All small business owners understand the theory of maintaining a positive cash flow in order to keep their businesses afloat.  Slow or non-existent sales and/or ever-increasing expenses cause a shortfall in available capital.  This lack of capital severely impacts their ability to respond to opportunities for growth as they are unable to purchase the equipment and or inventory necessary to meet the increased demand these opportunities bring.  Unfortunately, in every case, reality trumps theory.

As the holiday season gets into full swing, many of us turn our minds to upcoming festivities and taking time off from work to enjoy time with friends and family or participate in our favorite activities. A break from the norm is a great way to refresh and recharge ourselves for the new year. But, while we may enjoy taking that holiday, it’s important to remember that our finances still need tending, regardless of the date on the calendar.

Did you know that $100 spent in the local business community will keep approximately $56 to $73 in the local economy where the same amount of money spent in non-locally owned businesses only keeps between $16 to $43 dollars in the community?

 How often have you said or heard, “I don’t know what went wrong, we did everything right and we failed to deliver the results, we did not reach our goals.”  Small businesses are not alone in living that scenario: Kodak, Lucent Technologies, Xerox and many other large companies have also lived that experience, and for some more than once.  “In the year 2000 alone, forty CEOs of the top two hundred companies on Fortune’s  500 list were removed –not retired but fired or made to resign” (Bossidy & Charan, p.  14, 2002) because they did not deliver their stated goals.

Businesses offer health benefits to protect their employees’ health and financial future and to help recruit and retain a quality workforce. Employers must weigh the difference in cost and value of insurance plans to determine which meets their goals and budget.

On August 29, 2011 the Virginia Soil and Water Conservation Board published in the Virginia Register the Final Virginia Stormwater Management Program (VSMP) Permit Regulations.  These regulations become effective on September 13, 2011, marking the end of a nearly six year process since the Board issued its original Notice of Intended Regulatory Action on November 15, 2005.  The following is an abbreviated summary of the regulations.  The regulations cover many topics, and unfortunately could not all be addressed below.

Summer is almost over, and many a parent is already preparing for the back-to-school rush. If college is in your children’s future, you may also be wondering about the best way to save for this ever-increasing expense. One option is the 529 plan.

When Standard & Poor’s initially threatened to downgrade the U.S. credit rating, many commentators said that the rating agency was late to the party—that it wasn’t providing any new information. Now that the downgrade has actually occurred, the estimation remains valid; S&P is not telling us anything that we didn’t already know.

How many times have we said or heard the expression: “Tell me a story.”  Starting at an early age and onward, the story process is the same, only the topics change as we get older.