ENDING 3/31/13 AT MIDNIGHT

My spouse is jealous of my business.

I know I'm not the first to have this problem. I know I won't be the last. What I do know, is that there's a reason my spouse is feeling the way he's feeling, and I need to make sure I'm addressing that. I need to make sure that I'm not only doing what is best for my business, but also what's best for my marriage. My husband has every right to be upset right now because I have had my own business for only a month so far, and I am new to the whole scene. Because of this, I have spent 10+ hours a day working. I advertise and search for new marketing sites every day. I download free leads and purchase cheap leads every day. I email all of those leads every day. I make sure I'm updating my status on each social media site every day. I call my prospects every day. I make a plan for the next day, every day. I read some of my Dani Johnson training every day. I listen to our conference calls/training calls every day.
Now, the reason I'm writing this blog is because I know so many of us face this problem with our spouses not wanting to support our business and I know some of us immediately get offended and call them selfish and whatnot, but after talking to my husband today I realized I wasn't considering his feelings. He just misses me, it's that simple. And he doesn't completely understand my business and would like to know exactly what I'm doing. So, we worked out a plan to fix this little problem that's been causing us stress and tension and disagreements over the past month.
Firstly, we brainstormed ways that we could fix the problem. See, I can't just simply work when he's working because I babysit in the mornings and by the time I get home and get started it's already 10:30 or 11:00. Then my daughter has to eat and lay down for a nap. THEN, while she naps I try to squeeze in as much as I can before he gets home at 2:30. That's certainly not an 8 hour work day! So, I decided to come up with a set schedule and stick to it no matter what. (With the exception of training calls and calls from prospects.) First, I thought about what tasks were most vital to my success and made sure I allotted sufficient time for them each day. The less vital, but still very important tasks I decided to schedule every other day. And each day at 3:00 it is hubby time, clear til we go to bed! He was so tickled by that part :)
Here's how I have my schedule set up:

Advertising/Networking  Mon:X  Tues:?-12:30  Wed:X  Thurs:?-12:30 Fri:X Sat:2 hrs

Prospect calls  Mon through Fri: 12:30-3

Lead generation  Mon:?-12:30  Tues:X  Wed:?-12:30  Thurs:X  Fri:?-12:30  Sat:X

Training/Studying  Mon-Sun: Daily conference calls, read Dani & listen to recorded calls in spare time.

Hubby time: Mon-Fri: 3:00-? Sat & Sun: All day baby :)







The schedule I printed out and taped to my desk is much more professional looking of course ;) Hope this helps a little for anyone dealing with an angry and jealous spouse. Talk to them and diagnose the real problem, then come up with the solution that works best for both of you! Also, be sure that you maximize the time you have scheduled for your business so that you can be more productive with less time. If it helps, log out of social media and emails, turn off cell phones (unless that's what you use for business calls), "shut the door" to avoid distractions from family and pets, turn off TV, etc.

8 more days to save big!

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Or feel free to contact me with any questions at bizmom.91@gmail.com

Maximize your home office tax deductions

Red flag and IRS — two things you never want to see in the same sentence. If you’re self-employed or have a small business, chances are somewhere along the way, you’ve been told that deducting a portion of your housing costs will be a red flag for an audit.

However, this isn’t necessarily the case. And if you legitimately qualify for the home office deduction, there’s no reason to avoid it. After all, the typical home office deduction will run into the thousands of dollars. It’s substantial and well worth the effort (far more so than scouring your car for a missing receipt for printer ink).

So, how can you make sure you can take as much of a deduction that’s allowed to you, while minimizing your chance of an audit? The key is knowing (and following) the rules. According to the IRS (Publication 587), “To qualify to deduct expenses for business use of your home, you must use part of your home:

• Exclusively and regularly as your principal place of business
• Exclusively and regularly as a place where you meet or deal with patients, clients, or customers in the normal course of your trade or business”

Decoding the Elusive "Exclusive Use"

The word "exclusive" shows up frequently in the IRS definition of a deductible home office. If you use any portion of your home exclusively for business purposes, you’re entitled to claim a home office deduction for that space. But just what does “exclusive” mean? In short, it’s a space that you use solely for your business, and nothing else. For example…

• If you have a blogging business and do the bulk of your writing at the dining room table, you can’t take any deduction for the dining room if you ever eat there, host dinner parties, or use the dining room for anything else other than your blog.
• Let’s say you’re a freelance application developer and have set aside a desk for your workstation and server in the bedroom. You can deduct the area around your desk as your exclusive work space (assuming this space is used only for your business).

Of course, the above examples are rather straightforward and we all know that tax matters are rarely cut and dry when it comes to your business.

For example, let’s say you’re a self-employed designer and rent a studio outside your home. But occasionally, you invite potential clients to your home to review your portfolio in your living room. Since your living room isn’t an exclusive place of business, you can’t deduct this. But, if you designate a spare room in your house as a client meeting area, then you can deduct this area.

Let’s say you’re a plumber who makes house calls. Your primary place of work is in clients’ bathrooms or kitchens. However, you can claim a home office deduction if you use part of your home to handle the bookkeeping, administrative, and other management activities for your business. Again, this space qualifies only if it’s used exclusively for your plumbing business.

If you’re a telecommuting employee (and not an independent contractor), home office deductions get even trickier. In this case, you must be working from home for your employer’s convenience. Let’s say you’re a virtual call center agent or data entry specialist and your company saves money on office space by hiring agents to work from home. In this case, you can deduct your home office space using Form 2016. However, if your employer lets you work from home because your commute is long (and the employer does have office space available for you), then you don’t qualify for the deduction.

Taking Your Deduction

Home office deductions are based on the percentage of your home that is used for business purposes. The first thing you need to do is figure out the total square footage of your home, and then the square footage of the space that’s designated as an exclusive office or working area.

If you use a spare room (180 sq ft.) as an office and your home is 1,900 sq. ft., then you can write off 9.5% of certain home expenses, including: rent or mortgage payments, insurance (homeowners or renters), and utilities. Direct costs relating to the space, such as repairs or paint, can also be deducted.

The rules around other expenses can be a little fuzzy. Can you deduct a stereo as a business expense? What about an expensive painting or a designer rug for your workspace? Tax experts tend to give a few general guidelines for these questions.

Will the expense bring your business more profit (i.e. increase your productivity or sales)? Expensing a desk lamp that helps you see can certainly be defended. If you meet with clients in your home office, then aesthetic elements (like a painting) may be eligible for deduction. However, these expenses should be ordinary and standard, meaning that other business owners would have the same expense at a similar price point.

It’s also important to note that the rules have loosened with regard to how profits are taxed when you sell your home. In the past, if you used 9% of your home as an office (and had been taking the home office deduction), when you sold your house, 9% would not qualify as tax-free under the rules that allow up to $250K tax-free profits for individuals, $500K for joint returns. This no longer applies. However, you do have to pay tax on any profit resulting from depreciation claimed for the office.

What About an S-Corp, C-Corp, or LLC?

The above scenarios apply to self-employed sole proprietors. But let’s say you decided toform an LLC or Corporation in order to separate your personal and business expenses, minimize your personal liability, and perhaps lower your overall taxes. Deducting the use of a home office is handled differently here, but it is still possible. Talking to your accountant will be the easiest way to figure out the most favorable solution for both the corporation and shareholder.

For example, in an S-Corp situation where one of the shareholders uses a home office as his principal office, the corporation can reimburse the shareholder for the home office costs on a monthly basis under an accountable expense reimbursement plan. This becomes a deductible business expense for the corporation.

For more information

• IRS Publication 587 for details on home office tax deductions
• IRS Publication 551 if you claim the business use portion of depreciation on your primary residence
• IRS Publication 523 if you plan to sell the home that was the principal location of your business and you’ve claimed depreciation deductions on the home
• IRS Publication 2106 if you are a telecommuting employee and want to deduct your home office
As with any tax strategy, the best way to avoid trouble is to claim the home office deduction only if you qualify, to deduct only the expenses you’re entitled to, and then thoroughly document all expenses in case the IRS has any questions. And of course, consulting with a qualified tax professional is always a wise move, so make sure you’re following the rules and enjoying all the deductions available to you.

Unemployed?...We've got positions available.

Unemployment is universally recognized as a bad thing. While economists and academics make convincing arguments that there is a certain natural level of unemployment that cannot be erased, elevated unemployment imposes significant costs on the individual, the society and the country. Worse yet, most of the costs are of the dead loss variety where there are no offsetting gains to the costs that everyone must bear. (Depending on how it's measured, the unemployment rate is open to interpretation. Learn how to find the real rate. Check out The Unemployment Rate: Get Real.)

TUTORIAL: Introduction To Accounting 

The Costs to the IndividualThe costs of unemployment to the individual are not hard to imagine. When a person loses his or her job, there is often an immediate impact to that person's standard of living. Prior to the Great Recession, the average savings rate in the U.S. had been drifting down towards zero (and sometimes below), and there are anecdotal reports that the average person is only a few weeks away from serious financial trouble without a paying job. 

Even for those eligible for unemployment benefits and other forms of government assistance (like food assistance), it is often the case that these benefits replace 50% or less of their regular income. That means these people are consuming far less than usual. The economic consequences can go beyond just less consumption, though. Many people will turn to retirement savings in a pinch and draining these savings has long-term ramifications. 

Prolonged unemployment can lead to an erosion of skills, basically robbing the economy of otherwise useful talents. At the same time, the experience of unemployment (either direct or indirect) can alter how workers plan for their futures - prolonged unemployment can lead to greater skepticism and pessimism about the value of education and training and lead to workers being less willing to invest in the long years of training some jobs require. On a similar note, the absence of income created by unemployment can force families to deny educational opportunities to their children and deprive the economy of those future skills. 

Last but not least, there are other costs to the individual. Studies have shown that prolonged unemployment harms the mental health of workers, and can actually worsen physical health and shorten lifespans. 
 
Costs to SocietyThe social costs of unemployment are difficult to calculate, but no less real. When unemployment becomes a pervasive problem, there are often increased calls for protectionism and severe restrictions on immigration. Protectionism can not only lead to destructive tit-for-tat retaliation among countries, but reductions in trade harm the economic well-being of all trading partners. 

Other social costs include how people interact with each other. Studies have shown that times of elevated unemployment often correlate both with less volunteerism and higher crime. Elevated crime makes sense because absent a wage-paying job people may turn to crime to meet their economic needs or simply to alleviate boredom. The volunteerism decline does not have an obvious explanation, but could perhaps be tied to the negative psychological impacts of being jobless or perhaps even resentment at those who do not have a job. 

Costs to the CountryThe economic costs of unemployment are probably more obvious when viewed through the lens of the national checkbook. Unemployment leads to higher payments from state and federal governments for unemployment benefits (in excess of $320 billion through the end of 2010), food assistance, and Medicaid. At the same time, those governments are no longer collecting the same levels of income tax as before - forcing the government to borrow money (which defers the costs and impacts of unemployment into the future) or cut back on other spending (perhaps exacerbating the bad economic situation). 

Unemployment is also a dangerous state for the U.S. economy. Over 70% of what the U.S. economy produces goes to personal consumption and unemployed workers. Even those getting government support cannot spend at prior levels. The production of those workers leaves the economy which reduces the GDP and moves the country away from the efficient allocation of its resources. For those who subscribe to Jean-Baptiste Say's theory that "products are paid for by products," that is a serious issue. 

It is also worth noting that companies pay a price for high unemployment as well. Unemployment benefits are financed largely by taxes assessed on businesses. When unemployment is high, states will often look to replenish their coffers by increasing their taxation on businesses - counter-intuitively discouraging companies from hiring more workers. Not only do companies face less demand for their products, it is also more expensive for them to retain or hire workers. 

The Bottom LineGovernments rightly fret about the consequences of inflation, but unemployment is likewise a serious issue. Apart from the social unrest and disgruntlement that unemployment can produce in the electorate, high unemployment can have a self-perpetuating negative impact on businesses and the economic health of the country.

Worse still, some of the worst effects of unemployment are both subtle and very long-lasting - consumer and business confidence are key to economic recoveries and workers must feel confident in their future to invest in developing the skills (and building the savings) that the economy needs to grow in the future. The costs of unemployment go far beyond the accumulated sums handed out as unemployment insurance benefits. (Preparation can help you land on your feet after getting the "old heave-ho." See Planning For Unemployment.) 


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Work from home

Before work from home:
-I had to deal with co-workers I didn't like.
-I was NEVER happy with the shift I was on, and had a heck of a time trying to get my boss to switch me.
-I couldn't miss work if I was sick or Shelby was sick or I just simply wanted to relax for a few hours before working.
-I felt like I was going nowhere, I was depressed and bored.
-I had an endless list of rules, like I was back in high school.

After work from home:
-I have the most amazing co-workers in the world. I don't know where else you can find the positivity, support, kindness, etc. that I have in my new team!
-I work wherever, whenever I want. I don't have a boss to answer to.
-I can miss a day or half a day if I'm sick or Shelby's sick or I'm tired, whatever!
-The sky is the limit for me now, I am in charge of my financial future!
-No rules!!!!!:)

If you're ready to overcome your excuses, your fears, your doubts, whatever is holding you back...let me know! I'd love to have you on my team!