small business

January 20, 2016 by Eric Butts Leave a Comment

Shark Tank and the Importance of (Realistic) Self-Perception

You need to watch Shark Tank.

I know I’ve said it before, but you seriously should give it a shot if you haven’t seen an episode.

Aside from the entertainment value of my favorite shark Kevin “Mr. Wonderful” O’ Leary, I learn something new or am reminded of key business lessons practically every time I watch.

This weekend, I ended up catching up on the last two episodes. On each episode, an entrant into the Shark Tank stood out for their self-perception, but for completely opposite reasons. [Read more…]

August 24, 2015 by Eric Butts 2 Comments

4 Ways to Manage Finances for Small Business Owners Who Are Looking to Expand

Someone recently sent me a question asking about tips for managing finances for small business owners looking to expand. Small business owners looking to expand face the same fundamental finance problem any other business faces – how to invest in your business while making sure you have enough cash to pay your bills.

You might think that sounds obvious, but if it was so straightforward we wouldn’t have 50% of businesses failing by year 4. Businesses fail for one reason – they run out of money. Unfortunately, running out of money is a symptom of many possible problems and doesn’t necessarily indicate mismanagement of finances.

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May 24, 2014 by Eric Butts Leave a Comment

Intuit Releases New Quickbooks Self-Employment Option…But What Does It Do?

I was considering doing a post on whether or not you should switch to Quickbooks online this week, but I got an email that changed my direction. I recently wrote about how entrepreneurs need to learn accounting, and as if they read my mind, Intuit sends an email for a new version of Quickbooks. It’s called Quickbooks Self-Employment and to be completely honest, I wasn’t sure what it did. Given Quickbook’s position in the bookkeeping software market, it seemed like a good idea to know what they were up to, so I decided to give it a spin. [Read more…]

May 14, 2014 by Eric Butts 1 Comment

Accounting Is The Language of Business and Every Entrepreneur Needs to Learn to Speak It

Every startup needs good accounting! — photo credit: dierken via photopin cc

I live in the San Francisco bay area, land of the start-up, the place where people quit full-time jobs to chase the dream of being bought out by Facebook and never working again. Who can blame these budding entrepreneurs? Every time you turn your tv on, Facebook is either buying or trying to buy some young, unproven company for billions of dollars. Consistently seeing such a lack of buyer’s discretion from cash-heavy potential suitors just makes the dream seem all the more plausible.

So where do you start on this journey to Escape From Cubicle Nation?

First, you need to understand it takes more than just a good idea to run a successful business. No matter what kind of entrepreneur you are, there are some basic accounting things you or someone you hire needs to know to keep your business from imploding.

[Read more…]