So this year instead of going out to the mall and buying something random.  Why not make this year different.  Buy gifts with a social message attached to them.  There are many non profit companies that make items that benefit society. Shopping at these retailers creates a demand for goods that are free trade, meaning that the goods and products are made without any human trafficking or slavery.

Most of the organizations that produce products that are sold in the U.S. are made from the people that the organization wants to help.  For instance, I just bought a beanie from Krochet Kids.  Krochet Kids was started from by a few guys who knew how to crochet and when one of them went to Uganda, he had an idea to sell beanies made from women who need the work.  The organization puts women to work and allows them to get out of the cycle of poverty that many are in.

Many of the items that are bought are clothes and jewelry.  A friend of mine started Freedom and Fashion, an organization that puts on an annual fashion show to highlight the organizations that are making jewelry and clothes.  These manufacturers are making these products that are free of human trafficking, modern day slavery, and other human rights issues in mind.  They just recently had their second show and was a huge success.

So this holiday season, do something out of the norm and buy something that will make the world a better place.

A controversial list of cuts proposed by Obama's debt panel hopes to cut about $4 trillion from the U.S. deficit over the next 10 years.  The report for cuts is uncompromising in that both sides the left will not like the spending cuts and the right will be unfavorable to revenue increases.  

The $4 trillion dollar cut would come from a majority of spending cuts while the other will come from a reduction of tax breaks.  The report basically says that this country can't afford to spend more than it takes in.  Something that most households already knows but somehow the federal government doesn't seem to grasp this concept. 

In order for the commission to make the official recommendations to Congress, the panel of 18 members would need 14 members to approve it.  Currently, the panel only has 7 yes votes.   It is expected that the commission will fail to generate the necessary votes to submit the recommendations to Congress.  This is another example of wasted money and time in the federal government.

We are quickly approaching the end of the year.  Many will wonder whether its best to file a new Corporation now or wait till 2011.  The answer to your question may not be very clear.  It may come down to taxes and the best person to ask about when to file could be your accountant. 

Filing now may be beneficial if your business will benefit from tax related deductions.  However, many may opt to file at the start of the new year just to make things easier and a more symbolic gesture as to when the company starts.

There are many advantages and disadvantages to go into on whether it is best to start a corporation now or wait till 2011.  It really comes down to a personal choice on the matter.  There may not be a compelling reason to file now vs. later. 

Consult some professionals on when the best time for you to file and then you can contact us at 866-999-8200.

Thats the question many Repbulicans are questioning.  They argue that most of the people that would be affected by extending the tax cuts are small business owners.  They feel that extending cuts would enable business owners to invest more into their company.  However the problem is that a lot of small business owners don't make $250,000 or more per year.  The Democrats contend that giving tax cuts to the rich will not erode the economy. 

Many of the business today are sitting on cash because they are uncertain of the future.  Companies are not willing to hire until a much clearer picture of where the economy is going develops.  Companies that are making money and the owners who run them say they would make different decision based on if the Bush tax cuts are not extended. 

Over the last few decades, changes to the tax code has many companies reporting their income on the individual income.  A S Corp filing with the IRS allows corporations to report their income on personal tax returns.  This means that companies making millions of dollars, those millions of dollars are being reported on individual tax returns.  Corporation are not getting taxed anymore as they did before with C- Corps.  Therefore the argument is that the companies making millions of dollars are not being funneled back into the company because the individuals are getting taxed more.

The response to this is that these rich individuals could in fact pay themselves less and invest the saved money back into the company.  Therfore the impact of the Bush era tax cuts that are expring will probably not effect the company.

We often get calls with the question, "How do I incorporate?" and while most of these questions mean the person would like an explanation on how our process works. While anyone can incorporate their own business (most states do not require an attorney), a lot of clients come to us so they don't have to deal with the fuss of drawing up or preparing their own articles of incorporation. Our process is one of the easiest online, and it also gives you a chance to review what we're filing on your behalf, which not many companies do. How it works is, once you place your order one of our staff members does a name search and if the name appears available, they will prepare the documents for you to sign. You are then able to log in to our website, review the information you either put in online, or gave us over the phone, and download your articles of organization. Most states allow us to accept faxed or emailed copies of your signed articles, though some will require you to mail these documents to us with original signatures. We do one last review prior to sending your documents out to the state. Once the documents are sent to the state we monitor the filing daily to ensure you're notified by email as soon as they're approved. It is a pretty simple process when you have us file your documents, as we take responsibility for making sure the state is paid their fees and you are notified upon approval. If you have any questions regarding forming a corporation, call us at 866-999-8200.

While many of you out there are working from home, especially when just opening up an LLC or forming a corporation, the attire is often pajamas, or comfortable clothing that allows you to feel relaxed. Although it doesn't really matter how you look while in your home, it's important to dress professionally when going to meetings or even having Skype or video chats with clients or employees. If you're meeting up with a client be sure to dress professionally, for men, slacks, dress shirt and dress shoes is often good enough, if you're having a more casual meeting, polo shirts and khaki pants are also acceptable, be sure that your clothes are always clean and pressed, regardless of what they are. For women, there are a little more options, slacks and a dress shirt also work, but you can also wear a skirt or a dress. It's important to make sure that your clothing isn't too flashy, or you don't have too  many accessories, as they can be distracting. When having meetings from home, be sure to find a quiet clean place to have the meeting from, whether it's a video or phone meeting, background noise can cause major distractions.

In this edition of Successful Small Business Tips we're going to discuss the importance of having a set of policies. Obviously every client is different, and we've talked about having an attitude that allows you to sway a bit when it comes to your standard practices, but it's important to set that standard as a foundation of what others will look upon as your company grows. When your company gets bigger, you will have bigger responsibilities, which leaves everyone under you to take care of dealing with clients. There may never be a day that you transition out of the customer service part of your business, but you may be gone one day and your company should have a policy that everyone follows. Having policies in place will ensure that there is no panicking when a problem arises and that you can rely on your staff to carry out tasks just as you would like them to. It's important to set up these policies prior to doing business so that all your policies will be in the same vein as each other.

For example, if you run a book store, most book stores do not allow book exchanges, but they do allow exchanges for other items they may sell, such as book lights. If your general store policy is no exchanges, it may upset someone if they try to return an item that is not a book, like the book light, and they are turned away. If you had a policy set up where there is no book exchanges, but anything else can be exchanged for up to 7 days, that could resolve a problem before it even occurs. Think of problems that could arise, and be sure to write your policies down, have an easy to find area on your website with your policies listed.

If you have any questions about business policies or starting a business, call us at 866-999-8200.

Here at IncorporateFast we get a lot of calls with questions regarding how to make sure that the state shows the business as a woman-owned or minority-owned business. In most cases the state does not ask for the ownership percentage, and minority & woman owned businesses are for the most part, required to be 51% owned by minority or women. With LLCs, members are the owners of the LLC, and with corporations, ownership is shown by who holds shares of stock in the corporation. While the state might not request this information, in order for you business to be registered as a minority owned or woman owned business, you must apply with the Small Business Administration. There are a lot of benefits to having your business registered as minority or woman owned, a big advantage is that there are special loans and grants that your business can apply for. If you have questions about forming your own business, please don't hesitate to call us at 866-999-8200.

Citi  is a the top bank world-wide when it comes to big business banking. As of now, Citi bank has a corporate client list of 2,500 out of the 3,000 top corporations globally. While it's clear that Citi has dominated the big corporate market, their CEO, Vikram Pandit, just announced that the company will be hiring 200 bankers to target the small business market. Small business to Citi means any business with less than 20 million in annual sales. The bankers should all be in place by the end of 2011. If you have questions about starting your own small business, we can help in all aspects, from incorporating to creating a website, give us a call at 866-999-8200.

When you start your own business, most people are not used to interviewing potential employees, because not too long ago you were just an employee yourself.

You have to remember that the person being interviewed is probably nervous, so try and write your own set of questions, rather than only going the general what-are-your-strengths-and-weaknesses route. Ask the interviewee questions that would actually pertain to your business, if you work in an office that always has people walking in and out or loud music, ask your interviewee if they can concentrate in that type of environment, many people cannot, and although you may do  your best to accommodate someone who you think is good for the position, if that someone doesn't adjust well, they may leave, or be unhappy.

Also when interviewing, make sure you try your best to make the interviewee feel comfortable, the environment for an interview doesn't have to be uptight and by the book. I've had interviews where the interviewer asked what type of music I preferred or what my favorite movie is, questions such as these allow you to gauge the interviewees personality better to see if they are a good fit for your company, it opens up the invitation for chat, which can put the interviewee at ease.

I myself don't have much experience being the interviewee, and very little being the interviewer. I've only had a few jobs, and I didn't interview many times before I found somewhere I fit in, but there is one interview that will always stick out in my mind, and it's basically what not to do when conducting an interview. It could have been the uncomfortably quiet office that I walked into that didn't help put me at ease, but the company owner who was interviewing me also was cold and inviting. Part of the interview required me to do a basic math quiz, after the test, the owner came in to score it, I had got all problems but one correct, and the owner's comment was, "Well, you're not dumb." I pretty much wanted to leave right then, but I stuck around for the remainder of the interview, basically being given the rundown on how operations work. I left knowing that if I had got offered the position (even though the pay was higher than I was expecting), I would not take it. I was offered the position within the next week, I declined.