I found a poem that may help you understand Obama's agenda. 

current Obama agenda

Stifling of Dividends

In case none of you have been listening to the news, the president released his new budget for 2013, all taxes go UP!  So hang on all you small businesses, this will hurt. Let's start with income taxes, the Bush tax cuts expire 12/31/12, that will put the max tax rate to 39.6%, the president wants to increase capital gains taxes to the same level.  Add in the planned phase-out of deductions and exemptions and the rate is 41%. add in the Obamacare's 3.8% investment tax surcharge  and the new dividend tax rate for 2013 is....44.8%, ya hoo!,( per WSJ).  It is currently 15%. How did your think he was going to pay for all the big government programs he wants.  He has increased the size of government 20% in three years.
If you are retired and living on your dividends, your going to get a big tax increase, no matter how much money you earn. Don't listen to that "250,000 income only", it's a lot of crap!  And by the way, if your company grosses $250,000 or more per year, according to the government, you are FILTHY RICH!
There is also new taxes coming out for real estate sold, on personal and investment.  So much for a business friendly administration! 
There is one way out, November 6 is election day, if you don't vote, don't bitch!


Your Business Guru


John


comments? 

A Political Finding

My subject matter is a little different today, not as much business as politics. I am straying from my course of small business, BUT, I have no choice. Last week our President crossed the line in trying to dictate to the catholic church to pay for all employees in hospitals and charities for contraception . This goes against all beliefs of the church, that is a first  amendment right in the Constitution. Where he thinks he gets the authority to do this is unknown.it appears this administration is trying to regulate all sections of our  economy, even the right to religious freedom. Starting with heath care,(obamacare) to financial,( Dodd Frank bill), to NLRB siding with unions and environmentalists stopping the  Keystone pipe Line. The tactics he is using are the same tactics that FDR used in the 30's/40's, after the depression, they did not work then, they are not working now, what got us out then was WAR! Please bear with me on my rantings, but ,i cannot wait for Nov. 2012.




Your Business Guru


John
jg@beltwaydevelopment.com

Business Exposure

In our last blog we talked about setting up your corperation and start to network your business.  You have heard me say," It All Starts With The Sale".  So, the first thing to do is get all the exposure you can, as quick as you can. The more people know you, the more business you will get. I found a way to reach more people when I owned a mortgage company. This business is very competitive. So, I looked for an edge, it was radio. Now, there are a lot of ways to go into radio. You can just do ads. I went a step further by getting a weekly radio call in show. A lot of stations have   "Ask  the Experts" shows on the weekends.  It's important to find the strongest station in your area, One with the largest listening audience. I found  that talk  radio  stations are best, rather then a music station. Music stations have a shorter listening time then talk  radio stations. Check demographics of the station, make sure they fit into what  you sell. If you sell, home improvements, you want to be sure the listeners own homes. Make sure the station you want to go with has a good reputation, been on the air for a log period of time,(earned listeners),who keep that station  set on their car radio. 
 Compare your costs for the show against the business you get, do it  monthly!  If done right, the show could bring you great rewards, it did for me. I became a local celebrity, people knew me from the show. When they needed a mortgage, I was the first called.
Whether you go this way or not, get the word out on your business as soon as you can!


Your Business Guru


John  


John can be reached  jg@beltwaydevelopment.com 

Business Basics

I want to get into some basics to start a new business. What to do first. Have a good business plan, in writing. Set up a budget. Check out state and local licensing. If you live in a city , you may have licensing requirements for  the county as well. To incorporate your business go to www.sunbiz.org in Florida, find the one in your state. I would look at an LLC, Limited Liability Corp. You can do this on line , not a lot of money. Also look into getting your sales tax number, and fed  tax no. Do you have an accountant? find a good CPA, NOT a tax company. ( If you need to borrow money in the future, the bank will want to see who handles your taxes, they will ALWAYS want a CPA).  Now, you are ready to start. The next thing to do is get business! Learn how to network. join  the local chamber of commerce. Go to online sites that promote your kind of business.  Try, Linkedin, Facebook,etc. Video yourself and put it on U TUBE.  These networking sites will get the word out about your new business.  Set up a marketing plan, where to advertise,and what form of advertising, radio, TV, newspaper, magazine. Check prices, see what  works for you.  Remember, "It all starts with the sale"!  This is where you will need the most money in your budget.
Be prepared , do all this upfront, then you can hit the ground running. You can email me with questions at jg@beltwaydevelopment.com. This is very exciting, good luck!


Your Business Guru


John

The European Effect

What does Europe's problems have to do with small business? I think most people wouldn't give this a thought, but, they should! Today, we live in a global market.  What happens in Europe, effects us here. With the election coming up, who you vote for will determine the future of our country.  Do you want to stay an independent capitalistic form of government,(like we have) or become a honorary member of the European Union. This European social democrat model will have a large effect on opening and running a small business. In that scenerio, the government has too much control on your outcome. If you take a closer look at Europe, you will see their system failing.  They have too much government, too many regulations, too high taxes, too many government jobs and not enough private business. Big government feeds on itself.  It needs more money to grow.  Then as it gets bigger, it needs more money to maintain it's size. As you have seen, in the past three years, it could get out of control. That's what happened in Europe. So, as their prices go up, so do ours. The cost of money changes due to their large debt, the cost of materials go up. We buy and sell to the whole world, if they are in trouble, they cannot buy our products. As our debt and taxes grow here, we price ourselves out of competition. 


Starting a new business today is a little different then it was 20 years ago, a lot more to it. The good news is that, as a small business you can find the same clients as a large business through the internet. You can compete with the whole world with your product.


If you pay attention to world events, you can see that this is an exciting time to open your own business!


Happy New Year


Your Business Guru


John