What Are Some of the Basic Characteristics of a Good Business Owner?

I found this article below and thought it was very informative and true…Tell me your thoughts and upgrades by commenting below.  Is this you?

If you’re not sure what a good business owner looks like and how you can be one too, check out this list and see if any of them fit you.

Self Motivated

First and foremost, if you’re going to be your own boss you MUST BE self motivated. In the world of work there is a boss who is always making sure you’re doing what you’re supposed to do because that is his/her job. But whey you’re in business for yourself, you have to be your own boss so YOU MUST BE THE ONE TO MOTIVATE YOU.

You must be able to work on your own without someone else telling you what you need to. YOU are the boss, manager, supervisor, leader, etc. You have to depend on you and only you to get the work done.

Dedication

If you want your business to succeed, you must be dedicated to doing the job. You must be committed to every detail of your business. You can’t slack off any. You can’t take it easy. You must work until the job is done.

And once you get your business running like a well-oiled machine, then you can focus your efforts on something else. But until then, you must be in the trenches getting things working perfectly so you can enjoyed the fruits of your labor.

Integrity

In order to do business for a long time, you must do GOOD business. You must be a person of integrity when operating your business. You must have standards, honesty and reliability.

Doing business in an unethical way may work for a while, but in the end it’s going to get you in trouble so focus on what’s right and you’ll be okay.

Organized/Detail Oriented

You must have all of your ducks in a row if you want to be a good business owner. One of the main responsibilities of owning a business is record keeping.

A good record keeping system will keep you out of trouble and on the profit side. If you know what’s coming in as well as what’s going out you can be an effective manager of your business and make money.

Customer Lover

Yes, you must love your customers. You must respect them and treat them good because they are the ones that will spend their hard earned money and support you and your efforts so your customers are precious to you.

Give your customers more than what they expect. Go out of the way to make them feel good because if you do, they will come back and when they come back, that increases your profits and that’s why you’re in business, to make money.

There are other characteristics of a good business owner but these are just a few so work on these and you’ll be on your way to a lot of success.

To YOUR Success,

Rodney

About The Author

Rodney Gainous, Jr. is an exciting Internet Marketer who provides people with outstanding content and tips on how to succeed in the business.

To learn more about Rodney Gainous, Jr. go to http://www.rodneygainousjr.com.

To learn how to get more leads and build that Know, Like & Trust Factor with your prospects, go to http://knowlikeandtrustfactor.com.

The author invites you to visit:
http://rodneygainousjr.com

May 17, 2010  Tags: , , ,   Posted in: business owner  No Comments

What IF I Die?

“In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes,” according to the famous words of Benjamin Franklin. That said, as a business owner, you should consider what will happen to your business if you die suddenly. You must prepare for the unexpected by communicating your wishes in writing regarding the future of your business before you die.

Specify whether your family members should retain, sell or liquidate the business. If you would like the business to continue providing a steady cash flow for surviving family members, who will manage the daily operations? Who will make financial decisions? What advisors can the family trust? How will management be compensated for staying on with the business? Has anyone expressed interest in buying your business?

Business continuity planning identifies business functions that are crucial to the business’ survival and helps the organization resume its most important suppliers, vendors and key contacts that keep the business running smoothly. By undertaking a periodic review of the business and writing a business continuity plan, you will be forced to consider who will run the business in case of his early demise.

To keep the business running profitably after your death, you must plan for retaining key employees who are indispensable to the business. If they leave, the business will be in grave trouble. The plan should provide key employees with a substantial pay increase to keep them on board after your demise.

Buy-Sell Agreement

If your business involves co-owners, a written and funded buy-sell agreement allows for orderly disposition of the business. It can be between shareholders of a corporation, partners of a partnership, or a key employee and a sole proprietor. The agreement obligates the surviving business owners, key employees, or the business itself to purchase the interest of the deceased owner.

Its advantages are:

  • It creates a guaranteed market for the business interest.
  • It allows for those who are interested in continuing the business to do so without interference from the owner’s heirs.
  • It provides liquidity of the deceased owner’s estate by turning the business interest into cash.
  • It establishes the value of the business for federal estate tax purposes.

This agreement needs to address all transfer issues. It must be kept up-to-date and always reflect the current value of the business. The agreement needs to be adequately funded with life insurance, employee stock ownership plans or other vehicles to guarantee that there will be funds to execute the transfer.

Business-Owner Life Insurance

Your business will incur financial losses upon your death. By purchasing inexpensive term life insurance, you will bolster the company’s cash position. When determining your life insurance needs, be sure to consider any costs, expenses or liabilities related to your business and how they will be handled when you’re gone. A financial consultant can advise you how much life insurance coverage you may need.

By providing this protection to your family members, you will give them peace of mind and there will be funds available when creditors come knocking. The life insurance proceeds also can secure ongoing capitalization for the business. Purchasing life insurance is only one way you, as a business owner, can prepare for death. Money cannot buy happiness, but it makes your departure easier for your survivors. And by having committed succession management in place, your business can continue smoothly in your absence.

If you are a business owner and would love to learn more…contact me directly – I’d be happy to answer ANY questions you may have.

February 18, 2010  Tags: , , , , ,   Posted in: Business Owner Succession  3 Comments

Business Succession is a 4-Step Process

Business owners often don’t want to think about the eventuality of their retirement, death or incapacity.  Even those who think a business succession plan is a good idea do not want to take the time to work out the details about who will run their business when they can no longer do so.

In promoting succession planning, I have found that it is often effective to discuss the consequences of a business owner’s death or disability to his or her family and the business.

For example, with the absence of planning, there are predictable problems that will affect the business:

  • Disruption of management
  • Impairment of business credit
  • Damage to employee morale
  • Potential liquidation of assets
  • Disagreement among family members

The business owners family will also face serious problems:

  • Loss of family income
  • Lack of a ready market for the sale of their business interest
  • Lack of cash to pay estate settlement costs
  • Likelihood of business valuation and tax concerns

There are four main steps to creating a succession plan:

Step #1

Selecting a Successor

A business successor can be one person or several.  The successor could be a family member or could be unrelated to the business owner, such as a key person (or persons) within the company.  A good successor could also be a trusted business advisor, such as an attorney, CPA, or financial advisor.  The successor could even be a competitor – business owners could be each others successors.

Some of the attributes of a good business successor include enthusiasm, creative thinking, complementary talents and similar goals.  Business owners should look for someone who has a history of past successes.

Step #2

Negotiating the Purchase Price and Valuation

Once a business owner has identified a successor, the next step involves valuing the business and setting a price.  Some businesses use rule-of-thumb valuation, such as one-and-one-half times revenue.  Others call in a valuation expert.

It is usually wise to work with a professionally trained, experienced business valuation analyst because the value of each business regardless of size, is unique and determined by many factors.  These include market conditions, market share, location, quality of management, product life cycle, and other intrinsic factors that make it difficult to set a fair price for a closely held business.

Also, by bringing in an objective third party, it is less likely that the Internal Revenue Service or probate court will question the validity of the price set on the business.  For example, if potential successors are lineal descendants, the business owner will need to make sure the business valuation and the buy-sell agreement (discussed later) stand up to the Internal Revenue Code scrutiny and the “arm’s length” tests of Chapter 14 of the IRC code.

Step #3

Developing a Buy-Sell Agreement

What is a buy-sell agreement?  It is a legal document that sets forth the details of how a successor or successors agree to purchase a business interest from the owner’s estate.

There are three main types of buy-sell agreements:

  • Cross-Purchase
  • Stock Redemption
  • Wait-and See

In future posts – I will explain them in further detail.

Step#4

Funding the Buy-Sell Agreement

Once a type of buy-sell agreement is selected, there is still another question that must be answered:  Where will the monies come from for successors to buy out the retiring, disabled or deceased owner?  Insurance provides several advantages that other options like cash or borrowing do not, such as the following:

  • Policy benefits guarantee the cash to satisfy the need for buy-sell agreement funding.
  • Premiums present a minimal strain on the working capital of the business versus other funding mechanisms.
  • Cash values of the policies are available for corporate emergencies or business opportunities.
  • The business itself can help an owner to fund the business succession plan through creative use of life and disability insurance.

Despite its benefits, however, insurance is not the only way to fund buy-sell agreements.  Therefore, I will briefly cover the other funding alternatives and the respective pitfalls in future posts.

February 10, 2010  Tags: , , , , , , , ,   Posted in: Business Owner Succession  No Comments