Economy

Working with a small budget? Need ways to cut back on operational costs in an effort to increase profit? Owners of small businesses don’t have the same financial luxuries of a large organization.  As such they must make economic decisions that will allow them to save money while still providing the same quality of products and/or services. There are essentially hundreds of ways in which you can cut back on your overhead costs.  However, some of them may require a large initial investment or an array of resources you may not have at the moment.

The good news is, however, modern technology has made some money saving options a lot easier for small business owners to accomplish. Here are five considerations.

1.  Outsource Instead of Hiring

There’s more to hiring an employee than just paying for their salaries. As a business owner you would also be required to pay employee taxes, insurance costs, and more which can add up on a small budget. Not to mention the costs of office space, furniture, and training for a new employee to start. However, if you were to hire a freelance contractor or outsource certain aspects of your business, you will come off a lot cheaper.

Read more5 Simplistic Ways Small Businesses Can Save Money

The United States of America is almost 320 million people strong. We live spread out across a diverse slab of land stretching almost 3000 miles across, not counting our noncontiguous states and territories. Our armed forces are stationed on 662 bases in 38 foreign countries and on 19 aircraft carriers traversing the high seas.  Why do we pay taxes? Because this stuff is expensive to maintain.

Taxes Pay For Things

How expensive? Try almost four trillion dollars in 2015 alone. And that’s just federal spending. It’s a sum of money we can’t even fathom – is there even that much cold hard cash in circulation? At that level the individual dollar, and even the individual million dollars, is a fleck of paint on the Sistine Chapel.

Read moreWhy We Pay Taxes

To paraphrase Jim Croce:

You don’t tug on superman’s cape
Don’t spit into the wind
You don’t pull the mask off that old lone ranger
And you don’t mess around with the IRS

At least, that’s how Al Capone would have sang it. The Department of Education, on the other hand… Go nuts. They’ve never educated a single person. And they have never put anyone in prison. The IRS has routinely done both. They have the power to give you an education in finance and consequences that you never wanted, and they can take you from your office directly to the penn without passing go, or collecting $200. These reasons should encourage you to avoid IRS attention in the form of an audit after tax season. Here’s how:

Read moreAvoiding Audits After Tax Season

Most people know that the USA no longer leads the world in education.  However, few Americans realize how literacy levels have fallen compared to other countries.

A report by the Education Testing Service (ETS) outlines how the drop in educational standards is much worse than most people imagine. This review analyzes information gathered by the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

According to the report, America’s Skills Challenge: Millennials and the Future:

Recent research reveals an apparent paradox for U.S. millennials (born after 1980, ages 16–34).  While they might be the most educated generation ever, scores do not match.  They consistently score below many of their international peers in literacy, numeracy and problem solving in technology-rich environments. As a country, simply providing more education may not be the answer. There needs to be a greater focus on skills — not just educational attainment — or we are likely to experience adverse consequences that could undermine the fabric of our democracy and community. Real world career building skills are important.  Someone going into PR or marketing would benefit from public speaking and writing classes.

Read moreUS Heading For Economic Problems If Literacy Levels Stay Low