Hiring an accountant for your business is like hiring a plumber for your pipes. Sure you could do it yourself but wouldn’t you rather hire an expert? One of the many reasons people struggle to handle their own accounting is the fear of trusting their finances and personal information to a stranger. That is certainly an understandable reason to hesitate however there are measures you can take to hire an accountant you can trust for your business.

Step One: Determine what you need an accountant to do. Do you need them to handle pay-ables and receivables or are you more concerned about quarterly tax filings? Are you looking for someone to compile financial statements on a regular basis or to simply perform the task once in order to apply for a business loan or to present to investors? Define what you need an accountant to do before you set out to find one you can trust.

Step Two: Ask for referrals. One of the best ways to find any kind of provider whether it is a ghostwriter, attorney or an accountant is to ask people you know and trust for referrals. The presumption being, of course, that the accountant has an established history working with people you know and trust and is therefore trustworthy for your business needs too.

Step Three: Schedule an appointment. You have your list of the tasks or responsibilities you need an accountant to handle, once you have a handful of potential accountants to contact, start at the top of the list and make appointments to meet with them for a consultation. This doesn’t have to be face to face and in our virtual world it often isn’t however scheduling a bit of time to chat with a potential accountant.

Step Four: Ask questions. In addition to making sure they’re ready, willing, and able to take you on as a client, make sure they have experience with your sized business, the tasks you need accomplished, and that they have the time available in their schedule to be responsive to your needs. It’s important to find an accountant who isn’t just trustworthy but who also isn’t too busy to return your calls.

Step Five: Recommendations. Ask your potential account who they’ve done business with and if you have questions about them don’t be afraid to also ask for recommendations or people you can contact to make sure this is the right accountant for you.

Step Six: Establish a system of how communication and documentation are going to work. If you set this up ahead of time you will know when to anticipate a call back from your accountant or when you need to have your paperwork together for your quarterly returns.

Step Seven: Shake hands, sign agreements and take the necessary precautions to ensure a professional and accountable relationship on both sides.

Conclusion

Hiring an accountant you trust can be an intimidating process however there are steps to take to ensure you’ve found not only an honest accountant but one that will work well with you and your business.

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Attorneys come in every shape, size, and purpose. There are contract attorneys, estate planning, family law, corporate attorneys, litigation, patent law, real estate and so on. Before you can set out on the search for legal help for your online business, it is first important to determine what type of attorney you need.

Once you know what kind of legal help you need, it’s easier to find a match for your specialty. Here’s where to look:

Referrals. One of the best ways to find great legal help is to ask friends, family, and associates who they like to work with or who they know. Not only will this likely give you a list of trusted legal help, when you’ve been referred by a client, it may give you a little wiggle room with fees.

Online directories. There are a huge number of listings and directories online. Each one generally lists attorneys by several categories including specialty and location. One notable directory of attorneys and legal advisors is Nolo.

Lawyer referral services. These services generally require attorneys to register to belong to the referral service and the attorneys are also generally screened quite thoroughly.

Networking groups. Both online and off, business associations, forums, membership sites and local chamber of commerce meetings can generate a number of options for legal help recommendations. If you’re in a very unique industry and have specialized legal needs then starting with associates in your industry is likely the best first step.

Once you have a list of potential attorneys, it’s time to screen them to find the attorney right for you and your business needs.

Schedule a time to talk. Personality, communication habits, and demeanor are all important when seeking an expert to help you and your business. Take a few minutes to chat with any potential advisors.

• Ask plenty of questions including have they worked in your industry?
• Have they worked with your sized company before?
• What is their experience with your issues?
• What companies have they worked with?
• Can you contact any of their clients?
• How quickly can they turn around your project?
• Will they be doing the work themselves or will it
  be handed to someone in their firm or office?

Request an estimate of fees before you get started with actual work.

Conclusion

As you can see, finding legal help for your online business, is an essential necessity. It is also important to build a positive relationship with an attorney, in order to ensure your online business needs can and will be handled as needed. Rather than waiting until you have a pending legal issue, take the time to find a great attorney ahead of time. If something comes up that is out of their realm of experience, they can most certainly recommend a specialist to help you.

Your business isn’t growing. There are a number of reasons why it has happened.

• Maybe it’s because you’ve lost your passion.
• Maybe you’re overwhelmed.
• Maybe you just don’t have enough time.
• Maybe you’re disorganized.
• Maybe your staff is inefficient (or maybe you are)

Maybe you don’t know how to grow your business to the next level (or maybe you don’t want to do what it takes)

Regardless of the reason why your business isn’t growing, it’s time to stop making excuses and do something about it. You worked REALLY hard to get to this point. You spent time, money, and a lot of energy to build your business. Certainly you’re not going to let it fritter away.

Here’s how to stop making excuses for why your business isn’t growing:

Step 1. Figure out why it isn’t growing. Perhaps your product line is stagnant. Perhaps you’re only reaching 10% of your eligible prospects. Perhaps your sales page isn’t converting or your advertising campaign isn’t reaching the right people. The first step to figuring out how to stop making excuses is to honestly examine why it isn’t growing. The reason may reside completely in you – perhaps business got too big too fast and you don’t have time to catch up let alone build your business. This leads us to the next step.

Step 2. Decide if you want your business to grow and if so, by how much? In short, if you do want your business to grow then set goals. If you’re making $50,000 in sales then maybe you want to set a goal of $75,000 in sales. If you have a customer base of 100 regular customers maybe you want to double it. Set reasonable and attainable goals.

Step 3. Analyze what is working to help you attain your goals and what isn’t working. For example, if you want to attain $75,000 in sales but you’re spending 50% of your time on administrative duties then your time isn’t being well spent.

Step 4. Make a plan to eliminate what isn’t working. Using the example in step 3 if you’re spending 50% of your time on administrative tasks then outsourcing some or all of those tasks will free up a significant amount of time. Time you could spend on selling and reaching your new goal.

Step 5. This is the best part. Create a reward for attaining your goals. Part of the motivation to attain a goal, beyond self fulfillment and feeling very proud, is giving yourself a little pat on the back. Some may pat themselves on the back with a two week vacation to Hawaii, others prefer a new pair of shoes or a week off to go camping with their children. Whatever the reward, including it in your plan may be the extra motivation you need to get beyond excuses and into action.

Conclusion

Entrepreneurs are goal oriented, action oriented people. However sometimes life gets a bit out of control and instead of action, excuses fill the void. Regain your entrepreneur spirit, eliminate the roadblocks and hurdles and set new goals. It’s the best way to stop making excuses about why your business isn’t growing and remember why you got into business in the first place.