If nothing else, the recent financial meltdown provided an important learning experience and reinforced time-tested concepts about risk in investing. None of these lessons will comfort investors. However, we can still evaluate investment risks, at least on a relative scale.
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At the end of 2010, most of the provisions in the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 will \”sunset\” or expire. Only those provisions extended or made permanent by later tax legislation will remain effective in 2011. That fact makes year-end tax planning crucial for 2010. At the point of major tax change, there are always opportunities and pitfalls that should be analyzed if you want to keep your taxes as low as possible. (more…)

Many small business owners share one problem, especially in their early days. It’s being over reliant on a single customer or supplier for much of their business. If you’re in that position, your business is operating with higher risk. Just as with investments, you don’t want all your eggs in one basket. Your goal should be a well-diversified portfolio of customers and suppliers.
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It’s a fact. When competition is based on price alone, smaller companies often find themselves squeezed by high-volume, low-priced competitors. How do you, as a small or mid-size business owner, survive in such an environment? You survive by differentiating yourself from the competition, creating a niche or identity that isn’t based on cut-rate pricing. In other words, you offer something that your competitors don’t offer, something that’s different.
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Challenges that merely annoy an established firm often capsize a start-up company. This is especially true in the area of staffing. When a big corporation makes a hiring mistake, (more…)