Carl's Takeaway Blog today mentioned this Wall Street Journal article about tax preparation for small business.  Carl's conclusion:  "Basically, you need good recordkeeping."  After reading the article, I can say that Carl is right on with his summary.  All the "tips" in the article basically have to do with keeping your company's books in order throughout the year in order to make tax preparation as painless as possible.

Most business owners have dreams of growing their businesses big. If you are one of those business owners that wants to take your business to the next level, have you ever thought about whether or not your business can grow? More specifically, if sales increased 100% a year for the next five years, could your business handle it? Some businesses fail when they finally get the sales they have always wanted, simply because they were not ready. To help ensure you and your business are ready, I want to give you five ways to prepare your business for rapid growth and expansion. These tips do not explain how to grow your business, only how to get your business ready to withstand the growing pains.

No matter what your business is, you may have the right skill set within your company to complete a research project for the federal government. Though the journey is arduous, just about any company will benefit from going through the process of writing a proposal for federal research money. You can find current Request for Proposals (RFP) for the federal government at www.fedbizopps.gov. Each RFP has its own steps to completion, so I decided to give eight things that should be on the “front burner” when you are preparing a proposal.

The very thought of health insurance has many business owners reaching for the Pepto-Bismol. In 2006, employer-based health insurance premiums rose an average of 7.7 percent. Small employers’ premiums went up an average of 8.8 percent. And the worst increase went to the smallest employers, those with less than 24 employees. They saw their premiums increase an average of 10.5 percent! [1]

When discussing hindrances to growth, most business owners point me to their inability to find and keep good help. All these business owners, it seems, are finding people that don’t show up for work, fail to do projects on time, and cause conflict in the workplace. Where do all the "good" employees go?

I will tactfully suggest that if you have a track record of bad employees, the problem may not be *just* with them. It is unlikely that every single person you hire is a bad employee; more likely, you need to work on being a better boss. In keeping with the list theme, take these nine tips to your company, and see if anything changes.

Most of us want to read more books. When it comes down to it, though, finding a book worth reading is harder than finding the time to read. The barrage of fiction, biography, business, self-help, investment, and other books on the shelves is daunting. To be sure, just because someone writes a book and gets it published does not make it worth reading.