10 Things You'll Learn While Working At Home

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(For the record, this is what you want to avoid turning in to when you work from home. And no, it’s not me, but thanks…) A lot of people have emailed me over the last 7 months about my working at home. Just so everyone knows, I did have a desk job…in fact I worked in offices for 12 years until this past October, when I gave notice at my job to go out on my own. So far it has been fantastic, as I make my own hours, spend some time at the beach, meet for coffee or lunch with friends (whom also work as freelancers) in the middle of the day, etc. That all being said…sometimes it is a little claustrophobic being in my house all the time with no one to talk to but the cat. Since receiving all these emails, I figured I would put a little list together about what I have learned since I started working from home.

10. There are a lot of other people not working at 9-5 jobs as well. In fact, about half the people in my building are home all day and all night, and I never see them working. Rather I see them sitting outside having tea and heading to the beach day after day. Go figure.

9. Some days it takes a lot of effort to shower and get dressed before noon. A lot of times I will get up at my normal time (between 8 - 8:30) and head into my office, fire up the computer, and get right down to business. When I look up, it is 12:00 and I am still sitting here in my sweats with a cold cup of coffee.

8. My wife is incredibly jealous of me. She gets up, goes to work, goes to school, and sometimes does not come home until about 9pm. I try to explain to her that I am not just sitting around watching TV all day, but she doesn’t buy it. But until I stop getting paid, I guess she has no choice but to believe me.

7. Our cat talks…a lot. I always wondered what they did all day, and really, it’s not all that exciting. Sleep, eat, run around, and talk. Rinse and repeat, over and over. He is half Siamese, so I know he talks a lot, but I did not know he does it all day long.

6. Working from home you do lose a certain sense of job security, even though working in an office does not provide “real” security, either. I guess it just feels more real because you are with other people. I had no more job security at my office than I do here, but it just feels strange. You can be laid off from any job at any time, so being in control of my own clients and workload is probably MORE secure, even if it doesn’t feel like it sometimes.

5. Handling your money becomes a bigger deal when you freelance. One major source of my monthly income does take out taxes, as I am on payroll with them. But my other clients do not, and I have to be sure to monitor my accounts all year to make sure I am putting aside enough money to pay the tax bill when it comes due. Also, you have to do your own investing, as their is no company sponsored 401K to pay into anymore.

4. Health insurance is really no more expensive on your own then it is with a company. Well, if you are healthy, I suppose. With group plans at an office, you have to be accepted into the program, no matter what conditions you may already have. Private insurance can reject you for previous conditions. Luckily, my wife and I are healthy and were accepted right away. I am paying LESS to cover us privately in a PPO with Blue Cross than I was for the same coverage at my office job. Of course, if you are lucky enough to have the company pay for it, then you are even better off, but I don’t have many friends with 100% paid for health insurance.

3. Working at home saves a LOT of money. I eat out less, I buy less junk food, sodas and juice, I don’t stop on the way home from work to pick up things that I could do without, etc. We sold a car (my community is 100% walkable), which saves money on gasoline, parking and insurance. I have no more expenses here at the house then I did before, except maybe the lights and computer are on more often.

2. There ain’t that much on television from about 10am until 4pm every day, unless you enjoy Oprah, sewing shows and soap operas. Thankfully, we have Tivo.

1. Working at home has opened my eyes to a lot of opportunities that I might not have seen before. I see things online that could be improved, I have more time to work on my various online ventures, I have learned new ways to make money, and I have more time to investigate things that interest me. I can take classes during the day, I play tennis twice a week before my “old” work day would have ended, and I have the freedom to take a few days off in a row if I want to and do all my work at night. I can work every other day, strange hours, or any combination in between. Honestly, if I do ever have to go back to working in an office with set hours, I do not know how I will do it. If you can work from home at all, I would figure out a way to do it. It is totally worth it. The main thing you have to do is to force yourself to find reasons to get out of your house occasionally, or you will go stir crazy. I did at first, but I think I have found my groove.

[Via - MyTwoDollars.Com]

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Many work at home, miss traffic jams

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SAN FRANCISCO -- The first business day after a major highway collapsed could have been a snarl of traffic jams, detours and road blocks for Victor Cousins, a Sun Microsystems Inc. employee who usually car pools into San Francisco from his Oakland apartment.

Instead, Cousins bypassed the crumpled stretch of road and participated in conference calls from his home office, without changing out of his basketball shorts.

"I avoided the chaos this morning," said Cousins, 30, a human resources business partner at Sun. "From what I'm hearing, it could be six months or more of problems. I absolutely know this will change my patterns and I'll be working from home a lot more often."

The day after an elevated section of highway that funnels traffic from the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge to key freeways was destroyed, officials credited telecommuters like Cousins for roads that were only slightly more clogged then any other weekday.

"We are noticing that a lot of people have stayed home today," said San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency spokeswoman Janis Yuen. "There's a bit of a learning curve, but people are pulling it together and finding ways to make things work."

Silicon Valley technology companies have some of the world's most liberal policies on working from home. Having co-workers log in from the suburbs is no big deal for firms such as Intel Corp. and Oracle Corp., which have aggressively outsourced programming and engineering jobs to low-cost tech hubs in China, Russia and India.

"I have not heard a peep about this disrupting work so far," said Jamie Jarvis, who works from home three days a week coordinating commuting programs for Adobe Systems Inc. "Our telecommute program is always there and available, and we don't have to say, There's a disaster so we're going to turn on this program now.' "

Sun Microsystems, where Cousins works, is one of the industry's biggest advocates of telecommuting. The Santa Clara-based hardware and software company expanded its telecommute policies after the 2001 terrorist attacks, when many companies crafted emergency response plans to reduce reliance on a single building.

Today, 56 percent of Sun's 34,494 employees work without an assigned office -- either at home or at a satellite office far from the headquarters.
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http://www.prairietumbleweedfarm.com/

The lowly tumbleweed is a nuisance to most inhabitants of Western Kansas. The Russian thistle bushes are everywhere. They clog drainage ditches, pile up against fencerows, and have even been known to cause traffic accidents.

But the weed is blowing only good fortune to Linda Katz of Garden City, Kan., who is proving that you really can sell almost anything on the Internet. You see, this former real estate agent, who’s married to a roofer, sells tumbleweeds over the Web.

“It all started as a joke,”says Katz, 49. She asked her son to build her a family Web page so she could communicate with friends and give it the tongue-in-cheek name Prairie Tumbleweed Farm. Never mind that she didn’t even live on a farm, but in a subdivision. Nevermind that you can’t cultivate tumbleweed, which spreads its seed as it tumbles in the wind. For authenticity’s sake, Katz added a price list ($35 for a big weed, $25 for a midsize one, $20 for the small economy model).

Remember, Katz wasn’t looking for business, but it found her all the same, thanks to the power of Web search engines.

Orders started to pour in from all the places where people love Hollywood Westerns: Alaska, Austria, Britain, Hong Kong, India.

Japanese customers proved so eager that she has added a section to her Web site in Japanese. Movie and TV production companies in Britain, Finland, and the U.S. have ordered tumbleweed for props, too, including a $1,000 order for the children’s show Barney & Friends. A scientist from New Mexico wanted tumbleweed for research purposes.

Many of Katz’s newfound customers use tumbleweed to decorate their homes, even in lieu of the traditional Christmas tree.

During Katz’s first two months on the Web, the site logged 2,000 visitors. By mid-January, the number had grown to more than 56,000. Katz says she’s making about 30 tumbleweed sales a week, which suggests revenues of about $40,000 a year.

That may not sound like much, but neither are her costs. She fills orders by grazing Kansas fence lines for tumbleweed and buys her mailing boxes in bulk lots. For labor, Katz uses her five nieces and nephews to help collect the stuff, and she gives them a share of the profits.

“Isn’t the Internet a wonderful thing?” asks Katz.

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Are you frantically trying to figure out how to file your new company's business taxes for the first time? Has your company expanded and left you confused about which deductions you should take? If so, it may be time to get help from a tax professional so you can get back to doing what you do best--running your business.

Eva Rosenberg, Enrolled Agent, publisher of TaxMama.com and author of Small Business Taxes Made Easy, says small-business owners shouldn't give tax preparation a second thought. "Nobody in business for themselves should ever be doing their own taxes," Rosenberg says. "There's no way a business owner can anticipate all the problems that may arise." After more than 25 years of helping people file tax returns, Rosenberg has found that small-business owners who do their own taxes often make so many errors they get audited.

Aside from making errors, attempting to file your own tax returns can also result in added stress. Dr. Taffy Wagner, owner of JTW Publishing in Denver and several other companies, found in her second year of business that she simply couldn't handle the pressure of filing her personal taxes and those of two companies, in addition to maintaining a household. Wagner ended up hiring someone to help make sure she didn't miss any important deductions. "It just wasn't worth the stress of trying to do it all myself," Wagner says.

At this late juncture, if you're a small-business owner and haven't already compiled your taxes or met with a tax professional, the pros say your best bet is to file an extension immediately. Shannon Nash, tax attorney and owner of Nash Management Group in Sherman Oaks, California, says nobody has an excuse for filing late. "Get an extension right away," she advises. "They're much easier to file these days than they used to be. Don't try to rush and get your taxes done at this point; it's not worth the risk of being late."

If you've determined you need extra help, what should you look for in a tax guru? Josh Frey, president of Washington-based On Sale Promos, went through seven accountants until he finally got it right. Frey advises, "Find one person or one firm who's familiar to you and makes you feel comfortable. The best firms to work with are the ones that allow you to work directly with the person you're hiring." Frey found that smaller firms were more focused on his needs and, in general, respected him more as a small-business owner.

Rosenberg stresses the importance of selecting a professional who knows your industry. "Do your homework. Get involved with professional societies and ask people in your niche who've been doing business for five years or more and are making a profit who they go to for tax help. Chances are they're working with a tax planner who knows their stuff," she says.

There's also the issue of whether to use tax-filing software. Nash says popular software programs like TurboTax aren't necessarily good for small business owners. "If you're trying to use the TurboTax business edition, you better know what you're doing," she says. "Otherwise, you'll miss out on tons of deductions."

Keep in mind it's never too early to start planning for next year. In fact, you should be bookkeeping and tracking finances throughout the year. Nash advises her clients to start tax preparations in the fall and sends them a mock tax return in November. That way, they can start planning financially if they find out they'll most likely owe taxes. "2006 is gone, so make life easier for 2007," Nash says. "You can start now."

Five Signs It's Time to Get Help from a Tax Professional
Tax attorney Shannon Nash says to seek assistance if you find yourself in any of the following situations:

• You don't know which deductions you should be taking as a small-business owner.
• You're finding yourself stressed and overwhelmed when trying to file your business taxes.
• You have significant capital gains from stocks, selling a business or commercial real estate.
• You have income from several sources, such as consulting, royalties, rental income, interests in businesses, or stocks and bonds.
• You earn money in both the United States and another country.

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Five Tips to Motivate Small-Business Workers

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WHEN YOU RUN A lean operation, how do you motivate your work force?

Sure, large corporations with deep pockets can easily dangle bonuses, perks and an array of fancy reward programs (often created by outside consultants) to encourage employees to outperform. Yet, small businesses with limited budgets have a distinct advantage: Chances are, you probably know all your employees. So it's easier to show 'em you care.

In many cases, employees will perform best for a boss who can accommodate their needs, whether that's giving them an afternoon off to take care of a personal situation, re-arranging their work schedule so they can pick up kids from school, or allowing them to telecommute as needed, says John Challenger, head of outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas in Chicago.

"Small business can be so flexible," he says. "Big companies have policies, and if they make an exception they think the whole world will fall apart."

So when it comes to energizing your staff, being small can be your best advantage. Here are five steps to engage your employees:

1. Communicate your vision

A boss at a small firm should explain the company's missions and goals, preferably right when a new employee starts, says Jeanie Adkins, a rewards consultant at Mercer Human Resource Consulting in Louisville, Ky. Studies at larger corporations show that employees perform better when they understand the company's vision, think the company's mission is worthwhile, and think they can contribute to the success of the organization, she says. "Small businesses have perhaps an easier task than big ones because it's easier to create that line of sight," she says.

2. Acknowledge your limitations

Admit it: You may not be able to provide the same opportunities for promotion that a large company can. But, "what you can do is make sure employees are getting the mentoring, training and development that they need to build a career with you — or someone else," Adkins says. While it sounds counterintuitive, offering an employee valuable (and marketable) work skills can reinforce good performance, she says.

3. Involve workers in special projects

Ask your employees to step away from their routine jobs and come up with creative solutions to customers' problems, suggests Ron Wince, president of Guidon Performance Solutions, a Mesa, Ariz., consulting firm. That sends a message that you value their creativity, which in turns boosts their job satisfaction. "If you go into a company and all people do is punch the clock, you as a customer can almost always tell how the morale is in an organization," he says. Once a month, invite a cross-section of employees to meet for a few hours and work on a particular issue, usually one involving customer service. Not only will you probably get some good ideas, but "the employee feels like they're part of something," he says.

4. Offer "add-ons" in addition to wages

Younger people, in particular, have grown up hearing catch phrases like "work-life balance" and value benefits such as child-care programs, flexible schedules, and even wellness initiatives almost as much as competitive salaries, says Pete Stoddart, a spokesman for Ceridian, a Minneapolis human-resources company. A small-business owner might not have the resources for formal programs, but can promise the flexibility to work with individuals in the event of major life events, such as the birth of a child, the death of a relative or health problems. And consider employee-assistance programs, which have come down in price and can be purchased by small businesses for roughly "a few dollars per employee per month," he says. "It's a very easy thing for a small-business owner to have in place."

5. Get creative with rewards

At trucking company Admiral Merchants Motor Freight in Minneapolis, which has about 60 employees, human-resources manager Augusta Kirk has come up with an original (and relatively low-budget) rewards program called "Run to the Border" to encourage the office staff to exercise. Working under a $2,000 budget, Kirk doles out gift certificates to restaurants and sporting-goods stores to employees who agree to work out for 30 minutes, five days a week, for all of 2007. (Kirk says each work-out session equals about six miles, so by the end of the year, employees who stick to it will log 1,508 miles, roughly the distance between their office and the Mexican border.) "You definitely do have better-performing employees if they are more active," she says. If an exercise routine doesn't work for your staff, Challenger suggests something like an NCAA basketball tournament. "Rather than drive the pools underground, do it for free and give an award out to the winner," he says.
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Farmer's cool invention turns profitable

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New Paltz — When the air conditioner caught fire three years ago, Kate Khosla thought it was time to pull the plug — literally — on her husband Ron's efforts to invent a better compressor-condensor-evaporator.

For anyone who's not a farmer, a compressor-condensor-evaporator may not sound like something you'd want to spend much time building a better one of. But Ron and Kate Khosla are farmers, and it had always bothered them that it could cost $3,000 or more to have such a huge and heavy contraption installed to create a walk-in cooler room, cool enough to store their harvest in. Their organic farm, Huguenot Street Farm, is modest, as are their profits.

Khosla's idea was simple: he thought he could build a gizmo that would allow an ordinary air conditioner to take a room's temperature down as low as 32 degrees. Not all of his prototypes blew up, but neither did any of his early models last long enough to get the job done.

The toasted air conditioner failed to stop Khosla from plugging away for another three years. Last week, you could find Khosla juggling about a dozen small boxes at the New Paltz post office, sending his patent-pending CoolBot to farmers like himself. With next to no publicity or marketing, the CoolBot is becoming a very hot item. And it's poised to go more places than the farm. He's sold about 80 units at $250 a pop and has placed material orders that will allow him to build another 500.

It's all a marvel to Khosla, who calls himself a "reluctant capitalist" who never intended to sell his invention. He'd thought initially to explain the process to other farmers and let them build their own. That idea didn't work out, but the Khoslas don't seem too broken up about it.

If enthusiasm could be measured in BTUs, Ron Khosla's would be off the charts. Yes, it's been eight years in the making — no overnight success, but, he says, once you've invented something and it's showing such promise and you start realizing who else in the world would love to have a walk-in cooler (caterers, kitchens, grocery stores, wineries) and you're already discovering economies of scale and making a good thing better, well, all you really want to do is invent something else.

And that's the plan at the Khoslas. Whatever money they make from the CoolBot is being earmarked for Ron's next project.

And what might that be?

He smiles and rolls his inventor's eyes conspiratorially.

"It's a secret."
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In the half-century I’ve been around, I’ve seen arrogance be variously acceptable and unacceptable in mainstream culture.

10 Things You'll Learn While Working At Home

CanadianMedsWorld.com

(For the record, this is what you want to avoid turning in to when you work from home. And no, it’s not me, but thanks…) A lot of people have emailed me over the last 7 months about my working at home. Just so everyone knows, I did have a desk job…in fact I worked in offices for 12 years until this past October, when I gave notice at my job to go out on my own. So far it has been fantastic, as I make my own hours, spend some time at the beach, meet for coffee or lunch with friends (whom also work as freelancers) in the middle of the day, etc. That all being said…sometimes it is a little claustrophobic being in my house all the time with no one to talk to but the cat. Since receiving all these emails, I figured I would put a little list together about what I have learned since I started working from home.

10. There are a lot of other people not working at 9-5 jobs as well. In fact, about half the people in my building are home all day and all night, and I never see them working. Rather I see them sitting outside having tea and heading to the beach day after day. Go figure.

9. Some days it takes a lot of effort to shower and get dressed before noon. A lot of times I will get up at my normal time (between 8 - 8:30) and head into my office, fire up the computer, and get right down to business. When I look up, it is 12:00 and I am still sitting here in my sweats with a cold cup of coffee.

8. My wife is incredibly jealous of me. She gets up, goes to work, goes to school, and sometimes does not come home until about 9pm. I try to explain to her that I am not just sitting around watching TV all day, but she doesn’t buy it. But until I stop getting paid, I guess she has no choice but to believe me.

7. Our cat talks…a lot. I always wondered what they did all day, and really, it’s not all that exciting. Sleep, eat, run around, and talk. Rinse and repeat, over and over. He is half Siamese, so I know he talks a lot, but I did not know he does it all day long.

6. Working from home you do lose a certain sense of job security, even though working in an office does not provide “real” security, either. I guess it just feels more real because you are with other people. I had no more job security at my office than I do here, but it just feels strange. You can be laid off from any job at any time, so being in control of my own clients and workload is probably MORE secure, even if it doesn’t feel like it sometimes.

5. Handling your money becomes a bigger deal when you freelance. One major source of my monthly income does take out taxes, as I am on payroll with them. But my other clients do not, and I have to be sure to monitor my accounts all year to make sure I am putting aside enough money to pay the tax bill when it comes due. Also, you have to do your own investing, as their is no company sponsored 401K to pay into anymore.

4. Health insurance is really no more expensive on your own then it is with a company. Well, if you are healthy, I suppose. With group plans at an office, you have to be accepted into the program, no matter what conditions you may already have. Private insurance can reject you for previous conditions. Luckily, my wife and I are healthy and were accepted right away. I am paying LESS to cover us privately in a PPO with Blue Cross than I was for the same coverage at my office job. Of course, if you are lucky enough to have the company pay for it, then you are even better off, but I don’t have many friends with 100% paid for health insurance.

3. Working at home saves a LOT of money. I eat out less, I buy less junk food, sodas and juice, I don’t stop on the way home from work to pick up things that I could do without, etc. We sold a car (my community is 100% walkable), which saves money on gasoline, parking and insurance. I have no more expenses here at the house then I did before, except maybe the lights and computer are on more often.

2. There ain’t that much on television from about 10am until 4pm every day, unless you enjoy Oprah, sewing shows and soap operas. Thankfully, we have Tivo.

1. Working at home has opened my eyes to a lot of opportunities that I might not have seen before. I see things online that could be improved, I have more time to work on my various online ventures, I have learned new ways to make money, and I have more time to investigate things that interest me. I can take classes during the day, I play tennis twice a week before my “old” work day would have ended, and I have the freedom to take a few days off in a row if I want to and do all my work at night. I can work every other day, strange hours, or any combination in between. Honestly, if I do ever have to go back to working in an office with set hours, I do not know how I will do it. If you can work from home at all, I would figure out a way to do it. It is totally worth it. The main thing you have to do is to force yourself to find reasons to get out of your house occasionally, or you will go stir crazy. I did at first, but I think I have found my groove.

[Via - MyTwoDollars.Com]

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10 Things You'll Learn While Working At Home

CanadianMedsWorld.com

(For the record, this is what you want to avoid turning in to when you work from home. And no, it’s not me, but thanks…) A lot of people have emailed me over the last 7 months about my working at home. Just so everyone knows, I did have a desk job…in fact I worked in offices for 12 years until this past October, when I gave notice at my job to go out on my own. So far it has been fantastic, as I make my own hours, spend some time at the beach, meet for coffee or lunch with friends (whom also work as freelancers) in the middle of the day, etc. That all being said…sometimes it is a little claustrophobic being in my house all the time with no one to talk to but the cat. Since receiving all these emails, I figured I would put a little list together about what I have learned since I started working from home.

10. There are a lot of other people not working at 9-5 jobs as well. In fact, about half the people in my building are home all day and all night, and I never see them working. Rather I see them sitting outside having tea and heading to the beach day after day. Go figure.

9. Some days it takes a lot of effort to shower and get dressed before noon. A lot of times I will get up at my normal time (between 8 - 8:30) and head into my office, fire up the computer, and get right down to business. When I look up, it is 12:00 and I am still sitting here in my sweats with a cold cup of coffee.

8. My wife is incredibly jealous of me. She gets up, goes to work, goes to school, and sometimes does not come home until about 9pm. I try to explain to her that I am not just sitting around watching TV all day, but she doesn’t buy it. But until I stop getting paid, I guess she has no choice but to believe me.

7. Our cat talks…a lot. I always wondered what they did all day, and really, it’s not all that exciting. Sleep, eat, run around, and talk. Rinse and repeat, over and over. He is half Siamese, so I know he talks a lot, but I did not know he does it all day long.

6. Working from home you do lose a certain sense of job security, even though working in an office does not provide “real” security, either. I guess it just feels more real because you are with other people. I had no more job security at my office than I do here, but it just feels strange. You can be laid off from any job at any time, so being in control of my own clients and workload is probably MORE secure, even if it doesn’t feel like it sometimes.

5. Handling your money becomes a bigger deal when you freelance. One major source of my monthly income does take out taxes, as I am on payroll with them. But my other clients do not, and I have to be sure to monitor my accounts all year to make sure I am putting aside enough money to pay the tax bill when it comes due. Also, you have to do your own investing, as their is no company sponsored 401K to pay into anymore.

4. Health insurance is really no more expensive on your own then it is with a company. Well, if you are healthy, I suppose. With group plans at an office, you have to be accepted into the program, no matter what conditions you may already have. Private insurance can reject you for previous conditions. Luckily, my wife and I are healthy and were accepted right away. I am paying LESS to cover us privately in a PPO with Blue Cross than I was for the same coverage at my office job. Of course, if you are lucky enough to have the company pay for it, then you are even better off, but I don’t have many friends with 100% paid for health insurance.

3. Working at home saves a LOT of money. I eat out less, I buy less junk food, sodas and juice, I don’t stop on the way home from work to pick up things that I could do without, etc. We sold a car (my community is 100% walkable), which saves money on gasoline, parking and insurance. I have no more expenses here at the house then I did before, except maybe the lights and computer are on more often.

2. There ain’t that much on television from about 10am until 4pm every day, unless you enjoy Oprah, sewing shows and soap operas. Thankfully, we have Tivo.

1. Working at home has opened my eyes to a lot of opportunities that I might not have seen before. I see things online that could be improved, I have more time to work on my various online ventures, I have learned new ways to make money, and I have more time to investigate things that interest me. I can take classes during the day, I play tennis twice a week before my “old” work day would have ended, and I have the freedom to take a few days off in a row if I want to and do all my work at night. I can work every other day, strange hours, or any combination in between. Honestly, if I do ever have to go back to working in an office with set hours, I do not know how I will do it. If you can work from home at all, I would figure out a way to do it. It is totally worth it. The main thing you have to do is to force yourself to find reasons to get out of your house occasionally, or you will go stir crazy. I did at first, but I think I have found my groove.

[Via - MyTwoDollars.Com]

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Five Tips to Motivate Small-Business Workers

http://eat-healthy-every-day.blogspot.com/

WHEN YOU RUN A lean operation, how do you motivate your work force?

Sure, large corporations with deep pockets can easily dangle bonuses, perks and an array of fancy reward programs (often created by outside consultants) to encourage employees to outperform. Yet, small businesses with limited budgets have a distinct advantage: Chances are, you probably know all your employees. So it's easier to show 'em you care.

In many cases, employees will perform best for a boss who can accommodate their needs, whether that's giving them an afternoon off to take care of a personal situation, re-arranging their work schedule so they can pick up kids from school, or allowing them to telecommute as needed, says John Challenger, head of outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas in Chicago.

"Small business can be so flexible," he says. "Big companies have policies, and if they make an exception they think the whole world will fall apart."

So when it comes to energizing your staff, being small can be your best advantage. Here are five steps to engage your employees:

1. Communicate your vision

A boss at a small firm should explain the company's missions and goals, preferably right when a new employee starts, says Jeanie Adkins, a rewards consultant at Mercer Human Resource Consulting in Louisville, Ky. Studies at larger corporations show that employees perform better when they understand the company's vision, think the company's mission is worthwhile, and think they can contribute to the success of the organization, she says. "Small businesses have perhaps an easier task than big ones because it's easier to create that line of sight," she says.

2. Acknowledge your limitations

Admit it: You may not be able to provide the same opportunities for promotion that a large company can. But, "what you can do is make sure employees are getting the mentoring, training and development that they need to build a career with you — or someone else," Adkins says. While it sounds counterintuitive, offering an employee valuable (and marketable) work skills can reinforce good performance, she says.

3. Involve workers in special projects

Ask your employees to step away from their routine jobs and come up with creative solutions to customers' problems, suggests Ron Wince, president of Guidon Performance Solutions, a Mesa, Ariz., consulting firm. That sends a message that you value their creativity, which in turns boosts their job satisfaction. "If you go into a company and all people do is punch the clock, you as a customer can almost always tell how the morale is in an organization," he says. Once a month, invite a cross-section of employees to meet for a few hours and work on a particular issue, usually one involving customer service. Not only will you probably get some good ideas, but "the employee feels like they're part of something," he says.

4. Offer "add-ons" in addition to wages

Younger people, in particular, have grown up hearing catch phrases like "work-life balance" and value benefits such as child-care programs, flexible schedules, and even wellness initiatives almost as much as competitive salaries, says Pete Stoddart, a spokesman for Ceridian, a Minneapolis human-resources company. A small-business owner might not have the resources for formal programs, but can promise the flexibility to work with individuals in the event of major life events, such as the birth of a child, the death of a relative or health problems. And consider employee-assistance programs, which have come down in price and can be purchased by small businesses for roughly "a few dollars per employee per month," he says. "It's a very easy thing for a small-business owner to have in place."

5. Get creative with rewards

At trucking company Admiral Merchants Motor Freight in Minneapolis, which has about 60 employees, human-resources manager Augusta Kirk has come up with an original (and relatively low-budget) rewards program called "Run to the Border" to encourage the office staff to exercise. Working under a $2,000 budget, Kirk doles out gift certificates to restaurants and sporting-goods stores to employees who agree to work out for 30 minutes, five days a week, for all of 2007. (Kirk says each work-out session equals about six miles, so by the end of the year, employees who stick to it will log 1,508 miles, roughly the distance between their office and the Mexican border.) "You definitely do have better-performing employees if they are more active," she says. If an exercise routine doesn't work for your staff, Challenger suggests something like an NCAA basketball tournament. "Rather than drive the pools underground, do it for free and give an award out to the winner," he says.
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Five Tips to Motivate Small-Business Workers

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WHEN YOU RUN A lean operation, how do you motivate your work force?

Sure, large corporations with deep pockets can easily dangle bonuses, perks and an array of fancy reward programs (often created by outside consultants) to encourage employees to outperform. Yet, small businesses with limited budgets have a distinct advantage: Chances are, you probably know all your employees. So it's easier to show 'em you care.

In many cases, employees will perform best for a boss who can accommodate their needs, whether that's giving them an afternoon off to take care of a personal situation, re-arranging their work schedule so they can pick up kids from school, or allowing them to telecommute as needed, says John Challenger, head of outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas in Chicago.

"Small business can be so flexible," he says. "Big companies have policies, and if they make an exception they think the whole world will fall apart."

So when it comes to energizing your staff, being small can be your best advantage. Here are five steps to engage your employees:

1. Communicate your vision

A boss at a small firm should explain the company's missions and goals, preferably right when a new employee starts, says Jeanie Adkins, a rewards consultant at Mercer Human Resource Consulting in Louisville, Ky. Studies at larger corporations show that employees perform better when they understand the company's vision, think the company's mission is worthwhile, and think they can contribute to the success of the organization, she says. "Small businesses have perhaps an easier task than big ones because it's easier to create that line of sight," she says.

2. Acknowledge your limitations

Admit it: You may not be able to provide the same opportunities for promotion that a large company can. But, "what you can do is make sure employees are getting the mentoring, training and development that they need to build a career with you — or someone else," Adkins says. While it sounds counterintuitive, offering an employee valuable (and marketable) work skills can reinforce good performance, she says.

3. Involve workers in special projects

Ask your employees to step away from their routine jobs and come up with creative solutions to customers' problems, suggests Ron Wince, president of Guidon Performance Solutions, a Mesa, Ariz., consulting firm. That sends a message that you value their creativity, which in turns boosts their job satisfaction. "If you go into a company and all people do is punch the clock, you as a customer can almost always tell how the morale is in an organization," he says. Once a month, invite a cross-section of employees to meet for a few hours and work on a particular issue, usually one involving customer service. Not only will you probably get some good ideas, but "the employee feels like they're part of something," he says.

4. Offer "add-ons" in addition to wages

Younger people, in particular, have grown up hearing catch phrases like "work-life balance" and value benefits such as child-care programs, flexible schedules, and even wellness initiatives almost as much as competitive salaries, says Pete Stoddart, a spokesman for Ceridian, a Minneapolis human-resources company. A small-business owner might not have the resources for formal programs, but can promise the flexibility to work with individuals in the event of major life events, such as the birth of a child, the death of a relative or health problems. And consider employee-assistance programs, which have come down in price and can be purchased by small businesses for roughly "a few dollars per employee per month," he says. "It's a very easy thing for a small-business owner to have in place."

5. Get creative with rewards

At trucking company Admiral Merchants Motor Freight in Minneapolis, which has about 60 employees, human-resources manager Augusta Kirk has come up with an original (and relatively low-budget) rewards program called "Run to the Border" to encourage the office staff to exercise. Working under a $2,000 budget, Kirk doles out gift certificates to restaurants and sporting-goods stores to employees who agree to work out for 30 minutes, five days a week, for all of 2007. (Kirk says each work-out session equals about six miles, so by the end of the year, employees who stick to it will log 1,508 miles, roughly the distance between their office and the Mexican border.) "You definitely do have better-performing employees if they are more active," she says. If an exercise routine doesn't work for your staff, Challenger suggests something like an NCAA basketball tournament. "Rather than drive the pools underground, do it for free and give an award out to the winner," he says.
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Farmer's cool invention turns profitable

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New Paltz — When the air conditioner caught fire three years ago, Kate Khosla thought it was time to pull the plug — literally — on her husband Ron's efforts to invent a better compressor-condensor-evaporator.

For anyone who's not a farmer, a compressor-condensor-evaporator may not sound like something you'd want to spend much time building a better one of. But Ron and Kate Khosla are farmers, and it had always bothered them that it could cost $3,000 or more to have such a huge and heavy contraption installed to create a walk-in cooler room, cool enough to store their harvest in. Their organic farm, Huguenot Street Farm, is modest, as are their profits.

Khosla's idea was simple: he thought he could build a gizmo that would allow an ordinary air conditioner to take a room's temperature down as low as 32 degrees. Not all of his prototypes blew up, but neither did any of his early models last long enough to get the job done.

The toasted air conditioner failed to stop Khosla from plugging away for another three years. Last week, you could find Khosla juggling about a dozen small boxes at the New Paltz post office, sending his patent-pending CoolBot to farmers like himself. With next to no publicity or marketing, the CoolBot is becoming a very hot item. And it's poised to go more places than the farm. He's sold about 80 units at $250 a pop and has placed material orders that will allow him to build another 500.

It's all a marvel to Khosla, who calls himself a "reluctant capitalist" who never intended to sell his invention. He'd thought initially to explain the process to other farmers and let them build their own. That idea didn't work out, but the Khoslas don't seem too broken up about it.

If enthusiasm could be measured in BTUs, Ron Khosla's would be off the charts. Yes, it's been eight years in the making — no overnight success, but, he says, once you've invented something and it's showing such promise and you start realizing who else in the world would love to have a walk-in cooler (caterers, kitchens, grocery stores, wineries) and you're already discovering economies of scale and making a good thing better, well, all you really want to do is invent something else.

And that's the plan at the Khoslas. Whatever money they make from the CoolBot is being earmarked for Ron's next project.

And what might that be?

He smiles and rolls his inventor's eyes conspiratorially.

"It's a secret."
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Five Tips to Motivate Small-Business Workers

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WHEN YOU RUN A lean operation, how do you motivate your work force?

Sure, large corporations with deep pockets can easily dangle bonuses, perks and an array of fancy reward programs (often created by outside consultants) to encourage employees to outperform. Yet, small businesses with limited budgets have a distinct advantage: Chances are, you probably know all your employees. So it's easier to show 'em you care.

In many cases, employees will perform best for a boss who can accommodate their needs, whether that's giving them an afternoon off to take care of a personal situation, re-arranging their work schedule so they can pick up kids from school, or allowing them to telecommute as needed, says John Challenger, head of outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas in Chicago.

"Small business can be so flexible," he says. "Big companies have policies, and if they make an exception they think the whole world will fall apart."

So when it comes to energizing your staff, being small can be your best advantage. Here are five steps to engage your employees:

1. Communicate your vision

A boss at a small firm should explain the company's missions and goals, preferably right when a new employee starts, says Jeanie Adkins, a rewards consultant at Mercer Human Resource Consulting in Louisville, Ky. Studies at larger corporations show that employees perform better when they understand the company's vision, think the company's mission is worthwhile, and think they can contribute to the success of the organization, she says. "Small businesses have perhaps an easier task than big ones because it's easier to create that line of sight," she says.

2. Acknowledge your limitations

Admit it: You may not be able to provide the same opportunities for promotion that a large company can. But, "what you can do is make sure employees are getting the mentoring, training and development that they need to build a career with you — or someone else," Adkins says. While it sounds counterintuitive, offering an employee valuable (and marketable) work skills can reinforce good performance, she says.

3. Involve workers in special projects

Ask your employees to step away from their routine jobs and come up with creative solutions to customers' problems, suggests Ron Wince, president of Guidon Performance Solutions, a Mesa, Ariz., consulting firm. That sends a message that you value their creativity, which in turns boosts their job satisfaction. "If you go into a company and all people do is punch the clock, you as a customer can almost always tell how the morale is in an organization," he says. Once a month, invite a cross-section of employees to meet for a few hours and work on a particular issue, usually one involving customer service. Not only will you probably get some good ideas, but "the employee feels like they're part of something," he says.

4. Offer "add-ons" in addition to wages

Younger people, in particular, have grown up hearing catch phrases like "work-life balance" and value benefits such as child-care programs, flexible schedules, and even wellness initiatives almost as much as competitive salaries, says Pete Stoddart, a spokesman for Ceridian, a Minneapolis human-resources company. A small-business owner might not have the resources for formal programs, but can promise the flexibility to work with individuals in the event of major life events, such as the birth of a child, the death of a relative or health problems. And consider employee-assistance programs, which have come down in price and can be purchased by small businesses for roughly "a few dollars per employee per month," he says. "It's a very easy thing for a small-business owner to have in place."

5. Get creative with rewards

At trucking company Admiral Merchants Motor Freight in Minneapolis, which has about 60 employees, human-resources manager Augusta Kirk has come up with an original (and relatively low-budget) rewards program called "Run to the Border" to encourage the office staff to exercise. Working under a $2,000 budget, Kirk doles out gift certificates to restaurants and sporting-goods stores to employees who agree to work out for 30 minutes, five days a week, for all of 2007. (Kirk says each work-out session equals about six miles, so by the end of the year, employees who stick to it will log 1,508 miles, roughly the distance between their office and the Mexican border.) "You definitely do have better-performing employees if they are more active," she says. If an exercise routine doesn't work for your staff, Challenger suggests something like an NCAA basketball tournament. "Rather than drive the pools underground, do it for free and give an award out to the winner," he says.
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Common Mistakes to Avoid When Freelancing

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I know a lot of folks who are into freelancing -- web designers, graphic artists, writers and others. They are all self employed who enjoy being their own boss and the freedom associated with being a freelancer. The flipside, though, is that I'm also privy to the mistakes they often make in managing their freelancing careers.

If you want to freelance, here are common mistakes to avoid:

• Over-reliance on one client. When you find a great company to work for that pays well, often you stop looking for other clients. Afterall, you already have a great account so why bother embarking on marketing and bidding again? Alas, this attitude is very risky. Freelancing is a volatile occupation; and even with a contract, companies can let go of freelancers. A company downsizing for example would first fire their freelancers compared to their employees. It is always best not to put all your eggs in one basket, and get a variety of clients.
  
• Failing to Account for the Ups and Downs of Self Employment. When you are freelancing, you need to be prepared for the roller coaster ride of self employment: some months you may have several clients, and some months you may find it hard winning any accounts. That is simply the nature of freelancing. You need to prepare for the lean times and make sure that you have income buffer to ride out those difficult times.
  
• Forgetting the business side of being self employed. You may focus too much on the technical side of your occupation ensuring that you deliver high quality products that your clients expect. However, don't forget the management aspects of being a freelancer, and that involves billing, collection, record keeping, tax paying, even marketing your services to other clients. Dedicate a certain percentage during the day to administrative and marketing tasks, or hire professionals to help you manage these tasks.

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Not having right insurance can be a disaster for small businesses

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NEW YORK -- Many small business owners in the Northeast are still trying to recover from floods caused by as much as 8 inches of rain earlier this month. Those who had flood insurance can recoup some of their losses, but those who never purchased such coverage are now dealing with the fact that a disaster doesn't have to be a hurricane, tornado or earthquake to cause cataclysmic damage to a company.

Insurance industry analysts and people who advise small businesses say many companies find themselves underinsured when disasters happen. Many don't have the specialized policies that would cover disasters, or they have coverage that falls short in dollar terms of what they need. Or they find they didn't read the fine print about what was and wasn't covered when they bought insurance.

Being underinsured for a disaster is a common problem for businesses, especially younger ones, said Cathy Weatherford, executive vice president of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, an organization of regulatory officials from the 50 states, the District of Columbia and five U.S. territories.

Cost is a factor when owners decide not to purchase specialized disaster insurance; the premiums and deductibles tend to be high because damage tends to be heavy and insurance company payouts in turn are large. Small business owners without a lot of spare cash often decide to take their chances and hope disaster never strikes.

Equally problematic, Weatherford said, is the attitude of "this can't happen to me" that many business owners have.

"Not until you become a victim or you come very close to losing everything do you decide this is something essential for you that you cannot do without," she said.

Flood insurance tends to get the most headlines, particularly since Hurricane Katrina inundated New Orleans in 2005. But there is other specialized disaster coverage, such as earthquake insurance, which many businesses in California buy, and landslide insurance, policies that businesses in the Puget Sound area should consider.

But a disaster isn't limited to a catastrophe wrought by Mother Nature -- a fire that destroys a business can be just as disastrous. So a small business needs to consider whether it's adequately insured for any and all possibilities.

A big difference between disaster insurance, such as flood or landslide coverage and, say, fire coverage, is that disaster insurance isn't included in a standard business or commercial insurance package. It must be purchased separately. And beware: Many lenders will require you to buy flood insurance for a property, and the Small Business Administration won't disburse disaster loan money if you were flooded and didn't have flood insurance.

Physical damage is only part of the problem. According to the insurance commissioners group, only about 35 percent of small businesses have business intruption insurance, which covers lost profits and operating expenses, such as salaries, that must still be paid even when a company can't operate.

Glenn Pomerantz, director of the business interruption and insurance claims services practice with the accounting firm BDO Seidman in New York, said another issue for small business owners is a lack of knowledge of the insurance process. They don't know enough about deductibles, for example, and what is or isn't covered under the insurance they already have.

"If you haven't been through a major catastrophic loss before, you really don't know how" an insurance adjuster is likely to assess the damage and what the insurer will pay, he said.

One thing small business owners can do is to read the policy they buy carefully, and to understand how much they're likely to pay for a deductible, and if they're responsible for a co-insurance payment. For example, their policy might provide that the insurance company will pay 80 percent of the amount after the deductible, leaving the company responsible for the remaining 20 percent.

Mark Thaw, a partner with the Florida-based accounting firm Morrison, Brown, Argiz & Farra, noted that no insurance covers all of a company's losses.

"You have to absorb some loss yourself," he said, adding, "the purpose (of insurance) is to make you get over the hump" after a disaster.

Thaw said many small business owners also get a shock when they discover they hadn't bought enough insurance to cover the value of their property, and so their insurers in turn reduce what they pay out.

But insurance shouldn't be the only consideration when a small business thinks about reducing the losses suffered in a disaster -- companies need to think about ways of mitigating the damage by planning well in advance for how they get themselves up and running after a catastrophe.

Disaster mitigation planning is "as important as the insurance," Thaw said. "Without the plan, you're nowhere."

Such planning includes knowing where and how you'll get your company up and running again, where you'll get supplies from a vendor, how you'll get in touch with clients and customers. Without those plans in place, Thaw said, you'll suffer further losses.

"You need to keep them to a minimum and survive," he said.

[via seattlepi.nwsource.com]

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Routine vital for work-at-home set

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If you think everybody who works from home wears PJ's and sneaks in housework, Jeff Korona and Cynthia Kidder are here to prove you wrong. These home-based workers make it a point to look and act professional -- even though there's no one around to judge.

It takes some discipline, but Korona and Kidder say it's doable if you follow a few rules:

Dress for work. There's no time to be a slob. Take a shower and look like you're going somewhere.

"I rarely wear blue jeans to work in my house," said Kidder, 51, founder of the nonprofit Band of Angels, which advocates for people with Down syndrome. "There's something about being in jeans and a T-shirt that makes it too easy to throw in a load of laundry."

Set a routine and stick to it. Just like in the office, there should be a certain time of day when things get done.

"Every morning, I clear my e-mail," said Korona, 46, president of re.Source Partners, a computer hardware asset management company. "I contact my partner with a morning call and then contact clients who need attention. I stick with the same routines as if I were in the office."

Keep work and fun on separate computers. Don't allow family on the work computer.

"My kids can't do homework on it," said Korona, of Novi, Mich. "You can't get on the Internet because I don't want unauthorized Web sites. It gets very unproductive if you're trying to work and you click on the wrong thing and suddenly you have 15 pop-ups on your screen."

Interact with other professionals. It's hard to be motivated when you don't have co-workers nearby. You have to make it a point to stay in the loop.

"Every now and again, I e-mail other professionals who I know work from home," said Kidder, of Rochester Hills, Mich. "I'll ask if they have five minutes to talk and then we discuss projects."

On the flip side, be careful about having too much social interaction at home.

"It's easy for girlfriends and family to stop by," Kidder said.

Stay on top of your taxes. "I use an accounting service that does payroll for us," Kidder said. "It costs me $50 a month and it saves me a lot in terms of mental anguish."

[via courierpostonline.com]

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Air Force announces new Small Business Programs director

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Blackanthem Military News, WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Air Force's new small business director, Ronald A. Poussard, looks to expand opportunities for small businesses and reach beyond goals to support the Air Force mission.

Mr. Poussard, who is a member of the Senior Executive Service, was selected as the director of the Air Force Office of Small Business Programs. He will be responsible for the leadership, management and oversight of the Small and Minority Business Program, the Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and Minority Institution Programs for the Department of the Air Force.

Previously, Mr. Poussard was the Air Force Program Executive Officer for Combat and Mission Support Services.

"I am truly honored to serve as the newest Air Force director of Small Business Programs," Mr. Poussard said, "following in the footsteps of my predecessors and their legacies. While it is important to build on those legacies, it is also time for bold new strategies to expand opportunities and ensure that the Nation's small businesses remain viable product and service providers of choice for our Air Force."

Mr. Poussard began his Federal government career with the U.S. Navy as a student trainee in 1982, and has held a variety of increasingly senior positions in the acquisition community. He has been a staff analyst supporting major systems such as the C-17 cargo airlift aircraft, as well as the Deputy Director of Contracting and the Small Business Director at the 11th Wing, Bolling AFB, D.C. He also served as the Director of Contracts and contracting officer establishing the first joint Air Force, National Reconnaissance Office and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency space-based radar program. Mr. Poussard has also served as senior business adviser to Air Force Program Executive Officers and field acquisition commanders for space and command and control programs, providing contracting and business analyses for the development of acquisition strategies and source selections. Additionally, he was the Deputy Director of the Defense Acquisition Regulations System Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, Washington, D.C.

Mr. Poussard holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Northeastern University, a Master's degree in national security studies from Georgetown University, and a Masters degree in National Resources Management from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. He is also a graduate of several executive leadership courses.
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How couples run a home business without running each other down

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Combining marriage and business is not an endeavor to be taken lightly. It requires serious consideration and answers to some tough questions. Here are 10 tips for running a successful home-based business with your spouse:

-- Determine if you can work side by side. Ask yourself honestly if you can work patiently alongside your spouse day in and day out, and then go from business partner to life partner after work. If you can't picture yourself making this transition, then you probably should not run a business together.

-- Discuss your goals. Are your visions for the business the same as those of your spouse? Even the strongest marriage will be tested if you are working at cross-purposes.

-- Write a business plan and solicit feedback. Once you detail your vision, show it to a consultant for an objective opinion. There is tremendous value in feedback from an unbiased source.

-- Define each person's role. The roles can be flexible (and will likely have to change over time) but must at least address the basics: who will keep the books, who will do the shipping, etc.

-- Keep the lines of communication open. Don't be critical of one another -- and don't be dismissive or contemptuous of your partner. Confront the challenges of the business, not one another.

-- Be circumspect when talking with clients. Your customers don't need to know that your partner in business is also your partner in life. Confiding in a client about your relationship with your partner can poison your relationship with your customer as well as your marriage.

-- Form a united front. Do not allow employees or customers to pit one of you against the other. Never put a sale or a customer ahead of your spouse.

-- Set firm boundaries and honor them. Set up your office in a space that doesn't disrupt the entire family.

-- Hope for the best, but plan for the worst. Draw up legal agreements detailing how the business will be divided if you split up or if one of you decides to opt out of the business. Also, have a contingency plan in place in the event that your spouse falls short of his or her business obligations.

-- Don't deal with family matters during business hours. Running a small business and being a good partner and parent are each difficult on their own. To do both concurrently will almost ensure that you fail at both. Set specific times outside of business hours for discussing family business.

---

Setting some boundaries

Here are some strategies on how to set boundaries effectively so you can stay focused, motivate yourself and be more productive working out of your home.

-- Regularly set goals.

-- Create a distinct and defined work area.

-- Allocate personal and business time.

-- Set office hours.

-- Get a separate phone line for work.

-- Take vacations away from home.

-- Project a professional image.

-- Stay connected professionally through association and events.

---

Plan today for tomorrow

At the end of each workday, jot down a to-do list of things you want to accomplish the next workday, in order of priority.

Even the most successful and conscientious small-business owners need help handling all they need to accomplish.

Planning tomorrow's schedule today will get you looking ahead and you'll avoid wasting time deciding what should come next.

AllBusiness.com provides information about products and services for entrepreneurs, small businesses and professionals to start, manage, finance and build a business. Visit www.allbusiness.com.

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IRS may shift AMT gap burden to small biz

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(FSB Magazine) -- Carson Stanwood has no problem with the Internal Revenue Service going after tax cheats. The founder of Stanwood & Partners Public Relations, based in Jackson Hole, Wyo., understands that paying their taxes in full puts small-business owners like him at a competitive disadvantage against the corner cutters.

But when contemplating some of the Treasury Department's recent enforcement proposals - such as vastly expanding the number of Form 1099s he would have to issue and requiring him to verify his independent contractors' taxpayer IDs with the IRS - Stanwood, 47, changes his tune.

"I applaud them going after this until I hear that it's going to vastly increase my paperwork. I believe it would add 20 to 25 percent to what I pay my bookkeeper - another $6,000 or $7,000 a year - which would suck," says Stanwood, whose firm took in about $1.5 million last year. "That's two or three laptops the employees won't get, smaller Christmas bonuses, or an epic vacation my wife and I don't take."

It's not shocking that the IRS is being pushed to improve its reported collection rate of 86 percent. Faced with a gargantuan deficit and demands to reform the alternative minimum tax - a levy initially aimed at the very wealthy that is now snaring millions of middle-income taxpayers - Congress and the Bush administration have been looking for cash under the cushions. And they seem to have found some in an IRS report that shows the amount of unpaid taxes (known as the "tax gap") to be $290 billion a year, of which $109 billion is attributed to underreported business income, largely from small companies.

But while no one wants to stand up for tax cheats, Stanwood is in good company when he rejects the proposals made so far: Three trade groups - the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Federation of Independent Businesses and the Small Business Legislative Council - have formed the Coalition for Fairness in Tax Compliance (taxcompliancefairness.org) to ensure that IRS plans don't amount to a swipe at law-abiding business owners, who according to the U.S. Small Business Administration already pay 67 percent more per employee in annual tax-compliance costs than do companies with more than 500 workers ($1,304 vs. $780).

"I have no problem with tracking down tax cheats. But I don't believe in creating additional burdens on people who are doing everything right," says Jason Speer, vice president of Quality Float Works, a Schaumburg, Ill., leveling-device company with $2.2 million in annual sales. "Why penalize everyone? That doesn't make sense."

From the carpenter who offers discounts for work paid in cash to the freelance designer who doesn't report income from corporate clients he bills less than $600 annually (the limit that trips an IRS Form 1099), some small businesses and independent contractors clearly understate their income on tax forms. IRS data show that independent contractors report 96 percent of the income for which they get information returns (Form 1099, for example), but only 46 percent of income for which they don't.

So the administration's budget for the 2008 fiscal year proposes getting more information by making credit card companies report each merchant's credit card sales to the IRS.

Another proposal would require businesses to issue a Form 1099 not just to all independent contractors but also to all corporate contractors they pay more than $600 a year (say, the local Roto-Rooter or messenger service).

A third proposal would make businesses verify with the IRS the taxpayer ID numbers of all independent contractors and withhold taxes for any who ask.

What angers many small-business advocates about the proposals, beyond their invasiveness and red tape, is that they represent a scattershot approach that makes little attempt to target the likeliest tax cheats. IRS data do not break down under-reported business income by transaction type or industry, so the tax authority doesn't know how much revenue is lost to the under-the-table auto mechanic vs. the eBay merchant who doesn't report his credit card sales - or someone else entirely.

"There is no data available to identify what payments aren't reported - cash, credit card, under or over $600, business-to-business, business-to-consumer," says Macey Davis, tax counsel at the NFIB (nfib.com). The administration is "coming up with proposals prematurely without data to back them up."

It's easy to see how small businesses could feel unjustly picked on. A study from Citizens for Tax Justice (ctj.org) found that through tax breaks and shelters, profitable Fortune 500 companies paid an effective corporate tax rate of 17 percent in 2002 and 2003, far below the 31 percent paid by the average company with less than $2.5 million in annual revenue.

"We have 20 employees. We don't have the advantages of a big company with accountants and tax shelters," says Quality Float Works' Speer, who says his company, an S corporation, paid 28 percent in taxes on net income after expenses in 2005.

Finally, for all the burden they would impose on small business, these three enforcement proposals would fill less than one tenth of 1 percent of the tax gap, collecting $187 million in 2008 and $19.2 billion over the next ten years. By comparison, improving tax collection on offshore accounts held by U.S. residents would generate about $50 billion a year, estimates Reuven Avi-Yonah, a professor at the University of Michigan Law School.

It's no surprise, then, that business owners such as Carson Stanwood have little desire to make the effort to comply with IRS rules of dubious efficacy. "If the IRS wants this money, go find it yourself," he says. "I'm not going to do it for you. I don't have the time."

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PayPal Entices Small Business

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PayPal has launched a product aimed at helping small and medium businesses accept online payments securely and cost-effectively.

The Website Payments Pro product is the first non-hosted payment suite from PayPal, a subsidiary of online auction giant eBay. It includes Express Checkout, Direct Payment API and Virtual Terminal functions, so firms can let shoppers choose how to pay for their purchases.

The Direct Payment API lets businesses accept credit or debit card payments. Buyers enter card details directly on the business’s own website and payments are processed through PayPal.

Customers can also pay for their goods using PayPal’s Express Checkout, removing the need to re-enter billing or delivery information with every purchase. Buyers can use any major credit or debit card, Banka account or PayPal account balance.

The Virtual Terminal allows businesses to accept orders offline via phone, fax or mail and then enter the details online so the transaction is processed by PayPal.

Companies can include their own branding on the checkout process web pages and can direct buyers back to their websites to continue shopping after payments are completed.

Carl-Olav Scheible, general manager of merchant services at PayPal said the product was developed to meet the needs of businesses that wanted the benefits of PayPal combined with those of a merchant account and gateway.

PayPal processed ?4.2 billion (US$8.2 billion) of payments in Europe last year, and figures from Forrester Research show it is now a preferred payment method for 35 percent of online shoppers in the U.K.

But PayPal users have been heavily targeted by criminal phishing scams. In July, security firm Sophos revealed that 54 percent of the phishing emails received by its threat analysis centers were aimed at stealing log-in and other details from PayPal users.

Pricing for Website Payments Pro includes a monthly fee and a rate per transaction.

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