Managing your business effectively in this emerging high-speed business world depends on how fast you gather, manage and utilise relevant information in your core business area. Even if you have not started your business, relevant information at your fingertips is what you would require to move your business. Do you want to raise capital for your business? What if I show you a way to go about it? How fast you gather and use feedbacks from your customers in order to improve your product or services, the marketing strategies being employed to deliver your goods and services, inventory management and other business processes, differentiate your business from competition. Information should continuously flow as fast as possible within your workplace, among your employees and also outside your business for efficiency and effectiveness. In our financial sector for example, I watch with rapt attention the keen competition going on among the banks. The ones that will be on top will be ones that have fully integrated information technology into every area of their business. The speed at which they get information from the market, disseminate it among their knowledge staff, analyse it and provide an answer to the customers’ need will be the distinguishing factor amongst them. This can only be achieved with a robust digital system. The different departments or sections of your business should have relevant information to aid decision making, on time. For example, the production department of a business should have the right information to act on the quality of goods being produced and how it suits the customers’ demand, if such information is not made available in good time, they will not deliver their job effectively and by extension get to the market before their competitors. This reduces efficiency and profitability in that business. Relevant information about your business can be at your fingertips through the use of digital technology. It helps you get information quickly from many sources and to analyse that information from many perspectives too. This for big as well as small businesses simply means the use of the internet, an email system, a software application and a website. Managers and owners of businesses should recognise the strategic importance of using these tools. The internet for example, has made it possible for businesses to share information, have business collaborations and also embrace e-commerce on the world wide space. Indigenous software applications that will help organise your work and ensure that time and energy are not wasted on routine chores, should be employed. With these tools in hand, businesses will become more effective in their service delivery. They will have the unlimited opportunity to partner with experts all over the world thereby making them much bigger and better. The multiplier effect of using these web tools will be a strong and viral economy for Nigeria. Let me ask you, in your business, how well have you employed the use of the internet in getting information and marketing your product and services? How are you using technology to improve your business? To fully incorporate a digital workplace in your business, majority of the paper works should be stored on the computer in retrievable formats; the use of emails and online tools encouraged. Your work place should be ‘paperless’. A Paperless Workplace Makes Your Business Effective Michael Hammer and James Champy, in the book: Reengineering Your Business said “It is sobering to reflect on the extent to which the structure of our business processes has been dictated by the limitations of the file and folders”. A paperless office can be regarded as a workplace where all the paper works are replaced by storing them on computers and on the web. The paper processes are replaced by digital processes with the use of computers, the internet, intranet, softwares and email facilities. This doesn’t mean here that it is the computers that are going to do the thinking for your business, for example, you still need to find answers to what customers think about your product, the problems they want you to solve for them, where the new market is in your business and other vital questions. What the system does for you is that it provides relevant statistics in good time for you to work with and think out the solution to questions you have at hand within a short time. The idea of a paperless office is necessary to remove the high heap of papers and files which characterises our establishments and businesses. Most times it becomes difficult to find relevant information when needed. Going through the heaps of reports to find marketing information, invoices or sales number to work with becomes cumbersome. Some of the advantages of having a paperless workplace are that -It removes delays caused by paperwork – It reduces the incidence of lost documents either through fire or other means. -It removes bureaucracy in our offices and business. -It makes for efficiency in business, relevant data are kept in view for the knowledge workers to work with and thereby concentrating on customer needs, how to solve them, and value added services. -It will reduce the paper consumption in our businesses. -Routine processes of a business can be automated with software applications removing wasted time and energy for knowledge workers and this also encourages software development in Nigeria. -This eliminates administrative bottlenecks in business. -This helps business to perceive and react to its environment to sense competitive challenges and customer needs and how to provide timely responses to that. To achieve this for small businesses is simple, have a website for your business, use the internet to access relevant information and opportunity in your area of business, use the email service to disseminate information within and outside your workplace over the intranet and the internet. The intranet is a network designed to organise and share information and also carry out digital business transactions within the company. It has features associated with the internet like the web pages, browsers, email, newsgroups and mailing lists but it is accessible only to those of the organisation. Encourage your staff to use email services to communicate, reports should be sent to them through the email before a meeting. This will give them the opportunity to analyse data and information before hand and make their contributions during meetings. With this, time being wasted in meetings will also be reduced. Find opportunities to market your goods and services online (e-commerce), store information in databases and use software to handle routine duties and integrate every data to suit your business. You don’t have to be an expert before you get things right in this perspective, just know what the use of internet and technology generally will do for your business and hire an expert to put them in place for your business advantage. It is not only businesses that need this; government establishments should also be digitalised so that vital information can be within the reach of businesses and individuals. To show you how important this is in a nation and its growth, Ghana was given an award recently for embracing e-government fully in Africa by the United Nations. We should get this right as soon as possible and improve on the way businesses are being done. visit my web site http://fellynice. RejuvenateTour. com http://fellynice. MySecretAdvantage. com
February 11, 2010
November 30, 2009
Training for Success With Your Internet Business, Article 4, Deductions for Use of Home
If you are working from home, you may or may not have an area of your home that you refer to as your office. It may be that you make your phone calls from the bedroom and complete your paperwork at the kitchen table and see customers or clients in the family room.
On the other hand you may have a separate room in your home which is furnished with a computer, printer, desk, comfortable office chair, phone, filing cabinets etc. from where you conduct all aspects of your business.
While from the point of view of maintaining an efficient office the latter option is probably preferable, many of us don’t have the luxury of an extra room that can be set aside for a home office and we end up working under circumstances much closer to those mentioned in paragraph one.
Regardless of how your “office” is set up at home, you may be able to deduct a portion of the operating expenses of your home and treat them as office expenses.
To qualify for these deductions you must use your home or portions thereof regularly and exclusively as your principal place of business for your home based business. Regular and exclusive use means that you can’t just point to a desk in the corner and call it your office. It must be broken in by regular use. This does not mean you have to use it every day, but it must happen frequently enough to show that you are actively engaged in your home based business.
If you think that the regular use of your office might be questioned, keep a log book (see Record Keeping article issued earlier in this series ) recording your home based business activities and business visitors for each day the office is used. You are not required to commandeer an entire room or a separate structure to meet the exclusive test. A portion of a room is acceptable.
Whatever space you do set aside, however, must be used exclusively for your home-based business. You can set aside more than one area of your home for business. For example, one room may be used as an office and another for meeting or entertaining clients. Your principal place of business is where: (1) you conduct the most important activities for that home based business and (2) you spend the most time.
If you meet with clients or deliver goods or services to customers, your principal place of business could be where those meetings or deliveries take place. However, if your home based business has no fixed location, you may deduct expenses for a home office if you use your home to conduct substantial management activities and complete necessary paperwork.
You can have more than one principal place of business if you have separate business activities. For instance, you may be employed and work in your employer’s place of business all day, then return home to run your own home based business on evenings and weekends. Or you may own a business that operates in rented office space and also conduct a second home based business from your home. Your home office expenses will be deductible, because your home is the principal place of operating your home based business. It does not matter if your businesses are closely related or share the same clients, as long as different tasks are involved. Do not bring work home from your employer or another business that does not qualify for the home office deduction, or you could lose the deduction for your home based business activities. You will fail the exclusive use test.
If your business is selling products, you may deduct expenses allocated to areas of your home regularly used for storing your inventory and product samples. Your home must be the only location for the business of selling your products. The exclusive use test does not apply to storage areas, but the space must be a specific, identifiable area. Suppose, for example, that you use a cupboard in your hall to store your inventory. Even if you use the space to store linens as well, it will be deductible as part of your home office.
Deductible office expenses include a portion of the following expenses:
Rent,
real estate taxes,
mortgage interest,
utilities,
home insurance.
If clients or customers regularly visit your home, the costs of lawn care, landscaping, and driveway repairs may also be included.
Repairs to other parts of the house and family living expenses (such as food) are not deductible.
However, a pro rata share of repairs that benefit the entire home, such as roof repairs or painting the outside of the house, may be claimed. The same is true for the business portion of the cost of installing and maintaining a home security system.
You may also include a deduction for depreciation on your home, but as this could well lead to a recapture tax upon the later sale of your home, you should obtain advice from your tax advisor before considering this.
The percentage of your home used for business is computed by dividing the square footage used for business by the total square footage of your home. Your home office deduction is figured by multiplying the total of your allowable household expenses by the percentage of the home being used for the home business. e. g. Total Square Footage of house is 1500 sq ft. Total Area used for business is 150 sq ft. making the percentage of the home being used for your home based business 10%. Thus 10% of total allowable household expenses can be used for home business deduction.
In most countries, the home business deduction cannot be used if your home based business already has a loss for the year. Neither can it be used to create a loss for the year. Usually however, any part of the deduction not used can be carried forward to future years. Verify with your Tax Advisor as these rules do differ widely between countries and also frequently change when tax authorities update legislation. If claiming the home business deduction you will need to record the following information:
Total Sq Footage of Home,
Sq Footage of Home Office Area(s),
Utility Costs,
Insurance,
Repairs & Maintenance,
Mortgage Interest,
Property Taxes,
Rent,
Although this sounds complex it is one of the most advantageous tax deductions available to home business owners and should not be overlooked. Should your home based business operate at a loss, you will probably be able to offset the loss against any other income that you have earned, thus reducing the amount of Income Taxes that you will be required to pay.
So now you should be able to see the very real advantage of operating a home based business.
Note: Taxation legislation differs between countries and each country may change their rules at any time. The information provided in these newsletters is accurate at time of publication. You should however seek specific information from your Tax Advisor or Taxation Department as it relates to your own situation each year that you are required to provide Income and Expense Statements.
Other topics in this series are as follows:
Number 1, Record Keeping,
Number 2, General Expenses,
Number 3, Purchase of Goods for Resale,
Number 5, Home Entertainment Costs,
Number 6, Motor Vehicle Expenses,
Number 7, Depreciation Costs,
Number 8, Business Meals,
Number 9, Salary Payments to Children,
Number 10, Travel Expenses,
Number 11, Demonstrators Samples & Promotional Tools,
Number 12, Gifts,
Number 13, Here Comes the Tax Man,
Number 14, Capital Items,
John Ritchie, A. I. B. , A. I. C. B, F. I. C. B, email:brlynt@gmail. com
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September 15, 2009
U.S. $ 100,000 from 10 clients? What is true? How to start, extra money online internet business
U.S. $ 100,000 from 10 clients? What is true? Of course, customers * can * 1 from a small number of interests and I seem to start at the beginning of it was just incredible the slightest ambiguity. But I was a Timugodofuri Sutibukureiton with this strategy was found (two known ideas known high quality materials and innovative men) is a sudden, I in particular, are scaled to stack together with a number that has been established that struck me was learned: 5 people = $ 50,000 customers in 10 = $ 100,000 = 50 $ 500,000 100 customers = $ 1,000,000 customers in online business these very kind of unusual, I had not previously considered. . . When this is the case please refer to the specific details, are short of time to watch this short video, and how to quickly understand, why this actually works: WWW ensure that the then. softe4u. The COM / sembizblue / to do this myself and it's nothing more attractive, you (along what you learn) to provide Internet marketing move everything you need to ensure and any past experience is not required for the start. Frankly, the facts speak for themselves. . . – This is a huge demand. – Ecomomic real business benefits of this type of slump. – You pay per click "or" the need for search engine optimization expert is not available. – Please do not require any addtional investment. – 5 to 10 between the customer and provides a six-digit income, you can quit your job. This certificate is a potential parallel here is different from the grave, I have this video as soon as possible: WWW recommended checks. softe4u. The COM / sembizblue / now, says George