The Pats Picks

Marcus Newbery: 31-21
Michael Sack: 31-17
Nicholas Lewis: 35-7
Mario Ponte: 28-24
Matt Picard: 24-17, RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis w/ 2 touchdowns
Mike Child: 27-21, QB Tom Brady MVP and one wardrobe malfunction for Madonna
Ben Wendt: 31-27
James Phelps: 23-20
William Beltre: 45-10
Robin Franks: 24-21, coin toss will be heads, QB Eli Manning sacked at least three times
Ed O’ Donnell: 35-31
Hillary Perron: 37-33, TE Rob Gronkowski MVP
Matt Goyette: 31-13, Gronk with 2 touchdowns
Joseph Hennigar: 37-24
Eric Meffert: 35-31, WR/CB Julian Edelman with a defensive turnover
Daniel Brittan: 31-24, Brady MVP
Melissa Whiteman: 38-31
Mike Willerer: 34-30, Giants win coin toss and up 20-13 at half
Josh Rasch: 27-24
James Thompson: 31-17, WRs Chad Ochocinco and Deion Branch with TDs, Green-Ellis and Brady each run one in
Marc Williams: 24-17
Karen Gearwar: 37-35
Jason Gallison: 27-24, game-winning field goal in overtime, Eli Manning left in tears
Charles Malcolm: 31-24
Robert Maciorowski: 31-21, coin toss heads, Gronkowski will play, Madonna will be blonde
Matt Sullivan: 34-30
Dave Choate: 35-27, Brady MVP

The Giants Picks

Jeff McEachern: 31-30
John Donohue: 24-21, WR Victor Cruz MVP
Adam Grupp: 34-17
Casie Paterson: 24-21
Ashley Wise: 34-26

The Other Picks

Benjamin Watts: Da Bearss
Tim Teitsworth: “I think a miracle will happen and Tebow’s Broncos will win”
Elizabeth Luekens: “I predict that I will only pay attention to the commercials”

Share your pick in the comments!

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For many moons, the medical industry has relied on paper records. As computers began to dominate the world in the last quarter of the 20th century and beyond, that insistence on sticking to paper became archaic. As a result, the last decade has seen doctor’s offices and hospitals across the country switching over to electronic filing systems.

Mandates have sped up that process, as Direct Capital’s John-Paul Smolenski told me back in late September:

“A lot of MDs are financing their Electronic Medical Records, which is the software they need for treating patients and recording the data instead of filing everything in paperwork and storage cabinets,” Smolenski said. “Every doctor is mandated to have the software by 2014. If they don’t, they will start to be penalized for it.”

So this change is as inevitable as the tide. But the systems in place are not yet perfect.

The Improvements

The one hurdle that remains is this: Once you have these electronic medical records systems, how do you link them up with those in other offices?

One of the great advantages of having everything available electronically is how easy it would be to move records to where they need to go, e.g., from a doctor’s office to a hospital providing emergency care to a sick patient. There’s privacy concerns associated with that, of course, but ultimately there are significant benefits as well. Plus the fact that you don’t need boxes upon boxes of paper records clogging up the office, which requires a little more time and effort than it’s worth.

This is the hurdle everyone needs to clear. With so many medical offices being required by federal law to get the new records-keeping system in place by 2014, it’s going to become imperative to link them up in a meaningful way.

Speaking of equipment financing, if you’re an office in need of an electronic medical records overhaul, give Direct Capital a buzz. We may just be able to help.

What are your thoughts on EMRs?

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BizEngine has explored this phenomenon for small businesses before, and it’s worth noting the lessons therein. No matter how well things are going in this country, the tiniest shard of bad news can change someone’s outlook. If that happens to enough people—and it has, many times, in the last four years—then you wind up with a dip in confidence. It’s not something to panic over.

That doesn’t mean you can’t do your part to improve consumer confidence in your business. Not only will that make for happier customers with opened wallets, but you’ll be contributing to the economic recovery in your own way. That’s a true win-win.

So how do you do that?

How To Make A Customer Confident

1. Be upfront. If your customer knows what your business does, knows your reputation, knows your pricing and is comfortable with all of that, they’re a confidence consumer.
2. Show that you have confidence in your business. Have your accolades front and center, put your testimonials on your website, market smartly and offer good deals. When customers see that you’re rolling along, they’ll feel good about buying from you.
3. Speak with customers. It doesn’t matter if it is you ultimately having the conversation or a trusted staff member. Customers simply feel better about companies they have familiarity with. You’re already putting yourself out there on your website and in descriptions of your store, so seal the deal by offering a personable shopping experience.

All of this is fairly common-sense stuff, so if your small business isn’t doing it already, now’s a great time to start. You’d be surprised at how easy it is to win over a customer and how easy it is to put one off. Create confident, happy customers at your store.

Do you have more advice for your fellow small business owners in this vein?

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So you need to know what you’re looking for, how to get the financing you need and how to walk away with equipment that can keep your business thriving. That can seem awfully daunting.

I’d like to point you toward one of our eBooks, which is as valuable today as it was when we first published it. Inside, you’ll find eight things you need to know about buying equipment. You’ll learn more about the advantages and disadvantages of buying locally versus nationally, and how to get the equipment financing you’ll need.

Let us know what you think of it after checking it out.

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You are by your very nature a David in a world of Goliaths, or a small shop in a galaxy of Wal-Marts. You have to fight to make yourself heard and to find and keep customers, and you need to know how to play your position to achieve your fundamental goals.

With a hat tip to my always helpful boss, I’ll point you toward this Tennessean column about the one thing that truly separates small businesses from their bigger cousins: Service. Where your average chain supermarket, restaurant or store has a reputation for being a soulless corporate entity that will slash prices but won’t pay an employee to be friendly with you, small businesses have a carefully cultivated image as places where people know your name and will take the time to help you find what you’re looking for.

So many businesses seem to have trouble grasping this basic concept. If you’re not providing quality customer service every step of the way, you’re losing your most significant advantage over your larger competitors. If you don’t build a loyal customer base…well, you don’t have a bright future, if I may be blunt.

We won’t leave you hanging, though. Here’s a few tips for ensuring your customer service is so superlative that your regulars practically swoon in the face of it. That’s true if your products are bicycles or working capital.

1. Hire only the enthusiastic. You can get plenty of good employees who basically have no personality and no desire to engage in a meaningful way with customers. You could also hire a robot. If your guys and gals are going to be dealing directly with customers, pick ones who care.
2. Craft guidelines. You don’t want glassy-eyed employees sticking to a script, but give them a sense of how to talk to customers. Get to know your target audience and learn to start conversations in a familiar way, with variations according to what that particular person needs. Let you employee know what the standards are.
3. Work to solve problems. Nothing is more grating than a business that pledges to take care of any issues that arise with their products and services and then backpedals furiously away from a guarantee. Be honest, be forthright and work to get it done. Even if it turns out that you can’t solve their problems, customers will walk away with the sense that you give a damn about them. That encourages them to come back.
4. Don’t let customer service stop at the door. You don’t want to harass your customers from afar, but checking up to see how they enjoyed their latest trip to your store or what they recently purchased can be helpful. Follow up by offering e-mail coupon offers and the latest sales to keep customers on the hook and informed of what you’re up to.

Have more tips to share with your fellow business owners and employees? Make them known in the comments, if you please.

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Free eBook: Credit Readiness

Are You Approvable?

Every business owner has a list of projects that require financing. When the times comes, will you be approved? This ebook will help you prepare, and protect, your credit.

Download the ebook today!

Bitingly funny and the man with more franchise knowledge in his brain than most companies have in their brain trust, Libava runs The Franchise King website, speaks to and counsels franchisees every day and just wrote the extremely useful book Become A Franchise Owner! I’m reading that book as we speak and will have a review of it down the line.

But I digress. I’m writing this because we have the honor and privilege of pairing with FranchWire to bring The Franchise King aboard for a pair of webinars, the first of which is next Tuesday at 1 p.m. In the first “Should You Become A Franchise Owner?” webinar, Libava will explain the benefits of becoming a franchisee, the challenges you’ll have to overcome and how to ensure it’s the right fit for you.

You’d expect to pay for that, but this webinar is free. If you’ve ever considered a move into the world of franchise or you just want to hear great advice from a guru who really knows his stuff, you’ll want to check it out.

Sign up here today.

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For small businesses, though, it’s a bigger deal. Here at Direct Capital—and I suspect at your offices—an awful lot of mail comes through on a regular basis, a lot of it important. How do you get around a reduction of service?

Easy. Go online.

How The Internet Can Save Your Business Time And Money

Traditionally, you’ve had to run your packages to the post office. You’ve had to slap stamps on those letters and wrestle those bill stubs back into envelopes. It’s not exactly the most time-consuming, money-draining activity on the planet, but it’s nobody’s idea of a good time.

If you’re lucky, you have someone in-house who can take care of these things. But the point is this: In today’s digital age, even your mail can be (mostly) handled online.

For example, you can ship a package. Or, if you’re so inclined, track your mail. Or even calculate the price of your business mailings online. No longer will you be the guy in line, and by doing so, you also lessen the load on the Postal Service’s suddenly strapped workforce.

It will save you a little money and a lot of time. At the end of the day, that’s the best way to come out of this new era of the U.S. Postal Service a winner.

Do you use the U.S. Postal Service’s online services?

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Create an Expanding File for Deductions

Now, create a deductions folder.  This folder is going to include all of your deductions for property taxes, charitable giving and mortgage interest.  There can certainly be more, but you get the idea.

• Mortgage Interest – For most itemizers, the mortgage interest is the largest deduction on Schedule A.  Your bank will send you a form 1098.  If you made an extra mortgage payment at the end of last year to increase that interest amount, make sure it’s counted. Sometimes lenders use automatic reporting programs that overlook extra payments. You can still claim the extra interest; just make sure you document it in case the IRS follows up.

Mortgage interest isn’t limited to your primary residence. If you have a vacation home that serves as your second home, interest on that loan will be on a separate Form 1098.

And don’t forget the interest you paid on a home equity loan.  That will be another 1098.

• Real Estate and Property Taxes – Real estate taxes may be reported on your 1098 from the bank or it may be a separate bill from the city or county.  If your state or county charges a personal property tax, keep that receipt. Most often, this tax is on autos, so if you pay, make sure the collecting tax agency sends you a statement showing how much so you can put it on your Schedule A.

• Medical expenses - Keep tabs on the receipts and fees for all things medical. This includes (but is not limited to) your out-of-pocket health insurance premiums, dentist visits, and eyeglasses and co-pays.  Your expenses have to exceed 7.5% (10% beginning in 2013) of your adjusted gross income before they give you any tax benefit.  But even if you may not be able to use it on your tax return, you will need the receipts if you have a Flexible Spending Account through your employer.

• Education Credits – For your children who are enrolled in college, you will receive a form 1098-T for the tuition and fees you paid.  They can be used to claim a credit for college expenses if they meet the requirements established by the Internal Revenue Service.

• Work Expenses - Did you look for a new job last year? Kept your job, but had to shell out for work-related items and never got paid back? Move to take a new job?

All of these situations can help reduce your tax bill provided you have the documentation. In the case of job searches, find those receipts for anything related to your hunt — as long as you are looking for work in the same field.

If you kept your current job but had to pay for some items that your boss did not reimburse you for such as travel expenses, uniforms, union dues, tools, equipment and professional subscriptions, these can be deducted as miscellaneous items on Schedule A. As with medical expenses, there is a limit of 2% of adjusted gross income that has to be exceeded before it provides a tax benefit. Again, you will need the receipts so go through your paperwork collection carefully.

• Casualty and Theft Losses – If you suffered an economic loss from a casualty or theft, you will need to prove your loss in order to claim a deduction.  Collect records of the current fair market value of the property and keep insurance records if you are reimbursed.

• Gambling Losses – These can be used to offset your gambling winnings.  Generally, if you win more than $600 from gambling, $1,200 or more from bingo or slots or $1,500 or more from Keno, you will receive form W-2G by January 31.  You can reduce the amount of taxable income if you have receipts for losses up to amount of winnings.

• Cancellation of Debt – If all or a portion of your debt is forgiven by a lender, the amount is reported on Form 1099-C. The amount forgiven should be reported as taxable income. However, if the debt is related to your primary residence, you are insolvent or you filed bankruptcy, all or a portion of the amount forgiven may be excluded from tax.  Especially if you are insolvent, it will be important to have documents to prove that point.

• Child Care – If you paid a child care provider, you will need receipts for those payments as well as the name, address, and social security number of the provider.

• Charitable donations – Cash donations can be deducted but you need a receipt from the organization.  Non-cash charitable contributions, such as clothes, books, house ware and furniture can also be deducted but you will need a detailed description of the items that are donated and a fair market valuation.  Since Goodwill and other organizations will not value your donations, simply getting a pre-printed receipt is not sufficient to sustain the deduction. Non-cash donations of $5,000 or more will need to be valued by a qualified appraiser.  So if you do not have those receipts, this would be a good time to track them down.

If you drove your automobile for a charitable purpose, that too can be deducted but you would need to maintain a mileage log that shows the miles traveled and the purpose.

• Miscellaneous deductions – Any money you spend on financial planners, tax advisers and tax preparation (even computer programs) can be a tax write-off. Safe deposit rentals and IRA custodial fees, if paid separately and not deducted from your account, are also allowed. Legal fees and expenses are deducible if they are related to producing or collecting taxable income. So be sure to keep track of these items as well.

Direct Capital has made a special arrangement for you to attend a FREE tax webinar about how to reduce your 2011 taxes. Register here: http://corporatetaxnetwork.com/directcapital

About the Author
Bert Seither is Director of Operations at Corporate Tax Network, a full-service CPA and Accounting firm that specializes in helping small to medium sized businesses position their taxes, financial statements and business plans for business loans. Corporate Tax Network has accountants, CPAs, and Enrolled Agents for all 50 states in the U.S.

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It’s hard to believe this but the tax filing season is here again.  Rather than wait until March or April to get organized, you might want to begin your preparation now to ensure a timely and accurate filing of your tax returns and before time pressure builds.  Here are a couple of tips to keep in mind.

Create an Expanding File for Income

Create an accordion file with tabs to store statements you will get this month of January. Label the sections for W2 and Wage Statements, Investments, Mortgage, and so on. If you receive a monthly statement, such as from your brokerage account, or your pay stub, put in the most current statement and set aside the previous one.

Always keep the December statement because you will need it to check the full year-end statement you will receive later.  Make sure to continue to update these files throughout the year so you don’t find yourself frantically searching for documents when it comes time to file.

• Employee and Independent Contractors – If you are an employee, your W-2 needs to be issued to you by January 31.  Check it against that last pay stub to make sure the W-2 data is correct. If you are an independent contractor, you should receive a form 1099-Misc by the same date.

• Investments - You will have to keep track of interest income, dividends, and capital gains or losses. All brokerage firms will issue a year-end statement usually around the end of January that will show interest (1099-INT), dividends (1099-DIV) and Gross Proceeds (1099-B).  The 1099-B will show the amount you received when you sold stocks or bonds.  Look closely to see if the report also shows what your “basis”, or cost of those investments was.  Brokerage firms are not yet required to report that information, although some do so.  But it is necessary to calculate gains or losses and if that information is not reported, or it is incorrect, it will be up to you to prove what you paid for an investment and that may mean hunting down prior year statements.

• Retirement distributions – Distributions from pensions, 401Ks and IRAs are reported on form 1099-R, so file them in a separate section of your folder.

• Rental Property – If you had rental property, you should be maintaining a monthly record of income and expenses so they can be combined for a year-end summary.  You will receive a mortgage statement from the bank and a real estate receipt from the city, so check them with your numbers. Most other expenses will normally be paid through your bank account and you need to go through those bank statements and pull the checks that relate to the property.   These expenses can be used to offset your rent income, and that means less of your investment property earnings are taxable.  However, the IRS will disallow claimed expenses that you cannot substantiate.

• State Refunds and Unemployment Compensation – If you received a state tax refund or collected unemployment, those amounts will be reported on  Form 1099-G.  The form is sent to the IRS so hang on to your copy and report it.  Depending on the amount of unemployment and your prior year’s tax refund, all or a portion of those amounts may be taxable.

Check back in with us tomorrow for the second half of Seither’s post. Thanks for reading!

Direct Capital has made a special arrangement for you to attend a FREE tax webinar about how to reduce your 2011 taxes. Register here: http://corporatetaxnetwork.com/directcapital

About the Author
Bert Seither is Director of Operations at Corporate Tax Network, a full-service CPA and Accounting firm that specializes in helping small to medium sized businesses position their taxes, financial statements and business plans for business loans. Corporate Tax Network has accountants, CPAs, and Enrolled Agents for all 50 states in the U.S.

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When we last took a look at machine tools, the industry was doing blockbuster business.The demand for machine tools—which include milling machines and lathes—was so high that production was still struggling to keep up.

But that was September, and this is January 2012. What’s changed in the last few months?

Where The Industry Stands

One stat stands out overall: Machine tool orders are up nearly 74% over 2010, according to the American Tool Distributors’ Association and The Association for Manufacturing Technology.

“Manufacturing technology orders slowed slightly in November, but maintained their sprint toward the 2011 finish line thanks to the bonus depreciation tax incentive,” said Peter Borden, AMTDA president.

Obviously this bodes well for 2012, regardless of the end-of-the-year slowdown.

The other big issue is not that manufacturing is slowing down—it isn’t—but that demand continues to outstrip supply. Obviously that’s healthy, but those waiting probably will be tapping their feet in the next few months.

“Over the course of 2011 the available used machine inventory declined (as used machines were consumed in the market) and that forced increase in new machine tool orders as there was not an alternative even though lead time was still extended.  Buyers just had to deal with the lead time it if they wanted a machine.  So new machine tool orders continue to increase even thought the lead times are still pretty long,” Adler told us.

So the overall picture is of an industry with booming demand and quality sales. So what’s next?

Where The Industry Is Going

We’re not prognosticators by nature, but it would take a hell of a crash to kill off the machine tool momentum.

In fact, it’s fair to assume that given how strong demand has been, it will continue to grow. At some point supply will catch up with demand, but I can’t see it happening in the next twelve months. That’s especially true when you consider that used machine inventory is also running low at the moment, again due to that omnipresent demand that’s leading to customers and vendors snapping up machine tools all over the country.

“Machine tools will continue to be a hot market segment in 2012,” Adler said, “and that’s a great thing.”

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