more carefully curated customer experience. In this book, the Livework experts show you how to put service design to work in your company to solve the ongoing challenge of winning with customers. Approach customer experience from a design perspective See your organization through the lens of the customer Make customer experience an organization-wide responsibility Analyze the market factors that dovetail with customer experience design The Internet and other digital technology has brought the world to your customers' fingertips. With unprecedented choice, consumers are demanding more than just a great product—the organizations coming out on top are designing and delivering experiences tailored to their customers' wants. Service Design for Business gives you the practical insight and service design perspective you need to shape the way your customers view your organization.

This is the workbook to be used in conjunction with Understanding Business Valuation, Fifth Edition, covering various valuation approaches, methods, and techniques. This fifth edition simplifies a technical and complex area of practice with real-world experience and examples.

Nowadays, letters, reports and emails are vital components of business practice. Communication is increasingly global, but it’s not any easier to understand or contribute to for non-fluent English speakers. There is increasing pressure to be able to produce effective documents for a business environment but little help out there to do so efficiently, resulting in wasted time and uncomfortable business communication. This book provides a wealth of practical information for any person who aims to produce short, effective documents within the work environment. It offers sensible, valuable and helpful rules for producing effective short reports, memos, letters and e-mails that are clear, concise and easy to read for the busy manager or supervisor working in the demanding setting of modern industry or commerce. But it goes further: not only are rules provided for the inexperienced business writer, but models are proposed which provide solutions for a whole host of business situations – providing help, support and encouragement for the many thousands of business writers who need to feel confident in their writing.

The guide for marketing a small business on Facebook The number one social networking site offers the opportunity to reach more than 350 million registered users with your advertising message. Owners of small and local businesses will benefit from these tips and best practices provided by Facebook insiders. Learn new ways to attract customers, create a business profile, and take advantage of Facebook’s many marketing features. With more than 350 million registered users, Facebook opens a worldwide forum for small businesses that were once dependent on local traffic alone This guide to small business marketing on Facebook, is packed with information from Facebook’s staff Guides you through creating a profile for your business, taking advantage of Facebook’s unique marketing features, following best practices, and getting the best return on your investment Packed with insider tips and creative marketing ideas If you have a small or local business, you can’t go wrong with the marketing advice in The Facebook Guide to Small Business Marketing.

Successful ownership transition requires effective decision making at the top Engaged Ownership is the definitive owner's guide to the family enterprise. Whether you're taking over a family business, family office, or trust, this book shows you how to work effectively with the management and board to keep the enterprise moving in the right direction. The first guide of its kind written from the owner's perspective, this book is designed to help owners who are truly committed to growing all forms of capital be successful in their role. You'll learn the time-tested process that helps you 'unstick' decision-making, become engaged and effective, and manage the transfer from owner control to shared ownership while minimizing risk. Improve communication and relationships with the board, and ensure that every stakeholder understands your strategies and vision for the future. You'll allay the fears that frequently accompany ownership transfers, and inspire a sense of teamwork that leads to sustainable success generation after generation. As the Baby Boomers retire, business founders and entrepreneurs worldwide are transferring ownership of privately held enterprises to their children in record numbers. It can be a complex and difficult-to-navigate time for everyone involved. This book helps you smooth the way to a successful transition, and transcend the owner's traditionally passive role. Learn to work effectively with management and the board Get everyone on the same page in terms of vision and direction Build relationships that lead to forward-thinking decision making Succeed in the ownership role by bringing your expertise to the fore Ownership transfer often triggers a radical change in family enterprise, and if poorly managed, can turn a business in the wrong direction. Engaged Ownership shows you how to build a dynamic and effective partnership with trustees, board, and management, and become a successful steward of the family's financial, human, social, and operational capital.

Whether you're a budding entrepreneur or you already own a small business, The Small Business Success Guide will help you fast-track your business on the ride from good to great. The Small Business Success Guide is brimming with practical ideas and proven strategies to make your small business a winner. Including inspiration and guidance from some of Australia's leading small business experts, this handy resource has the answers to turn your dream into a profitable reality. Inside, you'll discover how to: get your business foundations right manage your people power pump up sales and marketing volumes use the web effectively take the hard work out of accounting nut out the legals and logistics.

The non-technical guide to building a booming tech-enabled business Thinking of starting a technology-enabled business? Or maybe you just want to increase your technology mojo so you can do your job better? You do not need to learn programming to participate in the development of today’s hottest technologies. But there are a few easy-to-grasp foundation concepts that will help you engage with a technical team. Starting a Tech Business explains in practical, actionable terms how to formulate and reality test new ideas package what you learn into frameworks that are highly actionable for engineers understand key foundation concepts about modern software and systems participate in an agile/lean development team as the ‘voice of the customer’ Even if you have a desire to learn to program (and I highly recommend doing whatever unlocks your ‘inner tinkerer’), these foundation concepts will help you target what exactly you want to understand about hands-on technology development. While a decade ago the barriers to creating a technology-enabled business required a pole vault, getting started today only requires a determined step in the right direction. Starting a Tech Business supplies the tools prospective entrepreneurs and business enterprises need to avoid common pitfalls and succeed in the fast-paced world of high-tech business. Successful execution requires thoughtful, evidence-based product formulation, well-articulated design, economic use of systems, adaptive management of technical resources, and empathetic deployment to customers. Starting a Tech Business offers practical checklists and frameworks that business owners, entrepreneurs, and professionals can apply to any tech-based business idea, whether you’re developing software and products or beginning a technology-enabled business. You’ll learn: 1. How to apply today’s leading management frameworks to a tech business 2. How to package your product idea in a way that’s highly actionable for your technical team 3. How to ask the right questions about technology selection and product architecture 4. Strategies to leverage what your technology ecosystem has to offer 5. How to carefully define the roles on your team, and then effectively evaluate candidates 6. The most common disconnects between engineers and business people and how to avoid them 7. How you can apply process design to your tech business without stifling creativity 8. The steps to avoid the most common pitfalls tech founders encounter Now is one of the best times to start a technology-enabled business, and anyone can do it with the right amount and kind of preparation. Starting a Tech Business shows you how to move a product idea to market quickly and inexpensively—and to tap into the stream of wealth that a tech business can provide.

The tax facts and strategies every small business owner should know Owning a small business is a big responsibility. While many small business owners seek to improve their bottom line, few realize all the ways that both current and new tax laws can help them do so. With J.K. Lasser's Small Business Taxes 2006 you can learn how. J.K. Lasser's Small Business Taxes 2006 gives you a complete overview of small business tax planning in a straightforward and accessible manner. Focusing on strategies that help you use deductions effectively, shield business income, and maximize other aspects of small business taxes, this practical guide will show you how your actions in business today can affect your bottom line from a tax perspective tomorrow. In this fully updated volume, you'll find: * Detailed coverage of new tax laws and IRS rules * Planning strategies that can help you run a tax-smart business all year long * Comprehensive information on each deductible expense, including dollar limits and record-keeping requirements * Clear instructions on where to report income and claim deductions on your tax forms * Sample forms and checklists to help you prepare for tax time * Help with state taxes and a guide to information returns you may need to file * Planning strategies that can help you run a tax-smart business all year long Filled with in-depth insight and practical advice, J.K. Lasser's Small Business Taxes 2006 proves you don't have to be a tax expert to make smart tax decisions.

The tax facts and strategies that every small business owner needs to know Owning a small business is a big responsibility. While all small business owners seek to improve their bottom line, few realize all the ways that both current and new tax laws can help them do so. With J.K. Lasser?s Small Business Taxes 2012, you?ll quickly discover how. Written in a straightforward and accessible style, this reliable resource offers a complete overview of small business tax planning and provides you with the information needed to make tax-smart decisions throughout the year. Focusing on strategies that help you use deductions and tax credits effectively, shield business income, and maximize other aspects of small business taxes, this practical guide will show you how your actions in business today can affect your bottom line from a tax perspective tomorrow. Includes detailed coverage of the newest tax laws and IRS rules Reveals strategies that can help you run a tax-smart business all year long Contains comprehensive information on each deductible expense, including dollar limits and record-keeping requirements Offers clear instructions on where to report income and claim deductions on your tax forms Includes a free online supplement at JKLasser.com, which contains up-to-the-minute tax law changes Other titles by Barbara Weltman: J.K. Lasser?s 1001 Deductions & Tax Breaks 2012 Making the right tax moves can make your business better. Let J.K. Lasser?s Small Business Taxes 2012 show you how, with strategies and advice that will help you understand and plan for both today?s and tomorrow?s tax laws.

Get inspired to build a profitable business with this essential guide In the latest edition of this bestselling and authoritative reference, Small Business For Dummies explains how to set your business on the path for success. Using this guide, you'll discover how to nurture your entrepreneurial spirit, build a winning edge over your competitors, and respond to the increasing challenges of everyday business. From the basics of setting up a budget to working out your exit plan, this book explains how to grow a profitable business that responds quickly to opportunities. You’ll learn how to identify what's different about your business, and how you can use this knowledge to build your brand and generate above-average profits. This new edition also covers: Using business plans to stay one step ahead Building positive teams and managing employees Creating financial projections that actually work Attracting the kind of customers you really want Expanding your online presence Whether you're a small business veteran or new to the game, this guide provides practical advice and inspirational guidance for every step along the way.