Category: Small Business
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Ten tips on how to manage the small business cash flow crisis
Day by day, the real financial impact of the shutdown is sinking in for more Americans. Hardest hit are those who operate a small business. I recognized the early signs of this dramatic impact coming 10 days ago and shifted my tax advisory practice to a small business crisis management practice, drawing on the lessons…
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Ten productive things I can do for my small business during this shutdown: (please share your list for inspiration)
Sharpen my skills on remote communication platforms – Zoom, Skype, Messenger, Face Time – especially for document, web page and screen sharing and group call features. Focus on the online transaction part of the business. Spend more time learning: reading, online courses, podcasts, certification Clean up and organize the supplies and inventory Schedule calls daily…
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First steps in crisis management for small business owners
For many business owners, dealing with a widespread community shutdown like this is brand and previously imagined new territory. I notice that many of the business challenges we face now are similar to what we faced after superstorm Sandy seven years ago. I dug into our past experience plus pulled from advice from our business…
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Small business crisis management starts with strategic communication
This time of crisis brings a need to spend extra time reevaluating our business strategies. This is a critical first step. The world’s major small business service providers like Intuit, Google and banks are already helping their networks of small business advisers offer practical help. I’ve already taken five additional training hours with past week…
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Crisis response message
This short message will go out to business clients ASAP: “Over the past four days I’ve switched my small business advisory practice from cautious planning to full-fledged crisis management. Obviously the intent of this work is to stay ahead of the impact but that is especially difficult with the situation changing by the hour. My…
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QuickBooks Payments Drops PayPal
Beginning next month, PayPal will no longer be available as a payment method when paying an invoice through QuickBooks Payments. This is significant to me (and many other small businesses) because I do most of my invoicing through QuickBooks Payments and make most of my payments through PayPal. Suggestions for other options? We will review…
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Withdrawal of universal support for QuickBooks Online
We all know that business and technology are in a constant state of change. Certainly the small business accounting industry has seen plenty of change in recent years. After years of supporting the transition of private businesses and nonprofits’ accounting platform to QuickBooks Online as the core technology platform, I am withdrawing that universal endorsement.…
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The Real State of the Union
I’ve spent much of my career, now in its 5th decade, focused on addressing the devastating impact of the widening wealth and income inequality gap. I first recognized the problem while working for two Wall Street firms in the middle 1980s. The problem has gotten much worse lately. It is not just an issue of…
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My unlikely ramble into national politics
A reflection on my unlikely journey from neighborhood flood response to construction techniques to national politics. Before 2016 I was not personally active in politics. Yet as a small business owner I financially supported a number of candidates in both parties, typically in small dollar amounts from $250 to $500 per campaign over several decades.…