Weldome Keith Simmons as our Financial Advisor! Keith has over 30 years of financial and operational experience. Keith's background includes entrepreneurial, rapid growth and corporate improvement situations. His experience includes engineering, software, electronics, printing/converting, distribution, manufacturing and service industries. As CFO he’s also led the Technology, Purchasing, Human Resources and Administrative functions, providing business owners with a well-rounded professional who brings competence to all situations.
After serving overseas in the U.S. Navy, he attended State University of New York at Albany on an academic scholarship, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree with a concentration in Managerial Accounting.
In addition to developing creative business solutions, Keith incorporates creativity into his personal life as a musician and songwriter and maintains a website for local performing artists. He is married and has two children.
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Making money conveniently, I can’t think of a better option. These days we all seem pressed for time. Inconvenient things get in the way and take up our valuable time; time we’d rather spend catching up on work or being with a client or networking. It’s nice when people make it easier to do business with them—it saves us time.
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More and more we hear, "The economy stands in the way of our businesses." But isn’t this the country where entrepreneurs painted rocks, added little eyes, noses and smiles (or frowns), and convinced the masses they needed one as a pet? There certainly was no value proposition. But even those with a small disposable income owned a pet rock. Times change, and we need to adjust our approach to business.
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Recently
I was fortunate to be interviewed by Mitchell York, a serial
entrepreneur who coaches outplaced executives to help them
identify their goals and begin new careers as entrepreneurs. As we
know, entrepreneurship is not for everyone. It is hard work and
requires that we bring all our skills to the table and understand areas
that we need to develop additional skills in order to succeed.Here is a portion of my CFO's Advice to Entrepreneurs interview.What are the biggest mistakes new business owners make when it comes to managing the financial side of their business?I find fewer than 10% of all businesses–new and established–take the time to create a plan.
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Is it possible that 90% of small and midsize businesses are subject to incorrect costing? Surprising and disturbing, but that has been my experience. Cost estimating is often a poorly understood science. And if our cost estimates are incorrect, then how do we accurately price products and services or determine profit margins? And if price is market-driven, then how do we determine if we are operating at sufficient profit?
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Is it possible that 90% of small and mid-size businesses are subject to
incorrect costing? Surprising and disturbing, but that’s been my
experience. Cost estimating is often a poorly understood science. And
if our cost estimates are incorrect how do we accurately price products
and services, or determine profit margins? Or prepare a realistic
budget? And when price is market driven, how do we determine if we are
operating at sufficient profit?
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No matter how hard you try to avoid it, sometimes it seems like your day-to-day living expenses just eat away at your entire paycheck. Before you know it, the money in your paycheck seems to vanish, and you don’t even know where it went. And while you’re focused on just making ends meet, putting money away for the future may be the last thing on your mind. Even so, you need to remember that taking care of your longer-term financial goals is just as important as meeting your current needs.
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Don’t Forget To Nurture Your Nest Egg While Building Your Business. Your ideas are fresh, the plan is complete and you’re ready to begin building your business. While your dreams of becoming an entrepreneur may seem to be right around the corner, consider the challenges before you leap too far. On the road ahead, there could be financial uncertainty and loss, but even in the land of risk, debt and development, abandoning your nest egg is a mistake. While investing in your new business may be the first thing on your mind, don’t forget about funding your future.
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In the past, employers traditionally offered “defined-benefit” plans for their employees – otherwise known as pensions – to help provide for their needs after they stopped working. However, as times have changed, many employers are now offering a different type of program that focuses on a defined contribution, with the 401(k) leading the way as the most popular version. While many large corporations have embraced the growth of the 401(k) movement, small business owners sometimes mistakenly assume this type of arrangement won’t be suitable for the needs of their closely held business. However, these plans can indeed be beneficial for these owners and their employees.
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If you’re a small business owner, you may think of the business itself as your most important tool for building wealth. And to some degree that’s probably true — you put a significant amount of money into the business to help it grow, and when you’re ready to retire you may be able to sell the business and get your investment back, along with any appreciation in value. But while it may seem like you have it made, don’t be fooled into thinking you can rely on just this one source for your retirement nest egg. You need to consider building wealth outside of your business as well.
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Juggling all the important responsibilities in your life, it’s easy for things to get complicated in a hurry. Even with all the advances in technology that were supposed to make things simpler, some days it seems like there are too many demands on your time. With so many things competing for your attention, you probably welcome any opportunity to simplify things wherever you can. While there are many areas you could choose to work on, one good place to start may be your family finances.
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While you certainly value the time they spend working for your company, as a business owner you want to help your employees in their efforts to save for the time when they can finally retire. But establishing and maintaining a plan that will let your employees’ savings grow tax-deferred does come with additional responsibilities. In order to meet these responsibilities – listed below – you’ll want to make sure you plan carefully when establishing a qualified retirement plan. Failure to live up to the terms of your agreement could prove costly for your business. Following are some important considerations:
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The days when an employee would spend his or her entire career with the same company appear to be all but gone. Nowadays, beyond simply changing jobs over the course of a career, many workers even take on an entirely new career before they finally reach retirement. When you make a job change, one of the biggest challenges you may face could be deciding what to do with the assets you’ve built up in your former employer’s retirement plan.
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