Business Discussions

Hello, friends. It's our favorite time of the week again! Before you start winding down for the weekend, and find yourself reading through the Business Discussion board here in the Community, I wanted to share an article I found earlier. The article was published by uschamber.com  and talked about how you as a business owner can develop a career plan for your employees. Here are some key points that were mentioned:Identify employees that are readyEmployees that are ready to begin their career development plans are ideally the ones with highest performance. They have excelled at their current position and are ready to move forward to the next stage.Plans for the futureWe all know that communication is key, especially in the workplace. One thing to talk about with your employees is their plans for the future. This communication can be very informal and wouldn't take long at all. Let each employee know you're interested in cultivating development plans and then follow up with th

Good afternoon, everyone. I hope this week has treated you well this far. We're halfway to Friday! Today, I wanted to chat with you all about investing. Specifically, how to do so wisely; with a plan and a purpose, to make the most of your hard earned money. Here are a few tips that I thought were worth sharing:Start EarlyOne of the most important pieces of information I've found when it comes to investing is to begin as soon as you start to earn. You know the saying, "The early bird gets the worm."? Well the same goes for investing. The earlier you get started, the more time your money has to grow.AutomationMany banks, investing companies, retirement agencies, and other financial institutions offer technology that will allow you to set up automatic money transfers to different accounts. With apps available right at your fingertips, this is an easy and helpful way to manage your money. With the automatic money movement you won't have to worry about forgetting to transfer funds, since i

Do you work with Forex? Or maybe someone tryed?

Happy Friday, my Community comrades. Thank you for joining me here on the Business Discussion page. Today, I came across an article that I believe can help the development of your business. Entrepreneur recently shared how businesses can save and make money during this time. And don't we just love saving money, well I know I do! Here's what they had to say: Generate cash as quickly as possible.The writer shared that business owners need to think outside of the box when securing the bag. He recommends using your experiences and competencies to find ways to generate income. It doesn't have to be related to your business aura, yet feasible. An example mentioned was an art supplies store, instead of closing their doors, they created a DIY art supply kit and increased their revenue from that. Build a financial reserve.Mr. Kohler advised that if you have resources that are no longer needed, to sell it and add it to your capital. Likewise, if you are receiving loans, whether it be t

Negotiation: discussion aimed at reaching an agreement.I'll begin with a personal story of mine. My husband likes to think of himself as a master negotiator. I remember when we went to purchase our current family vehicle. We had just recently found out that I was pregnant with our first baby and needed a vehicle with more space. I was sick to my stomach the whole time and didn't say much, but my husband was on a mission. We were at the dealership no less than 6 hours. There was a number we needed to agree on but were having trouble seeing eye-to-eye with the car dealer. It was becoming apparent that a deal wouldn't be met, so we got up to leave. As my husband and I were about to cross the threshold, the Sales Manager says, "It's just one less cheeseburger a week." At this point I had had about enough, so in return I not so quietly said the most I had all day, which was, "We have to buy diapers!!" Needless to say, we drove home in our new car. Looking back, the Sales Manager's comment,

We operate 2 businesses that we are looking to consolidate into one main business.  Each business has their own EIN but again would like to consolidate to simplify things. Essentially we would like to have MAIN business with EIN # and then set up the secondary (similiar business but seasonal) as MAIN business with DBA.  I would like to have 2 seperate bank accounts to track income and expenses.  Is there any reason why we couldnt do this for tax purposes?  I currently have 2 company accounts set up in QB but I do not really use one of them.  Now that we are getting busier I would need to maintain both accts.  Some of our customers use both services so I feel like it would make things easier to have my current customer and vendor list combined for both companies.

  Hello, Quickbooks Community! How are you guys hanging in there? While talking with a good friend earlier today, we were discussing how can we manage our time better. This conversation planted the seed for the Business Discussion post  about Time Management. We both shared some ways how to develop this, and here are the top three.   Make a To-Do Lists.First, at times procrastination can get the best of us. To try to combat that, make a to-do list before starting your work. In fact, I would go a step further to assign a time frame of when you would like to complete these tasks. Also, prioritize your responsibilities by order of importance; that way, you will be able to meet your deadlines.   Stay away from distraction.Second, some may say to switch off your phone, turn off the tv, or set your devices on do not disturb, but let's be frank. We are not robots. However, what we can do is try to minimize the amount of time we spend on these things. When creating your sc

Welcome back to the Business Discussion! Today I have found an interesting article that I would like to share from Stuff. Usually, while researching on Google, I tend to go with the first or second results that appear. Rarely, I would look through the rest of the links to try to find information. Wouldn't you like to see your business appear in the top three results?      Corey Hinde from Good Oil Marketing expressed that by using Google My Business App, you can become apart of the Google 3 Pack. This simply means being in the top three when users search for a specific business or activity. Here's what he had to say:   Check whether you have a Google Business Listing.This can be done by researching your business name into Google. If you don't have a business listing, one can be created by using this link to start the process. During this time, Google will send you a postcard. This is important because this allows you to have a business profile across

Hello, everyone. I hope you're enjoying your Wednesday. I wanted to stop by today and discuss a topic that I think would be useful as we begin to see businesses slowly opening back up, but still have some restrictions in place. As you may have noticed in the title, that topic is video marketing. What exactly is video marketing? This strategy is referred to as "the act of creating videos to market a specific business and its products/services."   Video marketing is very flexible and can be used across a wide variety of platforms. Some of these platforms include YouTube, social media such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and even Snapchat, and your customer's email. Covering all of these platforms with your video(s) is a sure way to reach the maximum amount of potential customers.In addition to the large array of areas to share your video, the content can be just as expansive. A few examples of what to include are: Demonstrative videos A demo video takes your viewers through a d

These days, small businesses are confronted with making vital decisions about survival amid cash flow & accounting changes, loan applications, and other new challenges. Keeping track of your money has never been more complicated. Managing income, expenses, & financing have been extra confusing these past two months.It's no surprise many small businesses are in need of bookkeeping help more than ever.   This Thursday May 7 at 10 am Pacific / 1 pm Eastern, CPA & Business Advisor Hector Garcia will take your questions & share some tips on how you can manage your business and accounting operations. Comment below and let us know your questions for Hector.        And if you are looking for more like this, make sure to check out our Ask the Expert playlist on YouTube.  

Hello, everyone and welcome back to our Business Discussions. A couple of weeks ago, we looked at the advantages of using Instagram and its features to promote and communicate with your audience. Today, we will dive into how to use Facebook to connect with your customers.  USChamber mentioned some ways, and I would like to share some points with you.   Use your community for the public good.Yes, we are all going through difficult times, yet others are experiencing it a little harder. But how does this relate to your Facebook page, you may ask? You can use your page as a source for others to connect with your local foundations and so forth. UsChamber discussed that this can be done by sharing information on businesses that are still open and offers food delivery. Also, by creating an organization that arranged canned goods or cleaning supplies to be delivered to people in need. In addition, encourage others to give back as you do the same with your charity or create

  Hello, QuickBooks Community. Well, I guess it's safe to say we're all pros at this quarantine thing by now.  We've all had to adjust how we do things during this pandemic. Unfortunately, scammers have also adjusted how they do things during this time. As I was watching the news today, the reporter mentioned that there had been an increase in scams. Scammers see this time of uncertainty as an opportunity to prey on those who may be vulnerable. So what can we do to protect ourselves? Here are just a few things to watch out for:   First, a lot of these scammers are pretending to work for the government. These scammers have been contacting people through emails, over the phone, and even social media, pretending to have information on their financial relief or any COVID related information. Believe it or not, persons are taking this bait and sharing their personal information with these hackers. To protect yourself and your business, please don't give out personal informat

  In these extraordinary times, small businesses are finding new and creative ways to run their operations. How they manage through this new normal - which is anything but - will determine their business continuity in the short-term and success in the long-term.     In this live Q&A on Thursday April 30 at 2 PM Pacific Time (5pm Eastern), we’ll share some tips on how you can keep customers engaged and ideas on generating income. We’ll provide use cases on how some small businesses are pivoting and what they’ve learned in the last month.   Entrepreneurial expert Rod Kurtz, Entrepreneur in Residence at UCLA Anderson School of Management, will take your questions and explain how creative management can help your small business during a time that seems almost entirely unmanageable.Comment below and let us know your questions for Rod. Watch it live right here!      And if you are looking for more like this, make sure to check out our Ask the E

Happy Friday, friends. Today I found an article that I believe would be insightful. With a lot of customers being at home temporarily, moving business online could be the best strategy right now to connect with them. Think of it as having a virtual "Open" sign being displayed in your store. Business Insider showed four steps to guide your business online. Although there are some small start-up costs, have an open mind for the benefits in the long haul.   Define your product and service range.First, start by looking at the products you have and creating a short description and assigning a price. Second, try to sort out the shipping cost by finding the most cost-effective way. Third, quality pictures attract onlookers, but it doesn't take much to achieve. Using a bright lamp and a clear background can achieve a high-quality look.     Pick your online shop platform.Do you want a full-service online shop or an official website with online shopping functi

  As we're all still waiting for the Coronavirus pandemic to come to an end, many people are thinking about what they're going to do first and what businesses they're going to shop at when everything's open again.   Personally, I want to actually sit down in the restaurant and eat sushi (call-in sushi just isn't the same), I want to get a pedicure, and I want to shop for new earrings at a local jewelry store. Those things may sound insignificant, but I previously took such small things for granted. As a business owner, I'm sure you're more than ready for all of this to be over. That leaves me curious, what will you do first?   Motivating MarkdownsAs if people won't be overjoyed enough to get back out there to do some serious shopping, one way to promote even more business is to offer a discount. This would most likely apply to older inventory that hasn't moved much since the quarantine began. And since you're still looking to make a profitable comeback, this discount w

    Use custom reports to get the data that matters most to you.    While general reports in QuickBooks provide tons of actionable financial data, custom reports let you pull the exact data you need to dive into the nitty-gritty details of your business. This depth of understanding leads to better insights. Better insights lead to better decision-making and actionable outcomes.    Why do I need to customize financial reports?   Foremost, customize your reports so the data makes sense to you. At the end of the day, a report is only useful if you understand what the data is telling you. The filters in the customization module can be used to eliminate extraneous details or pull additional data points so you can easily zero-in on account specifics.   Moreover, narrowing the scope of reports helps you learn more about how each part of your business impacts its overall health. These insights empower you to mak

Good Friday afternoon everyone! Thanks for joining me here on the Business Discussions board, where we cover a variety of interesting topics and advice. Today I wanted to share some key points I read in an article that was presented by Forbes. This specific article covered pointers on how to recalibrate your marketing plan. This information may be more helpful now for adjusting to recent changes, but can also be noted for future use, whenever you need it. Here are some tips for revamping current marketing strategies:AuditAn audit in this context refers to going over your existing goals and planned activities. I thought the mention of 30, 60, 90 day plans and beyond was great advice. Make detailed notes of where you'd like to see your business 30, 60, and 90 days into the future.ArticulateOnce you've nailed down your goals, you need to communicate with your followers, clients, and/or customers what types of changes they can expect to see. Let them know how your content or productio

Learn how to use social media marketing to continue growing your business. Join us for a YouTube Live Q&A on Thursday, April 16, 10:00am PT.   Do you run or work at a small business affected by COVID-19? Are you new to social media marketing? If you rely on face-to-face interactions with clients or customers, or just want to learn more about social media marketing, you may be wondering how to use the proper channels to grow and run your business virtually. This Q&A  from QuickBooks will help you reach your customers and grow your business — from the safety of your home.   Social media marketing expert, author, podcaster, and small business owner Ariel Hyatt will answer your questions and share tips on using social media to market your small business.   Comment below & tell us what you want to know.   You can watch it live, right here:      And if you are looking for more like this, make sure to check out our Ask the E

  Have you ever wondered if your employees are truly grasping what you're saying in a meeting? Let's be honest; we have all tuned out at some point despite our best intentions. Although we are going through times of uncertainty and using video conferencing more, your meetings can still be efficacious and high-energy. Here are a few thoughts I had about having productive sessions.   Encourage Open DiscussionEven though practicing or organizing the agenda for the meeting, this can cause you to be dominant and not leave room for input from the audience. Keep in mind that this forum is not only for you; it is for others. Getting all employees involved is essential because it can open up some issues or ideas that you can use to enhance your business more.   Having a Positive AttitudeAlthough you may not like the responsibility of hosting a meeting, you can portray that negative attitude. How would it look if you are trying to get your message across, such as achieving result

Happy Friday, Quickbooks Community! I hope everyone is doing well and being safe. Today, I'll like to discuss how Instagram can be used to promote your business. I discovered this article by UsChambers, and it gave me a different perspective on how we can take advantage of this app. They mention some ways how to communicate with your audiences, and I would like to share that with you.   Pause your Promotion.It would be best at this time to reevaluate what you would regularly post on your Instagram page. Instead of focusing on selling your products or services, showing some empathy about the situation shows the customer that you understand what they are experiencing.   Acknowledge the crisis.We all know about these times of uncertainty, so acting fake like everything is fine would weaken the connection with your audience. Acknowledging what is going on in your post shows strength because of your honesty, followers will see that your human and that you care.   Be fle

Hello Quickbook Community! How are you doing? Today, while trying to find a topic to discuss, I couldn't stray away from the idea of Inspiration. Inspiration, in a sense is what inspired or motivated you to start your small business. Personally, I had the opportunity to assist my father in running his commercial fishing business. Throughout this experience, it taught me a lot about what drives a person once they are passionate about what they want to achieve. I recently interviewed my father asking him what inspired him, and this is what he had to say:   1. FamilyHe expressed to me that this was his number one priority. He wanted to provide extra security for his family, and the way he saw to do that was by running his own business. Although there were some curveballs starting up, he continues what he loves and proves to be successful in the end.   2. The Opportunity Presented ItselfAlthough he did a lot of research, like learning more about the industry, the advantages

Hi my name is Chris and I just wanted to say thank you to Charlie, Hannibal, and Joey for their help today. The customer service I received today was top notch, A+ service. They were very friendly, informative, understanding, and they helped me through a situation that almost cost me a lot of money.I'm posting this so that hopefully I can help prevent others from falling for this scam or any other scam for that matter. I was almost got scammed from a potential customer who tried to get me with an "over payment scam".  Needless to say they're not going to be a customer of mine and I hope someone can put a stop to them so that they don't scam or try to scam anyone else.  Essentially they wanted to increase the invoice amount and have me transfer the difference to their "housekeeper". Soif someone asks you to transfer money to their "housekeeper" or anyone else for that matter, don't do it.Looking back it seemed to good to be true but when you're a small business owner you

In these changing environments, there are a lot of readjustments being made for businesses to save money. Nonetheless, there are ways to market your business on a tight budget. After discovering this article, I found it beneficial for small business owners to market their business in the best way possible strategically.     Although ChatAttack suggests a lot of ways, there are a few that stood out the most to me.   1. Make Sure Your Website Delivers Great ExperienceThere are always ways for improvement, especially when trying to make your website more appealing. Do the information you portray and the user-friendly ability improve the chances of new leads? This is a question that you should consider.   2. Build a Strong Social Media PresenceWe can all say that technology has advanced over the past decade. This has opened the market for advertising your business freely. By creating profiles on platforms such as Facebook Linkin and so on, your business can

"Great leaders don't tell you what to do. They show you how it's done." -AnonymousGood Wednesday afternoon to you all. Unfortunately I don't have any April Fool's Day jokes but I hope you'll take a moment to share your input with me anyway! I wanted to ask, what does the word "leader" mean to you?The definition of leadership is "a process of social influence, which maximizes the efforts of others towards the achievement of a goal." Likewise, the meaning of leader is "the person who leads or commands a group, organization, or country." However, I think the definition can vary from person to person.I suppose I'll go first to answer the question. To me, a leader is someone who manages by their example. If the person in charge is in fact "practicing what they preach," I feel it encourages their followers (or employees) to do their very best. In other words, employees may strive to live up to the standard set by their leader. Leading by example includes actions that are encouraging to

Greetings Community members. I hope this week has treated you all well. I just wanted to drop by the Business Discussions space and share some info I recently learned. I have a feeling many of you have found yourself transitioning to the work at home life. With that, I thought it might be a good opportunity to share a few different methods of ways you can still meet up with your colleagues to get your work done as a team. Here are a few options offered in an article by Android Authority:     1. Microsoft TeamsMicrosoft recently replaced the popular Skype platform with Microsoft Teams. This resource combines video chatting and messaging into one. Teams offers the ability to schedule meetings and host up to 250 people, woah! Additionally, you can share your screen to give others a better look and record meetings so ones who aren't able to attend can catch up later. 2. Hangouts MeetsThis option is brought to you by Google. In Hangouts you can also host up to 250 employees, but