According to CNBC, cybercriminals are targeting small businesses. The average cost of the attack to the small business is $200,000.

In an age of ongoing digital transformation, cybercrime has quickly become today’s fastest-growing form of criminal activity. 

Read the article on CNBC

Before becoming a C-corp or an LLC, small businesses might want to consider becoming an S-corp, reports CPA Practice Adviser. 

With all the decisions your clients are expected to make when starting a business, which legal structure to choose might not get as much consideration as it should.

Read the article on CPA Practice Adviser

Small businesses lending is up, reports Forbes. Big banks are approving 28% of all small businesses applications, while smaller banks are approving 50%. 

Approval rates for small business loan applications rose to another post-recession record (27.9%) at big banks ($10 billion+ in assets), while approval percentages also stayed above 50% at small banks in September, according to the latest Biz2Credit Small Business Lending Index™

Read the article on Forbes

According to CNBC, U.S. companies are finding ways to keep their supply chains flowing with the new tariffs.  

The sweeping tariffs imposed on China for its alleged unfair trade practices was intended to set right imbalances that put U.S. companies at a disadvantage

Read the Article on CNBC

The combination of vision, gumption and hard work can bring small businesses to life. Keeping them going, however, can be more of a challenge, especially if management doesn't have a solid handle on financial reporting. That begins with accurate, timely and dedicated tracking of financial transactions and proper handling of various tasks that are essential for a business to thrive, such as invoicing customers, managing payroll and paying the firm's bills on time.

This responsibility is typically the job of someone with accounting or bookkeeping experience. Very often with small businesses, it ends up being one more thing that the owner takes on. For many, it's a task they're not exactly well equipped to do properly, even with the aid of online financial tracking software.

More than 40% of U.S. small business owners consider themselves financially illiterate, according to a study conducted by Intuit and Decipher Market Research. The same study found that 81% elect to handle their business' finances themselves.

Whether you have a financial professional on the job or are a business owner wading your way through, adopt these strategies to improve how you manage your firm's financial accounts and avoid costly bookkeeping mistakes.

Insist on Accuracy

Without accurate tracking of your business' activity, bookkeeping is of little use and can lead to costly problems like being late on bills and falling short on payroll. It can also complicate your ability to comply with tax laws.

To avoid this, insist on accuracy with every transaction from the person tasked with maintaining your books. Ask for weekly updates so that you can spot any problems before they get out of hand.

If you find an error, it's essential to get in the habit of fixing any discrepancies right away. It’s important to reconcile your accounts regularly because even a small error can become a needless distraction when it comes time to close out your books at the end of the month. Addressing errors quickly also ensures you have an accurate view of how your business is doing.

Using an integrated accounting system can simplify this process by handling a lot of the record tracking automatically. A key benefit of an integrated system is that you can more easily capture a comprehensive view of your business' costs, which is essential to growing and staying profitable.

Don't Mix Personal and Business Accounts

Mixing business and personal transactions often happens in the early days of a business, but it can become troublesome when it comes to keeping the firm's books in order.

It can make it more challenging to sort out your personal from business transactions, which could lead to missing an expense that you could list as a business deduction, for example. Blurring the line on your accounts can also be a problem when you apply for a business loan or line of credit as lenders expect an accurate tally of your business' finances when they consider a loan application.

Simplify how you or your bookkeeper tracks your business spending by opening a business bank account that you don't use for personal transactions. A business credit card can also be useful in that it often comes with highly detailed and accurate records of your transactions, which you can sync with your bookkeeping software.

Optimize Your Invoicing

Tracking when revenue is supposed to come in and when it actually arrives is a crucial aspect of bookkeeping. If your customers are accustomed to paying your invoices late, it can be challenging to rely on your accounts receivable figures to manage your cash flow.

It’s important to have your bookkeeper invoice your customers immediately after you've delivered on your end of the transaction. Use email or bookkeeping software that can send invoices directly. Tools like FINSYNC’s cash flow management system can send out invoices, as well as manage and forecast cash flow, among various other accounting tasks.

Maybe It's Time to Hire a Pro?

The do-it-yourself approach to bookkeeping may not be the best approach for your business, especially if you aren't able to set aside enough time to stay on top of your books, or if you're not comfortable navigating accounting software.

In that case, why not hire a professional bookkeeper? They will help minimize errors and give you peace of mind that your accounts are balanced properly.

Consider hiring a bookkeeper licensed by the National Association of Certified Public Bookkeepers. They mainly record your business' financial transactions, typically on an industry standard accounting software. Look for someone who is experienced and detail-oriented. They should also be comfortable using the latest online bookkeeping software.

Finding someone with online reviews is always a good idea so you can get a sense of intangibles not readily visible on a resume, such as work ethic, temperament and performance under pressure. Another differentiating point when deciding whom to hire should be whether the person has experience in your industry.

If you can't afford a full-time bookkeeper, hire one who will work remotely on a freelance basis. Some 14% of companies outsource their bookkeeping services, according to a survey of small businesses by Wasp Barcode Technologies.

A number of virtual bookkeeping marketplaces make it easy to find skilled financial professionals. Going with a virtual bookkeeper also costs less, because you don't have to pay for health insurance, sick days or other benefits. FINSYNC's virtual community of specialists provides businesses with support for bookkeeping, as well as accounting, human capital management, financial analysis and corporate strategy.

More Bookkeeping Best Practices

Get ahead of potential tax complications by ensuring you track employees accurately, depending upon whether they’re full time or freelance. You may also want to hire a company to process your payroll. They can make certain that you’re in compliance with employee tax withholding requirements.

Set aside time to do your bookkeeping tasks every week. It'll keep you from falling behind and losing track of something crucial. Using a business credit card can also help optimize this process because it automatically tracks spending.

Review whether your accounts are well organized. Bookkeeping can yield great insight into how your business is operating just by looking at your accounts, but only if they are organized efficiently.

Consider grouping any accounts that are part of your business' general expenses, such as the electric bill, rent and similar costs that go toward keeping your business running. Then, do the same for marketing, advertising and other expenses incurred as part of selling your goods or services.

This will help you more efficiently see how much of your revenue is going toward basic expenses that you may want to reduce or cut, and how much you're paying to win over customers.

Ensure that you have systems in place to regularly back up all of your bookkeeping files daily. Using cloud storage is ideal and easy enough to do so that if something happens to one of your devices, you’re covered.

Rely on technology to track employee hours. Time-tracking software has many benefits over the old-school timecard approach. For bookkeeping purposes, the biggest plus is it eliminates duplication of data entry and allows a clearer and more accurate snapshot of your labor costs, including any overtime. All of this data can be used in conjunction with payroll software to streamline your payroll process. 

Consider handling your bookkeeping on software that links up all your firm's accounts online. The key benefit here is to help you manage your business with a real-time view of your finances, which can save you time and money.

Eddie Davis is the VP of Business Development for FINSYNC, a consolidated cash flow management platform focused on helping businesses grow. FINSYNC’s intuitive online tools help automate payments and accounting, and provide valuable insight through cash flow analysis. The lending network gives businesses access to fast, affordable financing. FINSYNC’s virtual community of specialists provides unrivaled support with bookkeeping, accounting, human capital management, financial analysis and corporate strategy. Connect with Eddie on LinkedIn and follow @FINSYNC on Twitter.

It’s no secret that over half of small businesses close their doors within the first five years. One of the critical problems that often occur has little to do with the innovation, ingenuity, or work ethic of the small business owners themselves, but rather the lack of access to sufficient capital to cover the ebbs and flows of their operation and its associated costs. Scaling any idea or enterprise, to me, is less often about “entrepreneurship” —and other catchy terms we can print on a business card— and more about meeting the demands of others, like payroll and customer expectations. Simply put: small business owners need capital resources— they need cash.

Historically, small businesses have had limited options to access capital: savings, friends and family, credit cards, traditional bank loans, or the occasional SBA loan. Enter the financial crisis of 2008-2009, which ushered in a new regulatory environment that contracted these historic capital resources, thereby creating the market-driven need and demand for non-traditional banking options.

Consequently, we find ourselves operating in a new era, one in which enterprising nonbank funders have brought novel and different capital products to the small business market. This has been largely accomplished through an ambitious mix of fintech and financial innovation. These previously unavailable financing options give small businesses more resources to consider than ever before. Now their next step is to explore them and consider how their small business might decide on the best option for their specific needs.

As we contemplate these innovations, here’s a quick list of some of the best financing options available to small businesses in 2019:

1 Business Term Loans: Best for businesses looking for working capital, equipment purchases, or to purchase inventory or other fixed assets. For short-term loans, it can often be matched to a specific project and repaid to coincide with the completion of that project in 6 to 12 months. For longer-term loans, the repayment can be stretched out to 3 to 10 years, but these often require higher levels of collateral coverage or a personal guaranty by the business owner.

Pros: Great product for larger one-time investments with targeted cash flow that payments can be matched. 

Cons: Larger dollar amounts and a longer payback term will require increased time, energy (think: bank meetings and interviews), and documentation.

2 Equipment Financing: Best for one-off purchases like restaurant equipment and machinery.

Pros: no upfront spend; if the business owner has impaired credit the fact an asset is involved as collateral can make it easier vs. purchasing the equipment; and tax-deductible. 

Cons: Overall cost is usually more expensive in the long-run; cost inclusive of fees if the lease is terminated early can be substantial; and must take into account all terms and conditions that can be complicated (who handles and addresses a break-down in the equipment? etc).

3 Small Business Administration (SBA) Loan: Best for business owners who need capital for a variety of longer-term business expenses. It is government guaranteed so the process can be daunting and is processed through a bank that has an SBA loan program.

Pros: Cost and longer-term repayment; great product for owner-occupied real estate.  

Cons: Requirements are strict; process is time-consuming (60 to 180 days); high upfront fees; and requires strong personal credit scores.

4 Business Line of Credit (“LoC”): Best for businesses with more volatile sales and cash flow. Flexibility to drawdown and repay based on the needs of your business.  Often secured by accounts receivable and inventory. Some LoC’s offered by FinTech operators do not require business collateral but do require a personal guaranty. 

Pros: Can access quickly (assuming facility is in place) to solve urgent issues or expenses; and great for managing working capital needs and the business’ short-term cash flow needs. 

Cons: Reporting can be much more intensive vs. other products available; upfront and ongoing fees can be expensive, especially if the LOC is rarely drawn down. 

5 Revenue-Based Financing: This is a financing option where the repayment schedule is tied to the future revenue of the business. The genesis of the product is that the funder operates as more of a partner and is taking some level of “equity-risk”. If the revenue decreases or the business fails, the repayment is either stretched out or in the case the business fails the funder has no recourse. Small businesses can utilize this product for project financing, working capital, growth investments, or short-term needs.

Pros: Quick access; repayment risk mirrors the revenue; no business or personal recourse except in the case of fraud.  

Cons: Products are generally 12 months or less; more expensive given level of risk with limited recourse; reporting can be intensive as changes to payment schedules requires bank and financial verification.

6 Invoice Factoring: The business can turn its unpaid invoices into immediate cash. The invoice factoring company collects directly from the customers and distributes capital to the business, net of its fee.

Pros: good for managing cash flow; typically a short-term financing product (30 to 90 days).  

Cons: cost can be expensive, especially if repaid much quicker than anticipated; can be disruptive notifying customers to change their payment instructions to the factoring company; requires technology integration or higher level of reporting and the business’ customers will be dealing directly with your funder if they delay payment - not you as the business owner.

7 Angel Investors/ Venture Capital: Best for small businesses who want to scale quickly.

Pros: entrepreneurial background provides increased insights and foresight vs. dealing with alternative finance providers, banks, or the government; larger investor network to leverage for additional funds or additional business; and capital remains in the business (vs. interest costs). 

Cons: Higher rates of returns expected (typically at least 5x their investment); requires giving up equity in the business; process will be intensive; typically reserved for high visibility, disruptive companies pursuing large addressable markets on a national or global scale; and will require operating agreement additions to governance to protect their investment in the case of underperformance.

8 Bootstrapping: Best for businesses with principals that have savings or expendable income who want to preserve equity ownership and cash in the business.

Pros: maintain ownership position and keeps all cash generated either in the business or available for dividends. 

Cons: Growth limited to the owner’s cash position; risk missing market opportunity because thinly capitalized; challenging if a short-term need requires more cash than available.

While the pros and cons of this list provide a guide to financing in 2019, any financing decision should ultimately come down to your assessment of the cash flows of the business (today and in the near term), demonstrated capacity to handle credit, costs versus profit opportunity (positive ROI), and repayment thresholds.

The good news is, enabling technology allows small business owners to access various forms of capital quickly and efficiently. There is no day like today to explore options to fund entrepreneurial dreams.

Vincent Ney is a founder and CEO of Expansion Capital Group, a business dedicated to serving American small businesses by providing access to capital and other resources so they can grow and achieve their definition of success. Since inception, ECG has connected over 12,000 small businesses nationwide to approximately $350 million in capital

Whether your fiscal year matches the calendar year or ends in the middle of September, at some point, you must close the books on this year and open them on next year. What’s the best way to prepare for the transition from last fiscal to the next fiscal year? That depends on the goals for your business.

Maximizing Profits

When shareholders or investors are involved, then maximize your profits for this fiscal year by pulling sales forward. Work with your customers; ask them to take the first week of next month’s sales a little early. Be transparent with them and flexible when it’s their fiscal year end to help them out as well. If you have a good relationship with them, there’s a good chance that you’ll bolster your numbers a bit.

Conversely, push payments out with suppliers. Let them know that you’re going to pay late. Delaying accounts payable by a week or two makes your final numbers look a little healthier, even if your balance sheet doesn’t change (AP is still listed as a liability there). Your income statement and cash flow don’t show those payments.

If you’re on track to hit or exceed the numbers already, then let the dice roll. Care should be taken to avoid pulling too much cash forward or pushing too many liabilities because you could adversely affect next year’s numbers.

When To Minimize Profits

There are also times as you approach the end of your fiscal year when you don’t want to show stellar numbers. Some businesses want to show minimal profits at the end of the year. In this case, you can pull payments forward (ask for a discount for paying early!) to reduce your cash flow a bit.

While you should never delay orders or stockpile inventory, you can write off defective, excess, and obsolete inventory. Scrapping defective goods or obsolete parts is a loss that takes away from your bottom line. If it’s taking up space and is no good, then using it to balance things out at FY end is as good a use as any.

Watch Out For Inventory

Managing your inventory levels is something you should do all year long, but it becomes more important in the run-up to fiscal year end. It’s not something that can be done last minute. Several months in advance of year-end, pay attention to any work-in-progress, finished goods, and spare parts. Inventory ties up a surprising amount of money that you could affect your final numbers either up or down.

Follow The Rules

Even though it’s acceptable to make adjustments, never operate outside the guidelines of financial reporting rules. There are many acceptable methods to either maximize or minimize your reported profits or loss for a fiscal year without risking fraud or worse. Also, it is important not to overdo anything that could affect your business in the next fiscal year, so your finance team or financial advisor should be looking ahead at the same time that they’re closing out the year.

 In business lending, a personal guarantee is a very crucial element. It is a legal promise by the owner or owners of a business that in case a business fails to repay a loan, they will personally repay the outstanding debt. Although a loan can help to fund your business, in most cases, personal finances can end up being dragged into the picture in the form of personal guarantee. The banking institutions or other parties that lend money often demand a personal guarantee from the borrower to ascertain that the loan will be repaid even if the company does not have assets that assure repayment on its own.  

A personal guarantee protects a lender in cases where businesses are unable to pay back their debts. It is therefore imperative that you understand what a personal guarantee is before committing to it by signing.

Business loans and personal guarantees

Every business-minded person hopes that he/she can get a loan that can propel their businesses to the next level. It is the hope of each one of them that they will repay their debts on time to avoid penalties. However, some misfortunes do occur, and some businesses end up failing to settle their loans on time. Because of this, lenders have devised mechanisms that ensure that they get their money back regardless of what happens. This is where personal guarantees come into play. This is basically a promise that the loan will be repaid even if the business does not have enough money to make payments. These guarantees are usually signed during the loan application process and come in different types.

Types of personal guarantees

There are two main types of personal guarantees:

1. Unlimited personal guarantees 
2. Limited personal guarantees

Unlimited personal guarantees

With this kind of personal guarantee, you agree through signing to allow the lender to recover 100% (all the amount you owe the lender) of the loan amount inclusive of any legal fees that are associated with the loan you borrowed for your business. In case you fail to honor the agreement, the lender has a right to go after your savings, your kids' college funds, and your personal assets such as a car among others to repay the loan, interest and legal fees. For example, if you borrowed $100,000 and default on it, and your lender incurs $10,000 legal fees to get a judgment on the loans you will owe the lender $110,000 that can be recovered from anything valuable under your possession. They are called unlimited since they offer a borrower zero financial protection if you or your business fails to pay.

Limited personal guarantees

As suggested by the name, limited personal guarantees set a limit on what can be recovered and what cannot in case your business defaults on the loan. These types of personal guarantees are used in instances where multiple business partners jointly take a loan for a single company or business. According to the SBA standards, a person who has 20% and more of the stake in the business should be among the guarantors. It sets a piece of debt that each individual is required to pay in case the business fails to repay the debt. As easy and sweet as limited personal guarantees may seem, it has its downsides. As such, you should check the terms carefully before signing. For example, you should be sure of whether you are either signing several or joint and several guarantee. A several guarantee gives each party a specific percentage of liability while a joint and several guarantee makes each party liable for the full debt amount.

Having known what personal guarantee is and the types of personal guarantees that exist, you should comfortably be in a position to choose the right one next time your business is in need of a loan.

Hurricanes, Tornados, and Wildfires, oh my! There are any number of natural disasters that occur, and we all think, ‘it won’t happen here.’ Truly, there isn’t a place on Earth that is 100% safe from catastrophe. While these disasters may not be likely, if one strikes, it’s as severe as it gets. How is your business protected from these catastrophic events? Specifically, how is your data protected?

Immediate Protection

The first step of any business should be to keep critical computers and servers on UPS, or Uninterrupted Power Supply, systems. These come in both small and large footprints to give a single computer a few minutes of backup to keeping servers up and running for hours. In the event of a power outage, UPS systems will keep your in-process data from being lost. However, these systems still won’t prevent data-loss if there is physical disruption to your building(s).

Data Loss Prevention

Many companies make the mistake of keeping their data back-ups on-site. While certainly the most inexpensive option, storing back up data on-site, even on different drives or servers, is a significant risk. Effective if the primary system fails for any reason, this is not so effective if your office is suddenly under 3 feet of water. If you can, be sure to secure data off-site. 

If your company is large enough to have two separate sites, you can manually create an off-site back up system. However, this type of solution is best implemented if your multiple sites are geographically separated; it does no good to have your data sent across the street to avoid the effects of a hurricane.

Choose an alternate site that can house everything that’s on the primary server and manually store backups of your data at this secondary site. With a few macros set up by your IT team or an outside consultant, data can be transferred from your primary to backup server at a regular interval (usually in the middle of the night) when the impact of sending all of the data from site to site won’t even be noticed.

If your company is housed in a single location or you want a sure-fire way to keep a backup safe, then look to cloud servers. Storing a backup of your critical data in the cloud may be an ideal solution for a small business or any business interested in preventing data loss. Neither rain nor sleet or snow or wind catastrophes will halt operations with a cloud-based backup system. Data management companies exist to provide services to store data and keep your files so that you always have secure backups.

Act Now

Data management is critical to any company. No one plans for an accident to happen or predicts disaster. The best solution is to act now so that you’re ready just in case. Your choice to mitigate the risk of data loss due to natural disaster can vary based on your budget, impact of lost data, and appetite for assuming that risk. There is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution, but there are multiple options out there for any business.

Rebeck & Allen Law – How they reduced telecom costs by an average of 35% and streamlined their operations.

Situation

The client is a well-established tax law firm, faced with significant competition, increasingly complex regulation and rapidly escalating customer expectations. The client has built its reputation on its close contact with clients. As such, it was keen to exploit new business telephone technology to increase its core competitive advantage, namely a hands-on relationship with clients, as well as to streamline its operations to drive down costs and increase efficiency.

The Decision

The client decided to investigate cheaper telecom options than the traditional ones that they had from AT&T. They needed a system that was flexible and scalable, portable, low maintenance, well supported, cheap and – above all – reliable.

The Solution

UniVoxx was brought in to see what we could deliver. We analyzed the client’s overall patterns of telephone usage, and identified ways in which we could help the client achieve the following:

• The reduction of their telephone bill.
• Making their telephone budget predictable through swapping spend on monthly usage for a fixed monthly fee.
• The elimination of telephone maintenance and upgrade costs through UniVoxx’s fully managed service.
• The development of a fully integrated telephone solution that helps their fee earners work effectively and efficiently from anywhere; home, the office, on a client’s premises or simply out and about, in the process delivering a more responsive, personal and connected experience for their customers.

The Result

We were able to deliver a fully integrated VoIP solution that meant:

• A reduction in costs of 35%
• Enhanced efficiencies and improved customer communications
• Working from anywhere- mobile app rings simultaneously with desk phone and cell phone. 
• A fully scalable and flexible system – to the point that the system can easily be relocated to new offices with no need for new numbers
• EFAX (Fax to email)

In business, it’s the major leaps that people notice and remember. Apple introduced the iPhone and the methods in which we communicate and gather information were changed forever. LEGO took some audacious steps over the last couple of decades and expanded its toy franchise into video games, TV and movies.

Big steps. Big results.

But not every move you make with your business or in your personal life needs to be of earth-shattering significance, says Shawn Burcham (www.shawnburcham.com), founder and CEO of PFSbrands and author of Keeping Score with GRITT: Straight Talk Strategies for Success.

Sometimes, it’s the small steps that eventually lead to big rewards.

“One example with my own company is that there was a time when I didn’t believe in meetings,” Burcham says. “I thought they were a waste of time, probably because most of the meetings I had been in had indeed been a waste.”

But as his business grew, Burcham realized meetings are a necessity for communicating within a large organization. So, PFSbrands took the “small step” of instituting regularly scheduled meetings, which he says have been critical to accomplishing personal, departmental, and company-wide goals.

Burcham offers a few more examples of small steps that can pay big dividends for you and your business:

• Make a habit of setting goals. “It may seem like a basic thing, but setting goals is crucial to success both personally and professionally,” Burcham says. “Everyone in your company should be setting goals, and regularly reviewing those goals and checking their progress.” Sounds easy enough, but this is one small step that many people don’t take. “That’s why just the act of setting goals already gives you a competitive advantage,” he says.
• Write down those goals. Setting goals is a good first step, but don’t just memorize them, Burcham says. Write them down because studies have shown that people who do that are more likely to achieve what they are after than people without written goals.
• Build an accountability system. One of the best ways to make sure you follow through on your goals is to create a network of people who will hold you accountable, Burcham says. If no one knows you set a goal, it’s easy to let it slide. But if there are people who know about your goal, and better yet are depending on you to accomplish it, then you are more likely to follow through. In a business, it’s good for everyone to know everyone else’s goals and every department’s goals. That way, Burcham says, you can all hold each other accountable.
• Stop trying to do everything. Burcham suggests asking yourself what duties you can pass on to others because those activities are not a productive use of time and energy for you or for the company. “I’ve often made the mistake of hanging onto responsibilities far longer than necessary; everything from accounting, to email management, to sales management,” he says. As a company grows, Burcham says, that small step of finding things you can stop doing will be crucial to success.

“While each of these individually may be a small step, they are all important for personal growth and your business’ success,” Burcham says. “If you don’t set goals, write them down, and work to improve, you’ll likely be the exact same person 12 months from now. There’s nothing necessarily wrong with that. Being who you are is okay, but the question is: Are you content with being the same? Or do you want to be better?”

About 

Shawn Burcham (www.shawnburcham.com), author of Keeping Score with GRITT: Straight Talk Strategies for Success, is the founder & CEO of PFSbrands, which he and his wife, Julie, started out of their home in 1998. The company has over 1,500 branded foodservice locations across 40 states and is best known for their Champs Chicken franchise brand which was started in 1999. Prior to starting PFSbrands, Burcham spent five years with a Fortune 100 company, Mid-America Dairymen (now Dairy Farmers of America). He also worked for three years as a Regional Sales Manager for a midwest Chester’s Fried chicken distributor.

How can you make sure your board member expertise is put to use, without overloading each individual? Nonprofit board committees make it easy. Committees allow the work that needs to be done to be distributed evenly throughout your board. Clearly, committees can be highly beneficial to a nonprofit board. However, that’s just the beginning of our committee journey. Because they operate somewhat independently from the main board, committees are especially vulnerable to the “5 Dysfunctions of a Team,” as written about by Patrick Lencioni in his book by the same name. Here are the dysfunctions and what your committees should NOT include.

Lack of Trust

Trust is the foundation of any relationship, and team members must have a certain level of trust with each other to be able to work towards strategic goals and initiatives. It’s this trust that allows board members to get in constructive debates with each other or hold each other accountable. Committees need to feel comfortable presenting difficult information to the main board, as well.

Conflict

Nonprofit committees are in place to help make strategic decisions and support a nonprofit as it grows and succeeds. This means that sometimes hard conversations and decisions must be made. Board and committee members need to feel safe enough that they can engage in occasionally heated communications with their peers, or else they won’t speak up at all. This is a big reason why some members become disengaged. They simply would rather passively agree than engage in debate.

Lack of Commitment

A lack of commitment from committee members often results from one of two causes. First, it could be that the commitments were not clearly outlined and that members simply don’t realize what their input should be. On the other hand, the stakes of being involved just aren’t high enough. If there is no personal “skin in the game,” it can cause board members to become ambivalent and simply not care about the decisions that are being made.

Not Enough Accountability

The accountability factor comes down to showing up and taking responsibility for moving a nonprofit forward. Committee members should be able to trust each other to get things done, follow up on conversations, and do what they said they would do. This is what turns a nonprofit committee into a team: when people hold each other accountable and call it out respectfully if something doesn’t get done.

Insufficient Results

In my years working with nonprofits, I’ve seen this last dysfunction come up more often than you can imagine. Many times there is a single dominant committee member who takes over a conversation and turns what should be a dialogue into more of a dissertation. Board members become more focused on personal success and what their position on a board can do for them professionally than the results of the nonprofit itself.

By safeguarding your committees from these dysfunctions, you ensure a healthy and productive environment. Keep communication open and trust strong, and your organization will continue to thrive.

About Kim Donahue:

Kim Donahue is the resident governance resource at Boardable. Kim has over 30 years of experience as a nonprofit employee, volunteer, and board member. Over her long career in the nonprofit sector, Kim has facilitated more than 1,000 workshops and planning sessions for nonprofit organizations. In December 2017, Kim was named one of the “100 Community Heroes” in celebration of United Way of Central Indiana’s 100th Anniversary. Kim received nominations from 43 nonprofit leaders for her work with dozens of agencies.

About Boardable:

Boardable is an online board management portal that centralizes communication, document storage, meeting planning, and everything else that goes into running a board of directors. Founded in 2017 by nonprofit leaders and founders, Boardable has a mission to improve board engagement for nonprofits. Boardable is based in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Do you take rejection personally? Do you start the negative self-talk immediately after getting rejected? Do you find yourself triggered by rejection and start piling on past rejections in your mind? If you do, you are not alone! Research shows that 90% of our self-talk is negative. Nothing triggers negative self-talk like being rejected.

In the book The Four Agreements, one of the agreements is “Do Not Take ANYTHING Personally.” When Ellen DeGeneres’ sitcom was canceled after she came out, she talked about how this book helped her. In her usual funny way, she said, “It is hard not to take the show being canceled personally, since the show is named Ellen and I’m Ellen.”  How Ellen handled this rejection is a lesson in resilience we can all use for our own careers. She continues to face criticism on her talk show from time to time, but she doesn’t let any of her stop her.

Getting rejected is part of life. We get rejected when we ask our parents as kids to buy us something we want. We get rejected when we interview for a job and don't get it. If you’re in sales, you know rejection is part of the game. How do you learn to keep going and not take it personally?

Tip One

Let go of being afraid of the word NO. Getting a no now does not mean no forever. Children learn this at a very early age and keep asking for what they want from a toy or candy store. When you’re in sales if you are afraid of “no”, you are afraid to ask for the order. When you reframe your mind to see no as the starting point of a negotiation, then you let go of your fear. Tell yourself “Let the Games Begin” when you hear a “no”. Follow up the “no”, with a question such as what would it take you to reconsider?

Tip Two

Never Reject Yourself. When I was selling advertising for Conde Nast and a client would say to me no we are going with another brand, I would ask myself “Could another salesperson have gotten a yes? What did I do wrong? Why didn’t they see why my solution is the best choice?”  None of this negative self-talk is helpful. Instead of taking the “no” personally and rejecting yourself and your skills, remind yourself you are good at what you do. Don’t let one “no” define your day, month or your year. 

If a client says “We like you but not what you are selling” it is so easy to agree with them and reject your product or service. Don’t do it! Never agree with their assessment of your product not being good enough or the best. Instead reframe it to yourself, that right now this is not the best fit for them and that is a great fit for others. Remind yourself of the other sales you have made.

The best way to hit the reset button after a “no” is to call someone who bought from you and ask them how they are enjoying the new car or home. After giving a keynote to Land Rover and Redfin, the real estate firm, I gave this tip and they found it really helped them let go of getting a no. When you do this, you get reignited in your passion and it is great customer service. Just calling someone to ask how they are enjoying the product takes all the pressure off of you. Many times, it results in a referral or testimonial!

Tip Three

Get Back Up After The No. When I was giving my TEDx Talk Be The Life Guard Of Your Own Life I was able to hear Bonnie St John’s TEDx on resilience. Despite losing part of her right leg at a young age, she went on to win medals at the Paralympics in downhill skiing wearing a prosthetic leg. She told the story that each skier had to go down two different mountains. The winner would be the person with the fastest combined times. She went down the first mountain and came in first place. The second mountain was much icier and everyone was falling. Sure enough, she fell too and got back up and finished that race. She ended up with the 2^nd place medal. While she had been the fastest skier she was not the fastest at getting back up after falling.

How fast do you get up after a no?  After giving keynotes and workshops to real estate companies, I noticed that the top performers let go of a “no” much faster than other agents. Other agents say they let rejection go, but they keep talking about it in the office for weeks after and it impacts their energy and passion for the next potential sale.

To recap, the key to rejection is to not take it personally. Let it go and never reject yourself. Then let go of the fear of hearing a “no” and remember “no now is not no forever.” Get back in the game as fast as you can after you hear a “no.” If you apply these tips to rejection, your attitude and your revenue will soar!

JOHN LIVESAY, aka “The Pitch Whisperer™,” is a highly sought-after keynote storytelling speaker and a Forbes columnist.  During his talks, he shares the life-changing lessons he’s learned from his award-winning sales career at Conde Nast to help people become revenue rockstars by forming emotional connections with clients through stories. Livesay is the host of “The Successful Pitch” podcast, which is heard in over 60 countries. These interviews make him a sales keynote speaker with fresh and relevant content. Livesay’s engaging and energetic TEDx talk, “Be the Lifeguard of Your Own Life,” has over one million views. His popular topic, "How To Ask For What You Want And Get A Yes" has also made him a sought after guest on dozens of broadcast outlets including "Breakfast with Larry King."

Learn more about Livesay on his website, https://johnlivesay.com and his YouTube channel. You can connect with him on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.  Better Selling Through Storytelling is available October 8, 2019, in hardback, ebook and audiobook through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other retailers.

People are living longer, and as wonderful as that news is to many, there’s a possible downside: outliving your money in retirement. “It’s a very large fear many people have,” says Alexander Joyce, president/CEO of ReJoyce Financial LLC (www.ReJoyceFinancial.com) and author ofReJoyce In Your Retirement: Everything You Need To Know To Get Everything You Want.

“Most retirement plans have not incorporated the longevity risk. And without mitigating that, many middle-class retirees could exhaust their 401(k)s and be left with only Social Security and a little equity in their homes.”

The financial worries about retirement and the planning options can be overwhelming. One of the concerns people have is getting appropriate advice and finding a financial advisor who puts the client’s interests above his or her own. That type of retirement planner is defined as a fiduciary, and according to a survey by Financial Engines, 93 percent of Americans think financial advisors who provide retirement advice should be fiduciaries — legally required to put their clients’ best interest first.

On the other hand, 53 percent of those respondents mistakenly believe that all financial advisors are fiduciaries.

“Trust is imperative, especially where a client’s retirement is concerned,” Joyce says. “An advisor working as a fiduciary is held to a high standard of honesty and full disclosure to the client. And there are three critical aspects of retirement planning in which a fiduciary can help guide the client to both protect their retirement assets and prosper.”

Those three areas are:

Reduce sequence-of-return risks. This refers to the order of annual investment returns, and it becomes a concern for retirees who are living off the income and capital of their investments. “The danger comes when an investor receives lower or negative returns due to withdrawals made from their investment,” Joyce says. “The timing of taking those returns impacts wealth. A planner who’s a fiduciary has multiple ways to reduce sequence-of-returns risk by allowing the portfolio to stay ahead of inflation. You utilize other income-producing vehicles in the portfolio.”

Prioritize a tax plan. “Understand that in retirement you’re creating your own income from qualified money — money that’s never been taxed before,” Joyce says. “It’s vital to have a tax plan that can fit into your portfolio. For example, the Required Minimum Distribution at age 70½  is something many people are not prepared for in terms of tax impact. The RMDs have never been such a concern in our economy than they are now, because such a large percentage of baby boomers are over 70½. Having a reallocation plan or a Roth conversion conversation is important to avoid higher tax burdens.”

Create an estate plan. Procrastination is an obstacle for many when it comes to estate planning, Joyce says, and it’s important to differentiate between a will, which goes through probate, and a trust. “Understand how those things fit in the portfolio, and the difference between live-on money and leave-behind money,” he says. “You need to establish goals for the assets. A lot of people want to leave a legacy, but they don’t know how large, or how, or when. A fiduciary can help you leverage technology and look at a realistic rate of return, based on your  projected longevity.”

“Having all these planning tools under a full-service fiduciary roof is powerful,” Joyce says, “because the baby boomer generation doesn’t like change. They need a sense of security before reaching retirement; solid options to make their financial fears and uncertainty go away.”

Alexander Joyce is CEO and president of ReJoyce Financial LLC (www.ReJoyceFinancial.com), a full-service retirement income planning firm in Indianapolis, Ind. He’s the author of ReJoyce In Your Retirement: Everything You Need To Know To Get Everything You Want. Joyce holds the NSSA (National Social Security Advisor) and CRPC (Charted Retirement Planning Counselor) designations. He hosts informational and educational seminars as well as the radio show Retirement Halftime Show. He can be seen monthly on Money Monday as well as Your Money on the IndyStyle program, broadcast by WISH-TV, myINDY-TV and WTHR in Indianapolis.

It’s been a common occurrence in recent years: Company downsizing or restructuring has left skilled professionals looking for a job. Or, feeling constrained, they jump to a better growth opportunity.

But, with the era of lifetime jobs at a single firm or company long gone, many doctors, dentists, lawyers and other professionals also are opting to work for themselves, becoming entrepreneurs and launching their own start-ups.   

Some who already started small practices have expanded into several locations. As dentists and business partners Dr. Seth Newman and Dr. Efstathios Giannoutsos can attest, the learning curve of running and growing a business in multiple offices — while still practicing their profession — can be challenging but also rewarding.

“It was never my plan to run a practice, or even co-run one,” says Giannoutsos,  (www.asktheorthos.com), an orthodontist and co-author, with Newman of Giving It To You Straight: Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Orthodontics But Were Afraid To Ask. “But then the financial crisis of 2008 happened, and a lot of the opportunities that had been available before were now gone.

“But we were able to flip those circumstances on their heads and use them to our advantage.”

“The biggest challenge initially was finding clients,” Newman says. “But we learned to use different resources and educate ourselves in the business side as we did in our chosen career.”  

Newman and Giannoutsos offer five tips for professionals transitioning to running their own business:

• Be passionate. Entrepreneurs tend to be extremely passionate about their work. They need to incorporate the same passion for running a business. “Think about how running your own business could transform your career, send it soaring,” Newman says. “That kind of spirit energizes you and all those around you.”

• Be bothered by inefficiency. Entrepreneurs don’t have a high tolerance for inefficiency, and the bonus is they don’t have corporate red tape to cut through. “You can fix problems that come up quickly because of your expertise and the freedom of not running into typical corporate obstacles,” Giannoutsos says. “If  you or your business partner are mired in work processes that are too slow, analyze the inefficiencies and consider the places you could implement solutions.”
• Don’t be afraid to take on more risk. One thing that sets many entrepreneurs apart from the average professional is their appetite for risk. “A business owner knows the risk-reward possibilities, and by taking well-calculated shots, bigger rewards can come,” Newman says. “Set aside time to strategize, and listen to the best-qualified people working for you to develop a precise plan.”
• Brainstorm more. Constant innovation is crucial to a business’ long-term success, so entrepreneurs have to take time to let their minds be loose and creative. “Set aside time each week for brainstorming sessions with your staff — and remember to have fun doing it,” Giannoutsos says.
• Don’t limit your dreams. “The most important aspect of the entrepreneurial spirit is being limitless – the sky’s the limit,” Newman says. “Many people are conditioned in the workforce to be realistic and practical, but dreaming big sets the mission for your company, and it’s why you became a business owner.”

“It can be daunting at first, performing the myriad tasks of a business owner,” Giannoutsos says, “but if you believe in what you do and those you’ve hired around you, it’s so worth the effort.”

Dr. Seth Newman (www.asktheorthos.com) is an orthodontist and co-author, with Dr. Steve Giannoutsos, of Giving It To You Straight: Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Orthodontics But Were Afraid To Ask. He owns orthodontic practices in the New York City area. Dr. Newman completed his dental training at Stony Brook School of Dental Medicine, where he was a member of the National Dental Honor Society. He was a clinical instructor of the Invisalign system at the NYU School of Dentistry.

Dr. Efstathios Giannoutsos, or “Dr. G.” as he is commonly called, was born in Astoria, Queens, just outside of New York City. He graduated from St. John’s University in Jamaica, Queens, with high honors and a BS in Biology.  He is also the co-author with  Dr. Seth Newman of Giving It To You Straight: Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Orthodontics But Were Afraid to Ask (AskTheOrthos.com). He completed his dental training at NYU, where he graduated with a Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) degree. He was also accepted into NYU’s highly competitive orthodontic residency program. During that time, he also discovered a passion for treating children and adults with facial deformities. Coinciding his passion, his research thesis to attain specialty certification involved children with cleft deformities.

If you’ve ever gone on vacation and returned feeling renewed, then you’ll understand the popularity of a small business retreat. The concept of leaving the office behind and bringing the team to an off-site, special destination follows the same vein as a vacation. A retreat offers the chance for a team to refresh and return to work in a better state of mind.

Unlike a 1:1 in your office or a conference center townhall, informal retreat meetings break the mold and give the team a chance work outside the confines of roles and titles. The more relaxed atmosphere of a retreat promotes better communication and team bonding, allowing your employees to let go of office politics and embrace a shared experience. Even with nothing in common at the workplace, everyone on the retreat can find common ground through the experience of the get-away.

Reap the Benefits of a Small Business Retreat

The benefits of a retreat appear in employees’ increased productivity. Like the advantage of a vacation, retreats are a break that lets employees relax so that they can come back with more energy. Also, taking their work to a new environment brings fresh perspective to the job and can inspire more contributions back at the office. Finally, retreats improve communication by opening channels between management and employees and developing informal networking between teams in ways that just aren’t possible at the office. The more relaxed retreat atmosphere fosters connections, even between those who may not normally interact, and improves communication overall.

Not Your Traditional Retreat

Though beneficial, there is a cautionary tale from the 2000s to be told about using retreats as rewards without value. Tradition saw executives splurge on retreats while employees watched from the sidelines as these lavish paid vacations catered to the top tier management. Back then, a retreat was a sign of executive largesse, excessive and reserved only for the C-Suite & Friends.

Value-Added Experience

Today, a retreat offers much more meaningful value to the business and pertains to all levels of employees. The ability to remove the team from distractions of the workplace is an opportunity to really focus on an initiative. If you do it right, you can use the time to focus on training, brainstorming, and team building in ways that the office just doesn’t allow; you have the space and atmosphere to shake employees from the routine and explore new ground.

Investment With Returns

There are costs to a retreat, but more than just the price of doing business, this expense is an investment. Spending the money to develop your employees only comes back to you in droves when the work gets done better and more efficiently by employees who feel valued and more committed.

March is the perfect time of year to schedule a retreat since you can take advantage of the quarter’s end and Spring Break season. Use the time to evaluate the years’ progress thus far and set goals as well as minimize the bite from budget with seasonal travel discounts and packages available.