DEFER YOUR INCOME INTO 2005

If you don’t receive payment until first week of January for cash basis tax returns and don’t bill until January for accrual basis tax returns, you have effectively deferred your income. This works well if your 2005 income is equal to or less than it was for 2004. If not, you are delaying inevitable and potentially putting yourself in a higher tax bracket for 2005.

ACCELERATE DEDUCTIBLE EXPENSE INTO 2004

Anything charged on your business credit card December 31st and prior is deductible in 2004 even if it is paid in 2005. You can also write a check on December 31st that you would have normally paid in January. You may want to get a confirmation receipt to prove you mailed those checks in 2004. This works well if your 2005 income is equal to or less than it was for 2004. If not, you are delaying inevitable and potentially putting yourself in a higher tax bracket for 2005.

OPEN A RETIREMENT PLAN ACCOUNT

See http://www.dgoodmancpa.com/smallbusinessretirementplan.htm for an example of what you can do with that available profit tax deferred until retirement. This is a fantastic option for those who have cash and want to contribute money into their personal retirement account and deduct that contribution from their corporate earnings. Does it get any better than that?

BUY EQUIPMENT AND SOFTWARE BEFORE YEAR END

There is not a single management skill more critical to your personal and professional success as an entrepreneur than learning to delegate. But delegating successfully is much more than simply handing out assignments. It is more an exercise in understanding and accepting our own strengths and limitations.

In this fast paced world, we must choose what activities it makes sense for us to do ourselves, and what it makes sense to let go of. None of us can be an expert in everything - not because of any lack of intellectual ability, but more because we lack specific exposure or experience. We must learn to accept this fact and be OK with it.

How do you fill gaps in your expertise? Let's consider a real life example. My own areas of expertise lie in business and operational management, understanding people and coaching. This is my business. When I wanted to create a single web-page to market a workshop I was developing I had to make a decision. I have (very) rudimentary skills in web page creation. While all of software I need is at my fingertips, question is "Do I really have time to learn it?"

I ask myself: "Should I spend several hours - probably a whole day if I'm being honest - learning to grasp software and design my own web-page" Or should I spend some money and hire somebody who already knows software?" Then all I need to do is supply content.

I am tempted to go it alone - after all, I love technology and knowing how to use it (that's my ego talking!). But at end of day, my time is better spent working on other aspects of business. So I outsourced job.

In making your own decisions, key is in determining what you need to know, want to know, must know, and already know. And how your time would best be spent.

Find Experts and Build Partnerships Jack of all trades, master of none. The old adage holds a lot of weight in today's entrepreneurial environment. No one can possibly run a small business alone.

Anyone who has their own business will know that they could never have gotten it off ground without help of at least an accountant and a lawyer. Perhaps you also needed a graphic designer or administrative assistance.