Good Business Practices – Your Personal Assets

Your personal assets include your own cash, credit and other valuable property such as real estate (your home) and securities. You should always plan to invest in your business using your own personal assets. Be careful not to rely too heavily on financing your business with expensive forms of debt financing, such as credit cards. This is risky and may affect you negatively when the time comes to seek other financing.

Making a list of your personal assets can take up a good amount of time if done correctly, but the effort put towards the list is well worth it in the end. Not only will this list give you an idea of the worth of both your physical and financial assets but can also assist you when planning for retirement and insurance claims.

Separating your personal assets into two categories can be helpful when creating your lists. Typically the two categories are physical and financial. Below are common examples of the various assets that fit those descriptions.

Physical

-Home

-Real Estate

-Electronics

-Vehicles

-Jewelry

-Artwork

Financial

-Savings

-Retirement Accounts

-Life Insurance

-Pension

After compiling your list you will be prepared to face your future financial decisions with the best information available.

Have you ever prepared a list of assets?

Business Owners Guide to Seasonal Hiring

Summer is here and with it brings a multitude of teens, college students and many others looking for employment. Better Business Bureau reminds employers that hiring seasonal workers – regardless of age, involves following many of the laws and regulations that apply to full-time employees.

If you’re hiring seasonal employees, keep in mind:

• State child labor laws differ so it’s important to become familiar with what is allowed – and not allowed in regard to ages, restrictions and allowable types of work for youths and teens 9 and older. Check your state’s website fir specifics.
• Interns – paid or unpaid – should not be treated as replacement employees (even if just for a few months). Have specific tasks or activities designated just for them that would not ordinarily be done by a paid employee. Internships need to be for a specific length of time with no guarantee of a paid position later on.
• Be specific about the job, what it entails and how it should be performed. Don’t differentiate between seasonal and year-round employees, everyone should adhere to company policies and rules and everyone should have their own copy of the company handbook.

Provide safety training at the beginning of employment to ensure seasonal employees understand workplace risks and hazards and what to do if they’re injured on the job.

Seasonal and part-time employees are subject to the same tax withholding rules that apply to other employees.

What other tips can you offer about managing seasonal hires?