by Leif Jensen | May 8, 2024 | Running a Business |
As I was reading a biography om Hershey and Mars, I learned that three chocolate companies that were started in the late 19th century are still in existence. I was flabbergasted. Since the book was written in the 1990’s, I thought I needed to verify that they do...
by Leif Jensen | May 6, 2024 | Running a Business |
Most true entrepreneurs will crash and burn several times before they find the correct course for themselves. In fact, I feel that I cheated a bit, I slowly moved into my own business, it started as a side gig. Then, I had a worked as fractional CFO for a couple of...
by Leif Jensen | May 1, 2024 | Rant |
You own your own business and make a decent living. Could you sell your business if you wanted to? Of do you actually own a job with client(s) who would leave if you thought about selling? I know a number of franchises are really built around owning a job and...
by Leif Jensen | Apr 29, 2024 | Money Management |
I have been working with clients this tax season, who are well into the top 10% of US taxpayers, none of them consider themselves wealthy. Even those whom I know are the truly wealthy. During a recent webinar, they defined real wealth by having passive income...
by Leif Jensen | Apr 24, 2024 | Employees, Rant |
Have you ever run into a friend or colleague or employee who was under the belief that they were so integral to the business that no one could ever replace them? I have known many over the years. All of them are wrong. Everyone is replaceable, no one is that...
by Leif Jensen | Apr 22, 2024 | Investing |
Years ago, I met a gentleman who wanted to learn the fundamentals of options trading. He was aware of the nightmare that options trading can have to an individual’s tax return. Basically, needing to hire a tax professional to prepare the return. Being a thrifty...
by Leif Jensen | Apr 17, 2024 | Taxes |
This tax season we are having more and more clients having a significant tax liability; some federal, some state or both. Some clients who have been having liabilities are planning to adjust their withholding. I hope they follow through. For most we give them...
by Leif Jensen | Apr 15, 2024 | Running a Business |
One of my clients recently had to let go of an employee who had some unpleasant business in their background. Their hiring process are lax and they had no reviews are ever done on any of the employees. I hope that they step up their process. For my lemonade stand,...
by Leif Jensen | Apr 10, 2024 | Investing, Money Management |
What passive income streams have you set up for yourself? If you haven’t done any yet, are you planning on doing any? I have some old insurance dogs and financial advisors, who wake up January 1, knowing that they will be making six to seven figures without really...
by Leif Jensen | Apr 8, 2024 | Running a Business |
I am reading a biography of the Mars and Hershey companies and their namesakes who ran the businesses. In both cases they were seeming always looking to the future of their businesses. In contrast, I have a client who is aware of a problem approaching in their...
by Leif Jensen | Apr 3, 2024 | Employees |
The Dept. of Labor has finalized its new independent contractor rule. It will take effect March 11 and largely hews to the draft regs the agency proposed in Oct. 2022. The rule includes six nonexhaustive factors officials will use to determine whether a worker should...
by Leif Jensen | Mar 27, 2024 | Rant |
The recent changes over the past few years are making it ever more difficult to cheat on your taxes. This in one way is a good thing and in another a bad thing. Yes, everyone should be paying their fair share of taxes. All income is taxable and needs to be reported...
by Leif Jensen | Mar 25, 2024 | Taxes |
If you use QuickBooks Payroll to do your payroll that’s fine. Made sure you are downloading all of the quarterly reports and keeping them safe. We had one client who used the QB service, did not save the files, then went out of business. Two years later the IRS was...
by Leif Jensen | Mar 20, 2024 | Running a Business |
We currently use QB Accountant payroll for those clients we prepare payroll for. We are limited to 50 payrolls, and we are practically at that limit. So, we have all the fun of doing payroll as well as the quarterly and annual reports associated with payroll. This...
by Leif Jensen | Mar 18, 2024 | Running a Business |
We have picked up a couple of new clients that want to deduct their household expenses as business expenses. They have an office that they rent, but also want to write off their mortgage. They state they work from home. True they may do some work on their business...
by Leif Jensen | Mar 13, 2024 | General |
Elk Grove has plans for growing its industrial park in prominence. Elk Grove Village has plans to become the largest server farm in the country. It started with a tenant in a complex on Higgins not far from my office. The business liaison explained that the first...
by Leif Jensen | Mar 11, 2024 | Rant |
Des Plaines must have the worst building requirement ever. I don’t see these stupid moves anywhere else. I know of two new constructions that apparently start on the boundary line of the property. There were existing building standing and now these new building have...
by Leif Jensen | Mar 6, 2024 | Advertising |
I had a radio station contact me about sharing some information, I replied I had no expertise in the area, but they wanted to meet. Yes, I knew I was going to get a sales pitch. I was impressed with the station and their operations; the station ran on two different...
by Leif Jensen | Mar 4, 2024 | Rant |
I was meeting a client at their location, and I asked why they were renting instead of owning their own location. Especially with their rent costs. In the past they had owned their own buildings, but now where they were located, single small businesses were no longer...
by Leif Jensen | Feb 28, 2024 | Running a Business |
I started working with a new client and she stated in a moment of aggravation that when you start a business there are no manuals available to explain things to new entrepreneurs. Information is all over the internet, some great, some good, some bad and some very bad…...
