The straight line

Category Archives: Small Business Planning

Five Website Design Errors

Deciding whether your company can benefit from having a website is the easy part. Getting it right is the hard part. You want to make sure that your Internet presence portrays the company in the best possible light and isn’t marred by these five common errors of website design: Not defining a clear purpose for your site.Failing to...

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What Can Employers Do with Forfeited Employee FSA Balances?

When unused flexible spending account (FSA) balances are forfeited back to employers under the “use-it-or-lose-it” rule, employers have several options for what they can do with the money. Here is what employers need to know after first covering some necessary background information. Flexible Spending Account Basics Under an employer-sponsored flexible spending account (FSA) plan, employees can...

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Business Interruption Claims Require Professional Help

Smart company owners and executives obtain business interruption insurance — and possibly contingent business income coverage if the operation relies heavily on outsourcing or a particular supplier. The idea is that the policy will compensate the company for lost earnings if a devastating event forces it to temporarily close down. But the calculations and coverage of...

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Executive Compensation: How Much is too Much?

With the SEC requiring greater transparency with regard to executive compensation, many organizations — not just public corporations that are bound by SEC disclosure rules — have begun to rethink the issue. Shifting public expectations are causing organizations to redefine how, and to what extent, executive initiative and leadership is rewarded. At most organizations, base salary is...

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To Franchise or Not to Franchise

When you consider going into business for yourself, you have three basic choices: Start from scratch, buy an existing business, or look for opportunities to purchase a franchise. A franchise gives you the licensed right to use a service mark, trademark, or business concept. Each franchisee signs an agreement that governs how the business is operated....

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