How to Find a “Soulmate” er… Good Business Partner

If you have read our older blogs, we made a post about how working with your spouse as a business partner can be very effective if you treaded carefully. Now, in case you do not have a spouse, we will talk about how to find a business partner with the right qualities.

If you believe that you as a business person can work better alone, we have an example that may change your mind. Written from lesseverything.com, they had an example of a man named Allan who had been running his own consultant business just fine alone. He had a father who was a successful entrepreneur for decades that told him not get a business partner. Eventually, Allan met Steve during the Summer 2006. Steve could take Allan’s ideas and instantly be able to tell him why it was bad and how to make it better. Allan quickly realized that having Steve around would make him better at what he does. Additionally, he also realized that Steve could also plan and execute business better than Allan could. Allan was ideally the idea factory while Steve improved upon those ideas. Now today, they together have made an even more successful business.

Keep in mind that a business partnership is like a marriage without the sexual part. Every business decision that Allan makes will affect Steve, and every business decision that Steve makes will affect Allan. If Steve needs to spend more for the business, this will put a strain on Allan, which will affect the business entirely. In a way, it is like having your spouse spend tons of money on products that are unnecessary; you would have to keep track of their spending in order to use that budget for other important things.

How do you make a business partnership work out? Well, it’s basically the same thing as a marriage:

Have mutual respect for each other: You must always have respect for the things that both parties do, and they must collaborate and work together without any criticizing or fighting. It is a partnership and marriage, not a war between two partners.

When you have a partnership, you treat each other as if you are equals. There is no such thing as the dominator in the relationship or the captain. When you make decisions, make it together with a compromise if one party does not agree with certain factors. This would be another way to show respect for one another.

Another thing that is considered to be rare, but if you have it, do not lose it. This would be having a partner who has skills that are complementary to your skills. In lesseverything.com’s case, Allan is a designer and Steve is a developer. When you have a person who designs and another who develops those designs while improving them through the process, you can say that it works like “peas and carrots.”

There are times when you and your business partner are best friends, and sometimes you both are not, but one thing for sure us that they are always aware of how the other party is doing, and they are usually willing to help that person out. In many cases, they are trying to understand each other’s stresses and the workload.

Here are two qualities that your partner should have:

–          A real friend, spouse, or partners are willing to point out your flaws and tell you some of things that you are lacking. They are saying this because they want you to grow, they are not looking disrespect you or criticize you. And you are willing to take that in because you value their opinion.

–          They do not judge you. When you need help with a broken car, moving, or if some kind of emergency happens, who would you call? If it is 2:00am and you are unable to drive back home, who is going to drive 50 miles to help you out? If that person is willing to do that for you, consider that person a true friend. This is how your business partner should be.

Inspiring quote: “Allan says…

“I’ve always had plenty of friends, but there’s only a small circle of those that I would call ‘close friends.’ My Grandfather would tell me that before the Great Depression, he had money, a bunch of friends and a Model-T car. When the hard times struck, his family lost everything–including the friends. They only wanted to be around him when he had possessions.”

 

***ARTICLE BASED ON LESSEVERYTHING.COM***

 

How to Avoid Tax Fraud, Advice from Scammers Themselves

As a company who follows the three basic principles of Honesty, Integrity, and Innovation, we do not condone Tax Fraud, and we certainly will never perform such acts for anyone who requests such atrocity. So what is Tax Fraud? According to tax whistleblower, it is a general term, which can trigger many different laws found in Title 26 and Title 18 of the United States Code. It is basically a taxpayer’s intent to defraud the government by not paying taxes that they know are lawfully due.

Krebsonsecurity.com has talked about one of the successful scammers who explained how he was able to file a tax fraud by using prepaid debit cards. This kind of method has been used for several years because it has been a indispensible tool of tax fraudsters. The scammer named Peleus reported that he was able to bypass the IRS Fraud Filters, and was able to find great success at the state level. The important thing was, according to Peleus was having a bogus refund sent to a unique prepaid debit card account for each filing. In March 12, 2015, Utah State Tax Commission Chairman John Valentine has reported to the U.S Senate Finance Committee that suspicions returns has been about the direct deposit information changed from the previous year’s ban account to prepaid debit cards.

The problem with transferring funds to prepaid debit cards is that they cannot be traced or recovered, which is a perfect way to commit tax fraud. It seems that prepaid debit cards are most preferable to fraudsters because the identity thief doesn’t have to interact with banks, credit unions or checking cashing stores that may become suspicious when one person starts bringing in multiple tax refund checks to be cashed or deposited.

HOW TO AVOID THIS

–          Try to file your taxes as early as possible. However, if the state taxes have been “filed” already, then immediately report this issue with the state revenue agency.

–          Have a CPA or Accountant do it for you. Accountants are born to study all of the complications of the tax law, and they have to make sure their clients are safe. This is a good opportunity as there are many fraudsters out there who want to file a fake tax return. Accountants usually charge a fair price for their services, especially in Orange County.

–          Consider placing a fraud alert freeze on your file at the major credit companies. If fraudsters have enough personal information to file a fraudulent tax return under your name, then they can use that data to commit other crimes. Placing a fraud alert on your credit file every 90 days is the cheapest way since it is free.

Be sure to make sure your personal information is safe from crooks, and also use this information as a way to help you understand how fraudsters operate so you can use this information to help your sound more legitimate when you report a tax fraud claim.

 

***ARTICLE BASED ON TAX FRAUD ADVICE, STRAIGHT FROM THE SCAMMERS from krebsonsecurity.com ***

 

Professional New Year’s Resolution Ideas

It’s that time of the year again. We are sure 2016 wasn’t that great, or maybe it wasn’t too bad for you, but the most important thing to remember now is to learn from everything you have experienced in 2016 and cherish those moments when you were most happy. One thing to keep in mind however, is that sometimes New Year’s Resolutions are somewhat not going as planned. According to Amanda Zantal-Wiener 45% of Americans make New Year’s Resolutions, however, only 8% are successful in achieving them. Interestingly, University of Scranton’s Journal of Clinical Psychology stated that the top 10 resolutions of 2015 included losing weight and falling in love. Although those goals are great, the question you should ask yourself is, are they really going to make you better at what you do every day?

Again, Amanda Zantal-Wiener has stated some tips on some professional New Years Resolution Ideas incase you are short on what ideas. The challenge here is to see if you can come up and stick to professional New Year Resolutions. These tips will drive you to become more “creative, productive, and generally more content at work.” Here they are:

–          Assign times throughout the day to make an electronics- free zone.

• Our bodies are trained to respond to light and dark signals. According to National Sleep Foundation, these signals send us important signals, like the time of the day. Once you add phones and electronic screens to your day, our brains recognize the brightness from phones, and other electronic devices. Ever wonder why people usually never get enough sleep? Its because many of us have a hard time to fall asleep when we’re exposed to too much screen time at night.

 

• HOW CAN WE ACHIEVE THIS? : Everyone can relate to this issue, and it is in fact a very hard resolution to achieve. If you like to watch movies, tv shows, or play video games before going to bed, try to lower the amount you do each night. For example, if you watch tv for about 2 hours before you sleep, reduce that amount to 1 hour and 30 minutes and keep going until you finally can finally sleep without it. Replace the lost time of tv by reading a book, journal. Perhaps read an accounting book, learn how to become a cpa, or better yet, read books on how to save money!

 

–          Write about anything everyday! Perhaps a diary

• According to Amanda Zantal-Wiener, the quality of writing in the U.S has been going around the news and headlines for awhile now. Many viewers and consumers are looking for better writers, however, the trouble is that they are having trouble investing the time to do so. According to Neil Patel, he said writing for 30 minutes a day (of course skipping the weekends) will greatly improve your writing skills. Practice makes perfect!

 

• HOW CAN WE ACHIEVE THIS? : Pick a question everyday and write about it. You can get topics by asking friends, a customer, or a topic that has always been floating around your head for awhile. It really helps you bring out your diction levels while increasing your conversation skills. You can even write something that makes no sense, the point is to improve your writing.

 

–          Always ask for help.

• You’re probably wondering, doesn’t that make me feel needy and less important? Not at all! Zantal-Wiener states that Care.com took a survey of working mothers and the findings was about the concept of asking for help. Around 30% of respondents felt guilty of doing things without asking. Also, about 79% also felt like they were falling behind at work, and 75% saw an overall reduction in stress when they did ask for help. Obviously, these numbers goes beyond working mothers, but as Zantal-Wiener states, “there’s an epidemic of fear when it comes to asking for help at work.”  So if you need help with anything, for example, taxes or accounting, you can contact a cpa firm and ask any questions when you have any financial problems!

 

• HOW CAN WE ACHIEVE THIS? : This was a very good quote that Zantel-Wiener posted : “The most successful people ask for help when they need it!” Always remember this, this will lead you to success. Don’t ever assume that your questions are dumb, if people say that it is, just get the answer and don’t ask them again, those people are not good people, unless they are joking.

 

–          Read more.

• Remember, the most successful people never stop learning. 70% of adults in the professional or managerial roles continue their education. It is one of the best ways to constantly update yourself with industry trends, learning from experts, and expand the spectrum of creativity. Some of the best ways to learn is to read outside of a classroom setting. Reading accounting blogs, reddit blogs, or some other blogs that are notable really provide useful information that may help you in the future.

 

• HOW CAN WE ACHIEVE THIS? : There is a ton of content out there, however, some content that would be worth reading. If you need some useful information on how to save money or cut tax spending, perhaps reading our older blogs at sonnycpa.com would be helpful. There are many others you can Google, there is so much content out there. If you have any questions about something, simply ask it, or check out our older blog posts.

 

Well that’s all the tips we have for you, we hope you guys have a Happy New Year! Look forward to 2017 and enjoy what we have now! 

Buying a Home? You May Have Missed an Important Step

Anyone who is going through the process of buying a home knows that it can be a long and expensive process. And it’s one that you need to get right to build a solid financial future

1. Find the right lender. There are many different types of mortgages, including fixed-rate, adjustable-rate, government-insured, conventional loans and others. The interest rate on your mortgage is based on several factors, including how much the home costs, how much money you are putting toward a down payment and the type and length of the mortgage. Make sure you consult a few reputable lenders to determine the best option for you. If you plan to get more than one quote, be sure to request these within days of each other to lessen the impact on your credit score.
2. Search for the right home. Create a list of (reasonable) must-haves for your price-range. Is location or size of house more important to you? Do you like the neighborhood? Is it close to public transit? Does the right school district matter? Think about your home in a holistic way that takes into account the actual house and the surrounding area as well as your lifestyle. You probably won’t get everything on your list so having an understanding of needs versus wants will help speed the process.
3. Find the right mortgage. Although it might be tempting to borrow as much as a bank will lend you, make sure this works with your budget. And the forgotten important step…
4. Look at all living expenses. This is where first-time homebuyers sometimes get into trouble. Make sure your monthly budget accurately reflects all living expenses. Take into account not just the mortgage payment, but other items like property taxes, commuting expenses, utilities including gas, electric, and water. Be sure to take into account any immediate upgrades or repairs your new home may need, including big ticket items like kitchen and bathroom renovations, and repairs to the roof or floors.