Chemical, pharmaceutical and biotech companies spend large sums of money to have their employees burn midnight oil and come up with great inventions, whether it be a novel drug to treat heart disease or a process to produce large quantities of a chemical. used in industry. manufacture of a plastic. They know that patents are powerful when it comes to resisting competition. They also know that a patent grants an exclusive right for up to twenty years. So once they get their patent they should be smiling all the way to the bank … correct?

The answer is not always “yes”. The competition will try to unravel the patent and find many ways to discredit it. If companies discover, within five to ten years, that their patent is invalid, then all that investment and related work is going down the drain.

One way a challenger could break the patent is by claiming that you sold the patented invention before applying for a patent. The United States Patent and Trademark Office, like many other patent offices around the world, has strict rules and regulations for filing patents. One of those rules says that you must file your patent within a year of selling your product or offering to sell it. If you want to sell your product abroad, you will need a patent in one or more European countries or in Japan, for example. The European Patent Office has stricter rules than the US Patent and Trademark Office In Europe, you must first file your patent; the sale comes later.

Although inventor companies deliberately do not wait more than a year to file a patent, the question often arises as to when did they start selling. This is because, in modern business life, many parties often work together to create a new product. For example, one company may agree to fund research, while another company may agree to perform laboratory work. There could be multiple exchanges between the two companies, often over a period of 3, 4, or 5 years or more. Without the knowledge of the parties, such exchanges could have triggered the legal sale date or the offer date.

Take the case of the DNA patent where the company obtained a DNA patent to detect gonorrhea. The company that developed the DNA sent a sample to its settlement partner and received payment for it. However, he waited 13 months to file the patent. The superior court of patents in our nation’s capital ruled that the patent is invalid because we waited too long. The laws related to patents are very complex and therefore it would be wise to seek a competent attorney when filing a patent or if you are considering buying a company with patents or licensing a patent.

The word “Disaster” immediately brings violence to mind: a hurricane, a flood, or an earthquake. Just thinking about it, the real impact of a disaster, no matter what its cause, becomes clear.

When a disaster hits a small business without an emergency survival plan, it likely means total closure of the company and loss of jobs for everyone involved.

Even when a plan is in place, you may be missing a key component: being prepared to handle employees’ concern for the safety and well-being of their loved ones.

This concern is so strong that it is often known that even the highest staff members, with the greatest responsibility for mission-critical functions, leave the business altogether, struggling to get home to save the family from chaos or the imaginary danger.

If key personnel have left, even though the building is still standing, the result can be the same: total closure.

Is there a solution?

After a career working with small (and larger) businesses, and the last 15 years helping to build and lead an emergency preparedness team in the local neighborhood, we believe there IS a solution.

In our opinion, the ideal solution is the coordination or even the “integration” of communities. This can be achieved when …

• Company management, staff and employees have been trained in the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT).

• The company has built its emergency preparedness plan around the CERT model and these specially trained employees.

• All members of the employee family have been encouraged or even supported to receive the same CERT training.

The ideal extension of this concept would be for each of the employees’ residential neighborhoods to also become CERT-enabled communities, which we must recognize is an unlikely possibility.

Nevertheless simply knowing that their families are prepared for major emergencies would allow employees to remain in their jobs longer, helping the business take immediate action to protect critical equipment and data to preserve the business and its revenue.

It’s a win / win if it can be done. And even if only part of the solution can be implemented, the business will be in a better place to withstand or even prevent business disruption.

It all starts with emergency preparedness plans for the neighborhood and / or business. Such plans are NOT difficult to develop given the many resources available from government sources and dedicated authors. But it is urgent to start now:

1. Emergencies can and do happen. Without a plan, they can turn into disasters.

2. Your planning should be done BEFORE the emergency occurs.

New and inexpensive tools are available to ease the process. Don’t wait any longer to get started!

Why is it important to know if your boss or client is a visionary, strategist, or tactician? The combination of oil and water should give you a hint. Knowing how you and your boss are “connected” is critical. If you are in sales it is especially important to understand the difference because if you approach a visionary in the same way that you would a strategist, it will be more difficult to obtain permission to move forward in the sale. Much material speaks of the “style” of management, but none speaks of the “wiring” of management or the natural inclination that people have that, in essence, determines their style. Without understanding that challenges and frustrations abound in the missing link workplace. Cheer up, you are about to learn something that will change your life.

• Visionary: someone who can see things that others cannot.
• Strategist: highly capable of developing strategies, plans and processes that will achieve a goal.
• Strategist – Very detail oriented and usually asked to ‘make it happen’.

The visionary

If you search synonyms for ‘visionary’, you will find words like: imaginative, utopian, unreal, impractical. Definitions will use phrases such as: a person who sees visions, a person with keen insight, given to dreams. In essence, a visionary is one who sees things that others cannot.

Pastors, entrepreneurs, entrepreneurs, and the highly creative (artists, inventors, etc.) are often visionaries. A key distinguishing characteristic of visionaries is the fact that they see the end from the beginning. However, it is also true that visionaries do not see how to get there. Because visionaries don’t see the end as a means, they are often the most frustrating people to work for: they push their staff, go in many different directions at once, start and stop projects erratically, and don’t have a plan on how to achieve the goal. vision. At least, that’s what it looks like to those who are following. In reality, the visionary is just as frustrated as the personal because the vision is there: it can be seen but not possessed.

Every organization or company needs a visionary, but three things are essential:

1. The visionary must admit that he does not know how to arrive at the vision (despite thinking otherwise), allowing the strategist to manage that process.
2. The strategist must understand how to communicate and work with the visionary.
3. THERE MUST BE A PROCESS that guides and directs all efforts and decisions.

If any of the above is missing, the frustration will continue and the manifestation of the vision will be delayed.

Can work

The US military is a perfect analogy for how an organization can effectively incorporate the strengths of the visionary, strategist, and tactician while mitigating the weaknesses:

The president can be compared to the visionary. He has a vision for the future of the county.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff is the strategist. This team of leaders is in a position to develop the strategy to carry out the president’s vision.

The soldiers are the tacticians. They do not create strategy or question it: they carry it out, ‘make it a reality’.

In an ideal organization or business, the CEO is the visionary, the Executive Leadership Team equates to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the General Staff plays the role of the soldiers. (There are other structures, but this is the general framework.)

Problems arise when people get out of position: the visionary develops the strategy, the strategists judge the vision, and the tacticians question both. The failure of the Vietnam War can be attributed, in part, to a violation of these principles: the vision was unclear, non-strategists (Congress) determined strategy, and tacticians questioned orders. We are still suffering the effects of that failure.

Once the vision is clearly articulated, the best the visionary can do is get out of the way.

Strategist

“Let ‘me help you – please!“If you work for a visionary, you’ve probably uttered those words at least once (maybe every day). You know where your boss wants to go and you can see how to get there, if he / she gets out of the way! It sounds like You are a strategist Visionaries need strategists, but unless they have mutual respect and understanding of their different gifts, the combination is like oil and water.Your own progress What is a true strategist to do?

As the term implies, a “strategist” is someone who can develop a plan of action to achieve a specific goal. Just as the visionary has the gift of being able to see the end from the beginning, a strategist has the gift of clearly seeing the road map or blueprint to get there. Strategists are naturally gifted “project planners.”

Strategists view projects as a game of chess; They know the end goal, they can see 164 ways to achieve it, and they have the gift of skillfully identifying the best route. Like in a chess game, they intuitively think strategically (if I do this, they will do that; if they do that, I will do this, etc.).

To the strategist:

• Know who should participate
• Understand what resources are needed
• See the sequential steps to be taken
• Easily determine the timeline
• You are motivated to do the job at hand.

As this is a natural gift, a strategist is not always aware that others do not see things the way he or she does. Strategists are not always patient or communicative: they are not usually sensitive to the need to communicate effectively with the visionary in terms that the visionary understands.

Strategists focus on results, they often don’t stop to keep everyone on top of the status because partial completion is, well, it’s nothing to report because it’s not finished. They also tend to handle obstacles rather than involve others. As a result, the visionary feels uncomfortable, not sure that things are going in the right direction, and therefore begins to help direct strategy.

Remember, the root word for visionary is vision. A visionary needs to see, not hear updates. With that in mind, here are some strategist tips to follow that will keep the visionary and strategist happy and on their ‘lane’.

1. Schedule frequent updates, always reaffirming your understanding of the vision (even while developing the plan).
2. In your planning, identify the key milestones that need to be celebrated AND communicated.
3. Use audiovisuals; use graphs, charts, photos, anything that is a visual representation of the information.
4. If you are free to make unilateral decisions, immediately inform the visionary of any obstacles you have encountered AND their solution. If time permits (or your structure requires it), provide a “proposed” solution before you act so that your boss has a chance to provide input.
5. Don’t assume anything. When in doubt, ask or confirm your understanding.
6. Communicate with everyone involved in the project. The last thing you want is for a colleague to ask the boss a question about the project because that will only cause alarm.
7. If a problem arises that you can’t solve, be the FIRST to alert your boss. Do not try to fix it without warning of possible danger, delay, etc.
8. Always remember, a question about the status of the project is not a question of your ability; it is a red flag that you have not maintained the flow of information properly.

In other words, write the communication with the visionary in your plan; Make milestones, updates, etc. a “pending” item on the list. Communicate excessively. It’s best to be told, “just tell me when you’re done” and then asked at all times or unexpectedly pulled from your project due to a lack of confidence due to lack of information.

A WORD OF CAUTION: If you are a strategist, no matter how clearly you see how to get to the destination, NEVER, never get ahead of the visionary. If you can’t see what you see, WAIT! Remember, it is not your vision. If the visionary is not ready, no matter how close you see it, wait! He / she will catch up and when that happens, move on.

Tactical

“Too much information, just tell me what you want me to do.” If you hear that phrase, you know you are talking to a ‘tactician’. A person talented in tactics does not care what the vision is, which strategy is the most effective, or what other options are; he simply wants to know what task is going to be done. This does not reflect a lack of understanding or intelligence; rather it denotes the fact that the focus is on getting the job done, period.

A strategist has the gift of taking the “what” and determining the “how.” Once the strategy (the that) is communicated to the strategist, the wise strategist will leave the strategist to determine the best excuse me. Just as the strategist becomes frustrated when the visionary tries to determine what should be done; the strategist becomes frustrated when the strategist determines how it should be done. A strategist is a master of detail.

While the visionary and strategist are long-term thinkers, the strategist focuses heavily on the short term. Thinking beyond the task at hand is distracting. The more detailed the task, the less extraneous information a strategist wants to hear. Tacticians are wonderful additions to a team because when a job is put in their hands, the visionary and strategist can be sure that the task will be completed.

In conclusion

If you are the boss and a visionary, be sure to hire a strategist as your “right hand man.” Strategists must make sure they hire tacticians. However, whatever gift you have, once you determine the inherent traits of those with whom you work, you must modify your communication style to suit their needs if you want to eliminate or minimize frustration. At the same time, if your boss is micromanaging you, ask yourself, “Is it because my boss is a visionary and I’m not communicating properly or is my boss a frustrated tactician?” Once you realize that, your next course of action will be easy.

Critical illness insurance is a relatively new type of policy that is often misunderstood. Today we are going to clarify what it is and what it covers.

How Does Critical Illness Insurance Work?

Critical illness is similar to term life insurance, except that it pays when you are diagnosed with a covered illness, rather than on death. However, some people confuse this type of insurance with disability insurance, which replaces your income if you become disabled.

Health insurance, like term life insurance, is paid in a lump sum, in the event that you are diagnosed with a predefined disease such as cancer. You decide how this amount will be spent: some people put you on additional medical treatment (especially if there are some treatment methods that are not covered by provincial health care), others decide to take time off from work to spend with family or to to travel.

As with many insurance products, this type of insurance plan comes with an extensive insurance quote, application, and underwriting process that the insurer reviews before you can get a policy; And as with any insurance policy, a critical illness policy has both pros and cons.

Let’s take a closer look at the pros and cons of this type of insurance.

Benefits of Critical Illness Insurance

There are several positives:

1. Funds That Can Help Where Needed: The lump sum you receive if you are diagnosed with a serious illness will allow you to receive better treatment and hopefully make a full recovery in some cases. You can also spend these funds on other needs or projects (such as travel or removing items from your wish list).
2. Protection for your own business: If you run your own business, you may have to work part-time, after a serious illness is diagnosed (reduced working hours are common when extensive medical treatment is required). Close the financial gap created by the reduction of hours in your company. With the funds, you could hire someone to help you with your business.
3. Stackable protection: Unlike disability insurance, critical illness coverage is “cumulative.” With disability insurance, coverage is limited because it is based on your income and you cannot exceed that limit even if you have multiple disability policies. However, you can have multiple policies with different amounts of coverage for different diseases. If you have, for example, two policies with benefits of $ 250,000 and $ 300,000, you can get a payment of $ 550,000 when you make a claim.

Cons of serious illness insurance

1. Expensive: This type of insurance policy is not cheap. For example, a 10-term insurance policy with coverage of $ 500,000 (term 10 means a policy that covers you for 10 years) for a 35-year-old non-smoking male with no preconditions costs about $ 180 / month (exemplary quote ) while a term life insurance policy 10 with coverage of $ 1,000,000 for the same person costs about $ 50.
2. Definitions matter: If a diagnosed illness, such as a heart attack, is not aligned with the definition of this illness in the policy, your claim may not be paid.
3. It doesn’t cover you right away: The policy generally comes with a waiting period (for example, 90 days) during which it is not covered.
4. Payment is not immediate: If you are diagnosed with a serious illness, there is a “survival period” (for example, 30 days). If you die within that period, your claim will not be paid.

Summary

Critical illness insurance provides strong coverage for the unexpected diagnosis of critical illness, but this coverage comes at a cost. It’s a good idea to work with an insurance broker to get a critical illness insurance quote and apply for a policy. The brokers have access to multiple insurance companies and will help you navigate through the complex application process, especially if you have prior medical conditions.

There are four ways to terminate a contract. They are for performance, agreement, repudiation and frustration. When a contract is considered to be resolved by performance, what it means is that the parties to the contract have fulfilled their legal obligation and there is no further need to continue the contract. For example, Ben offered his expensive watch to Sam for $ 5000. Sam accepted the offer and Ben gave the watch to Sam and in return Sam paid him the agreed amount of money. In this case, the contract has been concluded since both parties have fulfilled their contractual obligation. Unfortunately, life is not that simple as there are circumstances in which the parties to the contract may find it difficult to fulfill their contractual obligations. In such a situation, there may be only partial performance and the question is whether this is acceptable.

Let’s say Simon is a math tutor and agrees with Mary to teach him math tuition for 10 lessons at $ 100 per lesson. Simon completes 6 lessons and cannot continue teaching Mary because he has some personal problems that he needs to solve. The question is whether Mary has to pay for the 6 lessons Simon has already taught. At one point, the court held that if one of the parties to a contract has not fully fulfilled its obligation, there is no need to compensate it. However, over a period of time the court has reconsidered this and now there is a possibility that Simon could claim all 6 lessons on what is called a “quantum merit” basis. This is a Latin phrase that means ‘payment for work done’. But Simon’s ability to claim partial payment is based on whether Mary has benefited in any way from the contract. In this case, Mary may have benefited from the contract and may have to pay. However, if Simon only taught one lesson and stopped teaching her, perhaps Mary could refuse to pay as she can claim that she has not benefited from the contract. This is relatively subjective and is something the court might have to decide based on the merits of the case, if that case ever goes to court.

However, there are circumstances where it is not necessary to compensate for part performance. What if you ordered a chicken cutlet at a restaurant and it turned out to be undercooked? Can you pay half the price for this? Obviously not!

Another way that a contract is fulfilled is through an agreement. This is when both parties agree before the contract is concluded that when a certain event occurs, the contract will be terminated or that if either party wishes to terminate the contract, they must give the other party a period of notice. Dismissal by agreement is a common feature in the employment contract where the parties can agree in advance that if the employee wants to resign, he must give a period of notice and vice versa also for the employer. Another example is the prenuptial agreement that couples enter into before marriage.

The third way a contract is fulfilled is through repudiation. This is where one of the parties deliberately breaches the agreement. For example, Michael agreed to sell his piano to Susie for $ 3,000. Susie agrees to buy the piano and tells Michael that she will pay him the money the next day. Then Brad shows up and agrees to buy the piano from Michael for $ 5000. Michael sells the piano to Brad. By doing this, you are breaching your agreement with Susie, as the contract has already been decided between Michael and Susie. Susie has the right to sue Michael for breach of contract. There is a possibility that the court will order Michael to buy the piano from Brad and sell it to Susie at the agreed price or give Susie some form of compensation.

The last method of a contract that is downloaded out of frustration. This means that one or both parties cannot fulfill their contractual obligation due to some unforeseen event that prevents them from continuing with the contractual relationship. You bought a ticket to see a concert by a famous pop group. Before the concert, the lead singer of the pop group members died of a drug overdose. Therefore, the concert is canceled as it would be impossible to continue the concert. Therefore, the contract is considered frustrated. So you can get a refund for the ticket you bought. It is also possible for a contract to be terminated when the contract becomes illegal to perform. For example, if a product is for sale and the government subsequently passes legislation that bans the product, further sales of the product are considered illegal.

Once the contract is fulfilled, the contract is terminated.

If you have ever simply observed people at work, you will find that many times they are late or completely absent from work for days on end. We may be able to make a connection in our reasoning that all these people who are 10 minutes late can add up to a huge loss of revenue for the company. The problem is how to handle attendance issues and still treat everyone fairly.

A CCH study of truancy indicates that 83% of employers feel that truancy will continue to increase. The problem is that absenteeism costs have been on the rise, now hovering around $ 800 per employee per year. It doesn’t sound like much, but when this cost is multiplied by 10 or 20 employees, the numbers speak for themselves.

Absenteeism and punctuality policies

Having an absenteeism and punctuality policy is important for any business with employees. Such policies help keep records of time lost from work, encourage employees to attend work, and establish a case for termination when an employee fails to comply with the obligation of his or her terms of employment. The right type of policy can save your business tons of money over the years.

The first thing an owner has to determine is what condition his employees are in. Salaried and professional employees are generally considered “exempt,” while hourly workers are “nonexempt.” Exempt means that employees are not based on their time at work but on their job function. They can work longer hours without paying overtime. Non-exempt employees are paid for every minute they are on the job and are entitled to overtime pay.

Hourly or non-exempt workers may have their pay reduced for any time they miss work while salaried or unless workers are unable to do so. For example, if a salaried worker loses 4 hours a day but works any part of that day, his salary will not be affected. The only time a salaried worker’s salary can be adjusted is when he is on a leave of absence or when he misses an entire day for personal reasons. Punishing the tardiness of a salaried worker by adjusting the salary creates the risk that he will be entitled to overtime.

Support policies vary from company to company and state to state. However, the best assistance policies usually have a progressive component. For example, verbal warning, written warning, suspension, and dismissal would be part of a progressive discipline policy. The other method that could be used is the point system. As the worker receives points for attendance, he will incur more discipline. Once you have reached the threshold, you will be fired.

Using an absenteeism policy that is progressive ensures that all workers are treated fairly. They are warned every time they are disciplined and cannot plead ignorance. Additionally, documentation provided at each level of discipline gives an appearance of professionalism on behalf of the organization and a sense of fairness to the employee.

Salaried workers can be under the same progressive assistance system as an hourly worker. The difference is that their salary cannot be deducted. Once you should also consider that salaried workers should receive notes to file rather than employee advisory (discipline) reports so that their “at will” status is not in jeopardy.

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, a total of 2.8 million work days are lost each year due to illness or injury. Assuming the average worker earns about 40,000 per year, we would add 35% so that benefits come to a total compensation cost of 54,000 per year per employee. If we divide these 54K by 2080 worked in a year, we arrive at a labor cost of $ 25.96 / hour. The absence of a single employee for a day would cost the average company about $ 207.68 per day. So if you have 10 absences a year, your cost would be around $ 2,000. This figure does not include the cost of the actual profit you would have lost by not finishing your products or services.

Methods to reduce absenteeism

1.) No-fault attendance policy

2.) Progressive discipline

3.) Incentives for good attendance.

4.) Make the workplace more fun.

5.) Pre-employment physical and drug exams.

6.) Conduct background investigations before hiring.

7.) Assess the assistance and contribution of each worker.

8.) Attendance must be included as one of the criteria for raises / promotions.

9.) Request medical documentation for all unexcused absences.

Do you have a great business idea for your startup? Do you want to start trading immediately? Well, you may need the help of a business consulting company. While small business owners and new entrepreneurs are great at multitasking, starting a business is an entirely different game. Today there are many CPA consulting firms and small businesses that offer everything you need to start your business. In this post, we will discuss some of the aspects of hiring a business and the things you can expect from such services.

Why should you seek help with business setup?

As an entrepreneur, you need to focus on one thing only: your business. The entire process of starting a business can be complicated and complicated, and many aspects require immediate attention. For example, do you know the local laws related to your industry? How would you handle the tax implications? Are you aware of the tax benefits you may be entitled to? What are the basic rules and regulations that must be followed? These things cannot be ignored and they cannot all be examined at the same time. Business consulting services charge a small fee for their work, and you can leave most of the trouble to them. They would want the basic papers and documents that are essential to the actual procedure and based on the additional requirements they will complete the paperwork.

Things to Expect:

Each business consulting and setup service may have a different approach to work, but they typically perform the same set of tasks. These are some of the things you can expect from these companies.

1. Evaluation of your idea. Will your idea work? Depending on the type of contract you have with the service in question, they will do a floor test to see if your business idea will fit in with the audience in the first place.

2. Completion of procedures. The initial setup process varies by country and state, and the consulting firm in question will do the necessary paperwork on time, so you can get started right away.

3. Help with tax matters. Many CPA companies also offer consulting firms and therefore can offer quick assistance and help with tax-related matters. They can suggest ways you can minimize the tax burden, at least for the first few months.

4. Compliance assistance. A startup must meet certain requirements before it can start selling its products and services, and consulting firms will ensure that these compliance issues are resolved on time.

5. Help for financing. With their industry bonds, consultants can help you find potential funding sources, if necessary. They can suggest lenders or process loan-related documents on your application.

Consultants also help entrepreneurs to plan their work, so that they do not have to manage many things at the same time. As long as you hire the right team for the job, you won’t have a problem starting your business on time.

We all make mistakes, but on the payroll it seems like there are a lot of mistakes to make. Below is a list of 13 of the most common payroll errors I’ve seen and I’ve compiled them into a single list. I hope they are useful to you and can help you improve your own payroll system for your business!

First, don’t back up your system. Since the person who manages your payroll is likely a person, you can be sure that you will not be able to work every day. Make sure you have some means to keep running your payroll program without them. You also need to have a manual means of recording payroll in the event of a technology malfunction.

Second, do not issue 1099 forms. When hiring an independent vendor or contractor, it is important to remember that if you pay more than $ 600 for your services, you must file a 1099. Severe penalties are subject to anyone who fails to provide this form as it is an integral part of your external tax and employment records.

Then misclassify employees. Ensuring your employees are classified correctly is imperative not only for keeping good tax records, but different types of employees are subject to different pay and / or benefit packages. Make sure you comply with all state and federal laws regarding how your employees are classified and structured within your business.

Incorrectly labeled freelance contract workers is another mistake. Labeling all of your employees as contract freelancers is not a good way to avoid giving them compensation. Employment status is also closely watched by the IRS, and mislabeling employees is a good way to get audited and can have a huge impact on your worker’s income taxes and withholding tax.

Choose Exempt or Not Exempt. Employees classified as exempt are not required to accrue overtime. Simply putting an employee on a salary does NOT exempt him from overtime. Classifying an employee’s status requires familiarity with federal and state laws, and it may be different for different jobs.

Excluding travel and travel expenses of employees. As a general rule, increased travel and travel expenses are not considered taxable income for a subordinate. However, if said employee is traveling to a place of employment that is not in his permanent residence, his travel and commuting benefits must be provided.

Miscalculating unemployment for state taxes is a very common mistake. Being late or miscalculating your state unemployment taxes can cost your business your unemployment tax credit, which can be as high as 5.4%. You can also face a lawsuit if notice is not provided for employees who have been laid off from their unemployment benefits.

Incorrect recording of overtime can be fatal. There are state and federal regulations on overtime pay. It is not limited to 1.5 times the employee’s hourly wage and can take even more calculations to be precise.

Security for employee paychecks against scammers. Technology has helped companies large and small to be more self-sufficient and have more advanced tools for their activities. This same technology is also being used to trick you in some situations. Check fraud is very real, and you need to ensure that your business is protected by watermarks or any other type of paper security method. Due to this fact, more companies pay their employees through direct deposit, which completely avoids the paper fraud method.

Mishandling employee debts to wages can be crippling. It is vital to withhold any type of wage garnishment, taxes, child support, or any other court-ordered paycheck withdrawals. Be sure to confirm with the state ordering the payment that you are deducting the employee’s check correctly.

The lack or acquisition of unsatisfactory records and data is deadly for your business. Almost 2% of all total payroll costs are due to record keeping errors. The Internal Revenue Service requires you to keep at least four years of records, and some states require an even longer file.

Remember not to correctly record taxable items. Federal tax laws require you to consider awards and fringe benefits subject to income and employment tax withholding. Gift cards are considered cash and should never be excluded from taxable wages.

And finally, not meeting tax schedules: Depending on how late a business is filing its taxes, it may be subject to late deposit penalties and interest rates. Depending on how late your tax payments are, the range can vary from 2% to 20%.

Over the past 10 years, entrepreneurship has become a growing trend with increasing importance within the global marketplace. In fact, according to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), around 330 million people, or 14% of adults in the 35 countries surveyed, are involved in starting new businesses.

Whether it’s the desire to be your own boss, to pursue your own ideas, or the hope of financial rewards, people are changing their perspective on doing business. Within the realm of entrepreneurship, there are four demographics that are growing faster than ever.

Entrepreneurial Women

In 2002, the most recent year that the US Census Bureau collected data on business ownership, there were 6.5 million women-owned businesses. That number has risen 20% since 1997. Traditionally, women-owned businesses were more prevalent in the healthcare and professional services industries. But surprisingly, the fastest growing areas for women-owned businesses are construction (up to 30%), agricultural services (up to 24%), and transportation (up to 20%).

Minority Entrepreneurs

The number of minority-owned businesses has also increased considerably during this same period. The growth of African-American-owned businesses increased 45% between 1997 and 2002. Both Asian-owned and Native American-owned businesses have also increased, at a rate of 24%.

Senior entrepreneurs

Although the US Census Bureau does not collect data specifically on senior-owned businesses, there is strong evidence to suggest that more seniors are getting involved in entrepreneurship. This dramatic increase can be attributed to company downsizing, growing concern that older people will need more income to cover future healthcare expenses, and a growing desire for older workers to gain personal satisfaction in their jobs. lives after retirement.

Young entrepreneurs

Perhaps the fastest growing entrepreneurial demographic is young people. According to a Gallup study, 7 out of 10 high school students want to start their own businesses. Interest in entrepreneurship is also growing on college campuses. There are currently in 1992 two and four year universities offering at least one entrepreneurship course. This number is higher than just 300 universities in 1985.

No matter who is starting all these new businesses, entrepreneurship is certainly a growing trend around the world. As the economy is struggling and people are laid off, more and more people are realizing the benefits of entrepreneurship. The desire to become an eight to five company is losing steam, when are you going to get on board?

It’s better to correct a thing multiple times and finally deliver it with perfection, rather than wasting hard-earned resources on some petty decisions made hastily that make us regret it in the aftermath. We know that when you start a business on your own you have a lot of pressure and expectations to attend to, but my dear friend, only the one who handles this pressure with calm and composure will lead in a better way.

Coming to the issue where most Indian startups lack support is the way they handle PR as a function. It’s good to see that currently, instead of experimenting with PR on your own, you are outsourcing it to PR agencies for startups. But even as you outsource them, certain things will make you regret your decision to hire a PR agency for your Startup, and here is a list of those things:

1. They’re not good storytellers – yes, storytelling is the primary art PR professionals need to be adept at because for a story to have a lasting impact, it must be told in a way that attracts journalists almost instantly . . Most PR folks fall behind in this art and often don’t make much of a profit for startups, even when they provide them with numerous innovative points to highlight.

2. They’re always chattering about past clients: It’s good for PR people to talk about their past clients so potential clients will join in. But once on board, if these professionals are still babbling about past clients, rather than working on your project; then be careful that these people are useless and will not get much media presence as claimed.

3. They consider themselves experts: Yes, they are probably the experts in the art of storytelling, but this does not mean that they have to act like one when talking to their client. Rather than acting like an expert, they need to be curious and eager in the insight phase to reflect the best possible characteristics of the customer and their organization in media stories.

4. They’re starved for credit all the time: Their job is to get you news coverage, profile stories, and of course some kind of interviews as promised in the deal. But sometimes, PR agencies are seen to mislead startups by betting on the reprinted version of news coverage. So when it comes to a start-up PR agency, be very careful not to be fooled, only pay for the ones that are original in every way.

5. They are extremely expensive: You are a newcomer to the industry and considering your childhood in the industry, you are more likely to be cheated in terms of money. There are certain companies in this extremely broad public relations industry that will mislead you without you knowing. So instead of investing in these companies, take your time and do a thorough research on the best players in the public relations industry who specialize in the genre that you or your organization work in.

Now, after reading all these facts, you may be thinking that public relations is not good for startups. But it is unless and until you and your startup designate a trusted PR firm. The company will not only provide you with everything promised in the agreement, but will also design personalized public relations strategies for you and your startup that will reap many more benefits than expected.