My Business Logic

Thousands of small businesses will lose a big refund in the next few weeks without even knowing it.  Don’t let your business be one of them.

One of the recent “stimulus” bills allows taxpayers to carry back their 2008 or 2009 tax losses five years, instead of the normal two years.  Such taxpayers have to elect to do so no later than six months after the original due date for their returns.  That’s Oct. 15 for individuals, who might have losses from their Schedule C business, or for a partnership or S corproation.  The deadline is Sept. 15

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It’s tough to be young and in the business world. Rather than relying solely on my observations on what is the impact of Young Professionals in Iowa’s business world I’ve been seeking the perspective of others, both younger and older, to get their perspectives.

The first person I talked to was Alexander Grgurich, a young professional entrepreneur trying to make his way in the business world. Alex is already on his second successful start-up company and has even dived into actively participating in municipal politics. I asked Alex to give me some insight as to what inspires a twentysomething to become an entrepreneur. – Isaiah McGee

Here is his response:

I’ve been fascinated with entrepreneurship from an early age, selling candy out of my locker or running my own placemat advertising business in high school. I

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How Many in a Baker’s Dozen?

Industry practices and specific relationships may create unwritten contractual terms that bind the parties. This blog has more legal analysis than usual, but read on. Really.

Iowa’s Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) governs transactions in goods. Iowa’s UCC section 554.1303 addresses three principles that may supplement or amend contracts:

• course of performance,
• course of dealing, and
• usage of trade.

Course of Performance: This addresses conduct between the parties in a current contract when:

(a) the agreement of the parties with respect to the transaction involves repeated occasions for performance by a party; and

(b) the other party, with knowledge of the nature of the performance and opportunity for objection to it, accepts the performance or acquiesces in it without objection. To better understand Course of Performance read ABC Metals & Recycling Co., Inc. v. Hig

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Maximizing the value of your business often requires expensive research for about your marketplace and your competition. Much of the information you will need to have is available from one of the many government agencies. Here are some websites:

Market Size

The Census Bureau assigns you a Standard Industrial Code, or the new NorthAmerican Industry Classification System number that describes your service orproduct. By knowing this number, which may be found at www.census.gov/epcd/www/naics.html, you can tap into:   1. Zip code, metropolitan, statewide and national economic trends for your industry   2.The economic analysis for the country as a whole   3.Detailed content information, such as sectors, programs, or data products, from subject      specialists at local or federal census bureau offices

Patent Information

Patent and competitive product information can be found at www.uspto.gov. Using a very p

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Many years ago when I was a freshman in high school, I tried out for the cross country team.

At one of our first races, I remember giving it everything I had in the final sprint for the finish line. Making it through the chute and coming out on the other side, I bent over with hands on my knees gasping for air.

Still feeling nauseous and seeing stars in the corners of my eyes, I felt two sets of hands on either side of me patting me on the back telling me what a great race I had run finishing first out of all the runners in our school. I quickly realized the two people congratulating me were none other than seniors Mindy Star and Amy Feeny.

“Wow!”, I thought. The

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For the last several years access to capital has been tight.  Banks and lending institutions are scared of additional toxic notes they know they might have in their books, preventing them from lending out funds to quality small business borrowers.

Recently, there have been a few reports that big banks and lending institutions are easing up a bit on their lending criteria.  In the midst of our recession you had to be God’s gift to this earth in order to be approved for a business loan.  This proved to put quite a few small business owners out of business.

Instead of having a perfect credit score, a business age that rivals the qualification for a senior citizen discount, and numbers that all small business owners dream of having, you can now be approved for a line of credit or traditional bank loan with less.  SmallBusinessLoans.com is a business loan matchmaking website where they match your small business loan needs with the right lender.  They have just incorporated a 6 step program that guarantees a small business owner 5 vendor trade lines, and 3 business credit cards that only report on your business credit report and not your personal credit report.

Some of the qualifications that you are going to need to be approved for some of these programs at SmallBusinessLoans.com are having a 550 plus credit score, no open bankruptcies, liens, or judgments, and that you are a legitimate business.  If you fall under this criteria, you can easily receive up to $25,000 in vendor lines or business credit lines.

So we are in fact seeing lenders ease up a bit when it comes to business loans and what it takes to be approved.  Small business owners think that banks are the only place to seek financing.  Get on the web and search for private money lenders, credit unions, etc.  There are going to be organizations that take advantage of this opportunity and lend to the small business community.

What has your experience been with business loans in this economy?  What are some of the qualifications the banks are asking you to meet?