A lot of people are busy getting their taxes ready in order to get them filed on time. The problem is that a lot of owners are deciding how to handle their business tax situation way past the point where they could have really had a meaningful impact on what they will have to pay.
In my continuing quest to help you turn your company into the most profitable machine possible, here are 10 suggestions that I believe will drastically affect the taxes that you will pay next year. The order can be adjusted based on your perception of what is most important to you, so consider:
1. Get Out and Get Business
You, as the owner, need to spend up to 80% of your time going out and securing business for your company. The owner is the best salesperson a company has. No one has as much skin in the game, and no one has worked as hard to get the company where it is today. No one has as much to lose: no one in the company mortgages their home, their lifestyle, their assets and the future education of their kids. If you succeed, it’s going to be good; if you fail, you will spend the rest of your life repaying the debts incurred.2. Recognize the Need to Hire
The owner starts the company and in the beginning does all of the sales (and often, the spouse does the bulk of the administration, in between running the home life with growing kids). The owner does all of the work needed to produce the job. As the company grows – if it grows – the owner needs to hire people to help with some of the work.Because the owner has done most of the jobs in the company, he or she is able to mentor new company members in the goings on with regard to procedures, attitudes and culture.