Part Two – The Conversational Wizard…

Happy Thursday everyone…ONLY ONE DAY LEFT!!!  Last week we started off our three part series about communication and we discussed how important communication was to your business.  We also discussed how important it is to understand the person or people you are talking to and asking basic clarifying questions.  We are going to expand a little more on those today as well as the nuts and bolts of your conversation and turning you into the conversational wizard that you want to be.   

To become that conversational wizard you first have to be able to assess your communication style and understand your strengths and weaknesses.  Be honest with yourself!  First, how do you communicate?  Are you bold and outgoing?  Are you okay speaking to anyone at anytime and are very self assured.  Or, are you soft in your communication and a little intraverted?  Are you reserved about speaking to people one-on-one or infront of groups? 

Both of these communication styles have their sweaknesses.  If you are the bold and self-assured you can often be perceived as being pushy, straight to the point, not caring about other peoples emotions as much as getting the job done.  You can also be perceived as putting people down and coming on too hard.  If you are soft in your communication you may be perceived as uneasy, that you do not have confidence in the information, that you are holdng up progress or that you are not taking the task at hand seriously.  This may sound harsh but remember, you need to be honest with yourself.  The biggest point that I want to make in this blog is that PERCEPTION IS EVERYTHING.  I can not stress that point enough.

Understanding what your particular weaknesses are will help you break down the communication barriers that currently hampers your communication.  You also need to understand the weaknesses of the person you are communicating with so that you can take over the communication wheel at that point in time to keep the communication going.  When you are communicating ensure that you listen to how you are communicating, listen to the tone of your voice, look at the reactions of the people you are communicating with and remember, be honest with yourself.

Next week we will discuss the strengths of each communication type.  You have some more homework this week…I know you are excited!  I would like you to figure out which type of communicator you are…and remember…be HONEST with yourself.  Neither communication type is better or worse than the other…just different.  However, for you to be successful you need to know which type you are.   

Remember that you have a great asset with Patrice Say.  She is a trained mediator and our very own Conversational Wizard.  She can help in any communication situations that are needed.  As always, if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to send us an email at info@aspirepartner.com. 

Thanks – Team AP

Part One – “They” always say………

That communication is the key.  Well, we are here to tell you that “they” are correct.  We will get into a little more detail below but in a nutshell…communication is everything in your workplace and it is what will make or break your business as well as personal relationships.  We are going to do a short three part series on this very important topic that is vital to your success. Now that you have had forewarning that I have on my psychologist pants today, we will proceed.

You can obviously tell that our resident financial and tax expert is not the one writing this today or he would tell you that MONEY is the key to your business!  And you may very well be sitting there thinking, MONEY, CASH FLOW and YOUR BOTTOM LINE are key (and they are so don’t take this the wrong way) but I have one simple question for you; how do you make your money?  If you are not able to communicate that with your people, your customers or potential investors, how are you going to make any of this…what was it again…oh yes, MONEY?!

So lets start with basic communication 101.  The definition of Communication, according to Merriam-Webster is; a process by which information is exchanged between individuals through a common system of symbols, signs or behaviors.  Sounds simple right?  The SBA says that small business have a 50/50 chance at staying alive after five years and Business Know-How suggests that the top seven reasons businesses fail are; 1 – starting a business for the wrong reason, 2- poor management, 3 – insufficient capital, 4 – location, 5 – lack of planning, 6 – over expansion and 7 – no website.  I think that all of you reading this would agree with me that in everyone of these categories, communication is involved in making decisions.

So how do you go about properly communicating?  There are different people out there that will tell you many different things, break it down psychologically, give you a class, teach you how to talk and I could go on for days.  I, however, think it is simple. The one thing to always understand is who you are talking to.  It does not matter how good you can sell, talk or BS, if you do not understand how the person or people across from you communicate then there will be no communication.  So before you start talking, LISTEN.  Get to know the other person as a communicator, do they like to do the talking or are they uncomfortable and need a little bit of a helping hand to get things going.  Look for little signs such as these and cater to the other persons weakness.  Also, basic clarifying during communication can be a large part of your success.  Ask the other person: “What do you think?” “How do you feel about what just happened?” “Does that make sense to you?” “Do you have any other ideas?” Too often people start heading down the path of problem solving before they understand what the other person wants to achieve. Understanding the other person is the key to your communication being a success or a failure.

I know you got a lot of information for your first session so we will cut it off there.  Your homework assignment this week is to get to know one person before engaging in a conversation with them and watch how much farther is gets you.  Remember to listen and engage them in the conversation and play off them.

ASPIRE has some great resources under our Human Resources and People segment that is headed by Patrice Say.  Patrice has many years of experience with issues of this nature and would love to help you and your team out.  She is a trained mediator and as mediator and a natural facilitator, she helps with those emotionally charged and sensitive communication issues that can disrupt the positive value of business communication.  Contact us when you need a partner for  straight forward communication and better results.

Have a great week and if you have any questions in the mean time, please feel free to contact via email at info@aspirepartner.com.  You can also check out the corresponding video blog that will be up on 02/22.

Thanks,

Team AP

Small business optimism is at a three year high!!!

Happy Sunday all!  We wanted to give you a good note to start your week off.

According to the National Federation of Independent Business, small business optimism hit a three year high since the beginning of the recession.  Slowly but surely people have a better outlook that their business is improving.

Even though hiring is not growing as rapidly as some would like, sales forecasts are looking much better this year than they have the past few.  With business owners feeling better about sales the hiring will start to come back as well.  Another part of the hiring piece is that a lot of businesses realized they were a little “fat” when it came to staffing.  There is a fine line to walk between being properly staffed and inefficient.  When the recession hit, many businesses had to lay off staff.  In some ways this allowed businesses to streamline operations by using less people to get the tasks completed.  There is also the lurking question of another dip in the economy.  Business owners will be less likely to hire until they actually see the business come on board. Because of this feeling, ASPIRE is able to help in a number of ways including be staff for interm hire until your are positive that you need the extra person.  We also provide recruiting services to help you find the right person to fill the position.

With all of this being said, it is great to see a positive outlook for 2011 in the small business segment.  We have gone through some very tough times over the last three years and we have all learned a lot from the recession.  We all know that it can be hard to see the positive some days but as leaders, we need to constantly be focused on the future.  The challenges that we face are stepping stones to a long and prosperous future if we handle them correctly.

We will have a corresponding video blog at www.youtube.com/ASPIREpartners tomorrow afternoon.

If you have any questions or comments please feel free to email us at info@aspirepartner.com or leave a comment on the video.

Thanks and have a great week!

Team AP

Making SMART decisions with SMART phones.

Happy Tuesday all!  I hope you all enjoyed a great weekend with your family and loved ones.

Our topic today is an issue that has been on the rise for a little while now; smart phones.

BlackBerry’s, iPhone, Droids, Windows Mobile, they all have one thing in common; making it easier to work away from the office and with the technology improving daily, making it easier to do a lot more away from the office.

First of all, with this being said, it is extremely important to set policies and procedures that clearly outline what the devices are to be used for and when they will be used, especially when it comes to hourly or non-exempt employees.

For instance, there is a lawsuit right now against the Chicago Police Department because an officer who was issued a BlackBerry was requesting to be paid overtime because he was answering emails after work hours.

You could make the argument that the laws are not up with the current times but at the end of the day, they are laws that we as business owners need to abide by.

If you are going to issue your employees smart phones, ensure to implement policies and procedures that clearly outline what they are used for and when they are to be used.

For more information on this subject, check out our corresponding vlog at www.youtube.com/aspirepartners later today.  You can also reach us at info@aspirepartner.com if you have any questions.

Team AP

A New and Improved Us!!!

Happy Monday all!  We have some great news here at ASPIRE for the New Year…and yes…we know we are a little late.  

We have so many things to update you on than I am not sure where to start!

First off, I would like to say thank you for making 2010 a great year for ASPIRE!  We saw so many people learn, grow and make great strides last year and we can’t wait to be a part of even more this year!

Secondly, we have added some new services for 2011 that can save you a lot of time and money.  From our new Energy Auditing Service to our upgraded CFO and Financial Services and even our new and improved website.  We have made it easier to keep up with what is going on at ASPIRE partners.

You can follow us on FaceBook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn or even right here on our blog.  No matter where or how you connect, ASPIRE will be there for you when you need us.

Please make sure that you check out our new and improved website at www.aspirepartner.com.  If you have any questions at all please email us at info@aspirepartner.com or call us at 888-689-7772.

We wish you all a happy belated New Year and make sure you check back weekly for new updates!

AP

Commercial Warehousing

Good day to all.  It has been a while since I have talked to you all about Logistics and where we are in today’s economic times.  Although we are in a rebounding economy, we as leaders need to understand and learn from the recent experiences that we have had.

What did we learn from all of this?  It is hard to lay off people, down size, lose customers due to having to raise prices because of high overhead.  One of the biggest issues we saw from this was manufactures going out of business or having to lay off their people because of the high cost of a big building that they no longer needed but could not sell due to the poor economic times.

As we bounce back do we want to make the same mistakes?  No!  We need to learn from them.  Below are a couple suggestions that could help save you money up front or turn that empty space into money.

If you are a company that has outgrown your current warehouse but you cannot justify purchasing new building, why not use a commercial warehouse?  You can manufacture you products in your current warehouse, build pallets, etc. then move that product to a commercial warehouse for storage until you are ready to ship.  You can usually ship directly from the warehouse and they will build pallets or fill orders for you.  This saves you from having to add space that you do not need on a full time basis and will save you in labor.

If you are the company that has empty space available due to falling sales, why not turn that space into a commercial warehouse?  By charging other companies to store their products you can easily fill that open space into revenue that you need.  This can also be a good networking tool for your business.

No matter the situation that you are in, there is always something that can be done.  One thing that this recession taught us all is that we are fighters and we can overcome any obstacle that is placed in our way…we just have to think outside of our comfort zone.  By stepping out of our comfort zone it is only going to make us better leaders.

ASPIRE logistics can help you set up a commercial warehouse or find you the space and service you need from a commercial warehouse.  Feel free to contact us at logistics@aspirepartner.com or 888-689-7772.

The following is our second part in our series of informational topics on the new Health Care Reform that recently was enacted.  While many of the provisions don’t take place for YEARS, some begin immediately.  Of those, new tax credits for small businesses begin in 2010.

The information below was provided by our colleague Tom Barrett, one of the principals of BBG, Inc.  BBG is a great resource for your company’s health care with their Shared Funding product.  BBG is dedicated to creating customized solutions to contain costs, drive better outcomes and get the most out of your organizations healthcare dollars.  Visit their website at sharedfunding.com to learn more about their approach and their fine company.

2010 health insurance tax credit for small businesses.

Details are starting to emerge.  The 2010 health insurance tax credit is aimed at encouraging small employers to offer and/or maintain coverage. Eligible small businesses can claim the credit starting with the 2010 income tax return they file in 2011.

Here are the key points:

• The credit is available to qualifying small employers that pay at least half the cost of single coverage.
• The maximum credit is 35% of premiums paid in 2010 by eligible small business employers (25% for tax-exempt organizations).
• The maximum credit increases to 50% in 2014 (35% for tax-exempt organizations).
• It is generally available to employers that have fewer than 25 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees paying wages less than $50,000 per employee per year.
• The eligibility formula is based in part on the number of FTE’s, not the number of employees.
• Owners and family members do not count in calculating either the number of employees or the average annual wages of employees.
• The maximum credit goes to employers with fewer than 10 FTE’s paying annual average wages of $25,000 or less.

ASPIRE partners is here to help you with your questions about the new health care reform.  We help small to mid-size businesses implement an effective strategy to stay compliant with the new reform laws and regulations and to take advantage of the new opportunities such as the tax credits discussed here.  Contact us at info@aspirepartner.com or at 888-689-7772.

The new Health Care Reform is on everyone’s radar these days.  For businesses and business owners, know what it all means will be imperative in the coming months and years.  ASPIRE partners is here to help you with your questions and with implementing an effective strategy to ensure that you are compliant with the new laws and that you take advantage of the tax benefits that are part of the legislation.

The following comes from a colleague, Bill Phelps, founder of Phelps Benefits and Resource group based in Tampa, Florida.  It’s such a good and detailed overview hitting most all of the important topics that we’re sharing it with you.  Thanks Bill!  Be sure and visit mypbrgroup.com to learn more about Bill and his fine company.

IMPORTANT: This document is designed to provide a general overview of the new health reform law. It does NOT attempt to cover all of the law’s provisions and should NOT be used as legal advice for implementation activities. We encourage you to seek any professional advice, including legal counsel, regarding how the new requirements will affect your specific plan.

Overview:

The health reform package is made up of two parts: (1) a bill that passed the Senate on Christmas Eve, passed the House on March 21, and was signed into law by the President on March 23, and a second piece of legislation: (2) the House’s reconciliation bill, which makes changes to the original law, passed both chambers on March 25, and was signed by the President on March 30.

Many of the provisions in the law will not take effect for several years. At the earliest, provisions that affect employer-sponsored health plans will take effect six months from the date of enactment – in late September. Even then, those early provisions will not affect plans until they renew for the next plan year.

The health reform law has thousands of pages and hundreds of provisions. So it’s important to remember that before many of those provisions are put in place, additional laws and regulations will need to be developed. That could be a lengthy process.

Here are some highlights of the major provisions.

Individual responsibility:

Starting in 2014, everyone must have coverage or pay a penalty, which will be enforced by the Internal Revenue Service. The penalties will be phased in over time:

• In 2014, an individual without insurance must pay whichever amount is greater: $95 or 1 percent of income.

• For 2016 and beyond, that penalty rises to $695 or 2.5 percent of income, whichever is greater (the $695 is indexed from 2016 on).

• Families will pay half the penalty for children, with a cap of $2,085 per family.

• There will be exemptions to this requirement, such as in cases of financial hardship and other limited circumstances.

Subsidies to buy insurance in new state exchanges will be available in the form of tax credits and cost-sharing assistance for people above Medicaid eligibility but below 400 percent of the federal poverty level. Medicaid eligibility will be increased to 133 percent of the federal poverty level.

Changes that affect your business and the customers who depend on you.

Employer responsibility:

New employer penalties and obligations.

Starting in 2014, employers don’t have to offer their employees health insurance coverage, but most of them with more than 50 employees will pay an assessment if they don’t, or if they offer coverage that isn’t affordable. Full-time and part-time employees are included when determining whether an employer has 50 employees (based on current full-time employee equivalency rules).

• Employers with 50 or more employees that do not offer “minimum essential coverage” will pay $2,000 for each employee over the first 30 employees if one of their employees gets a tax subsidy to buy insurance under an exchange.

• Employers with 50 or more employees that do offer minimum essential coverage but have at least one full-time employee receiving subsidized coverage under an exchange will pay whichever is less: $3,000 for each employee receiving a premium credit, or $2,000 for each full-time employee.

Employers must provide “free choice” vouchers to employees with incomes below 400 percent of the federal poverty level if the employee’s contribution to coverage is between 8 percent and 9.8 percent of income and the employee chooses to purchase coverage in the exchange. No penalties will be imposed on employers with respect to employees who receive these vouchers.

Employers with more than 200 employees that offer coverage must automatically enroll new full-time employees in coverage. Employees may opt out.

New employer reporting requirements.

• Beginning in 2011, employers will be required to disclose the value of health care benefits on an employee’s annual W-2.

• Employers will be required to notify employees:

– About the availability of the exchange – for new employees, at the time of hiring; for current employees, by March 1, 2013;

– They may be eligible for a subsidy under the exchange if the employer’s contribution to the plan is less than 60 percent of total allowed costs of the benefits;

– If the employee purchases coverage in the exchange, he or she will lose the employer’s coverage contribution.

• In 2014, large employers will be subject to expanded 5500 reporting requirements to include information on the health insurance coverage of their employees.

Small business tax credits.

Beginning in 2010, small businesses with fewer than 25 employees and average wages of less than $50,000 get a tax credit for their contributions to buying health insurance for employees.

The tax credit starts at up to 35 percent and increases to 50 percent in 2014 when the exchange is operational. A full tax credit may be available to small businesses with fewer than 10 employees and average wages of less than $25,000.

Health plan changes.

Under the new law, individuals and employers/employees have the right to keep the coverage they had as of March 23, 2010 and are exempt from many reforms. These individual and group health plans are considered “grandfathered plans.” Collectively bargained plans that were ratified before the date of enactment are grandfathered until the date that the last collective bargaining agreement related to coverage ends.

Health plan changes that impact individuals and employers (both fully insured and self-funded plans unless otherwise noted) over the next few years:

IMMEDIATELY:

• Federal rate review. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will establish a process for federal review of fully insured premium rate increases.

I N  9 0  D AY S :

• Internet portal. By July 1, an Internet portal will be created for consumers and small businesses to shop for health Insurance.

• High-risk pool. $5 billion has been appropriated to create a temporary high-risk insurance pool to help adults with pre-existing conditions get coverage if they have been uninsured for six months. The program will be effective through 2013.

• Reinsurance for early retirees. A temporary reinsurance program will be established for employers providing coverage to early retirees over age 55 who are not eligible for Medicare.

The federal government will provide $5 billion to fund the program. Participating employers or insurers will be reimbursed 80 percent of retiree claims between $15,000 and $90,000.

The program will be effective through 2013.

I N  S I X  M O N T H S :

Effective for new plans and plans renewed six months after the law’s enactment date, unless otherwise noted (includes “grandfathered plans”):

• Lifetime and annual limits. Plans may not impose lifetime limits on the dollar value of essential benefits. Annual limits will be restricted (to be determined by HHS). Restricted annual limits do not apply to grandfathered individual plans.

• Rescissions. No rescissions are permitted, except in cases of fraud or intentional misrepresentation.

• Coverage for adult children. Children may stay on their parents’ policies until age 26 if coverage isn’t available through their work, regardless of their marital status. Any employer contribution toward the premium for a child through age 26 is a tax-deductible business expense for the employer and not taxable income for the member.

• Pre-existing conditions. Plans may no longer impose pre-existing condition exclusions for children under 19 (does not apply to grandfathered individual plans).

Effective for new plans and plans renewed six months after the law’s enactment date (does not include “grandfathered plans”):

• Preventive services. New policies must cover the full cost of preventive care as recommended by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, recommended immunizations, preventive care for infants, children and adolescents, and additional preventive care for women.

• Appeals. New minimum requirements for internal and external claims appeals processes.

• Patient protections. Plans that require or provide for a primary care provider (PCP) designation must allow each member to designate any in-network PCP, or pediatrician for children, accepting new patients. Plans may no longer require an authorization or referral to an Ob-Gyn. Prior authorization or increased cost-sharing for emergency services is also prohibited.

• Nondiscrimination rules. Non discrimination rules that apply to self-funded health plans are expanded to group fully insured health plans. Plans cannot base an employee’s eligibility or continued eligibility on hourly or annual salary.

I N  2 0 1 1 :

• Medical loss ratio (MLR). An insurer must publicly report on its MLR and spend at least 85 percent of large group premiums and 80 percent of individual and small group premiums on medical services, or provide rebate payments to enrollees.

• Spending accounts. Health savings accounts (HSAs) and flexible spending accounts (FSAs) may no longer be used to purchase over-the-counter drugs unless prescribed by a doctor.

Increases tax for nonqualified HSA withdrawals from 10 percent to 20 percent, and for Archer MSA withdrawals from 15 percent to 20 percent.

• HHS studies. HHS is required to study the group health plan markets to compare employer characteristics and determine whether the new insurance market reforms are likely to cause adverse selection in the large group market or to encourage small and midsize employers to self-insure. HHS and the Department of Labor must also collect information on self-funded plans. These studies could lead to additional employer reporting requirements.

• Uniform explanation of coverage. Within 12 months of the law’s enactment, HHS, in consultation with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, will develop uniform standards and definitions for summaries of benefits and coverage explanations. Within 24 months of enactment, group health plans must provide enrollees and applicants with coverage documents that meet these standards.

I N  2 0 1 2 :

• Comparative effectiveness fee. A new fee is imposed on individual and group health plans to fund comparative effectiveness research ($1 per participant through 2013; $2 per participant through 2019).

• Release of Medicare claims data. The private sector may purchase standardized data extracts of Medicare Parts A, B and D claims data to combine with their own claims data to evaluate provider performance measures on quality, efficiency, and the effectiveness of care.

I N  2 0 1 3 :

• FSA contributions. Contributions to flexible spending accounts are limited to $2,500 a year.

I N  2 0 1 4 :

The federal definition of a large employer is an employer with 101 or more employees, whereas a small employer is defined as 1-100 employees. States can modify the definition of a large employer to 51 or more employees and small employer to 1-50 employees until January 1, 2016.

• Pre-existing conditions. Individual and group health plans can no longer impose pre-existing condition exclusions for any person of any age (does not apply to grandfathered individual plans).

• Annual limits. Annual limits on essential health benefits are prohibited (does not apply to grandfathered individual plans).

• Guaranteed issue. Health insurers must accept every individual and employer who applies for coverage.

• Rating restrictions. Rating restrictions go into effect for new individual and fully insured small group plans. Insurance companies cannot base premiums on health status, claims experience or gender. Premiums can only vary by:

– Age (no more than 3:1)

– Geography

– Family size

– Tobacco use (no more than 1.5:1)

• Merged markets. States are allowed to merge the individual and small group markets.

• Clinical trials. Coverage of routine patient care costs is mandated for participation in approved clinical trials (does not apply to grandfathered plans

• Exchanges. State health insurance exchanges are up and running for small businesses and individuals to buy insurance. States can allow large employers to participate beginning in 2017.

• Brokers. HHS will establish procedures, which may include rate schedules for broker commissions, for a state to allow brokers to:

– Enroll individuals in any qualified health plans in the individual or small group market as soon as the plan is offered through an exchange in the state;

– Assist individuals in applying for premium tax credits and cost-sharing assistance for plans sold through an exchange.

• Essential benefits. Essential benefit plan is created, which mandates the level of benefits that must be included in plans offered in the exchange, as well as in the individual and small group markets outside the exchange. Deductibles are limited to $2,000 for individuals and $4,000 for families in the small group market (self-funded plans and grandfathered plans are exempt from this requirement).

• Cost-sharing limits. Cost sharing imposed under health plans is limited to current health savings account amounts (does not apply to grandfathered plans).

• Waiting periods. Waiting periods cannot exceed 90 days.

• Wellness. Expands health plan wellness incentives up to 30 percent of total coverage costs (up to 50 percent with HHS approval).

• Reinsurance. A temporary reinsurance program will be established for the individual market and funded by individual and group health plan assessments ($25 billion in 2014-2016).

I N  2 0 1 6 :

• Health choice compacts. States can form health choice compacts to allow insurers to sell individual policies in any state participating in the compact.

I N  2 0 1 8 :

• Taxes. A new excise tax goes into effect for high-value, “Cadillac” health plans: 40 percent for amounts over $10,200 for individuals and $27,500 for family plans, paid by insurance companies and plan administrators.

Medicare and Medicaid-related provisions:

• Part D donut hole. Provides a $250 rebate for Part D enrollees who enter the “donut hole.” coverage gap (2010 only). Beginning in 2011, there will be a 50 percent brand discount on drugs in the gap. Members will pay less for generic drugs in the gap as well: 93 percent in 2011, which phases down to 25 percent by 2020. The donut hole is eliminated by 2020.

• Retiree drug subsidy. Beginning in 2013, employers may no longer deduct the retiree drug subsidy when offering qualified coverage under Medicare Part D.

• Medicaid. Beginning in 2014, states are required to provide premium assistance and wrap-around benefits to any Medicaid beneficiary who is offered employer-sponsored coverage, if it is cost-effective to do so.

• Medigap. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners will create new model plans for benefit packages C and F that include nominal cost sharing. The new models will be available in 2015.

Other:

• Administrative simplification. The law also requires HHS to adopt a single set of operating rules for electronic transactions to create uniformity (e.g., health claims or equivalent encounter information, eligibility and claims status, enrollment and disenrollment, premium payments, and referral certification and authorization). Group health plans will have to certify compliance with these standards.

• CLASS Act. Creates a new government-run voluntary long-term care insurance program (CLASS Program). Employers must automatically enroll employees and facilitate payroll deductions. Employees may choose not to participate.

Revenue-raising provisions:

• Starting July 1, 2010, imposes a 10 percent tax on tanning services.

• Beginning in 2011, the pharmaceutical industry will pay annual industry fees. The fee will be phased in and will hold steady at $2.8 billion a year after 2019.

• Beginning in 2013, manufacturers of medical devices will pay a 2.3 percent excise tax on sales of medical devices.

• Beginning in 2013, the Medicare payroll tax rate will increase by 0.9 percent for individuals who make more than $200,000 and couples that make more than $250,000.

• A new 3.8 percent tax will be added on income from interest, dividends, annuities, royalties and rents for those at the same income threshold.

• Beginning in 2014, a non-deductible premium tax will be imposed on insurers and third-party administrators ($8 billion in 2014, $11.3 billion in 2015 and 2016, $13.9 billion in 2017 and $14.3 billion in 2018. After that, it will increase in an amount proportional to overall premium growth).

You know you can’t ignore the financial statements, but you probably need some guidance in reading and making sense of them.

If you are like most business owners and those in management, you know your “widget” or your core product or service like no one (or few) else.  You also know that the financial reports you run or have prepared for you are very important.  But do you know what exactly they are saying and showing?  Maybe you have a few key numbers that you hone in on.  Are they the right ones for you to be focusing on?

Chances are you are like most business owners, executives and managers that know little about the financial reports that you receive.  We consistently meet owners and execs that are embarrassed to admit that they do not fully understand these reports.  They clearly understand their sales and maybe their operational reports and have the misconception that just because they own or run a business or department that they should now know and understand their financial reports, I guess by osmosis!

Don’t Beat Yourself Up!

Us CPA’s and other financial professionals have been formally trained, have continued our education and have years of experience analyzing and studying financial statements from all kinds of companies in all kinds of industries.  I  certainly don’t know your core business like you do.  My core business just happens to be the stuff that mystifies and is so confusing to you!

Please, don’t be like 90+% of business owners and execs who feel inferior or worse yet, pretend that they do fully understand their reports. There’s valuable information in those reports, you just need help interpreting. Financial statements and other reports and data are important because they can help to both uncover problems and identify corrective action.

It’s in the past…

The core financial statements are historical reports, meaning that the information has already happened.  They are the balance sheet, the profit and loss (income) statement, and the cash-flow statement. The balance sheet is simply a list of the assets and liabilities of the business. The difference between the two is the equity or net worth of the business. The balance sheet answers the questions, “What do we have and what do we owe?” while the P&L answers, “How did we do?” and the cash-flow statement answers, “Where was the cash used?”

And now for the future…

Understanding your financial reports is crucial, but probably even more important from a management perspective is what’s going to happen in the future. Developing both a strategic and reasonable forecast for profit and cash-flow is essential and makes the historical data more meaningful and valuable. With a “living and breathing” forecasting system in place, you’ll be able to figure out what worked, what went wrong and how to correct any problems to maximize your financial performance.

Cash is King!

We all know this saying. Especially now, in today’s new economy, cash is the one item to focus on in your business.  Credit ranges from non-existent to extremely limited. Credit lines, even fully secured ones are being pulled or at best are being reduced to the current outstanding balance.  Remember the old Smith Barney commercial, “We Earn It!”? That is exactly how expansion, new products, R&D and other new and expanding needs are being financed; through internal funding from operations.

Profitability is of course the first focus when analyzing your business or department, but cash profitability and the cash flow statement analysis is more critical now that at most any other point in time in the post-WWII business era. Do you know how to determine your cash needs for the current, short and long term periods or are you like so many who are simply hoping and praying that your A/R comes in so you can pay next week’s payroll or next month’s expenses?

How can I plan and forecast when I can’t predict the future?

Worrying about cash is exhausting, all encompassing and takes your focus away from what you do and know best, your core business. The future, even in the near term, is uncertain.  Some so-called experts say the economy is starting to turn around.  Others say we are years away. And I’m saying to forecast your financial future?  Absolutely!

One thing I can tell you about any forecast that you do (even one where you use ASPIRE partners’ help) is that it is going to be wrong! Predicting the future, exactly what a forecast is, is an art that is based in science. We can help prepare you a reasonable and reasonably accurate forecast but of course it won’t be perfect. Going through the exercise and documenting your goals, also what a forecast is, is the valuable asset that you will receive.

The power of forecasting (aka goal setting)…

A Harvard Business School study found that 83% of the population do not have any clearly defined goals.  14% have goals but not written down.  3% of the population have goals that are written down. The study concluded that the 3 percent that did have written goals were earning an astounding 10 times that of the 83 percent group.  In addition, similar studies have shown that individuals with written goals also tend to have better health and happier marriages than those without goals.

Pretty powerful stuff!  The same holds true for companies that have an established forecasting or budgeting process in place.  If the actual results are compared with the forecast and studied, now we are truly leveraging our information and data to maximize our financial performance, an in turn improving the lives of ownership, management and staff as we are now creating a growing and financially stable company.

Get started for free!

There are lots of free and inexpensive resources available. A good webpage for beginning the journey through financial management is the SEC’s page on Beginning Financial Management Guide.  SCORE’s website is another great resource for basic information.  We have FREE tools and templates and also some inexpensive interactive and customizable ones at www.ASPIREpartner.com.

We are also providing a FREE webinar series and also some live seminars in the Tampa Bay area to help businesses with a variety of issues including this topic of Demystifying Your Financials, Social Media and Implementing in Your Business and 5 Proven Methods to Improve Morale and Profitability.  Visit TeamGearShift.com for more information.

Communication Breakdown

Guess what, they’re most likely tired of being dragged too!  One of the most common occurrences we find in business today is a communication disconnect between management and their team of employees.  Management wishes their staff would perform better (without having to be told what to do every 30 minutes)… and employees truly want to be part of the overall success.  I honestly don’t know of anyone who wakes up in the morning and says “Yippee! Today I am going to go to work and fail”.

Mixed Messages…

The reality is that this scenario often comes as a result of well intended, but often very rapid, and confusing communications across an organization.  The result is “mixed messages” and disappointment on both sides.  These inconsistent messages lead to a tendency for the participants to play it safe, stay under the radar or coast.  These behaviors lead to more disappointments, a breakdown in trust and this begins the erosion of the employer / employee relationship…and the erosion of building a strong clientele.

Limited Planning, Information Overload

The failure often comes as a result of trying to react to various pressures. There is often limited planning, preparation, and setting-up of expectations at the beginning.  After a while, both parties’ give-up (literally from exhaustion) and often both sides just settle – getting by and trying to survive the day.

More than ever, our days are long and non-stop.  We have become a society of “extreme multi-taskers”.  Did you know our brains are actually processing 400 billion bits of information every second?  It’s no wonder there are constant communication breakdowns!

Receiving these enormous amounts of information and performing our duties each day requires a lot of energy. To succeed we need to step back, identify the key goals and priorities. Next, as leaders we must provide consistent communication with clear guidance and support, as well as realistic expectations.

Step back and Analyze!

As humans, we know to solve puzzles by stepping back and analyzing the environment and data available.  Once we do so, we can increase the awareness of the various inputs and dynamics.   We can apply proven tactics to reduce the frustration of our puzzled, daily work lives too.   Join me as we discuss ways your team can be more productive with greater profits and improved morale – a benefit to be enjoyed by all!