Easter’s Lessons for Business

Posted on April 3, 2023 by Diana Louiso

This year, the month of April ushers in the celebration of Easter. Whether Christian or otherwise, it’s a happy day full of new life represented by baby chicks, decorated eggs, organized and disorganized egg hunts, and bunny rabbits. For believers, it’s 40 days of prayer and fasting culminating in a procession of Good Friday, Holy Saturday, the Easter Vigil and finally Easter Sunday.

Tulips and Easter eggs in grass under a sunny blue-green sky. — Easter Season and Springtime are both Great Times for New Ideas

Christian traditions have their own special emphases for Easter, but most Americans of all walks and beliefs celebrate with lamb dinners, eggs, ham, cheeses and breads. Children have been decorating Easter eggs, and grownups have been hiding the same for the children to find since the 13th century.

In the early 1870s, children would gather on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol Building to roll their eggs and play on Easter Monday. Then in 1878, First Lady Lucy Hayes (wife of President Rutherford B. Hayes) held the first annual Easter egg roll on the White House lawn, a custom that has survived to present times. There’s a story about one small boy who complained to President Hayes that the children would no longer be allowed to roll eggs near the Capitol Building because it was ruining the grass. Then he asked the President for permission to use the White House lawn. Obviously, the President agreed and the traditional White House Easter egg rolls continue to this day. Business lesson: never be too shy to ask for what you want.

As small business owners, we can celebrate the season with Game Changing ideas:

Determine the values and technologies that can remove barriers to scaling your business.
Develop a clear vision of your client base or portfolio and write a laser-focused value proposition based on where you are now compared to where you want to be next spring.
Dedicate safe but significant funding to your ideas once you can demonstrate viability and expansion.
Use technologies to capture data that will help you continually improve performance and delivery quicker responses to customer/client concerns.

Think resurrection and have a safe and Happy Easter season.

Tax Deductions You Hate to Take

Posted on March 7, 2023 by Diana Louiso

Who hates to reduce their business’s taxable income? It may seem like an oxymoron to hate paying Uncle Sam fewer hard-earned dollars, but it’s not…if that lower reported taxable income is due to certain circumstances.

Sign reading 'The Hartford: Big heart for Small Business'

The Hartford believes (as do we) that small business owners are the visionaries of our country and the backbone of our economy. If you have never visited their “Small Biz Ahead” blog for small business owners, this month’s article about why you hate to take certain tax deductions is a great read.

Warren and Charlie

Posted on February 28, 2023 by Diana Louiso

When the giants in business, namely Warren Buffet (age 92) and his partner Charlie Munger (age 99), give business advice — we business owners might want to sit up and listen.

Concept paper dollar boat sinking in the sea with a view underwater. Finance and crisis, a creative idea. Falling exchange rates.

As recalled recent article in Entrepreneur Magazine (Feb 23), Mr. Buffet and Mr. Munger met at a dinner in 1959 and immediately connected. According to Buffet, “Charlie and I think pretty much alike. But what it takes me a page to explain, he sums up in a sentence.” Often, business partners with opposite but complementary traits and skills are the best partners because opposing points of view can provide a “bigger picture” that leaves no stone unturned.

Charlie once said “You have to keep learning if you want to become a great investor. When the world changes, you must change.” We small business owners are our company’s chief investor, so Charlie’s advice is meaningful for all of us.

Since COVID and current political trends are having an impact on taxes levied on businesses and individuals, staying on course as a small business has been tough. Charlie has something to say about this too!

“Don’t bail away in a sinking boat if you can swim to one that is seaworthy.”