by Leif Jensen | Oct 4, 2017 | General |
A client’s business has been going through a bit of a transition lately. So we pulled together a monthly and annual listing of their data going back four years; this was to ease the monthly comparison for longer term trends and the annual was just for more basic...
by Leif Jensen | Oct 3, 2017 | General |
A client recently received an audit letter. The IRS apparently did not like the fact that they were able to deduct medical expenses. Now the letter stated that they were also looking into their charitable deduction and mortgage interest. But the IRS receives...
by Leif Jensen | Oct 2, 2017 | General |
With a quarter of the year remaining, now is the time to look towards the year end for tax issues and year end planning. First businesses should be making sure that they have valid up to date W-9’s for all of the Independent Contractors that they utilize. I am also...
by Leif Jensen | Sep 27, 2017 | General |
At times it seems that I have the same conversations over and over again. This occurs when I am meeting with someone who wants to start a business and they already have a preconceived business entity in mind. For those who have been around the block a few...
by Leif Jensen | Sep 26, 2017 | General |
I have a client that is frustrating the hell out of me. A couple of years ago the clients stopped receiving rent checks on their rental property so there was no return on investment (ROI). I strongly encouraged them to address the issue immediately. I was...
by Leif Jensen | Sep 25, 2017 | General |
I have recently opened an account to start a dividend investment strategy. The focus of this account is maximizing the yield of the account. One stock that I have in the account is Oxford Lane Capital; I bought a 100 shares at $109.48. But I am currently looking...
by Leif Jensen | Sep 20, 2017 | General |
I recently rewatched the movie “The Founder” the biopic of Ray Kroc and the beginning of McDonalds. What truly struck me was that originally the initial costs of a McDonald were minimal. The franchises were achievable for lower middle class people. ...
by Leif Jensen | Sep 19, 2017 | General |
“I think the great leaders find partners who basically can exploit their weaknesses but not, kind of, dance on their strengths. Instead of hiring weaker versions of themselves they hire people that are tremendous experts at what they’re not.” – Donny Deutsch ...
by Leif Jensen | Sep 18, 2017 | General |
I have quite a few clients that have been have been purchasing gold and silver coins. Granted we are not talking Scrooge McDuck quantities but more than the average person has. They are not expecting an impending apocalypse but they like to have the coins and bars. ...
by Leif Jensen | Sep 13, 2017 | General |
It is always interesting on how businesses cope with under or over capacity. I had heard that one owner of a printer shop that had opened a restaurant. The employees of the print shop were trained to work all aspects of the restaurant. So that when the...
by Leif Jensen | Sep 12, 2017 | General |
I was recently looking at a new networking group. Since it is a new group I am finding the dynamics very interesting. Most Networking Groups in my experience have fallen into one of two groups; the first is for local personal referrals. Typically any...
by Leif Jensen | Sep 11, 2017 | General |
The FCC had approved plans in 2016 to bar your internet service provider (ISP) from selling your collected online activities. But Congress quickly voted to repeal these changes. So your ISP is making money selling any and all information collected on you to...
by Leif Jensen | Sep 6, 2017 | General |
I was recently at a meeting for Next Level Northwest a business accelerator, there was a presenter who was talking about her business and casually mentioned KPI’s. I don’t think the room took much notice. I don’t think that they took much notice because not...
by Leif Jensen | Sep 5, 2017 | General |
How long and often are you working on your business, versus working in your business? What I mean is, if you are working on your marketing plan, networking or writing blog postings or paying your bills; you are working on your business. If you are...
by Leif Jensen | Aug 30, 2017 | General |
Ok, you have just started your business, who is going to hold you accountable? Do you have the capacity to force yourself to do all of the easy and hard tasks before you to make your business a success? Is your family depending on you to succeed? If so, you...
by Leif Jensen | Aug 29, 2017 | General |
There was a client who struggled with finding a competent department supervisor. Over the years they brought in outside people, they promoted up internal people, they transferred over people from other departments. Nothing worked they struggled to meet minimum...
by Leif Jensen | Aug 28, 2017 | General |
When I started my business I worked out of my house. With small kids the house always looked like a bomb went off, not to mention I am not zoned for client visits. So I had to meet client’s elsewhere. This was a limiting prospect on my business. I had grown...
by Leif Jensen | Aug 23, 2017 | General |
I was reading and I ran across this statement where Congress is looking for more tax revenue: “Employer-paid health premiums aren’t included in an employee’s taxable wages, even though the employer is able to deduct the amounts as a business expense.” ...
by Leif Jensen | Aug 22, 2017 | General |
I am working with a client whose business is going through a transition. While they have years of data, which will assist in determining what is happening in the business, this is not quite enough to answer the questions. I have started pulling the data...
by Leif Jensen | Aug 21, 2017 | General |
I have been asked to sit on a few Board of Directors (BOD) and Board of Advisors (BOA) in my time. Some were Not for Profits some were for private businesses. Surprising the NFP boards were the most difficult to be on, they tend to be more social oriented less...