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What Assets Are Usually Sold with Business?
Recently I valued a business for a reader and he asked, “Is it common for the seller to finance?” Well, it’s not uncommon but it’s most commonly done for a family member or a long-term employee rather than a stranger. That brought up his other very common question about equipment loans. “Does the seller deduct […]
Read More »A Plan for Your Vacation
We owners tend to grant vacation time to employees and then sorta feel like they’re disloyal if they take it because, quite frankly, it means we have to do the work that they would normally do. Not only that but their vacation always happens to be at the worst time possible – when our customers […]
Read More »How to say what you don’t want to say
None of us like confrontations, least not business owners regardless of how ruff and gruff they appear. So how do you deliver a message that you really don’t want to deliver? I don’t have all the answers, but I do have one and here it is: write a script. No, not a lengthy melodramatic script. […]
Read More »How About Breaks?
Reader writes -> Hi Tom! As usual – great reading. Could you address best practice with regards to breaks (smoking or otherwise) and lunch breaks? Tom replies -> Be glad to do so. First, there should be no such thing in your business as a smoke break (see below). Second, breaks aren’t required by federal […]
Read More »We Don’t Get to Choose Who is Independent Contractor
Reader Writes -> Hi Tom: During our busy season we call in people to help in production. These folks may work three to forty hours depending on our needs. I resist adding them to payroll; rather I pay them as contract labor, providing a 1099 at year’s end. But I have too many in this […]
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