Tips for Your Biz | Just A Minute, LLC

Show Your Company A Little LOVE This Month

Posted on February 4, 2013 by Kari VanNoyFebruary 4, 2013

As this month is Valentine’s day, a holiday dedicated to showing the ones you care about how much you love them, why not show a little to your company?

It’s been more than a month since the holidays ended, and now that we are in the second month of the new year, and some of us may be starting to lag behind on the resolutions we made at the beginning of January. Don’t let yourself get caught in the lull of winter, stay engaged and continue working on your goals and resolutions you made for yourself.

Why not take this holiday to show a little love for yourself, and for your business?? Take this time to keep your Minutes current so that you don’t have to catch up later in the year. You’ll save lots of time that you can spend with the most important people in your life, your family and friends. It will also save you stress, so you can have peace of mind all year knowing you are caught up.

Need Minutes service? Get it HERE, and let us take care of them for you! Then you can spend even more time with the ones you love the most, knowing that your business is taken care of and on top of things, and always protected.

Small Business Tax Changes for 2013

Posted on January 23, 2013 by Kari VanNoyJanuary 23, 2013

Important 2013 Payroll and Tax Changes for Small Business

On January 2, 2013, President Obama signed the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012. Here are some highlights of how this Act could affect your small business:

● Previous income tax rates for individuals earning over $400,000 and households earning over $450,000 has expired and will now increase from 35 percent to 39.6 percent. The IRS has released new tax tables reflecting these rate changes, found HERE.

● The Act does not extend the “payroll tax holiday,” so the employee Social Security tax rate will go from 4.2 percent back to 6.2 percent up to the 2013 taxable wage limit of $113,700. As a result, a worker earning $50,000 per year will now see $1,000 less in their net take-home pay as compared to 2012.

To read more about these changes, click HERE.

Starting Your Year Off Right

Posted on January 9, 2013 by Kari VanNoyJanuary 9, 2013

Happy 2013 to you and your business!

Now that it is a new year, we have the chance to set your goals for this year, and set your New Year’s Resolutions. Why not set one for your business as well? With the new year, you have a new chance to keep your Minutes up to date.

Maybe last year you didn’t stay on top of it, and you had to play catch-up? Maybe you didn’t keep track of things throughout the year, and at the last minute you had to try and remember everything that you did for the whole year? Make it your goal to not play catch-up this year, and keep your minutes up to date! Don’t keep sloppy records, stay on top of them, and do them right to ensure that your business stays protected.

Not sure what you should be documenting? HERE is what we recommend you should be documenting every month.

Don’t have minutes service? Get it from us HERE.

Gratitude to a Successful Year

Posted on December 18, 2012 by Kari VanNoyDecember 18, 2012

The Power of Gratitude…

“Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world.” –Sarah Ban Breathnach, inspirational author

This is the best time of the year, and the most hectic time of year for most small business owners. It is easy to fall into the anxiety and rush of the season.

But when you pause to reflect on what you are thankful for, it can put you in a positive mood; Last month we talked about gratitude journaling, and the great way it brought meaning to the season of Thanksgiving. We have continued this feeling of gratitude through to this month, focusing on what we have accomplished this year with our business. And isn’t that the greatest way to end the year? Take a look at how far YOU have come this year, and use this to remind yourself to be grateful and positive.

One tradition we have at our business, is to take time to list all of the major (and some of the minor) accomplishments for the entire year. We write them all down and schedule an entire morning to review them with everyone in our office. It becomes an energetic time to share and reminisce about the year! And if I left anything off of the lengthy list, someone is sure to let me know. We love to celebrate how far we have come and reward those who have done an outstanding job.

This “meeting” gets us in the frame of gratitude for all who have helped to move the business forward, and becomes a time of recognition (which everyone loves).

We also take time to recognize the feedback we receive from our clients and how those suggestions have made us a better company.

It is amazing to see this “Year in Review” and spend the time to show our employees our appreciation.

Here’s a few questions to ask yourself that will put you in that grateful perspective, and get you ready to think about your direction for 2012:

1) Who has made a difference in your life this year? What did they do? Have you thanked them for it? (It’s not too late to send a card of thanks!)

2) What has created the biggest impact on your business this year? Was it an event, an employee, a new marketing strategy? Who has helped you to implement and create positive change in your business?

3) What are some of your unique talents and gifts? What are some talents of your employees? What outstanding trait could you recognize for each employee?

4) Name five new things you learned this year related to the business. Is something working well…not working…does something need to change? Write them down and use this as a starting point for the new year.

We Love doing this! It leads us into a new year with a feeling of great accomplishment and gratitude, as well as preparing us for a great year ahead! What are your biggest accomplishments that you are grateful for this year?

End of the Year

Posted on October 29, 2012 by Kari VanNoyOctober 29, 2012

It creeps up on us: The Last Quarter, The End of the Year.

What do you need to do to wrap your year up right for your business?

Many business owners are now thinking about CONSOLIDATED PROMISSORY NOTES. Or if you aren’t, maybe you should be.

How many “Loans to officer” has your company issued this year? Hopefully each loan has been accompanied by a promissory note.

Now’s the time to take a look at those notes and consider consolidating them into one nice lump sum promissory note. It will give you a cleaner record book and an easier end-of-year report.

If you are a client of ours, simply click here to let us know you’d like a consolidated promissory note (or two)…we’ll ask you a few questions and prepare your Notes for you! [Save this link to send in your report at any time before December 15^th to get your Notes done before the end of the year.]

Making the Most of JAM, Part One

Posted on August 1, 2012 by Kari VanNoyAugust 1, 2012

Now that you’ve hired us, make sure you are getting the most out of us! After all, that’s why we are here for you, to make your life easier and save you lots of time so you can focus on running the business, not worrying if you are properly documenting that you are running your business! If you are wondering what making the the most of your Just A Minute, LLC (JAM) account, let us fill you in on some tips from us, your minute doing experts!

Initial Questionnaire

Gather all of the company information you’ve received so far. It most likely will include:

Operating Agreement or Bylaws
EIN #
Bank documents for the business
Lawyers, Accountants, or Insurance Brokers information

Submit the Initial Questionnaire with 2 weeks, so we can begin on your Minutes!

We will either ask you for (1) a copy of your Operating Agreement/Bylaws, (2) clarified information, or (3) send you the Initial Set of Minutes for your company

Organize Yourself!

Keep tabs in your minute Book! (Need a Minute Book? Get one here!)

Certificate of Organization
Operating Agreement
Minutes
Certificates
Membership Listing

Set a day each month to complete your minutes

Example: Every 1st friday of the month
Mark in your calendar the day you will be holding your Annual Meeting

Keep login information close and handy

write it down, or type it up and put it in the front pocket of your Minute Book

Tax Free Back to School Days in August

Posted on July 26, 2012 by Kari VanNoyJuly 26, 2012

Mark your calendars, it’s that time again! Select States’ Local governments are offering TAX FREE shopping days in August to help out with back to school shoppers. Eligible items include school supplies and some include computers and computer software. We talked about it last year, and here is an updated list of dates for your state for this year.

Check the list below to see if your state qualifies.

Sorry, Arizona, we are not on the list!

Alabama
Eligible Items: Clothing (up to $100), computers (up to $750), school supplies (up to $50), books (up to $30).
Dates: August 3-5

Arkansas
Eligible Items: Clothing (up to $100 per item), accessories (up to $50 per item), items normally sold as school supplies.
Dates: August 4-5

Connecticut
Eligible items: Clothing and footwear (up to $300).
Dates: August 19-25

Florida
Eligible Items: Clothing (up to $75 per item), accessories (up to $75 per item), footwear (up to $75 per item), school supplies (up to $15 per item).
Dates: August 3-5

Georgia
Eligible Items: Clothing and footwear (up to $100 per item), computer (up to $1,000), school supplies (up to $20).
Dates: August 10-11

Iowa
Eligible items: Clothing and footwear (up to $100 per item).
Dates: August 3-4

Louisiana
Eligible Items: Items not used for business purposes (up to $2,500 per item).
Dates: August 3-4

Maryland
Eligible Items: Clothing and footwear (up to $100 per item).
Dates: August 12-18

Mississippi
Eligible items: Clothing and footwear (up to $100 per item).
Dates: July 27-28

Missouri (check your city, only some cities participate)
Eligible items: Clothing (up to $100 per item), school supplies (up to $50 per item), computer software (up to $350 per item), computers (up to $3,500 per item).
Dates: August 3-5

New Mexico
Eligible items: Clothing and footwear (up to $100 per item), school supplies (up to $15 per item), computers (up to $1,000 per item), computer equipment (up to $500 per item).
Dates: August 5-7

North Carolina
Eligible items: Clothing and footwear (up to $100 per item), school supplies (up to $100 per item), sports and recreation equipment (up to $50 per item), computers (up to $3,500 per item), computer equipment (up to $250 per item).
Dates: August 3-5

Oklahoma
Eligible items: Clothing and footwear (up to $100 per item).
Dates: August 3-5

South Carolina
Eligible items: Clothing, school supplies, computers (no limit).
Dates: August 3-5

Tennessee
Eligible items: Clothing (up to $100 per item), school supplies (up to $100 per item), computers (up to $1,500).
Dates: August 3-5

Texas
Eligible items: Clothing and footwear (up to $100 per item), school supplies (up to $100 per item).
Dates: August 17-19

Virginia
Eligible items: Clothing and footwear (up to $100 per item), school supplies (up to $20 per item).
Dates: August 3-5

For more informattion visit: http://www.taxadmin.org/fta/rate/sales_holiday.html

Business Tip: How We Save the Cost of an Entire Employee by Using This One Thing

Posted on July 26, 2012 by Kari VanNoyJuly 26, 2012

This is a secret we have kept under our hat for a couple of years now. But, I have decided to let the cat out of the bag and tell you how we have saved the cost of having an entire full-time employee…..it’s by automating our systems.

How do we do that? We use an elegant piece of software called Infusionsoft. Infusionsoft saves us a lot of work like calling to update credit cards, calling for renewals, sending Minute reminder emails, reminding us of tasks to be done for each individual client . . . . We don’t have to do that anymore because Infusionsoft does it all for us … on auto pilot.

If you would like to see for yourself if Infusionsoft can work for your business, click here for a free demo .

Is it Time for a Small Business Rescue?

Posted on July 3, 2012 by Kari VanNoyJuly 3, 2012

It’s really surprising how many Small Business Rescues we have completed in the last few months.
We are finding more and more business owners who need to be “rescued.”

Is this you?

Click HERE to find out what a rescue is, and if you need one for your company.

When we “rescue” a company, we are essentially setting up the foundational documents and that
are needed to build a strong company; documents such as: Operating Agreement (for an LLC) or
Bylaws (for a Corporation), Organizational Meeting and Company Summary, Exhibits identifying
managers and/or officers, and initial capital contributions. A rescue also includes a company
minute book, company seal, company stock certificates and transfer ledger.

Recently, Aubrey and I just completed a rescue for a client who had SIX companies that each
needed attention. What a blast! I don’t know about you, but at our office we LOVE to organize
and get company documents in ship shape. I guess that is why we do what we do! It becomes a
little more complicated with that many companies to handle (some were LLCs, others were
Incorporated). We had fun creating the spreadsheets to manage them all.

The great thing about a rescue is that when it’s done, it’s DONE! The foundational documents
don’t have to be created again. BUT, the ongoing minutes and meetings must now be kept.

So, take a look at your company documents… and your company minute book. How strong is your
foundation? Is it time for a Rescue?

Click HERE for more information about our Rescue program and costs involved.

Just A Minute, LLC

Call us today (480) 344-1870

Category Archives: Tips for Your Biz