Business Discussions

Hello, again Community friends! We all know how important it is to be conscious of cyber security, and establish regular practices to maintain that security. Have you or your employees recently transitioned to hybrid work, meaning some time is spent working in the office and the rest at home? I came across an article on the QuickBooks Blog that provided some notable measures on how to stay secure while going back and forth between the office and home. Here are some of the points mentioned...   Build your own handbookSmall business owners/operators should have a written, not just verbally understood, cyber handbook. The handbook will provide guidelines for each employee and cover what is and what isn't acceptable when it comes to using the web for work. "The goal is to create a resource that every employee can access, regardless of their location and the devices they use for work. It should be the first stop for any team member who has questions or wants to double-check a

Good afternoon, wonderful people of the Community! We have officially entered August and the back-to-school commercials are coming in full swing. I’m not sad about leaving this sweltering hot summer behind soon, but I’m trying to soak up some of those rays while I still can. I hope everyone is well-rested and productive this week!     Work anxiety can be a tough reality in any job. Even people with their dream job experience it. Maybe there’s a huge deadline coming up, financial issues, or an extra responsibility you’re not quite confident in, but everyone has felt it. The good news is that this too shall pass… but what can we do in the meantime? I’m here with some ideas that get me through when anxiety is trying to take over.   Start your morning rightThis can mean something different to anyone, but one thing I recommend is giving yourself some quiet time before you go to work. Whether it’s sitting outside for a little while with coffee, meditating, or reading a book,

Name: Kristin Jackson Business: Think Somatics and class leader at Joyn Location: Portland, OR and online everywhere Launched: 2003 Personal trainer Kristin Jackson had spent more than two decades exploring and teaching different kinds of exercise including Pilates, yoga, water aerobics and even hula hoop. For herself and for her clients, Kristin focused on “typical” training goals like building a strong core, keeping shoulders back and maintaining excellent posture. But when she was hit by a car in 2011, Kristin discovered the muscles and muscle patterns she’d worked so hard for were hindering her recovery. In her quest for healing, Kristin turned to somatics, a gentle neuromuscular practice that helps people regain flexibility, get rid of pain and move with ease – and with joy. Today, spreading joy is a key part of Kristin’s entrepreneurial mission as a certified somatics practitioner and a class leader at Joyn where she teaches somatics, hula hoop and a playful “Take It Outside” mo

Did you know that a 2009 study showed that just 6 minutes of reading a day has been found to decrease blood pressure, lower your heart rate, and overall reduce stress?  It's true!  So if you haven't picked up a good book in a little while, today, August 9th is National book lovers day; which seems like a great time to get back into the habit.    My team had a lively discussion in Slack this morning about books and I asked about one book that they had read that changed their lives.  Curious to see what they recommended? Read on. ;)    ++++++   From Morgan: I've always enjoyed reading and unfortunately, I don't make enough time for it. There have been several books that I thought changed my life, but looking back it was probably just that "reader's high" you get when you finish a book. However, I read a book my senior year of college that quite literally changed my life and likely yours, and many others as well. "Morgan, what are you talking a

Good afternoon, my QuickBooks Community Family! Welcome back! Quick question, do you want to attract and retain employees? Of course, your answer should be YES! Well then, let's look at the variety of perks you are offering them. A thought to consider is, does it give your business a competitive advantage over other companies. Today, I will be sharing this article by Money Crasher about 26 best company benefits and perks for employees. Here is what they had to say:   Although your business may not be big as Google, Twitter, Facebook, there are still ways to enhance what you're currently offering employees. They presented four categories which we will examine each:   Individual employee perks and benefits Team-based perks and benefits Companywide perks and benefits Office perks and benefits   Starting with individual employee perks and benefits, they suggest giving your employees holiday and birthday gifts. To make it more special/personalized, find out their interests

Good day everyone! Welcome back to the QuickBooks Community! Today, I wanted to share this gem by Nicole Blanckenberg about  tips to improve your advertising strategy for your small business. Here is what she has to say:     Redefine your advertising goalsIt is time to take a step back and reanalyze your advertising goals. She mentioned that you want your advertising to be relevant, realistic, budget-friendly, measurable, specific to your market, and reachable.   Dive deeper into your customer dataA lot of mistakes small businesses make are looking at the demographics alone when trying to target their audience. However, the writer revealed that is just the surface. She tells us to explore not only demographics such as age, sex, income but also the geography, including the neighborhood and cities, behavioral such as product/service usage, purchase history, and psychographic linked with their lifestyle, habits, goals, etc.    Invest in brand identityW

    What impression do you want your invoices to leave on your customers?   A customized invoice, even semi-stylized ones, is an opportunity to enhance the perception of your business. The Custom Form Styles module in QuickBooks Online lets you edit the layout, design, and data fields that appear on your invoices.   There’s nothing wrong with plain invoices. Customers aren’t going to abandon your brand because you use generic sales forms. Invoices do, however, make them think something.     Unlike other branding solutions, this one requires very little effort and has no added cost. You don’t need an MFA to create an eye-catching invoice template. Anyone with QuickBooks Online Essentials and QuickBooks Online Plus can use the Custom Form Styles module to create an attractive, professional-looking invoice.     Why do I need to customize my invoices (and other sales forms)?   Customizing invoices give your communica

Hello again, and welcome back to the Business Discussion board. I found an article on blogher.com that offered some helpful insight every small business owner needs to know. And that's the legal side of things. Let's take a look...     Get your entity establishedSetting up your business as an LLC or corporation creates separation between you personally and the business. Even though it's yours, you still want to get this done for future protection. "That’s going to protect your assets from any kind of liability that comes with your business and vice versa in that it will also protect your business from any kind of liability that would come at you personally.”   InsuranceSuper important but can easily be forgotten. There are several types of business insurances out there for you to choose from. Each option is designed to protect something different and specific risks. Out of the variety, liability insurance is the most common for small businesses to purchase fir

Sometimes it’s important to go back to the basics, even if you’re a seasoned business owner. Many of us write emails all the time, but as a business owner, this is most likely a big part of your communication with both customers and employees. Whether it’s a quick update on a project or responding to an upset customer, you want to put your best foot forward and be professional and clear.     There are skills that take time to develop, and writing is one of them. Don’t worry if writing isn’t a strength of yours. Thankfully, we have a post for you in our Resource Center to help you from start to finish with your emails. Let’s look at some tips to set you up for success!   First, here are some important questions to ask yourself:   1. Is email the most efficient way to communicate my message?Face to face tends to be the best and most efficient way to communicate, but it’s not always possible. Before you write an email, you want to make sure this is the best way to com

Hello Community friends, and welcome back to the Business Discussion board. One of my most favorite things to do is go to vendor craft fairs. There’s a huge one in my hometown every year and it’s not fall until I’ve been! I’ve never been as a vendor before, just a customer, snacker, and people watcher. However, if one were to attend an event of these sorts to sell, here are a few things to avoid…     1. Being unpreparedNothing is set up on time, you forgot part of your display and bags, and you didn't bring enough items to restock! Que the "Oh No!" song. A simple way to avoid this is to make a list of every little thing you'll need and check them off one by one as you put them in your car before you head out. It's better to bring it and not need it, than to not bring it and need it.   2. Being unfriendlyI'm sure it can be more than nerve wracking presenting your work for others to look over and ultimately judge. You may even be a little shy, but if you come off as compl

Hi friends, and happy Thursday! or Friday Eve, that makes it sound even better! I've got a question for you? Have you checked out the QuickBooks Resource Center lately? Maybe you haven't even heard about it yet, but it is packed full of helpful articles and, you guessed it, other resources. I was checking it out earlier today and found a great post about time management tips that I thought you all would enjoy. Lets take a look...     To start, time management is the means of dedicating your time to different tasks productively and efficiently. This often involves planning out daily jobs, being sure to at least make a mental note of how long each task will take, and practicing control of your time as you finish each one and move on to the next. Time management skills are important in everyday aspects of life from personal to professional.   Why is time management so important? In short, being efficient with your time overall allows you to be more productive. A

Happy Wednesday, Community! Anyone else feeling the summer slowly slipping away? It feels like I was just planting in my garden for the spring (a moment of silence for my crispy plants in this heat) and here we are with a few weeks until school starts!   As we are finishing up July of this year, there’s a topic that I feel is always worth revisiting. I was watching a show recently, highlighting a business owner who was venturing on to open a new restaurant. When the host talked to his family, they expressed how proud of him they were…but mentioned they wish they had more time with him.     In life, there will always be seasons when your business or new idea takes up a large chunk of your time and thoughts. Sometimes the thrill of a new opportunity is exciting and you want everything to be perfect. People throw around the term “work-life balance” left and right but I want to give you some tangible ideas on how to actually apply this to your life as a business owner. &nbs

Welcome, Welcome, everyone and T.G.I.F! I don't know about you, but I have never been so excited about the weekend. This week has been very rough for me, but I hope yours was way better than mines. Today, I discovered this gem from Thrive Global on how to sharpen your business communication with the power of 3's, and I believe this would be advantageous for your business. Here's what they had to say:   Introduce three OptionsWhen discussing with your team new plans or ways to improve the business, the author mentioned giving them some options to help make a decision. Alexander Graham Bell said it best, " Great discoveries and improvement invariably involve the cooperation of many minds." However, one key point the writer highlight is keeping the choices to a minimum because if there are many options, it can be challenging to achieve a decision.   Repeat it three timesIt is okay to be repetitious or be creative in finding different ways to share what you're saying as long as i

If you are anything like me, you have probably been doing a little "retail therapy" this year to help deal with the stress.   Mostly for me, that has meant a slightly bigger grocery budget, and some extra money thrown at craft supplies to help keep my mind occupied on making things instead of doomscrolling on my phone constantly.     But, I recently had to pay out a decently large sum to deal with some unexpected issues around the house.  I had enough to cover it, (thanks to some not so fun experiences in the past that taught me to be better with my money,)  but it got me thinking about the financial decisions I make every day.    And since I was curious, I asked the team here to share their experiences and learnings.  Keep reading to find out what we wish we had known...   ++++++   @LisaNullar, Community Manager As I mentioned above, I had a few experiences in the past that changed the way I manage my money.  And my pre

Good afternoon everyone, and welcome to the Talk About Your Business Page. Before we get into the discussion, I have a quick question for you today. Have you thought about ways to reduce your expenses this summer? Here are four tips that you can do to help minimize costs.     TelecommuteDepending on the business industry you are in, you may not need to be in the office to handle day-to-day operations. Establish days where you offer staff members an opportunity to telecommute to reduce transportation costs, and you can reduce operations costs.  It is a win-win situation for everyone. Staff members get to change their scenery and foster even more productivity and the company saves some dollars.   Reduce Business TravelsUnless it is absolutely necessary, try to use video conferencing as much as possible. Programs such as Skype, BlueJeans, Zoom, MyMeeting can be excellent resources to do so. Not only are you helping the environment by this, but it also reduces travelin

We started the Community Chatter series as a way of breaking the ice so to speak - we wanted to let you know more about the people working in your community, and we hoped to get to know you all a bit better as well.   Community chatter is a place for everyone to be able to contribute even if you are just starting your small business journey.     But we want to make sure that we are sharing things that are relevant or interesting to you.  If you have a minute or two to fill out the survey below we would be eternally grateful.       Loading…

Ahh, Friday, it's so wonderful to see you! I hope everyone has had a great work week but I hope your weekend is even better! Before you head out for the day I wanted to pass along an article I read from inc.com. It offered so great info about how to overcome objections to sales for your business. Let's take a closer look...   Identify Common ObjectionsAccording to the post, most product or services have anywhere from three to five common rejections. It's important to first know what to look for before focusing on how to avoid them. Here are some common phrases that may be used to decline your sale:   Financial ("It's too expensive ... " or "I don't have the money ... ") Timing issues ("I'm not quite ready to make this purchase ... ") Credibility issues ("I just don't know if you're able to deliver ... ") Lack of urgency ("I just don't feel like I have to do this now ... ") Another selection ("I'm going to buy/have already bought from someone else ... ") Higher auth

Good afternoon, Community, and congratulations! You've made it halfway through another work week! I hope the workflow continues to, well... flow and the rest of the week is a breeze. Today I wanted to talk a little about ideas for blog posts. A lot of people use their social media platforms as a blogs so these would work for that as well! Here are a few ideas to play around with:   Story behind your business nameThis always interests me, especially when it comes to unique small business names. I'm sure there are others out there who would love to hear the thought process or story behind the name of your brand.   Share industry newsWhat's going on in your niche area that others would find interesting? Maybe once a month share a post about the latest trends, techniques, or products that are making an appearance in your work area. To top it off, show how you are going to be incorporating these into your business as well!   What you wish someone told you before [fill in the

Here we go, Community! Another week under our belts and the weekend is looking pretty tempting. I hope you all have had a wonderful week and for those of you in this epic heatwave, hope you’re staying cool.   I have a problem when I’m trying to get work done: Distractions. I start working on one thing, only to remember I need to finish up something else, and then wind up getting neither done. I’m good at starting projects but it gets tricky tying up those loose ends when I’m pulling myself in a bunch of different directions. Working from home has introduced another interesting twist where if I walk by a pile of laundry……you get the idea. As always, I have some help to offer those who experience the same thing. I’m going to introduce you to something called the 25 – 5 rule.   Although this rule is attributed to billionaire Warren Buffet, he has since said he did not come up with this lifehack. But for storytelling’s sake, let’s go with it. The story goes that Buffet

Hey Community friends! Welcome back to the Business Discussion board. While you’re here I wanted to share a little about sales and a few ways to let your customers see the heart behind your business.   Passion and VisionAnswer this, “Why are you doing what you’re doing?” People will buy why you do something over what you do.   StorytellingPotential customers love a good “started from the bottom” story. Share your struggles and how you overcame them.   The ProofHow will people know to trust you? Show them! Make it an easy decision by showing them reviews and testimonials of how your product or service has helped.   Behind The ScenesGiving your customers a behind the scenes view is just another great way to literally show transparency and the hard work and care that’s put into your work.   Problem and SolutionIdentifying your customers problems and offering a solution is one of the best ways to drive sales. It show that you understand what is

Happy Friday, Community! We made it through another week. :)  If there’s one thing we’ve learned this past year it’s that circumstances out of our control can affect our income, in good and bad ways. A new study from Zapier came out recently and stated that 1 in 4 Americans plan to start a side hustle this year. There are many motivations to do this but diversifying your income can be a great move for business owners. Let’s look at a couple reasons starting a side hustle could be something to look into in 2021.     According to their study, passive income is the biggest motivator for people. Having money come in from a source that you aren’t actively putting a lot of time in is great whether you want to save up or spend. You can even put this money back into your business and upgrade equipment or other needs. If this study shows anything, it’s that people are putting on multiple hats in order to beef up their income.   Picking up a side hustle can also help you tes

At one time or another, your employees are going to work more than 40 hours a week. Projects run longer than expected, things that can’t be pushed to the next day need to be done. As an employer your job is to pay your employees on time and accurately and since overtime can be tricky, here’s an overview of what you need to know.   I think the most important question to cover is if employers have to pay out overtime to their employees. The simple answer is yes; all non-exempt employees are entitled to get paid for their overtime and not paying them could result in big consequences like lawsuits, investigations from the Department of Labor, and fines.   There are a few common mistakes that lead to inaccurate calculations in overtime. Here are a few: Inaccurate time keeping – it’s important to have legitimate and correct time tracking for your employees. This protects you from fraudulent claims. Misclassifying employees – Make sure you know what employees qu

Good Afternoon my QuickBooks Community Family! I hope you had a fantastic weekend. I sometimes know that things can become overwhelming throughout the week, and you need at least 10 secs of peace. So I have started doing some morning affirmations to release that negative energy and instill some positive energy daily to be confident and successful. Here are some of my favorite affirmations:   "I am, and always will be, enough." "I have everything I need to face any obstacles that come." "I am focused on my goals and feel passionate about my work." "I am surrounded by supportive, positive people who believe in me and want to see me succeed."  "I can never fail, for everything that happens contributes to me being better." "I am energetic and enthusiastic. Confidence is my second nature." "Mу аbіlіtу tо соnquеr mу сhаllеngеѕ іѕ lіmіtlеѕѕ; mу роtеntіаl tо succeed іѕ іnfіnіtе.” “Today, I аbаndоn mу оld hаbіtѕ аnd take up nеw, mоrе роѕіtіvе оnеѕ.” "I will be open-minded and always

I know, you are probably asking yourself what cartoons or kid shows have to do with accounting and finance.  And I could try and stretch and play 6 degrees of QuickBooks, but honestly, sometimes you just want a fun topic to discuss with people online.   These Community Chatter posts always have been a way to get people talking in the discussions forum; and hopefully, even if you aren't completely comfortable commenting, you feel like you are getting to know us a little bit better.     So with that out of the way... why cartoons?  Because the start of summer is such an iconic moment in so many people's lives.  For me, it brings to mind memories of blazing hot sand and going on day-long bike rides with my friends.  But every Saturday you can bet I was up early to get in a little bit of tv before mom kicked us outside.   With that in mind, I was curious to see what everyone else watched when they were younger.      ++++

Hi! I tried to renew my subscription, paid for an entire year and it wasn’t applied to my current company but instead created a new company!! How do I fix?! Who do I need to contact?! Thanks