March 10, 2015
Written
by Bob Meyer, Editor of BarterNews
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From the desk of Bob Meyer...
03/10/2015
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Breathe Life Into Your Business With These Ideas
Just as there are facts of life that affect us personally, there are
facts of business life that affect us as entrepreneurs. Bill McBean,
author of the book The Facts of Business Life: What Every
Successful Business Owner Knows That You Don't, shares what he
has learned over the course of a successful career to help you avoid
common mistakes and steer your company in the direction you want it
to go. The following is an overview of McBean's seven facts
of business life, which he suggests will help you to build a strong,
lasting foundation for your business: Fact 1: If you
don't lead, no one will follow. Good business leadership
begins with defining the destination and direction of your company
and deciding how the business should look and operate when it
arrives. It also involves developing and continuously improving on a
set of skills in order to move your business from where it is today
to where you want it to be tomorrow. Fact 2: If you
don't control it, you don't own it. Control is the owner's
management reality. If you don't control your company by defining
key tasks and dictating how they must be handled, then you don't
truly "own" the business. Fact 3: Protecting your
company's assets should be your first priority. Basically,
assets — which include both tangible and intangible assets —
are what power sales, profits, and growth. Not the other way around.
Fact 4: Planning is about preparing for the future, not
predicting it. Nobody knows what tomorrow, next week, or
next year will bring for your business. But you can make educated
guesses based on the most current, accurate information available as
well as your own past experiences, and this should be an ongoing
process. Fact 5: If you don’t market your business,
you won’t have one. Maybe working to market and advertise
your product isn't your cup of tea. Or maybe you believe your
product is so great that it should speak for itself. If so, too bad —
you’re going to have to do it anyway. The bottom line is, if people
don't know about your product, you won't be successful.
Fact 6: The marketplace is a war zone. Every
company has competitors, and if it doesn't and it's successful, it
soon will. Successful owners know they have to fight not only to win
market share but to retain it as well. That's why you must develop a
warrior mentality and maintain it for as long as you're at the head
of your business. Fact 7: You don't just have to
know the business you're in; you have to know business. In
addition to knowing the inner workings and nuances of your
particular industry, you also need to understand the various aspects
of business as it is more broadly defined. That includes subjects
such as accounting, finance, business law, personnel issues, and
more, and how all of these impact each other and the decisions you
make. Canadian Bill McBean is the author of The
Facts of Business Life: What Every Successful Business Owner Knows
That You Don't. A graduate of the University of Saskatchewan in
Saskatoon, and Mount Royal College in Calgary, Alberta, he
subsequently began his career with General Motors of Canada in 1976.
He is currently general partner of McBean Partners, a
family-owned investment company, partner and chair of Our-Mentors, a
company that works with owners to improve their businesses for
long-term success, and Net Claims Now, which provides companies in
the restoration industry with invoicing, accounts receivable
collections, cash flow services, business coaching, and business
lead generation services.
BarterNews.com — World's Largest
Depository Of
Barter Information
Hundreds of valuable articles,
techniques, and strategies are found in the following various barter
categories:
Travel,
Media,
Trade Exchange
Corporate Barter,
Offset & Countertrade,
Secondary Capital,
Real Estate,
Community Barter,
Restaurant & Entertainment
(The Barter
Categories are found on the horizontal bar at the top - 3rd
button from right.)
Money-Making Reports Available From BarterNews
Business-With-Pleasure Trips Can Be
Tax-Deductible
If you're planning a summer vacation, there are ways you may be
able to use the tax code to help subsidize that summer trip to some
popular tourist haven. Here are some possibilities: ⇒Mixing
vacation with business. One ticket to tax-deductible summer
travel is to tack some vacation onto a business trip you’re
scheduled to take. If the primary purpose of your trip is business,
you can deduct the cost of getting to and from your destination.
For example, say you have a five-day professional convention in
Honolulu this summer and plan on staying an extra few days to lie on
the beach and enjoy the view. You can deduct 100% of your round-trip
airfare to Hawaii. There is no need to prorate the costs based on
the proportion of time you spent vacationing. In contrast,
food and lodging costs usually must be prorated — only those
attributable to your five-day business convention would be
deductible. There are, however, a couple of situations where you can
deduct living expenses for your vacation days. If you have
business to conduct on a Friday and Monday, you can deduct food and
lodging for the Saturday and Sunday in between, even if you spend
the entire weekend sightseeing. ⇒Family travel.
Taking your family on a deductible trip won't diminish your
write-offs. The IRS allows you to deduct whatever it would have cost
you to travel alone. So when figuring your deduction for lodging,
you can deduct the single-occupancy rate for your room, which will
usually be slightly less than the double-occupancy rate you actually
pay for a family. If you drive to your destination, you can
deduct the full cost of your round-trip transportation, because you
would incur the same cost traveling alone in the car. Of course, if
you’re traveling by plane or train, only your fare is deductible.
⇒Summer school. Professional seminars
offer another chance for deductible travel. Continuing-education
courses and seminars for doctors, lawyers, and other professionals
are often held in popular tourist areas. Travel costs are deductible
if the education is needed to maintain or upgrade skills in your
job, and is the main purpose of your trip. ⇒Charitable
trips. Volunteer charity work can also lead to deductible
travel opportunities. Traveling to an out-of-town convention of a
charitable or religious organization can be deductible — but
only if you're an official delegate to the convention. If
you're performing charitable work away from home, you may be able to
deduct the travel costs. For example, scoutmasters who take Boy
Scout troops on summer camping trips can deduct travel expenses as a
charitable contribution.
⇒Investment trips. If you own an
out-of-town rental property, you can deduct trips to look after your
investment. But be prepared to prove that the primary purpose of
your trip was to manage or work on the property — not to
vacation there.
Is Your Trade Exchange Missing Out On
Valuable New Business?
If
your barter company's listing on BarterNews.com isn't current, you
are definitely missing out on new business. The web site
BarterNews.com receives heavy traffic — with over 150,000 page-views
every month. Entrepreneurs and corporate executives check the
thousands of articles, the weekly "Tuesday
Report," and the "Contacts
Section" of our site. They use the latter to find barter
companies with which to do business.
Is your barter company's listing up-to-date?
To keep your listing current is very easy. See the links below to (A)
update any changes to your company's listing, such as new location,
phone number, web site or other information, and (B) if your company
has not been listed.
Here's how to get on board:
To
make changes to your listing
click here.
For
new listings
click here.
What "Problem" Are You Solving?
Despite the numerous products and services for sale in today’s
expanding barter marketplace, members of a trade exchange like all
consumers, will exchange their hard-earned trade dollars for only
two reasons: either to feel good or to solve a problem. To
put it in a more personal perspective, your customers don’t buy what
your company sells … they buy what those goods or services do
for them. ⇒They don't purchase clothes. They purchase a
sharp appearance, style and attractiveness. ⇒They don't
buy insurance. They buy peace of mind and a comfortable future for
their family and themselves. ⇒They don't buy a house.
They buy contentment, a long-term investment and pride of ownership.
⇒They don't buy a book. They buy pleasant hours of reading
and the profits of knowledge. ⇒They don't purchase
toys. They purchase happy moments for their children and
grandchildren. ⇒They don't buy a computer. They buy the
pleasures of having the most updated technology. ⇒They
don't buy airline tickets. They buy the comfort and convenience of a
fast, safe, on-time arrival at a destination feeling like a million
dollars. What does the average consumer buy? Ideas, good
feelings, self respect, comfort and happiness — those are the
things they want.
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The Growth and Use of Secondary
Capital (New Money) Creates Unprecedented Wealth In Today's New Age
Of Possibility
There are many forms of secondary
capital — which can be defined as any financial instrument that
measures and communicates value in a common language. Would you like
to see and learn more about the many forms of secondary capital?
We have 70 free, informative and
inspiring, articles for you in our "Secondary Capital Section."
Check it out...
www.barternews.com/secondary_capital.htm.
Get New Money-Making Ideas And
Valuable Contacts!
You can
obtain useful, informative ideas and contacts in every available
back-issue of BarterNews.
Every
barter company in the world is listed on our web site,
click through to our Global List
of Barter Companies.
We welcome your
comments, questions, and observations.
Copyright BarterNews 2015. Redistribution of BarterNews
content expressly prohibited without the prior written permission of BarterNews.
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