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Delivering Outstanding Customer Service

Posted on February 3rd, 2012 by Joey Donovan Guido

Category: Business Inspiration, Customer Retention, Grow a Business, Small Business, customer service

Outstanding-Customer-Service Customer service is a cornerstone of success.

In many instances, it’s more important than the products or services you offer.

I’d like to share a true customer service story that goes above and beyond the typical expectations of a customer. It happens to be about one of our own BizFilings customer service team members: Adriana.

One of the services BizFilings offers is Registered Agent Service in all 50 states. There are times when a customer will call to cancel their service — typically because they want to take on the responsibility of Registered Agent themselves, or because they are closing their company.

Adriana has a very specific way that she handles this type of interaction.

Of course, she honors the customer’s request and cancels the Registered Agent service. Nothing out of the ordinary yet, right?

But then Adriana does something extra special. She lets her customer know that she’s going to follow up with them once the change of Registered Agent Service occurs.

“Once the paperwork is submitted to the state, it could take weeks before the change is officially accepted. It’s helpful for people when they don’t have to think about it. I just e-mail or call them once the state accepts the change. I really like the fact that we’re encouraged to be helpful with our customers.”

This story exemplifies the philosophy of our customer service team. Our top concerns are making each customer’s experience as easy and pleasant as possible and developing an honest, trusted relationship with them.

We’re Here to Help
Adriana, and the rest of our outstanding customer service team, can be reached between 8am and 7pm CST, at 800-981-7183. Or, you can send us an e-mail anytime. We’re always happy to help.

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Small Businesses Resources, Part 1: The Association of Small Business Development Centers (ASBDC)

Posted on February 1st, 2012 by Joey Donovan Guido

Category: Entrepreneur, Grow a Business, How To Information, Small Business, Small Business News, Start A Business

Small-Business-Resources If you’re an entrepreneur, or small business owner, there’s a very good chance that you can benefit from getting involved with the Association of Small Business Development Centers (ASBDC).

They provide excellent resources — both locally and nationally — for networking, funding ideas, free forms, community connections and much more.

In a Nutshell …
“America’s Small Business Development Center Network is the most comprehensive small business assistance network in the United States and its territories. The mission of the network is to help new entrepreneurs realize their dream of business ownership, and assist existing businesses to remain competitive in the complex marketplace of an ever-changing global economy.” — ASBDC

To make full use of the resources the ASBDC provides, it’s a good idea to take a look at both their national website, as well as the local website.

ASBDC National Website
Here, you’ll find an abundance of resources including:

The ASBDC Blog

A gateway to special offers, discounts and opportunities

Free webinars from ASBDC partners

Helpful links for small businesses regarding information, products and services

Business resources for veterans of America’s Armed Forces

Disaster assistance

There’s also an annual conference which, “brings together over 1,400 Small Business Development Center (SBDC) professionals, trainers, consultants, management, and administrative personnel.” The 2012 annual conference is September 11th.

Let’s Talk Local (SBDC)
Each local small business development center (SBDC), offers unique opportunities for entrepreneurs and small business owners based on the needs of each individual state and city.

There are programs in place focusing on topics like startup business solutions, youth entrepreneurship programs and veterans business programs — to name a few. Some local SBDCs offer networking events that bring small businesses together. Of course, attending classes or presentations will also give you the opportunity to meet other business owners — making your professional circle larger and stronger.

Local SBDC websites are chock-full of information, but you can also call to speak to someone the old-fashioned way — by phone. I have spoken to my Wisconsin SBDC, and I can honestly say that the representative I spoke with was extremely knowledgeable, pleasant and happy to answer questions and offer direction to relevant resources.

As an entrepreneur or small business owner, you need every edge you can find to build and maintain a successful business. The SBDC is an excellent place to find this.

Related Links:
SCORE
SBA.gov
Startup America

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Tax-Exempt Companies and IRS Form 990-N

Posted on January 31st, 2012 by Joey Donovan Guido

Category: How To Information, Small Business, Small Business News, nonprofit

Have you heard of the IRS Form 990-N?

If you haven’t, you are not alone. But that doesn’t mean it’s not an important form. In fact, if it’s not filled out for three consecutive years a company will automatically lose its tax-exempt status.

In an effort to help your nonprofit organization remain compliant, we’ve put together this brief article to give you a quick overview of the form and whether or not you’ll need to actually file one.

The first thing you’ll need to determine is whether you’re a tax exempt organization with annual gross receipts that are usually $50,000 or less. If you are, filing IRS Form 990-N (e-Postcard) is typically required. Companies can also file a complete Form 990 or Form 990-EZ, instead of the e-Postcard.

Due Date of the e-Postcard

According to the IRS, “the e-Postcard is due every year by the 15th day of the 5th month after the close of your tax year. For example, if your tax year ended on December 31, the e-Postcard is due May 15 of the following year. If the due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the due date is the next business day. You cannot file the e-Postcard until after your tax year ends.

Filing IRS Form 990-N

Click here to file your form. The IRS has partnered with the Urban Institute to make this form available for completion online. This form must be completed and filed electronically. There is no paper version.

What You Need to Complete the e-Postcard(according to the IRS):

Employer Identification Number (EIN), also known as a Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN)
Tax year. Are you following a calendar tax year, or a fiscal tax year?
Legal name and mailing address
Any other names the organization uses
Name and address of a principal officer
Web site address if the organization has one
Confirmation that the organization’s annual gross receipts are normally $25,000 or less ($50,000 for tax years ending on or after December 31, 2010)
If applicable, a statement that the organization has terminated or is terminating (going out of business)

For more information, please visit the IRS Form 990-N page.

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Choosing a Tax-exempt Status for Nonprofit Companies

Posted on January 27th, 2012 by Joey Donovan Guido

Category: How To Information, Incorporate a Business, Small Business, Start A Business, nonprofit

Tax-Exempt

Nearly everyone’s heard of the infamous 501(c)(3) tax-exempt formation. But did you know that there are other no less than 32 tax-exempt options for nonprofits?

To follow is a listing of four of the most popular ones — including 501(c)(3) — along with a brief description of what makes each of them unique …

501(c)(3)

These are typically public charities or private foundations established for a variety of purposes including: religious, educational, charitable, scientific, literary, testing for public safety, fostering of national or international amateur sports, or prevention of cruelty to animals and children.

Application form number: 1023
Annual return required to be filed: 990 or 990EZ, or 990-PF
Charitable contributions allowable: Typically, yes

501(c)(4)

Geared toward civic leagues, social welfare organizations, and local associations of employees. This type of nonprofit generally promotes community welfare, as well as charitable, educational and recreational endeavors.

Application form number: 1024
Annual return required to be filed: 990 or 990EZ
Charitable contributions allowable: No, generally

501(c)(6)

This type of nonprofit is often a business league, chamber of commerce, or real estate boards. The general nature of activities involves improvement of business conditions of one or more lines of business.

Application form number: 1024
Annual return required to be filed: 990 or 990EZ
Charitable contributions allowable: No

501(c)(7)

Consisting predominantly of social and recreation clubs, this type of nonprofit organization focuses on pleasure, recreation and social activities.

Application form number: 1024
Annual return required to be filed: 990 or 990EZ
Charitable contributions allowable: No

A Note on Defining Your Business Purpose
Your business purpose is an explanation of what your nonprofit corporation is formed to do or provide. Having a very detailed description is essential. If you plan to apply for tax-exempt status, the IRS will require a copy of your Articles of Incorporation and will pay particular attention to your business purpose and use it to classify your business.

For a complete list of nonprofit, tax-exempt formation choices, visit our IRS Organization Reference Chart.

We’re Here to Help
If you have questions, or would like assistance with forming a nonprofit company, feel free to give our customer service team a call between 8am and 7pm CST, at 800-981-7183. Or, send us an e-mail anytime. We’re always happy to help.

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Top Benefits of Forming a Nonprofit Company

Posted on January 26th, 2012 by Joey Donovan Guido

Category: How To Information, Incorporate a Business, Small Business, Start A Business

Thinking about forming a nonprofit company?

You probably already know that they’re specifically formed for purposes other than operating a profit-seeking business. But you might not be aware of all the benefits associated with being a nonprofit organization.

To follow are the top advantages of forming a nonprofit company. We hope they help you gain a clearer picture of what these types of business formations have to offer …

Top Seven Benefits of Forming a Nonprofit Company

Limited liability protection. Protects directors, officers and members against being held personally responsible for their company’s debts and liabilities. With limited liability protection, creditors cannot pursue the personal assets of the business owner to pay off business debts.
Tax-exempt status. Nonprofits can apply for both federal and state tax-exempt status.
Access to grants. Some nonprofits are eligible to receive public and private grants, making it easier to get operating capital. For instance, certain grants and other public allocations are only available to 501(c)(3) organizations.
Tax-deductible donations. With 501(c)(3) nonprofits, donations made by individuals to the nonprofit corporation are tax-deductible.
Possible state sales and property taxes exemption. This benefit varies by state.
US Postal Service discounts. Tax-exempt nonprofits generally can receive discounts on bulk mail rates.
Credibility. There is established credibility for an organization that is recognized by the IRS as a tax-exempt nonprofit.

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The Basics of Forming a Nonprofit Company

Posted on January 24th, 2012 by Joey Donovan Guido

Category: Entrepreneur, Form My Business, Start A Business

The-Basics-of-Forming-a-Nonprofit-Company Forming a nonprofit company can be confusing. There are steps that must be taken on both the state and federal level — some of which require an expert’s understanding of incorporation forms. This is especially true when it comes to 501(c)(3) registration.

But before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s take a look at the basics of forming a nonprofit company, so we can glean a better understanding of the process …

What is a Nonprofit Company?

The name “nonprofit” is a tricky one. It often lends itself to visions of hard working philanthropists who get paid small salaries. And although this is sometimes the case, many nonprofits are huge, very profitable companies. The difference between for-profit and nonprofit companies comes down to one thing: how profits are distributed. In the for-profit world, profits can be legally redistributed to shareholders. Not so for nonprofit entities, which need to apply profits back into the organization.

How to Form a Nonprofit Company on the State Level
Although nonprofit companies adhere to state laws that are different than those of standard corporations (LLCs, S corps and C corps), the business formation process is very similar. Three things you’ll need to do are:

File nonprofit Articles of Incorporation with the state, along with applicable state filing fees.
Provide a detailed business purpose: In your Articles of Incorporation, you need to provide a detailed explanation of what the nonprofit is being created to do/provide. The IRS will consider this information as it reviews your application for tax-exempt status.
Include specific tax-exempt language in your articles of incorporation. Typically, the IRS looks for this if you file for tax-exempt status.

How to Form a Nonprofit Company on the Federal Level
Speaking of tax-exempt status, there’s a misconception that creating a nonprofit corporation means the nonprofit is automatically tax-exempt. Not true. Once you’ve formed your nonprofit on a state level, you’ll need to file for tax-exempt status (if it’s something you’re seeking) with the IRS. This means filling out and submitting form 1023 with the IRS, who must approve your request. If your 1023 form is approved by the IRS, you will then have what is called 501(c)(3) status, making your company tax exempt.

Other things to keep in mind:

The IRS requires filing fees. The standard filing fee is $750. A reduced filing fee of $350 is available to nonprofits who expect to have, or have had, gross revenue under $40,000 for the first four years combined
Some states that also require a state-level tax-exempt status filing
There are many additional IRS nonprofit classifications other than 501(c)(3). It’s important to make sure that you’re filing for a classification that suits the needs of your company.
The IRS requires a plethora of financial information, which you may not have at the inception of your nonprofit corporation.

The Difficulties with Form 1023
When filing for tax-exempt status, we highly recommend utilizing an expert to complete form 1023. This form has the reputation of being the most difficult form created by the IRS, and if it’s not filled out correctly your tax-exempt status may never come to be. Form 1023 is approximately 30 pages long — without the schedules and attachments. The IRS estimates preparation time of over 100 hours for completion, and IRS approval can take anywhere from a couple months to around a year, depending on the number of written follow-up questions the IRS has and how quickly you provide answers.

It’s critical that you use a reputable company to complete this form, one that’s experienced with filing 1023s. We typically refer our customers to The Foundation Group.

What does tax-exempt status mean?
Being tax-exempt means that the net profits of the nonprofit organization are exempt from federal income taxes. Certain states allow state-level tax-exempt status, and in such cases, the net profit is also exempt from payment of state income taxes.

Tax-deductible Donations
Many companies that are approved for 501(c)(3) status, can accept donations and contributions from individuals and businesses. In turn, the persons or businesses that are contributing to the nonprofit corporation may claim their donation as tax-deductible* — which of course is a big selling point when seeking contributions. (*The IRS determines which types of 501(c)(3) entities are permitted to do this.)

Have Questions?
If you have questions, or would like assistance with forming a nonprofit company, feel free to give our customer service team a call between 8am and 7pm CST, at 800-981-7183. Or, send us an e-mail anytime. We’re always happy to help.

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Incorporating a Business? What You Need to Know to Ensure Your Limited Liability Protection

Posted on January 20th, 2012 by Joey Donovan Guido

Category: How To Information, Incorporate a Business, LLC, S-Corp, Small Business

Limited-Liability-Protection

When you’re incorporating your business, whether it’s a Limited Liability Company (LLC), S corporation (S corp), or another business formation, there are at least two things you’ll need to do to properly set up your company.

Filing incorporation documents within the state you’re doing business in is critical. Even if you choose to incorporate in Delaware because of the many business advantages it offers, you’ll still need to incorporate in the actual state you’re physically doing business — often referred to as your home state. If you have multiple states where you have a physical presence, you’ll need to incorporate in each of them. Incorporating in any state other than your home state is called Foreign Qualification.

Once incorporation documents are filed, many small business owners think they’re done. This is not the case. It’s true that your company is officially formed, but if you want to ensure that your limited liability protection remains intact, you’ll have to conduct business in a certain way.

Obtaining an Employer Identification Number (EIN)
The key next step is setting up a bank account, but in order to do this you have to file a form with the IRS to attain an Employer Identification Number (EIN). This Federal Tax ID number is what will enable you to open up a bank account in the name of your company (or its DBA name). It’s very important that your business transactions are kept separate from your personal bank account.

Clients and customers will need to make payments to the business, or DBA name, and all funds should be deposited in the business account. If there’s a hazy middle ground where checks are being made out to you and deposited into your personal checking account, this may compromise your limited liability protection.

What is Limited Liability Protection?
One of the major benefits of incorporating, limited liability protection protects a business owner against being held personally responsible for their company’s debts and liabilities. With limited liability protection, creditors cannot pursue the personal assets (home, savings, etc.) of the business owner to pay off business debts.

We’re Here to Help
If you have questions, or would like assistance with incorporating your company, feel free to give our customer service team a call between 8am and 7pm CST, at 800-981-7183. Or, send us an e-mail anytime. We’re always happy to help.

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Turning Your New Year's Resolutions into Reality

Posted on January 19th, 2012 by Joey Donovan Guido

Category: Goals, Grow a Business, How To Information, Leadership, Small Business

Did you make any business or personal
New Year’s resolutions this year?

If so, bear with me while I ask a redundant question:

Do you want your resolutions to become reality?

Of course you do.

But in order to do so, you’ve got to transform your resolutions into actual goals.

To follow are four major steps that will help you create detailed, attainable goals — upping the odds for manifesting your New Year’s resolutions into reality.

1. Discover your goals. If you’ve already determined your New Year’s resolutions, you’ve already accomplished this first step. If not, take out a piece of paper (or open a Word doc) and click here for details on discovering goals.

2. Clearly define your goals. I like to say that vagueness will leave us directionless, but a goal that is brimming with details gives us a “high-definition” view of what our future looks like. Take a moment to think of your small business as a trip you’re planning. A clearly-defined goal is like the address (destination) you enter into your GPS. Without the destination, your GPS can not plan a step-by-step route to get you where you want to go. More on defining goals.

3. Setting your goals. Speaking of step-by-step, the next part of the process is creating a step-by-step plan of action. It’s imperative that each step is manageable, or what I like to refer to as “bite-sized.” Here’s how Zig Ziglar and Napoleon Hill, two of my mentors, describe the process of developing your step-by-step plan of action:

Identify EXACTLY what you desire
Spell out exactly why you’d like to reach these goals
List the obstacles you need to overcome in order to get there
Identify the people, groups and organizations you need to work with to get there
Identify what you need to know (learn) in order to reach these goals
Develop a plan of action
Set a date on it. When do you expect to get there?
Write it all down!
More on setting your goals

4. Overcoming obstacles. Let’s face it, we’re not working in a controlled environment here. It’s very likely that obstacles will present themselves as we strive to attain our goals. Here are some practical ways to manage obstacles when they arise:

Learn to respond instead of reacting
Seek our positive input from people, books, seminars …
Have a flexible plan that has room for revisions as needed
Develop your long-term vision so that you don’t lose sight of your goals when obstacles arise.
Avoid them all together by being aware of potential problems before they arise
More on overcoming obstacles

As you can see, there’s a considerable amount of work involved in the process. But this is your business and your life we’re talking about. At years end, I’m sure you’ll want to look back and see success, not frustration because your resolutions never manifested into anything but a big idea.

Take the time to turn your New Year’s Resolutions into attainable goals. You’ll be glad you did.

Good luck!

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When the economy is bad, there can be a tendency to want to play it safe in the decisions a small business owner makes. This is true across the board — from products, to marketing, to the types of people that are hired.

Playing it safe, especially in a poor economic climate, may seem like the best way to help your small business survive. The problem is that safe thinking leads to products and services that are merely acceptable. But when customers are being more careful than ever with how they spend their money — they’re looking for something that’s exceptional, not acceptable.

Survival mode rarely leads to innovation or growth. Instead it leads to mediocrity, because fear of making a mistake leads to ultra-conservative decisions.

I’m not saying to throw caution to the wind, but settling for acceptable when you’re capable of exceptional is never a good idea. Nor is it the most fun, profitable or fulfilling choice.

There’s no doubt that there’s a higher volume of work and effort involved with reaching exceptional. But the results are worth it — for your customers, your employees, your bottom line and the future of your company.

It’s time to move your small business out of survival, and into exceptional.

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Delivering Outstanding Customer Service

Small Businesses Resources, Part 1: The Association of Small Business Development Centers (ASBDC)