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Do you avoid the task of business planning?  Most Entrepreneurs do. It seems like such a daunting task because we imagine annual planning as a huge, time-consuming, difficult chore.

Yet planning can be quick and easy. And it’s an exercise in strategic thinking that helps you remove uncertainty, avoid surprises, pull your team together, and save time and money.

If you want to ensure the long-term success of your business, then don’t put off business planning any longer.  You will find that successful business owners who last more than five-seven years not only have a business plan but, they update it regularly.

Need motivation to get you started? Click here to download (in PDF format), “Mastery of Motivation” to learn what to do to get, and keep, yourself motivated. 

Keep reading to discover a great tool to help you with your business planning. 

5 STEPS TO ANNUAL BUSINESS PLANNING:

STEP 1:  Define your prime purpose. Identify five or six key areas that are important and essential for your business… cash flow, customers, employees, image, growth, productivity and so on. Write them down. These are your organizational values. Develop a crystal clear vision of where you’re going for each of these key areas.

STEP 2:   Identify your greatest area of need. Where can you make the most definitive progress this year? Rate each of these needs on 1-10 scale.

STEP 3:  Establish priorities. Use the completed ratings to select one or two areas where you have the greatest opportunity for improvement.

STEP 4: Develop the action plan. Start with brainstorming. Imagine all the possible actions, which could move you towards your preferred future. Be creative here. Don’t limit yourself to your usual way of doing things. You must get clear about who will do what and when. Assign a person to be accountable for that action and determine when that action item will be complete.

STEP 5:  Implement the plan and act on it. Once or twice a month, review your progress. If you find the tasks difficult to achieve break them into smaller, easier tasks.

Remember, business planning is a process; not an event.

I hope you enjoyed this article. Please do not hesitate to contact me Click Here! if you have any questions, or if I can be of assistance to you.

Warmest Regards,

Victoria L. Lenhardt
Bottom Line Enterprises

I believe that we are solely responsible for our choices, and we have to accept the consequences of every deed, word, and thought throughout our lifetime.
                                                                                                                 ~ Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

World-class mountain climber Eric Weihenmayer explains it this way: “A goal is very linear and tangible, but a vision is how we see ourselves living our lives, or how we see ourselves serving the world. For me a vision is deeper than a goal, it’s the way I want to live my life.”

Both goals and visions are deliberate choices we make in an attempt to define the direction of our lives. However, some people feel that they have no choice and that life is something that just happens to them.

While it may be true that there are things beyond our direct control, the choices we make when those apparently haphazard events occur is a critical deciding factor in whether we are happy or miserable.

Aristotle defined choice as “deliberate desire” with the heart providing the passion and the head, the reason. When we make decisions based solely on logic, they lack meaning and seem vacuous.

On the other hand, choices based solely on desire can lack real power and seem like mere whim. So, what kind of choices will support us in achieving a happy and successful life? When we are presented with a choice, do we ask, “Which direction will make me happiest?”

That was exactly what Rick Foster and Greg Hicks began to ask back in the mid-nineties. As corporate leadership consultants, traveled from one Fortune 500 company to another, they observed a common theme of destructive levels of stress in the corporate workplace.

But, as they tell it, “Every once in a while we would stumble across a few unusual people who stood out from the crowd. They seemed to live in a different world from the rest of us. 

Regardless of the problems swirling around them, they moved through life with a grace, warmth, and vigor that was both alluring and mysterious. There was only one way to describe them: extremely happy.”

Based on this observation, Rick and Greg shifted gears and focused their attention on profoundly happy people, in their jobs and in every aspect of their lives. So began a three-year voyage of in-depth interviews with extraordinary people from the back roads of Mississippi to the boulevards of Budapest.

What they uncovered was astounding. Rich or poor, black or white, married or single, old or young, happy people all had something in common: everyone of them created happiness by making the same nine choices!

Their research and the nine choices went into their book How We Choose to Be Happy. Briefly, thenine steps to choosing happiness are as follows:

1. Intention – Make an active choice and commitment to being happy.

2. Accountability – Refuse to blame others or view yourself as a victim. Assume personal responsibility for your actions, thoughts and feelings.

3. Identification – Look deep within and find out what makes you happy. Make a distinction between what you feel and what others say should make you happy.

4. Centrality – Insist on making those things that bring you happiness central to your life.

5. Recasting – Transform stressful problems and trauma into something meaningful, important, and a source of emotional energy.

6. Options – Approach life by creating multiple scenarios. Be open to new possibilities and adopt a flexible style to your life’s journey.

7. Appreciation – Savor your life and enjoy the people around you. Stay in the present by viewing each experience as something precious.

8. Giving – Share yourself with friends, family and community. Give to the world at large without expecting anything in return.

9. Truthfulness – Make a choice to be honest with yourself and others.

Every day we are faced with other people’s behavior and challenging situations. We can choose how to respond. In that moment—which lasts a mere fraction of a second—we can choose thoughts and feelings that cause pain, or armed with the nine steps to happiness, we can choose another way of being.

When we assume full personal responsibility for our actions, thoughts and feelings, small daily choices we make will move us towards our greater vision and open up a whole new way to be, think and live. And, at last, we have chosen what we ultimately desire: a richer and happier life for ourselves.

I hope you enjoyed this article. Please do not hesitate to contact me Click Here! if you have any questions, or if I can be of assistance to you.

Warmest Regards,

Victoria L. Lenhardt
Bottom Line Enterprises

Preparing for 1099 Reporting

The year 2007 is over. Are you ready to file 1099’s? Has your business previously reported 1099 Payees? (If you are my regular client the answer is yes). 

You’ll want to continue reading to find out if you are in compliance and the possible consequences if you are not. You may also want to print this e-mail for future reference.

Many businesses do not report payments made to 1099 Vendors. Perhaps they are not aware of their obligation or they do not realize the possible consequences of non-reporting. In either case, it is important that Business Owners are aware of the requirements and the consequences for non-compliance.

Important Information About 1099 Vendors

• What is a 1099 Vendor?

A 1099 Vendor is anyone you have made a payment to (a Payee) in the course of your trade or business who is not a “Corporation”. Corporations do not require 1099 reporting with the exception of Attorneys. Attorneys receive a 1099-MISC whether they are incorporated or not.

The threshold for reporting is accumulated payments made to a particular vendor (Payee) totaling $600.00 or more in a calendar year.

• Who is required to report 1099 Vendors

Anyone engaged in trade or business for gain or profit. Non-profit Organizations who are considered to be engaged in business are also subject to these reporting requirements.

• Why do I want to report 1099 Vendors?

First, it is required by law. Second, if you don’t report 1099 Vendors, you risk losing the tax deduction for the amounts paid to 1099 Vendors, and you are subject to penalties of up to $50.00 per information return (each Payee per year is one information return) to a maximum of $250,000.00. In some cases, the penalties can be $100.00 per information return with no maximum.

Penalties are assessed for “Failure to File Correct Information Returns by the Due Date”. This means you are assessed penalties for not filing, for filing late, and for filing incorrect information.

• How do I file 1099’s?

Your Bookkeeper or Accountant can file your 1099’s. Or, for detailed Instructions on how to file 1099’s please refer to IRS “Instructions for Form 1099-MISC” and “General Instructions for Forms 1099, 1098, 5498 and W-2G. (see below for download instructions)

• What information will I need to provide to my Bookkeeper or Accountant in order to file 1099’s

You will need to provide the Payee’s legal name, address and Tax ID number. This information is obtained by providing your Payee’s with a W-9 form to complete and sign. You can download the current form at: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw9.pdf

You will want to have the completed and signed Form W-9 on file to protect yourself from penalties in case the Tax ID number or Payee address submitted on the 1099-MISC form is incorrect or invalid.

You will also need to provide the total payments made to the Payee for the calendar year. A summary per Payee, as well as a detailed breakdown of check numbers, dates and amounts, is important.

If you use QuickBooks, and QuickBooks is set up properly, you can automatically generate the information and print 1099s’ from QuickBooks.

• What happens if the Payee does not return the W-9 form?

You are required by law to withhold 28% from payment if the Payee fails to provide you with the completed and signed W-9 form, including their Tax ID No. The money withheld is considered “backup withholding” and is reported to the IRS.

I suggest you provide your Payee/Vendor with a W-9 form immediately upon engagement and before submitting payment to avoid scrambling to gather this information at year-end.  If the vendor is not in compliance it will be too late to withhold the amounts required by law.

• When are 1099’s Due?

The copies sent to Payees are to be submitted and postmarked by January 31st of each year.

The original 1099-MISC forms and Form 1096 need to be submitted to the IRS by February 28th.

This e-mail is to provide you with general information. Please refer to IRS “Instructions for Form 1099-MISC” and “General Instructions for Forms 1099, 1098, 5498 and W-2G” for detailed and more specific information. You can download these forms at: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1099msc.pdf and http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1099gi.pdf.

Note: You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader in order to view these documents. You can download Adobe Acrobat Reader, free, from the following site: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions, or if I can be of assistance to you.

I hope you enjoyed this article. Please do not hesitate to contact me Click Here! if you have any questions, or if I can be of assistance to you.

Warmest Regards,

Victoria L. Lenhardt
Bottom Line Enterprises