Trillions from MAYAnMAYA on Vimeo.

Any thoughts on the future of computing?

He properly assessed which parts of his business were different this year than they were last year and came to the conclusion that he probably didn’t need to pay in his last two estimates.

I reviewed his situation and I agreed after a couple of clarifying questions.

Just because your CPA gives you four quarterly tax estimates to make, doesn’t mean your situation won’t change and that you may not need to make all of your estimates before the year is up.  ‘Tis the season for fall tax planning.  Are you game?

Some will use a desktop software, like Intuit’s Quicken, but moving your info online makes it accessible anywhere, doesn’t tie you to a particular computer while keeping your information safe from remembering to backup your info all the time (backups happen automagically when you are in the cloud!).

I just received a notice from Intuit that they will be discontinuing their online Quicken product and replacing it with Mint.com.

 
Mint.com is quickly becoming the leader in online personal financial management.  It’s interface is simply beautiful and easy to use.  It pulls in tons of bank feeds so you don’t have to key in your data manually, and you can access it on your iPhone!  Sweet!  The budget features and new goals feature are also cool reasons to migrate to Mint.com.  Though it’s free to use, some criticize that your online information is really a huge database for marketers (and in fact, they do have a whole section of the site dedicated to selling new products to you).  But it’s hard to beat free.

Xero.com, an award-winning business accounting software we support online, also has a pretty robust online personal financial management side called Xero Personal.  Their help center is top notch and they are releasing new updates as quick as user comments can populate their blog posts.  They are a company that listens and they will quickly become a large player in the market place.  And with Wesabe’s recent announcement that they will discontinue their service (they are another online financial community and money management site), Xero has come to their rescue to allow Wesabe imports directly into Xero Personal. Xero Personal doesn’t yet allow for bank feeds to be brought into their software automagically, but it won’t be long.  They are a long term player in this market, and it’s only $34 per year!

 
I don’t know much about Mvelopes, but have heard good things.  They also allow for bank feeds and credit card imports into your account (which can be viewed on your mobile phone too).  One cool thing about this program is they have a full blown bill pay service built right in.  So if you pay your bills online through you bank, now you can do it in the same place you track your money.  Mvelopes uses the popular feature of putting your paychecks into envelopes that fill up as you get paid.  You see the envelopes getting bigger, and they even take some money out of your envelope as you use your credit card - as they take money out of your “clothing” envelope, they put it in a “for credit card payment” envelope so you can pay off your credit card in full when the bill comes at the end of the month.  I couldn’t find out how much the service actually costs, but it looks pretty cool.

Which system do you use? (and don’t say nothing).

If you don’t extend them, then it will effectually be a tax hike (a big one). But if you do extend them, that will just take us into an era where tax hikes are going to be required to pay for the debt the current administration has created (or added to). Some say taxes are extremely low now, and that this tax hike is necessary.

Here is a great summary on what is meant by the “Bush Tax Cuts.”

What do you think?

Here are some of my take-aways:

1.  Asking for referrals is one of the greatest ways to build business, but we never do it.  If you consistently serve your clients well, then they would probably be happy to send you referrals.  They’re just busy (like you) and don’t think about it.  Ask!

2.  Ask for referrals right after you’ve delivered a superior service or product.  Start it this way, “If I was able to add value to you, do you think there is anyone you know that I could help as well?”

3.  Setup a process to ask for referrals.  Our firm’s marketing person (my wife) has helped me do this in our firm.  We have made a list of the top clients that we do a lot of work for, and have strategically put them on my calendar throughout the year to call and ask for a referral.  If we didn’t have a process, I would have forgotten.  But its working.

4.  Tell your referral sources about what you do, and who would make a good client.  I often meet with potential contacts just to see what they need and what type of client they are looking for.  Likewise, they ask me what type of client I am looking for.  We often think of clients that could mutually benefit each other right in our meeting.  Very helpful.

5.  Meet a lot of new people.  This takes a lot of time, but anytime I travel, I’m always looking to meet new people in the city I’m traveling to.  Never waste that opportunity to simply make an acquaintance with other people.  You never know, maybe the barista’s brother-in-law just told him about a friend’s mother that needs your services.  Building your business ALWAYS means building relationships – you never know where it will lead.

6.  Now it’s your turn – please let me know how you build referrals… (leave it in the comments above)

Thanks, Jason M. Blumer

Here is what small is NOT:

1.  Less profits.  I don’t think being small means your profits have to be small.  You must be wiser and more efficient when you chose to be small, but you don’t have to settle for smaller profits.

2. Less staff and people.  Small can be a mind set and doesn’t have to actually look smaller to those around you.  It may NOT mean that you have fewer people working for you.  It could mean that, I just don’t think a smaller staff is a requirement for small.

3.  Less expertise and notoriety.  Just because you are small doesn’t mean you have to be the “unknown provider.”  You can be well known, you just get to decide what you do with your well-known expertise and notoriety.

4.  Less global reach.  On the contrary, small businesses are some of the most well positioned companies to take their concepts to an international market.  This evidence is all around us.  Small can be global.

Here is what small IS:

1.  Slower growth.  I believe small is choosing to grow slower.  When you do this, you innately learn what you are doing.  You figure out what you are doing quicker, and you screw up your business plans less often (at least that is what I think I would have done over the past 7 years had I chosen small).

2.  Strategic.  Growing slower means you are growing smarter.

3.  Artisan.  Choosing small means you are choosing to be a specialist who can be known as an artisan in your field.  Here is a great video explaining the concept of artisan.  Artisans hand craft things with care, and are reachable by their customers and clients.  They have a lot of face time with their people, and are known by their people.

4.  New business models.  Your employees can work for you all over the world now.  Business models are becoming flatter, meaning hierarchy and large management structures are not as needed.  They often create difficult ways to get real business done.  You can chose a brand new business model for your industry and still remain small.

These are my thoughts.  Am I off my rocker?  What do you think?  Leave it in the comments above.

The podcast mentioned two reasons consumers and companies incur debt:

1.  If their desired spending exceeds their desired income. Stupid.  Listen to some Dave Ramsey rants to figure out you need to lower your “desired spending” below your current income.

2.  If they believe they can use the borrowed money to invest in a higher future return. This was a practice started in the 70s (according to the podcast), and typically worked out well.  Taking on debt now, and investing it in a good business idea returned a pretty good return as your business grew.

But that was then…

1.  Debt is NOT as good an investment as it used to be.  I don’t believe #2 above is true anymore.  Our economy changed a couple of years ago (if you didn’t notice), and I don’t believe we are going to be what we were before the downturn.  Though our economy has shown some signs of a rebound, I believe they are subsidized signs by our government pumping money into people buying new homes and hiring new workers.  It’s not real yet.  And I believe it’s going to take some time to truly rebound.  So I definitely would NOT invest in debt now and expect a good return within 5 years.  It’s not a safe bet.

2.  Pay off your debt.  If you have to grow slower, then do it to pay off your debt.  In 5 years you will be the wiser consumer if you make changes now to solidify your cash position.  And if there is going to be another downturn in the future (and there almost certainly will be) then you will be in a cash position to benefit from everyone else that is leveraged to the hilt.  I have some debt too and I have given the next 5 years to get this paid off to be more agile and stronger in the future.  I know that investment (i.e., paying off debt) is the best investment I can make now.