When you first get the idea to start your own business, it's important to set aside time to work on your new start up. There are so many people out there who take the first step in starting an LLC or forming a corporation and never continue with their dream because they don't set aside time to push the business forward. While it's great to see people starting things, you should make it an important part of your day to push things forward, if you need help doing this, set up a calendar and write small tasks down each day. Because so many people are starting their own business on the side of their regular job, it's often an afterthought. In this day, it's important to work for what you want, and if you want to be your own boss eventually, you're going to  have to work for it.

Imagine if businesses like Starbucks or McDonald's opened at different times everyday, it would be a little annoying to know that some days you were able to get your coffee or breakfast and some days you aren't because they decided that their businesses will open when they're going to open whenever they feel like it. Many people who start a small business feel that they can do that, because you are a small business and may not have anyone to answer to about being inconsistent. The truth is, if you don't have employees and are working by yourself, your boss is the clients. If you work in a coffee shop or somewhere where you depend on word of mouth marketing or repeat clients, it's extremely important to set yourself a schedule, so that loyal clients will become familiar with it. If there's a day you will not be open for any reason, or will be opening late and if you're aware in advance, let you customers know in advance, they will be appreciative if they see a note on the door that states you will be closed on a certain date. This also gets rid of the confusion on potential new clients if they happen to stumble upon your business on that day you happen to be closed, if they see a sign "We will be closed on 10/28/2010" they know that they can come back on the 29th and you will be open. Whatever your schedule might be, be sure to stick to it, and only stray from it when absolutely necessary.

When you have your own business it's understandable that you will encounter clients that are not too happy with your service or even irate clients who make extreme demands, often times demands you cannot accommodate. It's important to keep your cool when these situations arise. Though you may lose your client, regardless of how you react to an outburst, you should make it a point to stay professional in all difficult situations.

If your get an nasty email from a client, take some time to cool off yourself, it's only a human reaction to feel defensive when someone is criticising all you work for, so be sure to take some time to cool off. When you're calm, take the key points out of the email and see where you made the mistake, it's important to not over explain your mistakes, chances are that the mistake is something you could have prevented, but over explaining will not make things better, only worse. Once you figure out what you did wrong, be sure to call the client, as emails can sometimes be misread in an angry or sarcastic tone. If the client is not available by phone be very careful that you word your email back in a professional manner, and minimize any room for misinterpretation. Here's an example of an email exchange that has been turned positive.

Client: I'm extremely upset, I ordered flowers and candy for my wife to be delivered to her office, I specifically told the representative at your company that she has a mild peanut allergy and that I needed the candy to be plain M&Ms instead of peanut, I also requested that there be 11 red roses and one pink rose, I called twice to confirm this, the card even referenced the pink rose. Instead my wife not only received peanut candy, but 11 pink roses and one red rose. I have never been more disappointed in a company before, I should have asked for peanut candy and 11 pink roses, then you would have got it right! Be sure to take my name on your mailing list, because I'll never be doing business with you again! Thanks for the worst service ever!

Company: First of all I would like to personally apologize for the service you have encountered, we are here to provide good service to you and frankly we failed. Although a little late, we've already set up an appointment to deliver a special package to your wife on Monday, should this be a problem please let me know. I would also like to take the time to thank you for your feedback and let you know that I've attached a gift coupon to this email good towards a future purchase with our company. Again I do apologize for the inconvenience, and I hope you find the kindness to let us correct this mistake.

The email is simple and to the point and also offers a way to fix the problem. The main point is to stay calm when your client is angry, usually things will work out, if you're heated the situation will only escalate.

When some people are eager to start their own business they often have focus on one part of the business, they seem to forget paper work such as forming an LLC or incorporating, business licenses, city permits, bank accounts etc. The reason I bring this up is because many people tend to jump on business trends prematurely because they have a great idea that will be great if it's correctly executed. With so many business trends popping up these days, a lot of people jump head first into starting a business without doing the proper research and development. For someone doing this, they should avoid jumping on the bandwagons for business trends and crazes. For example, in bigger cities, food trucks are all the rave, and though they are on top of the world right now, most of the food trucks just getting into the game will not succeed, because they are prematurely opening up shop to join the pioneers at the top.

If you have a good idea it should still be a good idea in a few months, so take the time to develop a detailed business plan which includes all aspects of your business including all costs to the business. If you have questions about forming your own business please don't hesitate to call us at 866-999-8200.

Many businesses are run online these days, from businesses forming corporations to consulting business and even online retail establishments. When businesses are run online they tend to generate a lot of email traffic. It's important to convey the messages in your emails in a professional manner when emails are required to a client. Being professional can mean lots of things depending on your industry, but the basics are to keep emails simple, clean and error free. By simple, we mean get to the point without a lot of filler text, too many times people are worried their emails look too short because they are only a couple of sentences long, but if you're sending out an email with a tracking number for something someone ordered, keep it simple and get to the point, there's no need to a full page email just to provide a simple tracking number. Another thing to consider when sending emails out is keeping the email clean, what we mean by keeping an email clean is to minimize the images, and HTML code. Many people retrieve their emails from their mobile device and can't read an email if the HTML code is too complex or if there are too many images in the email. Another way you can clean up your emails is to minimize your default signature by only including necessary information, that means you don't need to include your home phone number or your personal email address or a motivational quote, etc. The most important part about writing emails to clients is that they are error free. Most email clients include a spell check, but you should also read over the email before you send it to make sure that the language sounds right.

It is also a good idea to have a list of common emails that are sent out to clients, so that emails that are sent out are all uniform. Just remember, simple, clean and error free is the way to go when sending out emails.

New York is a very popular state, not only among the other United States but it has worldwide recognition. Many businesses choose to form a New York corporation or a New York LLC not only because of the business opportunities in the state but also because having a businesses based in New York is a good look for businesses, especially international businesses as New York, especially New York City is an hub for businesses because it is on the Atlantic and is a center point for the the west coast and Europe. If you're interested in starting your own New York business please give us a call at 866-999-8200.

Studies have shown that breaks increase productivity, and not just breaks during your work day, but days off, where you're not thinking about anything work related. Often times when you start a business, there are so many things to do, from incorporating or forming an LLC to creating an online presence. When you're first starting out there's not much time to take off, but it's important to set aside time to take off, even if it's only a one day break, the work to be done will still be there when you pick up again the next day. Often times when breaks are not taken, your body will feel exhausted and you will not be as productive, even though you have been continuously working. Breaks also give the brain time to relax and generate new ideas, which doesn't happen as often as if you were overloading yourself with work.

Breaks are also important to take during the day, many people these days tend to each lunch at their desk while continuously working, while lunch at your desk might be the most convenient way to eat, be sure to take a break from work related subjects while on your break, surf the net, talk on the phone, listen to the radio or even take a nap. A lot of companies these days are allowing employees to take naps during work time also, power naps also increase productivity. The point is that it's good to take a break from work once in a while.

Some of our customers ask "how long will it take to file?".  The answer to this question depends on where you wish to file.  All the states don't have the same filing time and they vary greatly.  Some states can take a matter of hours to approve the filing and other states take months. 

The expedited time frames usually come with additional charges.  Most of the additional charges are simply for the state to earn additional revenue with not much more additional work for the state.  It is almost pure profit for these states but people are in a hurry and they need the fast service.  There isn't much getting around that.  However some states are still relatively fast without any expedite services.  States such as Florida, Texas, and New Jersey provides some of the fastest times.  They can have a filing done in about a day.

States that are the slowest are California, Arizona and Maryland.  These states typically take about 8 weeks or so to complete their filing.  Much of the delay is that there simply isn't enough staff to handle the workload.  California has been hard hit due to budget cutbacks and furloughs.  They have seen their filings take from 6-8 weeks to about 3 months. 

Most states take about 2-3 weeks to complete their filings on average.

In great news, it has been reported that small business bankruptcies are down for the 5th straight quarter. This news sheds positive light on those who own small businesses or want to start a small business. With bankruptcies down, it means small businesses are doing better than before in a consistent manner, although some may still be struggling, they see no need to throw in the towel yet. The hope that small business owners have is a wonderful reflection on the state of the economy. Though we may still be in a rut economically, things are looking up.

Credit card companies are in a fierce battle right now for customers.  Most credit card companies do charge high interest rates but if you pay off those payments every month, you could potentially make some money back by charging your business expenses with your credit card. 

To lure in customers, many banks and gas companies are offering credit cards that give you cash back for your purchases.  For instance,  Costco is partnering with American Express.  Their cards will give you 1% cash back on all purchases, 2% cash back on dining and vacations and 4% cash back for gas purchases for the business accounts.   Bank of America has its own offering with 1% cash back with no limits to how much you can earn. 

The cash back bonuses may in fact be better than some of those airline credit cards.  Instead of cash back, they give you miles toward free travel.  However, if you have a cash back card, you could in fact earn more money to buy the airlines tickets separate.  These cash back bonuses are cash that you can use for anything not just airline tickets. Also another bonus is that most of these cards don't have an annual fee compared to fees from airline credit cards.

So making all your business purchases using the credit card will defiintely help with the bottom line.  You can also use that credit card to place an order to file a new corporation with us.