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Oct
12
Four Steps to Providing Feedback
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It is important to have a system that you can rely upon to provide feedback to your employees. Not only do they need feedback from you, but they actually want it, also. The fact is, most people really do want to succeed at their job, and they do want to please their employers.
Regular and consistent feedback is a great way to ensure that you are giving your people what they need in order to succeed. And, it gives you a great and timely opportunity to recognize accomplishments. An entrepreneur can instill trust and confidence in others, which can be helpful – if not essential later.
A simple system of providing feedback can consist of as little as Four Steps:
- Write a Report. Give a written account that describes what the employee has accomplished, and how the accomplishment compare with the targets that have been set.
- Analyze Shortcomings. In the event that there are shortcomings, point them out while focusing on why they occurred. By focusing on why they occurred instead of who fell short, you can keep this analysis positive and encouraging.
- Invite Questions. Encourage the employee to provide their own feedback of the job, including how well they felt they were supervised, and whether he or she would like to take on similar assignments in the future.
- Identify Training Needs. It is possible that your analysis will show that the real shortcoming has been in the area of training. So, determine what type of training is necessary, and schedule it.
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Aug
24
Should You Hire Yourself?
Posted by: | CommentsWhen you make the decision to start your own business, this is a really THE critical question.
The answer to this question should consider several different factors:
- If you currently have a job, what problem is going to be solved by leaving it? If you are leaving your current job just to get away from the stress, the hours, and responsibility – you better re-think things.
- How long can you survive without any income? Expect the first business revenues to go right back into the business.
- Will your lifestyle support your entrepreneurism? What about your spouse, and kids? Starting your own business is going to have an impact on those closest to you. How are you prepared to manage that?
- What adjustments do you need to make in your current circumstances to pull this off? And, can you make the changes necessary? If you need additional skills, experience or contacts to make it work, you might be better off taking time to develop them before making the jump.
- Have you really looked at the downside? Sometimes the grass IS greener on the other side of the fence, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t a lot of weeds. Talk to others who have gone down this path and ask them about what they can’t stand, and what they wish they could change.
- Are you most interested in the money – or in being happy and fulfilled? They aren’t necessarily mutually-exclusive, but if you are only driven by the money, your odds of succeeding drop considerably. Those most likely to achieve success are those who are driven by their passions.
- Do you have any other choice? Unfortunately, in the current environment, many people don’t have a lot of options – but that doesn’t mean you can overlook all the other issues.
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Feb
02
Should you change your corporate status?
Posted by: | CommentsWay back in December 1997, Inc. Magazine published an article that discussed the circumstances under which a business may want to consider switching its corporate status. Among the conditions it discussed were the following:
- The company needs capital. If you’re simply contemplating raising your credit line or bringing in some informal investors, you can probably stay with whatever structure you’ve got. But if you’re aiming for venture capital or a public stock offering, you’ll need C- corporation status.
- You’re exploring incentive compensation. A deferred-compensation arrangement will likely mesh with whatever corporate structure you’ve got. But setting up a stock option plan will be much easier if you switch to C status. The exception: you can use an S structure if the number of employees covered–plus the number of previous shareholders–doesn’t exceed the new 75-owner limit for S corporations.
- The company is profitable and no longer capital hungry, and you’re looking to boost your personal income. One quick solution might be to switch from C- to S-corporation status, thus eliminating the double tax on all dividends paid out to shareholders. But don’t go this route if you’re also contemplating an IPO: you won’t be able to revoke your decision for five years.
- You’ve got great prospects, but the company is still losing money like crazy. Corporate losses, and the tax benefits they can provide, may be more valuable if you switch to a C corporation. That’s because, in many cases, S-corporation owners can claim corporate losses only on their personal tax returns up to the amount of their total investment. With C corporations, most losses can be claimed (or carried forward into later tax years) at the corporate tax level.
- You’re thinking about adding fringe benefits but are looking for ways to control their costs. It’s time to get your accountant to do a cost-benefit analysis. Many fringe benefits for owners turn out to be cheaper with C-corporation status. But don’t switch before figuring out whether the cost of double taxation would wipe out any benefits you’d receive from a switch.
- You’re diversifying the company into a new business line. Wait! Although switching to an LLC structure is often too costly to make sense for an established business, you might be able to achieve real benefits by organizing your new venture from day one as a limited-liability company.
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