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Now that the election is over, we have to start looking at what we can predict is going to happen as far as taxes, Cap&Trade, the Health Care Reform Bill and other aspects of our economy that have plagued business owners, and potentially, how the Web can help you stave off some of those expenses.

Two things seem to have happened with the unemployment rate in this country. The first thing is the years long, some 99+ months of unemployment payouts that have created a culture of people unwilling to work as long as they can rely on the government to pay their bills. The second thing that has happened is a fear, a worry by business owners as the new taxes loom in the near future. The end of the Bush tax cuts, the Health Care Reform Bill, and the potential (hopefully this worry is now null and void) of the Cap & Trade Bill. These new taxes are creating a train of thought among business owners who have no real idea what it is going to cost to hire someone. How much will it cost to provide a full time employee with health insurance? How much more in taxes will I have to pay if I grow my business and get hit with the end of the Bush tax cuts?

This might lead you to think that the safest bet is to play it slow and easy for a while, until you see how it all shakes out. But, you still have a need for skills, labor, whatever. So where are you going to turn? Freelance? Part time help? Overtime for current employees? Outsourcing jobs you used to handle in house? All of these are viable options, though I hate to be the one to encourage people not to hire. I tend to be optimistic and think it will all work out in the end, TKG has been hiring for over a year now, and I do think that the economy is making a slow turn-around. I really can’t say that I believe that will continue if some of the political atmosphere doesn’t change, but we have to go with what we know for now.

So, what can the Web do to help you fill in the holes in your workforce?
1. Utilize sites that provide legal forms, business administration forms and schedules, and just about any other paperwork you need to do.
www.lectlaw.com/formb.htm
http://www.entrepreneur.com/formnet/index.html
2. Use Freelance sites to help you find the temporary or long term extra help you need.
www.freelancer.com/
www.freelanceswitch.com/
3. Use LinkedIn.com, job sites and Craigslist.com to find employees who might be willing to work part time until the economy becomes more secure and hiring becomes an options.
4. Outsource jobs that you might normally have handled in house, if there were someone around to do the work. You can have many jobs outsourced – I know that The Workshops in our area even takes small assembly jobs, packing and sorting, it’s worth checking into if you would prefer to wait to hire.
5. You had to know I was gonna get to this – the plug for TKG, but hey, it’s valid! Have a Web firm do some SEO, search marketing and social media marketing for you. We do copy, too. Not only will it save your marketing budget, but we might be able to help you squeeze through a time constraint or deadline when you really don’t have the resources available. Freeing up your in house marketing folks to concentrate on traditional marketing, or if you are a smaller biz, your assistant, to work on some of your more niche jobs might make your life a little easier and your business run a little smoother.

As for me, quite frankly, I am grateful for the way things turned out last Tuesday. I really hope this is the beginning of a turn away from so much government spending, enormous tax increases and a slippery slide into socialism. I hope that this resistance to hiring doesn’t last long, and that we all start to feel like we can relax, have faith in our economy and capitalism. To move forward we need to grow, hire, spend, and hopefully, not have all of our efforts go to China’s the government’s coffers.

The First Tuesday in November is coming up fast. If you are a business owner, work for a business or in anyway rely on business, I’m guessing you are paying close attention to the election coverage for the upcoming elections on Tuesday.Watching all the polls? I know they always say that each election is going to be historic, that they carry a great impact on policy making and legislation and whatnot, but for the coming elections on Tuesday, it’s gonna matter. It’s gonna have an impact. As a small business owner, some of the legislation that has passed this year will really be hitting us hard. Trying to provide benefits for the folks we work with is getting harder and harder. Making it affordable for them is getting harder, and the rates have gone up every single year. Now, with Obamacare, they are going to be taxed on these benefits. The Bush tax cuts, many of which impact small business and families, expire on January 1. Don’t even get me started on the possibility of Cap and Trade, or taxes on web usage.

Beyond all that, the direction this country is going in will be significantly impacted by who is in Congress. If you know me, you’ll probably be able to guess where my vote is going. I feel that folks should be able to control their own money, their own lives. Even more, I think people should be expected, encouraged and required to handle their own lives, not expect the government to take care of everything for them. I think the government is punishing those of us who have some ingenuity, some entrepreneurial spirit left, by taxing the living daylights out of us so that it gets harder and harder to improve equipment, do research and development, and invest in new employees.

I hope you are all planning to vote on Tuesday, I know I’ll be there bright and early. I hope the folks I work with are planning to vote, too (Guys? Are you listening? Is this thing on?), since their livelihoods will be impacted by this election as well. We need to get the economy moving again. I don’t think more stimulus, more borrowing, more entitlements are going to make that happen. We, the business owners, workers, and families of America are going to make that happen…if they let us.

Okay Folks, I’m getting ready to utter some words I am sure you don’t wanna hear. Are you ready? I know we are not quite at mid-October, but it is time to get ready for…the holidays. I’m sorry to say it out loud, but it’s time to start preparing for the next couple of crazy months, whether you have an e-commerce site, or have a web presence dedicated to your brick and mortar, it’s time to start planning for the end of the year. Yeah, already.

December and January can be challenging months for any business, but especially for small businesses that rely on other small businesses for monthly cash flow. (Here’s where I avoid a rant about the Bush tax cuts ending 1/1/11 – you’re welcome.) Many people go on vacation, throw parties, give bonuses and other cash consuming activities that may make it difficult for them to get all their bills paid. Fox News Business had a brief article last year that had some pretty good advice for surviving the holiday season that is still really relevant, even needs to be said, what with the coming tax changes (I’m done, I promise – for now.) I paraphrase:

No. 1. Make sure you are paying attention to any uncollected or outstanding bills. They can be a real drain on your cash flow.

No. 2. Assess and Reassess expenditures.
Holiday survival requires keeping close track of performance and expenses, such as materials, labor and sales.

No. 3. Keep your people in the loop.
Keep them informed on what is happening with your business, it’s in their best interest to know what’s going on, and they may have good suggestions for dealing with whatever end of year issues you may be experiencing.

No. 4. Show your customers a little love, spread the holiday cheer.
Offer discounts, free shipping, go a little crazy with excellent customer service. Impress upon your employees how important this is, and you’ll end 2010 with a bang!

No. 5. Hold an inventory blow-out sale BEFORE Christmas.
Old inventory has to go, so beat others to the January sales, and hold it now, before Christmas. You’ll catch folks with their wallets out, so give them the open box buys, year end clearances and scratch and dents they are looking for, and increase your cash flow now! Start now optimizing your product pages for your top selling items. Make sure your sale prices are clearly visible to your users.

Remember to make use of your social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter to promote sales and clearances.

No. 6. Maximize your Web site to drive Internet sales.
Get your piece of the Web sales pie! Be sure to offer Web only specials, again using your social media to promote your sales.

No. 7. Keep as much cash on hand as possible. Plan ahead for the December/January slow down, and make sure you have cash ready to meet any demands that crop up during what is hopefully your busiest time. You don’t want to have to use credit if you don’t have to.

November/December/January are crazy months, and cash flow can be really tight, but the end of the year is also the time when many businesses make 40% of their yearly revenue, so early planning can be really advantageous. Now, go optimize those landing pages for your holiday sales. Give TKG a call if you need a hand.

If you’re a long time reader or client, friend, family member of TKG, you’ll probably remember Marvin. Marvin was the star of a couple of different ad campaigns in the past and he’s back. If you don’t remember him, I’d like to introduce you. Folks, I’d like you to meet the nephew, Marvin. Sitting next to him are some old guys in ties, and next to them is “The Artist” – you know him, the art major turned Web guy. TKG has a lot of fun with these guys, I hope you will too. Check them out on the Fox News Network.

Small business owners all over America are dreading the end of the Bush Tax Cuts when it takes effect on January 1. Last week Pres. Obama spent a little while in somebody’s back yard, and to his credit, apparently took some un-screened questions from attendees. I’m thinking he got a little more than he bargained for when he stood up to answer questions from David Greenspon, a small business owner who asked Obama to keep the Bush tax cuts. He made the statement that small businesses need the tax cuts kept in place and then went on to ask a question about China when Obama just cut him off. He then went on some spiel about how Greenspon was going on a tangent in left field, cutting him off and not answering the question.

This leads me, and I think many other small business owners, to feel that he doesn’t want to hear what we have to say. The president and congress passed a new small business initiative last week, creating additional loans for small businesses. Another mini-tarp. So, he’s going to loan us money to be able to pay his massive tax increases? Is that profitable for our economy in any way? Not to mention the fact that these loans from the government will come with all sorts of strings attached. I don’t know about anyone else, but I really don’t want the federal government making any sort of decision for my company. They haven’t figured out how to do their jobs, I certainly don’t want to trust them with mine.

Small businesses need help. We are what is holding up the US economy. In some ways, those of us in NE Ohio are fortunate, as we seem to have hit a pretty hard bottom, but have been rebounding for about 10 months or so now. I know many businesses are just beginning to hire again. Small strides are being made. What’s going to happen to all the progress in January? I really, really hope it’s not all wasted.

I really wanna urge you to review your choices for the election in November. We have to be fiscally responsible right now, I think we would all agree that America is at a crossroads. A big part of the election will be determining which road we want to go down. Do we want to continue down the road to bigger government, higher taxes and greater governmental interference in our lives and businesses? Or do we want to pull back, trim the government and their taxes and interferences?