The views and opinions expressed on this podcast are for informational purposes only, and solely those of the podcast participants, contributors, and guests, and do not constitute an endorsement by or necessarily represent the views of The Hartford or its affiliates.

You're listening to the Small Biz Ahead podcast, brought to you by The Hartford.

This podcast is brought to you by The Hartford. When the unexpected strikes, The Hartford strikes back for over 1 million small business customers with property, liability, and workers compensation insurance. Check out The Hartford's small business insurance at TheHartford.com.

Gene (00:02):

Hey everybody, this is Gene Marks and welcome to this week's edition of The Hartford Small Biz Ahead podcast, where I picked something, some topic to talk about of interest to both you and me as fellow business owners. And this week, I do wanna talk about something that obviously makes a lot of news, which has been very popular and has been taking up a lot of attention in the media for sure. And that is working from home. What are you doing about working from home? What kind of policies do you have for your company and are you implementing these and is it something that's important to your business? Well listen, I mean if your employees are working from home more often, I mean, you're certainly not alone, right? I mean, thanks to pandemic, remote working options have become a hot benefit to offer both perspective and your current staff.

Gene (00:47):

But the issue is complex for some companies being virtual or even partially virtual is a no brainer, but for others, it's kind of a non-starter. I talk to a lot of my clients and business owners around the area that I work with and that are also part of my community. One person I know his name is Roger Lee. He's a self-employed artist in Philadelphia. He's a business owner. He's a big fan of working from home. I mean, he says to me, "hey, there is nothing wrong with working in the comfort of your home environment. How you work matters much more than where and when you work." So, that's certainly a very good position to take. And I think a lot of employees would agree with that. I have another client who's been running a virtual company, a consulting firm really for the past seven years.

Gene (01:35):

And she also has like seven employees as well. I mean, she says it's forced her managers that are clients to pay more attention to their team members. Not everyone thrives working from home, especially when their kids are around or their spouse or their pets are running around. So, she says it's made it harder for some of their people to separate their home and their work life. According to her, she says, she likes the short commute to her home office, but she totally understands why other people do not. When you think about working from home, you can really help, the policy itself can help you sort of re-define and revisit the definition of work and maybe sort of shine a light on how work was completed from the home environment before the pandemic.

If you recently launched a small business, succession planning will probably be the farthest thing from your mind. After all, who wants to think about selling their business when they're just getting it off the ground? However, the process of transferring ownership is a lot more complicated and time-consuming than most business owners anticipate and by not addressing all these details in advance, they run the risk of jeopardizing their retirement plans. In today's episode, Jon Aidukonis and Gene Marks, along with Marc Cadin, CEO of Finseca, discuss several important factors that business owners need to consider during the succession planning process, if they want to ensure the integrity of both their professional and financial legacy.

0:26—Today's Topic: How Do I Prepare a Succession Plan for My Small Business?

4:18—Although most small business owners are aware of the challenges that go along with succession planning, very few have actually taken the time to consider the different components of this process, much less initiate the plan itself to see if it's viable.

6:31—When you begin the succession planning process, there are two key components of your business that you'll need to evaluate: its total value, including your personal net worth as well, and its operational details. Your succession plan needs to address both these issues to ensure that your successor is paying you what your business is truly worth.

9:30—If you're trying to appraise the value of your small business on your own, you'll need to take into account not only its total net asset value, but also its operational value.

12:38—The drawback to many small businesses is that they rarely have the brand culture or the organizational structures to survive a transfer of ownership without some diminishment in value.

14:10—Ideally, you'll want to partner with a financial security professional who can evaluate your business holistically. They should be able to advise you on your personal plan, your business valuations, your organizational structures, and your succession plan itself.

16:52—Because working with a financial advisor requires you to share intimate details about where you are in your personal and professional life, you need to partner with someone who you genuinely trust.

17:36—Currently, the market is seeing a lot of buying and selling within the small business community.

18:36—Depending on the size of your business, it typically takes about three to six months to develop a solid succession plan. You can expect the transition process to take a minimum of five years, so it is in your best interest to start your succession planning as soon as possible.

21:28—Most small business owners fail to understand how much time and money goes into selling a business so that they can get top dollar for it.

23:58—Business owners will usually seek out a professional to help them sell their business when they're approaching retirement age; when they've experienced a life-altering event; or when they no longer enjoy their work.

26:53—Financial advisors believe that the best investment a small business owner can make is in their operational rigor.

29:31—During the transfer of ownership, both the business owner and their potential successor should be prepared to make sacrifices in order to ensure a mutually beneficial outcome once the transition period is complete.

31:54—Lastly, don't overlook the tax implications associated ...

The views and opinions expressed on this podcast are for informational purposes only, and solely those of the podcast participants, contributors, and guests, and do not constitute an endorsement by or necessarily represent the views of The Hartford or its affiliates.

You're listening to the Small Biz Ahead podcast, brought to you by The Hartford.

This podcast is brought to you by The Hartford. When the unexpected strikes, The Hartford strikes back for over 1 million small business customers with property, liability, and workers compensation insurance. Check out The Hartford's small business insurance at TheHartford.com.

Gene (00:02):

Hey everybody, this is Gene Marks and welcome to The Hartford's Small Biz Ahead. This is my weekly segment that I do solo without my friend Jon Aidukonis where I talk about certain things that are in the news or topics that I think of interest to you running a business that impacts your business and with some advice. Before I get started, let me just remind you, if you'd like any tips or advice or help running your business, please visit us at SmallBizAhead.com or The Hartford SBA.hartford.com. I think I got that right this time. All right, let's get into it. This week's episode, I wanna talk a little bit about mental health and mental health benefits as well. Because you know guys like mental health is no longer a stigma and a lot of small employers are taking notice. 84% of a respondents in a recent survey of more than a thousand employees by a benefits firm called Lyra Health said that mental health benefits were important to them.

Gene (00:54):

That's a pretty significant number. More significant is that 92% of employers said that providing mental health support for their people has become a much higher priority in 2021 with even more saying they expected to stay that way for the foreseeable future. And I kind of get it right? I mean, listen, younger employees, millennials, gen Xers, who make up the bulk of today's workforce. They do not consider mental health issues to be the kind of stigma as it was in the past. The average age of the U.S. small business owner is over the age of 50. And I'm one of them. We come from a generation, that think that mental health or mental illness is something you just don't talk about, but that's changed. The workplace has changed. Many of these younger workers have suffered through depression and anxiety and apprehension because of the last two years of the pandemic, right?

Gene (01:43):

With many others still hesitant to return. Even as I record this, they're hesitant to return to work because of continuing health concerns. There are celebrities out there like Naomi Osaka and Simone Biles and Ben Simmons, unfortunately for us sixers fans, that have had issues with mental health and they've expanded the awareness of that issue. So it's become more commonplace than ever. And employees are demanding more benefits in this area and employers, at least good employers are responding. So the question I have to ask you is...is your business providing the right level of mental health...

In today's modern work culture, it's safe to say that supporting the physical and emotional health of your employees has become a fairly standard practice. After all, the healthier your workforce, the better their performance. However, when it comes to the general welfare of their staff, there is still one important component that business owners continue to overlook: their financial wellness. So, what can you as a business owner do to help your employees feel more secure about their finances? In this episode, Jon Aidukonis, Gene Marks, and Grant Gallagher, Head of Financial Wellbeing and Brand Communications at Affinity Federal Credit Union, discuss how small business owners can support the financial wellness of their employees.

0:33—Today's Topic: How Can I Promote Financial Wellness
Within My Small Business?

1:05—In contrast to traditional banks that are typically beholden to their shareholders, credit unions are only accountable to their members, all of whom serve as equal partners within the organization.

2:05—Not only can businesses become members of the co-op, but many credit unions actually offer resources and services that are specifically geared towards small business owners.

4:17—Financial wellness refers to a person's emotional mindset with regards to their personal finances. Ultimately, your goal should be to address the stressful aspects of your financial practices so that you can have a more positive attitude when you deal with money.

5:38—A financial wellness professional will not only be able to provide you with the resources you need to alleviate some of your financial stressors, but they should also help you understand the full context of your situation to ensure that you're not trying to live up to any unrealistic standards.

7:51—As a small business owner, the most effective way to support your employees' financial wellness is to give them access to all the necessary resources, whether it be an app or a live professional who can offer them personalized advice.

10:20—The decision on whether to rely on technology or an actual person to help you manage your finances will ultimately come down to which one you're most comfortable using.

11:44—If an employee chooses to work with a professional from your credit union, you need to assure them than anything they say will be kept strictly confidential between them and their financial advisor.

12:38—You should only invest in something if you have a fair estimate of its potential return.

14:17—One strategy you can use to keep your finances in order is to set up automation wherever you can, provided that you can maintain enough of a balance in each account.

15:14—Another way to promote your financial wellness is to try and plan out your expenditures and savings in advance.

18:10—When it comes to saving for the future, try to set different levels of goals according to the amount of time you think it will take to accomplish them. While you should hold yourself accountable for adhering to your savings plans, don't be afraid to ask for support when those plans get derailed.

21:07—Experts have seen a definite correlation between an individual's income level and the state of their financial wellness. The consistency of a person's cash flow will also have a significant impact on a person's financial views.

22:38—Setting future goals can improve your relationship to money by giving you something to look forward to; this ...

From keyword stuffing to paying for ads, there's a lot of misguided information regarding how to leverage search engine optimization (SEO) for your business website and if you're not careful, following the wrong advice can result in a loss of potential customers. So, how do you ensure that your business page comes up as one of the top results during a Google search? In this episode, Jon Aidukonis and Gene Marks, along with Sara Noel, Founder of Between the Lines Copywriting, discuss which SEO strategies will help you generate the most clients for your small business.

0:40—Today's Topic: Which SEO Strategies Will Help Me Generate More Traffic for My Small Business's Website?

1:17—SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the process of enhancing your website content so that it appears as one of the first answers on a search engine's results page.

2:58—Avoid “keyword stuffing" your content since this method will actually do more harm than good. Instead, use specific descriptors to brand yourself and use them throughout your content.

4:43—Google's algorithms will rank websites with authentic sounding copy higher than those with overly promotional content.

6:41—One way to generate effective SEO descriptors is to think about what your client base is searching for and which SEO terms they would be using to find your business. You should also consider what differentiates you from all the other businesses in your field and then, add those keywords to your content as well.

8:12—Including your location in your keywords will help you target local clients who are searching for your business; this is especially important if you own a brick-and-mortar storefront.

10:13—Backlinking, which is when another business provides a link to your website, is another way to improve SEO ranking. You can encourage other businesses and associations to backlink you, either through direct collaboration, guest blogging, or simply asking to be included in any relevant listings and directories that they publish.

13:20—In order to compete against larger, well-established companies, small business owners should start by thinking about what questions their ideal customers would be asking about their brand or services. By incorporating these answers into their content, they could potentially outrank other well-known brands in a Google search.

15:32—If you have specific content that generates a lot of traffic, make sure that you've included several call-to-action features that will enable them to explore the rest of your site.

15:54—Because Google tailors all their answers to the location of the person performing the search, you need to include location specific SEO keywords into your website's content.

17:29—Ubersuggest.com is a free SEO resource developed by Neil Patel that will not only help you find the keywords that are right for your business, but it will also give you a domain authority score and help you optimize your overall website content.

19:03—A good website copywriter will not only create conversion content for your business page, but they will also make sure that what they've written is fully SEO optimized.

20:59—You can expect to invest about $4,000 for a copywriter to optimize your website.

23:05—The worst mistakes that a business owner can make with their website are as follows: hiring a designer who can't match their brand aesthetic or success level and altering the content that their copywriter has c...

The views and opinions expressed on this podcast are for informational purposes only, and solely those of the podcast participants, contributors, and guests, and do not constitute an endorsement by or necessarily represent the views of The Hartford or its affiliates.

You're listening to the Small Biz Ahead podcast, brought to you by The Hartford.

This podcast is brought to you by The Hartford. When the unexpected strikes, The Hartford strikes back for over 1 million small business customers with property, liability, and workers compensation insurance. Check out The Hartford's small business insurance at TheHartford.com.

Gene (00:02):

Hey everybody and welcome to this week's edition of The Hartford, Small Biz Ahead podcast. My name is Gene Marks and I'm glad you're joining me this week, because we're gonna talk about a very important issue: taxes. Now, wait, don't turn this podcast off. You gotta listen because I don't know about you, but I just paid in my tax bill for 2021. It was a lot and you shouldn't complain if you're earning money, you pay your taxes. But when I add up my taxes between city and state and federal, it's pretty close to 40% of my income, which is an enormous number. And I need to be doing more to proactively minimize my taxes and that's gonna be a commitment for me and my business this year. And you should be doing the same thing. It's a big number. Even if it's 20%, 25%, it's probably one of the largest expenses that you pay all year - is your taxes.

Gene (00:53):

Now April 18th is the due date for individuals and corporations filing their taxes. Most small businesses that file like, S corporations or partnerships, pass-throughs, they were due back on March 15th. So, okay listen, for the most part, 2021 is behind us. Let's focus on 2022. Let's talk about now, what we can be doing to save taxes in 2022. So the first item of business is very simple and straightforward. Meet with your accountants. Now you're probably listening to this and it's mid-April. So you want to be meeting with your accountants sometime next month in May. By then their busy season should be over. And because if you meet with them in May, the year is almost half over. There's still plenty of time to plan your tax moves.

Gene (01:42):

And by sharing with your accountant how your business has been doing this year and your projections for the rest of the year, better tax estimates can be made, right? Which can help to avoid surprises. So meet with your accountant as soon as possible, probably twice a year. Now and maybe in the fall as well. Next I mentioned tax estimates - pay them. Whatever your accountants said you should be paying for quarterly tax estimates in 2022, make sure you do, because if you don't, you're gonna really fall behind and you could be subject to penalties and interest. More importantly though, if you meet with your accountant throughout the year, depending on how your year is going, you may wanna adjust those tax estimates. Maybe you pay a little bit more or a little bit less, depending on how your year is going.

The views and opinions expressed on this podcast are for informational purposes only, and solely those of the podcast participants, contributors, and guests, and do not constitute an endorsement by or necessarily represent the views of The Hartford or its affiliates.

You're listening to the Small Biz Ahead podcast, brought to you by The Hartford.

This podcast is brought to you by The Hartford. When the unexpected strikes, The Hartford strikes back for over 1 million small business customers with property, liability, and workers compensation insurance. Check out The Hartford's small business insurance at TheHartford.com.

Gene (00:02):

Hey everybody. This is Gene Marks and welcome to the Small Biz Ahead podcast, my weekly edition of different thoughts and advice to help you run your business. So today, let's talk about Facebook. Shall we? It's parent Meta, they announced just recently that the social media powerhouse that Facebook is, actually saw a drop in its daily active users for the first time in its history. Not really great news. The company continues to come under congressional and public scrutiny for its actions after the damaging testimony of a whistleblower last fall. It's core application, Facebook is a social media app. It faces challengers from like dozens of other social media competitors, like TikTok and YouTube and Snapchat.

Gene (00:54):

So, all of these are challenges for Facebook but I don't know if you feel the same way and if you're active on Facebook but a lot of my small business clients they're aware of these issues, but many of them are pretty much shrugging them off. And here's the reason why: It's because despite all of these challenges, Facebook still remains a significant resource for them. I mean, the platform still boasts almost 3 billion monthly active users and a third of the world's population uses it every month. It's marketplace has more than a billion monthly active users. There are 250 million Facebook shops around the world. Over 90 million, small businesses across the globe use the platform. So yeah, Facebook has its challenges, but it's also a very important marketing and service tool for lots and lots of small companies.

Gene (01:47):

So you wanna think about that? I mean of my client base, both here in my hometown of Philadelphia and around the country, countless small businesses are using Facebook to attract new customers and engage existing ones. Entrepreneurs, independent contractors, startups and established businesses, they're leveraging Facebook's business pages, they run regular ads, they upload multiple posts to their communities. They rely on apps and tools like Canva or MobileMonkey or Sendinblue or Heyo. These are all marketing apps for Facebook, as well as Facebook's inside apps like internal apps like Polls and Messenger and Conversions. And of course it's Facebook live platform for conducting webinars and events. So you can make sales and keep close to your community. These are all things that businesses are doing right now. The ones that are on Facebook,

Have you spoken with your CPA about the pass-through tax deduction? If not, then you might be missing out on the opportunity to write off a significant portion of your business income. In this episode, Gene Marks and special guest, Hal Rosen of Haynie & Company, discuss how small business owners who run sole proprietorships or S-corps can benefit from this substantial tax break.

• The Advantages of Hiring a Licensed CPA to Prepare Your
  Taxes
  • CPAs are more familiar with business-related tax laws and
    policies.
  • A CPA will make sure you don't miss any potential deductions
    or overpay your income taxes.
• The Small Business Pass-Through Tax Deduction
  • Pass-through businesses, such as sole proprietorships,
    partnerships, and S-corporations, are eligible for a deduction of up to 20% on
    their business income, or QBI (Qualified Business Income).
  • If your QBI exceeds a certain threshold, you may not be
    eligible for the full 20% deduction.
  • Business owners who didn't take advantage of this deduction
    on their previous tax returns can amend up to three years back.

• Haynie & Company

The views and opinions expressed on this podcast are for informational purposes only, and solely those of the podcast participants, contributors, and guests, and do not constitute an endorsement by or necessarily represent the views of The Hartford or its affiliates.

This podcast is brought to you by The Hartford. When the unexpected strikes, The Hartford strikes back for over 1 million small business customers with property, liability, and workers compensation insurance. Check out The Hartford's small business insurance at TheHartford.com.

You're listening to the Small Biz Ahead podcast, brought to you by The Hartford.

Gene: Hey everybody and welcome. This is Gene Marks here on the Small Biz Ahead podcast. I'm bummed Jon Aidukonis is not here with me today. I can't believe he's missing out on this conversation about tax deductions. My gosh, what a coincidence that for some reason he was unavailable. No, I'm just kidding. He actually had a prior appointment, could not make this conversation, but that's okay. Because listen, I'm the accountant here and I've got a colleague and a partner in crime here that is also an accountant and a CPA, Hal Rosen, who is joining us today. First of all, Hal, let me first of all, thank you for taking the time out of your day and joining me for this conversation.

Hal: Well, it's good to be here. I always like to help small business people. It's at the heart of my practice, is what small business people do. So I'm glad to help.

Gene: I am glad to hear that. Now, Hal, you're a partner at Haynie & Company, we will give the website as part of the show notes. But I believe it's hayniecpas.com, H-A-Y-N-I-E-C-P-As.com. Is that correct?

Hal: Right. And CPAs, because there's a former part of the company that spin off, that's hayniecpa.com. So that sometimes is confusing. So we have the s on the end of CPA.

Gene: And you are a CPA as well, correct?

Hal: That's correct.

Gene: That's right. For how many years now?

Hal: It's been 43 years since I got my license.

Gene: Oh my goodness. That's a long time. Wow. I mean,

The views and opinions expressed on this podcast are for informational purposes only, and solely those of the podcast participants, contributors, and guests, and do not constitute an endorsement by or necessarily represent the views of The Hartford or its affiliates.

You're listening to the Small Biz Ahead podcast, brought to you by The Hartford.

This podcast is brought to you by The Hartford. When the unexpected strikes, The Hartford strikes back for over 1 million small business customers with property, liability, and workers compensation insurance. Check out The Hartford's small business insurance at TheHartford.com.

Gene (00:02):

Hey everybody. This is Gene Marks. And welcome to this week's edition of The Hartford Small Biz Ahead. This week we're gonna talk about worker classification rules: 1099 workers and independent contractors. Last month, a U.S. district of court down in Texas stopped the Biden Administration's efforts to roll back a Trump error role that made it simpler for employers to classify workers as independent contractors. The reasons were actually due to a procedural mistake, but the decision, it was a victory for small businesses across the country who otherwise would've had to classify more independent contractors as employees, but my warning to, if you're listening and you've got 1099 workers like I do, that classification battle is far from over. According to some reports, The National Labor Relations Board recently indicated an openness to revisit worker classification rules.

Gene (00:58):

And the Department of Labor is also evaluating all legal options, including the potential need for rule making. Solicitor of Labor SEEMA Nanda had this to say about the district court's opinion: "The district court decision is both surprising and disappointing, she said. "When employers misclassify workers as independent contractors, workers lose key rights and protections hurting labor standards across the board and making it harder for law abiding employers to compete on an even playing field." So listen, all of this discussion, all of this debate about 1099 workers, the implications for small businesses like yours and mine are pretty significant. Hiring an independent contractor instead of an employee means that business owners like ourselves don't have to incur payroll taxes or pay additional employee benefits or be subject to certain employer, employee responsibilities, particularly for like safety and health rules. So as the Biden Administration takes a harder look at these rules, it's important for small businesses, that's you and me that use independent contractors to know our risks and the risks of non-compliance can be pretty significant.

Gene (02:04):

One attorney told me that small business owners really need to be careful because from a worker classification perspective, there are multifaceted opportunities to be challenged. There are multiple federal agencies, including the IRS and the department of labor that can come after both of us for improper classifications, which can have enormous consequences on wage withhold...

The views and opinions expressed on this podcast are for informational purposes only, and solely those of the podcast participants, contributors, and guests, and do not constitute an endorsement by or necessarily represent the views of The Hartford or its affiliates.

You're listening to the Small Biz Ahead podcast, brought to you by The Hartford.

This podcast is brought to you by The Hartford. When the unexpected strikes, The Hartford strikes back for over 1 million small business customers with property, liability, and workers compensation insurance. Check out The Hartford's small business insurance at TheHartford.com.

Gene (00:03):

Hey everybody. And welcome to the Small Biz Ahead podcast. My name is Gene Marks and thanks for joining me this week. Let's talk about the high cost of oil. We all know about the war going on and other supply chain issues and other government regulations. There's been a lot of restrictions on the production of oil around the world and the movement of oil. And because of that, that has really had a big impact on the price of oil. I don't know if you know this or not, but like back at the beginning of the pandemic back in April of 2020, the price of a barrel of oil was 21 bucks. And as I'm talking, it's about a hundred bucks a barrel. It's gone up five times in just the past...

Gene (00:44):

Two years. You can tell it's a very volatile commodity. Some people expect the price to continue to rise. I mean, to as high as $130 or $150 a barrel. Other people are expecting it to actually decrease to more normal levels, which is between about $50 to $80 a barrel. The bottom line is, is that we're still spending, you know, if you're running a small business and even in your personal life, you're definitely spending significantly more to fill up your tank at the gas station. We know that, but look, it's not just gas prices that are impacted by higher energy costs. I mean, according to The Department of Energy, petroleum based materials are included in hundreds of consumer products from Aspirin to toothbrushes even. So the rising cost of oil, isn't just a thing on our gas tanks.

Gene (01:30):

It has a sweeping impact on so many products that we buy. Now, if you're a small manufacturer, you're probably already discovering that many of the products that you use are also directly or indirectly petroleum based and those costs are rapidly rising too. I mean, unfortunately as the supply chain issues persist, and if this war continues to rage in Ukraine, it's likely this inflationary period, it's gonna continue for the foreseeable future. So the question is, if you're a small business owner, how can you get ahead of these increasing energy costs and how do you protect your bottom line? So let me give you some thoughts. Your first actions should be to target both travel and commuting. Like as gas prices rise, so will the cost to operate our vehicles. So to keep these costs under control, you should continue to encourage your employees who are able to work more hours remotely or from home in order to save on their commute. Airlines,