Blog: Cash Flow University
Articles to Educate You on Cash Flow
By the experts at MP Star, One Fee Factoring Since 1995
Marketing Communications: Don’t Make these Mistakes!
Your customers and prospects have limited attention spans, which means getting your message them is always a challenge. You might spend weeks or even months fine-tuning what you need to say, and that translates to time, energy and resources you don’t spend on other...
Creative Ways to Grow Your Business: SWOT Analysis
Evaluation methods for judging a business’s prospects for success have come and gone, but the SWOT analysis has been a constant fixture in corporate planning and strategy meetings since the mid-1970s. A SWOT analysis is flexible. It can be equally effective for the...
Four Reasons to Consider Invoice Factoring
Four Reasons to Consider Invoice Factoring Industry estimates place annual invoice factoring at nearly $120 billion annually in the United States, alone. Factoring has been around for centuries, and has helped businesses in at least 70 countries. Factoring has worked...
Guest Column: Ideas to Consider When Raising Startup Capital
Accessing credit and capital is never easy. Banks are typically unwilling to lend to businesses with less than two years of revenues. The drastic reduction in home value has also shrunk the net worth and investable capital base of many investors and entrepreneurs. ...
Your Retirement Plan: Is a SEP the right choice?
The day-to-day challenges of running your business can make it easy to forget about funding your future. But, remember, contributions to qualified retirement plans reduce your taxable income. There are not many win/win situations in business or in life, but a...
Five Tips for Ending Business Checking Account Hassles
A business checking account is like a baseball umpire. You’re barely aware it’s there until something goes wrong. Maybe you’re part of the lucky minority that has enjoyed a seamless, hassle-free relationship with your bank for years. Congratulations! But if you’re...
Doing Business with Uncle Sam: The Pros and Cons
Talk about stimulus! The U.S. government spent nearly $423 billion contracting with small businesses in 2011. Nearly every federal agency, from the defense department ($289 billion), to the Smithsonian Institute ($259 million), enlisted private sector vendors for the...
Dealing with High a Maintenance Customer
“You're the worst kind; you're high maintenance but you think you're low maintenance.” - Harry Burns (Billy Crystal), When Harry Met Sally Whether you call them high maintenance, overly-demanding, or just plain bad, certain customers have a way of forcing you to ask...
Entrepreneur Ideas: Four Tips for Cracking a New Market
The old joke goes something like this: A shoe company sends its chief financial officer and its vice president of sales to a tropical island to gauge the market’s sales potential. They were barely off the plane, when the CFO wrote to the home office, “There’s...
Four Potential Payroll Management Issues for Small Businesses
Payroll troubles can be real headaches for small business owners. There are a number of potential problems that can be easily avoided, if you know what to watch out for. Questions about the Healthcare Law and Medicare changes The Patient Protection and Affordable Care...
US Immigration Law: “Deferred Action” Brings Uncertainty
Issues affecting small business include illegal immigration and undocumented workers – and here’s how those problems might impact YOUR company... Deferred Action Immigration Illegal immigration. Undocumented workers. Not many public policy issues can match the...
Five Big Small Business Trends
The daily grind of running a business is demanding, but it sometimes pays to take a step back and look at the big picture. There are trends and developments that can impact the success of your business. You can’t change them, but you can make sure you’re aware of...
Five Small Business Lessons from the 2012 Election
Like all elections, analysts will examine the Obama/Romney dust-up for years. What did the Obama team do right? How did Romney fall short? What were the make-or-break moments for each campaign? Fortunately for you, the lessons from the 2012 election can be applied...
MP Star Financial’s Top Business Books of 2012
It’s a sign of the times. The best business books of 2012 were short on number-crunching, strategy formulation and bottom-line focus, and long on personal development and professional improvement. A few even swerve into touchy-feely territory, but that’s no sin, given...
Surviving the Office Holiday Party
What exactly did you do to deserve this? After working hard all year, steering your company through a difficult economy and struggling to grow in an increasingly competitive marketplace, your reward is …the annual office holiday party? Yikes. The hard part about the...
Creative Ways to Grow Your Business: Time Management Strategies
Things you know you should do, but probably never get around to actually doing: Regular exercise Volunteer work Getting a flu shot Watching less TV Starting Christmas shopping early Giving blood Visiting a museum Managing time better These are all noble pursuits but,...
Entrepreneur Ideas: Your Guide to a Painless 2013 Business Marketing Plan
It is time to think about your strategic marketing plan for 2013. No need to worry. You probably already have more than enough information to get started, and it does not need to take days or weeks. Follow this guide for pulling together a workable plan. Many...
Entrepreneur Ideas: Making Trade Show Marketing Work
One thing is for certain about trade shows. They are expensive. The costs of sending your people to a show or conference – including transportation, trade show booth and registration fees, entertainment, and related expenses – can easily run past $10,000. Is it worth...
Entrepreneur Ideas: Four Year-End Questions for Your Accountant
Be sure to schedule some time with your accountant before the end of the year. In addition to a normal review of your company’s financial statements, there are four other questions you should prepare to ask. Is My Company Structured Properly? The end of the year is a...
Five Tips for Better Hiring
There is no sure thing when it comes to hiring decisions. But a little creativity and preparation can help tilt the odds in your favor, and that is good for both you and for the right candidate. The hiring process can be as stressful for a company as it is for the...