Commission powerpoint

Transition From Employee to Entrepreneurship

Starting The Path of Entrepreneurship

Make up your mind that you are going to be one or the other and don’t look back. Decide if you are going to be an entrepreneur for the rest of your life or an employee who will work for someone else. Choose to grow up the corporate ladder, accept a position that provides security, certainty, and a cushy salary. The alternative is a position that has no glass ceiling, no person to report too, unfathomable earning potential, unforeseen risk and rewards beyond your imagination. Entrepreneurship can be an amazing rollercoaster ride, filled with both high and low points. Above all, it should be an experience you’d never take back.

Figure out which career choice is going to be the most meaningful and fulfilling. First, decide what you want to accomplish in life, then start making plans and setting goals for yourself. Pondering about starting a business won’t make a business come to fruition, but your actions can create a new reality.

Write a Business Plan

To make a dream a reality, you have to breathe life into it and start walking in it. We are way past the days in which we can watch a Disney movie and expect everything to work out perfectly where the hero wins at the end. Therefore, do not expect it to be all sunshine and rainbows when it comes to your business. You must plan for success because it surely won’t fall into your lap.  Download a business plan template and jot down your ideas, objectives, vision and action plan for success. This will help you solidify your business’s foundation. If you happen to have a partner(s) or key employees at an early stage of the business. You may want to identify each participant’s strengths and weaknesses while creating and defining roles for the person(s) running the company.  

Get a mentor or business advisor

Develop your team of references, consultants & mentors who will guide you in your business growth. Successes multimillion-dollar revenues companies all have started where you are. Don’t be mistaken, fortune 500 companies have outside consultants to come in and help change a company’s direction and lend them new perspectives to better their business.  Before you embark on your new adventure, find people that will usher you down the right path. A mentor should be someone who currently or previously managed a profitable business. Find someone who has experience in your industry so that they provide you valuable insight. Mentors who specializing in marketing, accounting or a legal profession, for example, maybe great if those areas are not a part of your core strengths or experience.

How will you penetrate your market?

The bottom line is that you must figure out how you are going to draw in people to patronize and invest in your business. Hence, before you launch your business make sure you have multiple channels of earning revenue. Once you have clientele rolling in, running a business is easy. Until then, sales and revenue generation will be more of an uphill battle. Even when you arrive at a comfortable spot, keep on pushing for more.

Develop a marketing strategy that allows you to grow your client base so that you can substantially grow over time.  Ask yourself the following questions:

How Many revenue streams do you have in your business?

How much revenue do you hope to gain in years 1, 2 and 3?

Are you able to compete for a fair market share?

Will you primarily sell products online or have a storefront location?

Which social media platforms are best for promoting your business?

Will you use digital advertisements, radio or google adds to reach customers?

What about ranking on Google, Bing and Yahoo search engines?

We’ve grown into a company that provides marketing solutions for small businesses so that we can help you get to where you’d like to be.  

Implement A Content Marketing Strategy

Get a professional website built and implement a strategy to gain google rankings so people can find you online. One common mistake I see is that small business owners start their business without a marketing budget which is a huge no-no. Social media platforms are great, but they are only a small fraction of the equation.  One mistake I see small business owners make is that they believe these platforms are going to be their businesses savior. They won’t help you in terms of bringing in tons of new clients to increase your market penetration.

Become A Subject Matter Expert

In today’s world, consumers consult industry experts for advice and guidance before they initiate a transaction. People ready articles, follow bloggers, they watch videos that help them make informed decisions. Why not be the person who enlightens their views, earns their trust and subsequently earns their business.

Businesses Failure: Know The Risk Factors

Just like you need to know how you can win and be successful, you also need to know how you can fail. You need to know all of your setbacks that you can potentially face starting and running a business. Hence, the importance of having a mentor in your industry and a tenured business owner as a resource.  

Don’t Follow Stupid Advice

People say that you gotta fall and get back up again and learn from it. Fail and get back up and repeat the process until you have the experience.  You must crawl before you walk. Says who?  I’d like to call BS on that one. I definitively say no to that! History does not have to repeat itself; I firmly believe that to be true. Therefore, you don’t have to make the same mistakes people made before you.  

Be A Wise Entrepreneur

Don’t you think it would be better to learn from other business owner’s negatives experiences anyway? Let’s be smart about running a business rather than walking into it blindly while headed toward a cliff. Don’t be the stupid cartoon character that walks off the cliff, only to later find out he’s walking on air.  Take the time to understand the risk factors involved in running a business before you take a leap of faith.

Secure Startup Capital

I started my company with an investment from a good friend. I had been casually telling him about this business plan that I wrote, and he found confidence in my plan and was thoroughly convinced this was going to work. Even though I was not asking for any money or help, he invested in me. The same can happen to you.

Make sure you explore all avenues to funding your business. Conventional financing and the less traditional methods of funding a business. Bank loans, investors, business grants, friends or family may be great funding sources for a new business venture. The use of personal savings or a 401k may be on the table for some.

Entrepreneurship Become A Reality

Apply for an Employer Identification Number (EIN) with the IRS by and register your business name with the state that you reside in. At the point in which you receive your EIN with the IRS, your business is official. You have taken a dream and made it a reality. I recommend you take some time to explore which business entity type best suits your company. In short, each entity has varying tax advantages, liability limits, and legal implications to consider.

Transition To Entrepreneurship

Start the transition. Ask your current employer if you can reduce your hours from 40 a week to 30 a week. Also, ask if they can be more flexible to allow you to work nights or weekends. Thus, freeing up time to grow your business. Flexibility can come in different ways, you may ask to work 4 days a week instead of 5 days a week. You can ask that you add 1-2 half days during the week as well.  If your current employer is not able to provide the flexibility you need, perhaps you seek out another employer who can. Perhaps maybe you are one of the people who take the leap of faith, cash in your 401k or savings and hit the ground running…

The Focus of Next Generation Payroll

We want to wish you all the success in the world in your future adventure. If you have a business existing, great! We prayerfully hope that all is going well and trending upward. We here are Next Generation Payroll want all businesses to success and are happy to help you along the way. When I started the company, I didn’t imagine that we’d focus so much on the day to day operations of a business, but this is who we are now. We have blossomed into a business solutions company that provides fresh perspectives to businesses that leads to growth and prosperity. Likewise, we provide resources and tools for people like you to build a strong foundation so that companies can weather any storm that crosses their path. We are all about learning expertise that makes business better.

Tips For Entrepreneurs: Dedicate your time to what is most important

We know that Payroll services may or may not be apart of your business plan right now, but we are here to help. Above all, you may need us, and we’d like to be here for you now. Perhaps, you are considering outsourcing payroll, feel free to read the article should I outsource payroll and why people change payroll providers for assistance. I am a firm believer in maximizing the time-value of money, therefore, capitalizing on every opportunity to build revenue. One major benefit to outsourcing payroll is it allows a business to offload burdening tasks to 3rd parties for nominal fees. Ultimately allowing you Redirecting your time to developing a sustainable business and perusing endeavors that propel you forward.

Spotlight: Stonewall Protection Group Guards Reputation for Security Professionalism

Those that need professional private security services want to be sure they’re getting professionals who are dedicated to safety. However, some companies have failed to deliver on those expectations through the years.

Fortunately, Stonewall Protection Group wants to fill that gap. The company aims to ensure that businesses, events, and individuals that need private security actually receive professional service. Read more about the business and what sets it apart in this week’s Small Business Spotlight.

What the Business Does

Offers security services and training.

President and CEO Jonathan McKee told Small Business Trends, “We provide armed and unarmed security guard services, bodyguards for VIP and executive clients, as well as security consulting services. We are also a training school that offers a variety of security and firearms related courses to both security professionals and civilians who want to learn how to better protect themselves.”

Business Niche

Employee professionalism.

McKee says, “We put a lot of time and effort into our hiring process, selecting only those employees whom we feel will represent us well. We offer very competitive pay, which helps us recruit and retain the best possible candidates. We then provide additional training above and beyond what the state requires and what most companies provide. Clients who have used other security companies in the past, prior to hiring us, often let us know how vastly different we are and how pleased they are with our higher level of service.”

How the Business Got Started

After noticing issues with the industry.

McKee explains, “During my time as a big-city cop, I often found myself going on calls to locations that had on-site private security. What I found always left me wondering why these companies were spending a dime to hire these people to “protect” their property. The majority of the time, the officer was not even aware that a crime had taken place right under their nose until the police had arrived because they were either asleep or not paying attention. The officers who did see something usually could not relay pertinent information about what happened because they didn’t have the training on what details to pay attention to and what to remember.”

Biggest Win

Signing their first big contract.

McKee adds, “Signing the first ongoing contract for full-time work really solidified us as a business and gave me hope for growth and a new motivation to keep driving forward.”

Biggest Risk

Donating 10 percent of profits to the community.

McKee made this decision early on, back when paying the bills was already difficult. In fact, he risked losing money if the business stayed stagnant. However, he said it was important to use the company as a way to give back. And the growth they’ve achieved since has allowed this decision to work out.

Lesson Learned

Cover your financial bases.

Early on, McKee allowed some clients to pay after providing services. This meant he had to cover things like payroll out of his own pocket. Most of those clients honored their commitments. However, some created problems for the company.

McKee explains, “You would be amazed at the amount of people who have no intention to pay their bills! This caused some major headaches and big setbacks when I first started out.”

How They’d Spend an Extra $100,000

Marketing and sales.

McKee adds, “We are still relatively unknown in the area.”

Brainstorming Technique

Trips to Vegas.

McKee says, “Every four months or so, our leadership team makes the 2 hour flight to Las Vegas. We spend 2-3 days sitting in front of laptops figuring out what we can improve upon and how we can grow our business. Then we have fun in the evening!”

* * * * *

Find out more about the Small Biz Spotlight program

Image: Images: Stonewall Protection Group, Jonathan McKee

This article, “Spotlight: Stonewall Protection Group Guards Reputation for Security Professionalism” was first published on Small Business Trends

https://smallbiztrends.com/

The post Spotlight: Stonewall Protection Group Guards Reputation for Security Professionalism appeared first on Unix Commerce.

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Spotlight: Stonewall Protection Group Guards Reputation for Security Professionalism

Those that need professional private security services want to be sure they’re getting professionals who are dedicated to safety. However, some companies have failed to deliver on those expectations through the years.

Fortunately, Stonewall Protection Group wants to fill that gap. The company aims to ensure that businesses, events, and individuals that need private security actually receive professional service. Read more about the business and what sets it apart in this week’s Small Business Spotlight.

What the Business Does

Offers security services and training.

President and CEO Jonathan McKee told Small Business Trends, “We provide armed and unarmed security guard services, bodyguards for VIP and executive clients, as well as security consulting services. We are also a training school that offers a variety of security and firearms related courses to both security professionals and civilians who want to learn how to better protect themselves.”

Business Niche

Employee professionalism.

McKee says, “We put a lot of time and effort into our hiring process, selecting only those employees whom we feel will represent us well. We offer very competitive pay, which helps us recruit and retain the best possible candidates. We then provide additional training above and beyond what the state requires and what most companies provide. Clients who have used other security companies in the past, prior to hiring us, often let us know how vastly different we are and how pleased they are with our higher level of service.”

How the Business Got Started

After noticing issues with the industry.

McKee explains, “During my time as a big-city cop, I often found myself going on calls to locations that had on-site private security. What I found always left me wondering why these companies were spending a dime to hire these people to “protect” their property. The majority of the time, the officer was not even aware that a crime had taken place right under their nose until the police had arrived because they were either asleep or not paying attention. The officers who did see something usually could not relay pertinent information about what happened because they didn’t have the training on what details to pay attention to and what to remember.”

Biggest Win

Signing their first big contract.

McKee adds, “Signing the first ongoing contract for full-time work really solidified us as a business and gave me hope for growth and a new motivation to keep driving forward.”

Biggest Risk

Donating 10 percent of profits to the community.

McKee made this decision early on, back when paying the bills was already difficult. In fact, he risked losing money if the business stayed stagnant. However, he said it was important to use the company as a way to give back. And the growth they’ve achieved since has allowed this decision to work out.

Lesson Learned

Cover your financial bases.

Early on, McKee allowed some clients to pay after providing services. This meant he had to cover things like payroll out of his own pocket. Most of those clients honored their commitments. However, some created problems for the company.

McKee explains, “You would be amazed at the amount of people who have no intention to pay their bills! This caused some major headaches and big setbacks when I first started out.”

How They’d Spend an Extra $100,000

Marketing and sales.

McKee adds, “We are still relatively unknown in the area.”

Brainstorming Technique

Trips to Vegas.

McKee says, “Every four months or so, our leadership team makes the 2 hour flight to Las Vegas. We spend 2-3 days sitting in front of laptops figuring out what we can improve upon and how we can grow our business. Then we have fun in the evening!”

* * * * *

Find out more about the Small Biz Spotlight program

Image: Images: Stonewall Protection Group, Jonathan McKee

This article, “Spotlight: Stonewall Protection Group Guards Reputation for Security Professionalism” was first published on Small Business Trends

source https://smallbiztrends.com/2020/03/private-security.html

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Why It’s Imperative to Have an Agent with New Construction

Builders are ramping up construction, which gives your clients more options on the market. But buying a new home is often more complicated than a traditional real estate purchase. Here’s how your services are deeply important to smoothing out this type of transaction.APRIL 2018 | BY

MELISSA DITTMANN TRACEY

Buyers purchasing a brand-new home have extra concerns you need to address beyond those who are buying a resale property. For one, the transaction timeline for a home still under construction is likely to be much longer—often six months or more—so you’ll have to have a higher tolerance for managing the emotions of potentially impatient clients. New-home buyers also are at high risk of blowing their budgets, as the costs of custom upgrades to the blueprint floor plan can quickly mount. And if your client has made a purchase decision based on a model home, any deviation in the final product could spark a dreaded case of buyer’s remorse.

Though your goal is to be a strong ally for any client, new-home buyers may need even more support through a more complicated transaction that could present more roadblocks to their satisfaction. You might consider taking a course offered by the Real Estate Buyer’s Agent Council devoted entirely to new-home construction and buyer representation, particularly as opportunities to work with new-home buyers increase. Construction is expected to be more robust across the country this year, with single-family housing starts forecasted to rise 5 percent, according to the National Association of Home Builders.

With inventory at record lows, more buyers may consider new construction as a way to flesh out their real estate options. Real estate professionals who work the new-home niche offer their insights for servicing these clients.

Draw a Distinction Between You and the Builder’s Agent

Buyers may first be lured to new-home construction after viewing a model home online. The builder’s salesperson likely will hurry to their aid to help them consider their purchase options. But some buyers mistakenly assume that salesperson is their representative, when in reality, he or she works for and represents the builder’s best interests.

Your job is to show the buyer that your goal is to help them make an informed decision that best suits their needs, not to simply sell a property, says Monica Neubauer, ABR, CRS, a sales associate with Benchmark Realty in Franklin, Tenn., and a REBAC instructor. You can help buyers understand many items, such as resale potential, strength of the builder’s asking price against comps, and the buyer’s negotiation leverage—all of which are not the responsibility of the builder’s agent.

Some buyers also may be misinformed about the commission structure, wrongly believing that they can subtract the payout for the builder’s agent from the overall purchase price. “The majority of builders compensate [their agent] out of their marketing budget,” says Jeffrey Gould, broker-owner of Jeffrey Gould Real Estate in Brandon, Fla. “This budget does not go hand-in-hand with the cost of any individual home, so the buyer would not be entitled to that reduction. In fact, from conversations I’ve had with [new-home buyers] who did not use a real estate professional, the opposite is true. It seems like their overall costs or concessions were not as good as the buyers who used their own agent.”

Educate Buyers on New-Home Traps

From the onset, new-home buyers need to know what they’re getting into. Here are some ways you can prepare them for the transaction.

1. Identify timelines. Gould makes buyers aware of all the steps involved, including building permits, design selections, inspections, and walk-throughs.

Source: National Association of Home Builders

2. Explain upgrades versus standard builds. Model homes often reflect the higher end of options available. The arched doorways, stone exteriors, window seats, and abundant fireplaces in a model home may not be part of a standard package. Will your buyers be satisfied with losing some of those features in order to control costs? “All builders are different, and all builders have their own baseline to what comes standard with the home and what is an upgrade,” Gould says. “As I am viewing homes with clients, I will keep asking the builder’s sales agent to explain what are upgrades in the home and what is standard.”

3. Understand pricing. The base price quoted by the builder does not reflect all the upgrades buyers may want to add. So the cost may jump thousands of dollars depending on your buyer’s requests. Gould asks builders to print out an estimate of the home with some of the structural items his buyers are considering. Most of the construction options and pricing are configured at a remote design center, so buyers may need to sign a purchase contract before solidifying their design selections.

4. Account for comps. Buyers can add too many upgrades when selecting countertops, flooring, and lighting. Though they’re buying new, your clients still need to understand comparable homes in the area to ensure they make a wise investment, Neubauer says.

Find Points of Negotiation Other Than Price

Negotiating is still an important part of buying a new home. While it’s true that builders resist lowering a home’s price so they can maintain their market comparables, they sometimes are willing to add an incentive if buyers, say, use the builder’s preferred lender.

“Currently, the inventory of available homes for sale is very low,” Gould says. “Builders know this and are setting their prices accordingly. In general, builders would rather offer concessions in other areas like design center options. … The key is to know your builders and the incentives they offer. There is a builder in my area that is offering design center options and is refunding up to $2,000 for out-of-town buyers’ air travel and hotel costs. Regardless of what the builder is offering in options, I always have the builder’s sales agent submit an offer to the builder in hopes to always do a little better.”

See the Entire Project Through to the End

Don’t vanish right after the purchase contract has been signed and then show up months later once construction of the home is complete. Builder’s agents sometimes unintentionally fail to copy you on their correspondence with buyers, Gould says. If you don’t make the effort to remain updated and part of the process, you could be uninformed when it comes time to close. Continually checking in with clients also will help them feel less alone.

“I stay involved throughout the entire process,” Gould says. “Once we are under contract, I do let buyers know that a majority of the contact they will be having will be directly from one of the builder employees but to reach out to me if they have any questions or concerns. I contact my client every three weeks or so to just check in and see if they need anything. As we get within a month of completion, I do start to contact the buyer more often.” Gould also lets his buyers know he’s available to attend preconstruction updates, design studio visits, and walk-through meetings.

“Buying a home is supposed to be an exciting time,” Gould says. “I try my best to make it as fun and exciting as possible. There are a lot of different hands involved in building a home: The builder’s sales agent, builder contracts, permitting, and the build process. At times, I find I need to act as a counselor or advocate for the buyer. Setting expectations early on in the process certainly helps in making the transaction smoother.”

Hi all — I recently wrote a 3k word guide on contract payment terms. Thought it would be beneficial for all the self-employed entrepreneurs here, so wanted to share it. Some of this is pretty opinionated, so come at me and we can discuss/debate. I've copy-pasted it below, but if you prefer, you can find it here.GUIDE: CONTRACT PAYMENT TERMSService businesses work on a pretty fundamental cycle: do work => get paid. That’s how it works when getting a haircut, contracting a mechanic, or hiring a painter. There are no net-30 terms, payment delays, or “could we repaint the living room in a different blue?” before payment.So why do self-employed folks and business owners in professional services (legal, design, development, accounting, etc) accept this state of affairs? Try suggesting net-30 payment terms next time you get a haircut, and see what happens.If you are one of the 27 million self-employed entrepreneurs who struggled to get paid in 2016 — and we say this with love, having been there — it’s probably your fault. But it’s okay, because you can fix it, while also making more money and spending less time chasing down payment.We know this because, after working with hundreds of clients, on hundreds more projects1 , we no longer struggle to get paid on time. And here's the crazy thing: our clients love us even more. Turns out the "do work => get paid" cycle is better for everyone — no more chasing folks down like some kind of sheepish debt-collector, or awkward conversations around outstanding invoices.Our approach breaks down to two parts:smart payment termsstructuring client relationships with a focus on world-class client experienceIn this guide we take an exhaustive look at these payment terms and the tactics we use to create great client payment experiences, in the hope that others can learn from our experience, and we can all finally get paid like any other business.Payment TermsThough building the right client relationship is the most important part of getting paid on time, we need to start with payment terms because they dictate how you structure your relationships. We’ll walk through each of the terms we use and how to apply them, but if you just want the actual contract legalese, you can find our free-to-use payment terms here.Payment Method on FileDo you know what makes for a painful client experience? Having to dig up and relay the same information over and over and over again during a project. You would never ask for the client’s brand guidelines or last year’s accounting records each of the dozen times you need them during the course of an engagement, so why should payment information be any different?This term solves this problem: the client agrees that the business owner will keep payment information on file in order to process payment for agreed work.Most late payments are not malicious — payment is simply another item on their already-stuffed todo list, and it often gets pushed behind other priorities.Understandably, some business owners are reticent to keep payment methods on file, for fear of losing someone else’s highly sensitive information. The solution to this is simple: use a tool (like Sail) that stores this information behind bank-level security for you — you will not even be able to see the card or bank account number.DepositsSimple: work does not start until the client makes an upfront deposit.One of the realities of service businesses is that payment comes after work. With an upfront deposit, you mitigate how much money you would lose, if, say, your client goes out of business during the project or the marketing director you were working with gets fired and the new person cancels the project (if you do client work long enough, stuff like this will happen).Asking a client to pay before they have seen your work can feel uncomfortable, (especially for new business owners) but deposits are a common practice in service businesses. If a client is reluctant to pay a deposit, this may be a sign that they’ll be reluctant to pay future invoices once work is complete. It also helps solidify the relationship: work for money.Charge authorization: charge don't invoiceThis one surprises business owners we talk to most. But really, it shouldn’t — you and your client have already agreed on the amount and timeline of the charge, whether it is for a milestone payment or the 22.5 hours you worked on their project this week. No need to to make them jump through hoops to pay you — remember, asking them to pay you is adding another item to their already-packed todo list. Even if the client intends to pay right away, they may not because your point of contact has to email to Cheryl in another department to get the company wire transfer information, which just adds another thing to her todo list, and more points of failure.This is not to say you should just silently hit the charge button and call it good. We’ll get into this more in the client relationships section of the guide, but communication is key here: set expectations upfront, send pre-charge reminders, and post-charge receipts. Tools like our Sail can do this for you, so you can keep your client conversations focused on the work you are doing for them, not the administrative side of the relationship.Late payment: work stops if payment is overdueIf you work with clients large enough to have their own contractor payments system, you may not be able to get payment information on file, or charge when it’s due, instead having to send traditional invoices. Compounding this problem, large organizations distribute responsibility in ways that can make getting paid on time maddening: your point-of-contact is not issuing the payment, instead deferring to someone in Accounts Payable who doesn’t really know you from Adam, and probably has more work than hours in the day.By simply pausing all work when payment is overdue, your point-of-contact goes from “I don’t handle billing — talk to Cheryl” to making sure Cheryl puts your invoice at the top of the pile.Due on completionThis just means that payment is due when you complete work, not when the client signs off on it — a subtle, but important distinction.Remember that client who wants to get their friend or coworker to review your deliverable before paying? Our client does not mean any harm by this — heck, the client is showing admirable humility, recognizing they are not the expert in your field — but this all too often delays payment for weeks, and may also come with a list of out-of-scope requests from someone with no context on the project.In an ideal world, you could get paid upfront for all work, before you lift a finger. Some service business owners only work this way, but that might not be an option if you do not have an established business with more inbound clients than you know what to do with.This term is designed to avoid that situation, and the 48 other flavors of it. Making payment due when work is complete sets up the engagement so that everyone understands a simple, but key distinction: payment is for your work, not the product of your work (hey it’s our old friend, the do work => get paid cycle).Think about it this way: if you do 20 hours of work, and your client is going to request 1 hour of revisions 3 weeks later, shouldn’t you get paid for completing 95% of the work now, not after some arbitrary delay you have no control over?A specific tactic here, is to setup a payment schedule like this one:Deposit - 50%Milestone 1 - 12.5%Milestone 2 - 12.5%Final Deliverable - 15%Asset Transfer - 10%You can then charge the payment method on file when you finish your work at each step, minimizing the amount of work you do before getting paid. And at the end, there is still that last 10% outstanding, so the client does not feel like the engagement is totally over.RetainersSometimes reviewing your deliverable is just not the top of your client’s todo list. Or maybe the project took a week longer than expected, and now your point-of-contact is going on a three week vacation. It can be hard to take on new clients in this situation, because as soon as this client resurfaces, you will have to pick their project back up.Retainers are the perfect way to avoid these situations, and make sure your interests and your client’s interests are aligned. Automatically charging a retainer (remember, we have the card on file) will help your client move you up the todo list.Retainers are such a common tool in service businesses that most clients won’t even blink when you mention it. If you are worried about getting a bad reaction, here’s a snippet you can use to explain your retainer:We require retainers to ensure that everyone’s interests are aligned. We find that sometimes during a project, our clients will want to consult with an outside party, commission additional deliverables, or simply have to prioritize a pressing item elsewhere in their business that pops up. And that’s totally okay! Unfortunately when this happens, it puts our business in a bind. We want to make sure we can be totally dedicated to your project, which we can’t do if we have to pause the project and pick up additional clients in order to pay the bills.Anti-Terms: net-30, net-60, or (gulp) net-90You are not a bank, do not work on credit. Or at least, minimize how much work you do on credit.The biggest problem with these terms is that it kills your cash flow. Let’s say you bill 30 hours a week at $100/hour, and you invoice weekly. With net-30 terms, you will have about 5 weeks of unpaid work at any given time (1 week of work + 30 days to pay for that work = about 5 weeks), which comes out to $15,000. Do you have $15,000 that you’d like to lend to clients? How much of your time do you want to spend chasing down payments?Net-30/60/?? payment terms also amplify other problems. If there is an issue that is going to delay payment, for example, you need to know about it ASAP, not a month later after dozens of hours of additional work-for-credit. This could be anywhere from the client having cash flow problems to a misunderstanding around scope of work (“I thought this was supposed to include ?”). If there is a cash flow issue, then you can pause work while your client resolves it (you are not a bank!). If there is a misunderstanding around work, it is almost always easier and more pleasant to fix it immediately, then let it stew until payday.Relationship managementThe key to creating a world-class payments experience can be summed up in two words: no surprises. We take a 4-pronged approach to this: set expectations, send pre-charge reminders, always send a receipt, and bill frequently.Set expectations before starting workNo one like surprises that hurt their bank account. So when starting a new project, do not be shy about clearly explaining how and when your client will pay for work.Yes, you absolutely need to include payment terms in your contract/proposal, but, and I don’t mean to rock your world here, your clients probably are not reading every line of your contract. We like to think of contracts as the last line of defense — if you are referencing the contract outside of a dispute, you probably did not communicate something clearly.At first, it can feel like clearly and directly discussing payment terms up front is going to be awkward. We felt that too, in the beginning. But, after the first-time butterflies, you start to realize that it rarely is awkward. Payment is part of doing business, and your clients know that! In fact, discussing it directly and professionally up front relieves client anxiety around not knowing when/how to pay — ambiguity around payment is going to make everything more awkward/painful, not less.Here is some example language you can use to explain the terms above:To avoid delays and keep work on schedule, we require a deposit and a payment method on file before starting work. We use Sail to store payment details with bank-level security.Payments after the initial deposit are due at the pre-defined milestones outlined in the engagement. Our billing system automatically processes these payments as work is completed, keeping everything on schedule.We will send reminders ahead of time for upcoming charges, and will send invoices/receipts on completion, so everyone can stay on the same page.A similar system applies to our weekly retainer: we will initiate the charge and send a receipt with a linked invoice.If for any reason a payment cannot be processed, we will pause work until we are able to resolve the issue and complete payment.If there are ever any questions about payment or how we bill, do not hesitate to reach out. All of this is in the ‘Payment Terms’ section of our contract, if you ever need it.The most common response to this is “Great — how do we get started?”, at which point you can direct your client to a deposit form that will save the payment method on file. Not so painful, right?If someone does express reservations about keeping a payment method on file, and you are using a tool like Sail, you can always let them know that you use a system backed by bank-level security to handle billing, and that no one on your team is even able to see their full payment information.In the case where you are working with a large organization that has its own billing system, or someone that insists on paying by check, it is important instead to emphasize that work stops if payment has not cleared on time. If payment is made by check, remind your client that they will have to send the check about a week before payment is due, to ensure that it arrives in time for the deposit to clear.ReceiptsLet’s keep this section short: send receipts when you charge a client, so everyone has records in their inboxes. Receipts, combined with pre-charge reminders, create a double-notice system that does not require your client to do any work, while also giving the opportunity to ask questions.Pre-charge remindersIn the spirit of “no surprises”, it is a good idea to send reminders a few days in advance of a charge, for anything but fixed, recurring charges like retainers. These reminders should include an itemized list of what is being charged for (can be as simple as “Website project: Milestone 1”), and optionally an explanatory note for any item that requires it (eg, “used $20 of the agreed upon stock asset budget”).This approach allows folks to ask any questions before being charged (“how much of the stock asset budget do we have left?”), while also providing the piece of mind that they will not be blindly charged.Though it can be helpful to mention upcoming payments in the context of other conversations, we find that email (preferably from a system rather than a person) is better for everyone — keeps administrative details out of service fulfillment conversations, while also providing a written record that the client can use as they see fit (such as if they must report on expenses to another person).If you are looking for a tool that can automatically sends pre-charge reminders, receipts, and schedule payment in advance, check out our Sail.Bill frequentlyCharging frequently is both better for your cash flow (obviously), and better for your client’s experience.Regular, smaller bills avoid the “wait...what is ? I don’t remember that...”, followed by you digging through your records, the 10 email chains you have with the client, and your project management system to hopefully find full details.We also find that billing often makes clients super responsive. Payment is a good motivator to provide any assets you need for work, ask questions, give feedback, or raise any issues. It also acts as a tight reporting cycle, keeping the client in the loop on at least a summary of recent work.For hourly work, we recommend billing weekly. This level of regularity builds the expectation of tight work cycles, leading to less communication gaps with clients.For pre-scoped/pre-priced projects, we recommend including as many milestones as is reasonable.The rule of thumb here is that each individual payment should feel small compared to the total price of the project, while also minimizing the amount of work you do on credit.Do work => Get paidIf you only take one idea away from this guide, it should be that the key to getting paid on time is setting terms that make client payment as easy, obvious, and predictable as possible. Get payment details on file. Charge instead of requesting payment. Minimize work on credit (you are not a bank!). Charge frequently.If you want contract payment terms that you can use today, you are welcome to grab ours here.Until next time, do work => get paid.Footnotes1 The Sail team has run a digital marketing shop for the last few years

Spotlight: Stonewall Protection Group Guards Reputation for Security Professionalism

Those that need professional private security services want to be sure they’re getting professionals who are dedicated to safety. However, some companies have failed to deliver on those expectations through the years.

Fortunately, Stonewall Protection Group wants to fill that gap. The company aims to ensure that businesses, events, and individuals that need private security actually receive professional service. Read more about the business and what sets it apart in this week’s Small Business Spotlight.

What the Business Does

Offers security services and training.

President and CEO Jonathan McKee told Small Business Trends, “We provide armed and unarmed security guard services, bodyguards for VIP and executive clients, as well as security consulting services. We are also a training school that offers a variety of security and firearms related courses to both security professionals and civilians who want to learn how to better protect themselves.”

Business Niche

Employee professionalism.

McKee says, “We put a lot of time and effort into our hiring process, selecting only those employees whom we feel will represent us well. We offer very competitive pay, which helps us recruit and retain the best possible candidates. We then provide additional training above and beyond what the state requires and what most companies provide. Clients who have used other security companies in the past, prior to hiring us, often let us know how vastly different we are and how pleased they are with our higher level of service.”

How the Business Got Started

After noticing issues with the industry.

McKee explains, “During my time as a big-city cop, I often found myself going on calls to locations that had on-site private security. What I found always left me wondering why these companies were spending a dime to hire these people to “protect” their property. The majority of the time, the officer was not even aware that a crime had taken place right under their nose until the police had arrived because they were either asleep or not paying attention. The officers who did see something usually could not relay pertinent information about what happened because they didn’t have the training on what details to pay attention to and what to remember.”

Biggest Win

Signing their first big contract.

McKee adds, “Signing the first ongoing contract for full-time work really solidified us as a business and gave me hope for growth and a new motivation to keep driving forward.”

Biggest Risk

Donating 10 percent of profits to the community.

McKee made this decision early on, back when paying the bills was already difficult. In fact, he risked losing money if the business stayed stagnant. However, he said it was important to use the company as a way to give back. And the growth they’ve achieved since has allowed this decision to work out.

Lesson Learned

Cover your financial bases.

Early on, McKee allowed some clients to pay after providing services. This meant he had to cover things like payroll out of his own pocket. Most of those clients honored their commitments. However, some created problems for the company.

McKee explains, “You would be amazed at the amount of people who have no intention to pay their bills! This caused some major headaches and big setbacks when I first started out.”

How They’d Spend an Extra $100,000

Marketing and sales.

McKee adds, “We are still relatively unknown in the area.”

Brainstorming Technique

Trips to Vegas.

McKee says, “Every four months or so, our leadership team makes the 2 hour flight to Las Vegas. We spend 2-3 days sitting in front of laptops figuring out what we can improve upon and how we can grow our business. Then we have fun in the evening!”

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Find out more about the Small Biz Spotlight program

Image: Images: Stonewall Protection Group, Jonathan McKee

This article, “Spotlight: Stonewall Protection Group Guards Reputation for Security Professionalism” was first published on Small Business Trends

https://smallbiztrends.com/

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