There are times when you need to discuss and clarify your job responsibilities with your boss. One situation that calls for such a discussion occurs when a new supervisor takes charge and you need to know what her expectations and priorities are. You might find yourself overloaded with work or you may not be sure if a particular task is your responsibility. Another challenge might be a recent downsizing or expansion that creates a need to reorganize and reprioritize tasks.

Instructions

1

Ask to schedule a meeting with your boss for the purpose of clarifying your job responsibilities. Scheduling a meeting shows you respect your boss’s time. In addition, you will accomplish more because interruptions are less likely and your boss will be better able to focus on what you are saying.
2

Prepare a written list of specific questions and problems. Keep the list short and focus on key areas that are of concern. An overly long list will involve too much detail. Worse, it may sound like you are simply complaining. Bring the list and a notebook with you to the meeting so you are prepared to present your concerns and take notes.
3

Begin the meeting by stating specific reasons for asking for clarification of your job responsibilities. For example, the reason might be that a recent expansion and the addition of new personnel are leading to reassignment of tasks and you want to understand how the changes affect your duties. If you have identified a specific problem, such as confusion as to who is supposed to perform a specific task, be prepared to offer possible solutions. Be courteous and professional at all times.
4

Ask your boss to explain his expectations and priorities. This is especially important with a new boss who is likely to have a different vision of what is important. Take notes. Ask questions, and repeat what your boss says in your own words to be certain you understand what he means.
5

Offer realistic feedback. For example, your boss might say she wants to see faster turnaround in some area. If you know this goal will require additional resources, say so. Don’t promise something you might not be able to deliver.
6

Ask to follow up on the issues you and your boss have discussed. It may not be appropriate to request another scheduled meeting right away. Rather, you should let your boss know you want to follow up if you have any further questions about your job responsibilities.

Today’s teens are bombarded with endless visual stimuli via the Internet, smartphones, television advertising and printed media. This has made the world marketplace extremely competitive, and it can be difficult for a budding business to attract the teen demographic with so many established, recognizable brands already clamoring for attention. A vital part of any successful brand is its logo, as it is representative of the business as a whole, including its products, employees and philosophy.
Instructions
Things You’ll Need

Illustrating software

1

Aim for simplicity. While flipping through a magazine or browsing the Web, the average teen consumer will look right past a cluttered, messy logo or one that takes too long to decipher. Look to companies with strong favor in the teen demographic — such as clothing stores, electronics companies and food franchises — for inspiration.
2

Make use of color, line and font. Select a color palette that is eye-catching without being overwhelming. When deciding on the shape of the logo, consider either geometric shapes or gentle, organic curves — mixing the two often results in a visual clash that will repel viewers. Your font should be simple, easy-to-read and unique. Avoid complex cursive and childlike comic script fonts.
3

Create compatibility between your logo and your products or services. While the logo’s main task is to look nice and attract teenage consumers, it should also allude to what type of business you are. For example, the logo of a high-end ink pen manufacturer might be a silhouetted fountain pen. Though eye candy is an important consideration when marketing to teens, the logo should also reflect the business it represents.
4

Keep versatility in mind. While designing your logo, envision how it will look on the Web, printed on shirts and in magazine ads, or even enlarged and plastered on a billboard. An effective logo can be printed, pasted or embedded anywhere and yield instant recognition amongst consumers.
5

Get teens involved in the design process. One of the best ways to attract the attention of the teen demographic is by giving them a role in the design of a logo. Ask for submissions from young artists and designers, then select a winning logo from the batch. This will help grow your image as a teen-friendly business in addition to providing a wealth of alternative logo concepts.

Tips & Warnings

Ask for input from teens while working on the logo and make any necessary adjustments. Critical feedback during the design process can save you time and money in the long run.

Never plagiarize another business’s logo for your own profit. Doing so may result in serious legal consequences.

If you enjoy spending time in your backyard, but you’re looking for something more interactive than just gardening, consider starting your own beehive. Honeybees tend to be gentle bees, but that doesn’t mean you should go into beekeeping blind and unprotected. Familiarize yourself with the correct hive materials and protective gear before your start your first backyard hive.

Zoning Laws

Before you build your beehive, check with your local government and the office of zoning for laws about having beehives in your backyard. Many towns have restrictions on the types of pets you can keep, and some may have ordinances about how close a backyard hive can be to your house and houses around you.
Get Your Neighbors’ Blessings

A beehive might be unobtrusive in your backyard, but your neighbors might not see it the same way. Be courteous and ask the neighbors on each side of your house if they have any objections to your backyard beehive; you never know who might have a serious allergic reaction to bee stings.
Talk with Your Family or Housemates

If you share your home and backyard with others, talk with them about the rules of the hive. Determine who will take care of the bees and collect the honey. If someone isn’t comfortable taking part, he doesn’t have to. All people working with the hive should study the methods of beekeeping to ensure maximum safety and efficiency.
Get Tested

Ask your doctor to perform an allergy test on anyone who will be near your backyard beehives. Don’t be caught by surprise by an extreme allergic reaction if you’re stung while taking care of your bees.
Scope Out Your Backyard

Scout your backyard for the best place for beekeeping. Keep your hive about 18 inches off the ground so animals are less likely to harm it; this will also keep the stress off your back since you won’t have to bend over as much. The ground should be level, so the hive doesn’t fall over. Place mulch, gravel or old carpet under your hive stand to stop mud from taking over.
Learn About Hives

Honeybees naturally form hives when they find open cavities of about 2 to 3 cubic feet. Build your hive with natural hives in mind: honey at the top, pollen and brood nest in the middle and the brood at the bottom.
Bee Boxes

Find a good, sturdy box to give your bees a home. Your bees will live on vertical, hanging framed beeswax sheets, so get a box that will allow for this. A groove at the top will hold the frames in place. Some boxes hold up to 10 frames, others just eight. Choose how many frames you want, but take into consideration how heavy they will be. Don’t overexert yourself; the heaviest boxes can weigh up to 90 pounds when they are full of honey.
Choose Your Frames

Deeps, mediums and shallows are the names for the different size boxes and their corresponding frames. Deeps are 9.5 inches tall, mediums are 6.5 inches tall and shallows are 5 7/8 inches tall. Choose your frames by how much honey you want to produce, and how much you are willing to work with.
Suit Up

Protect yourself. A hat and a veil will protect you from stray bees getting tangled in your hair. Wear a full bee suit — jacket, pants, boots, gloves and veiled hat — until you are comfortable working with bees. For heavy-duty hive work, a full suit is always recommended. If you’re just checking your hive, you might get by with only the veiled hat. Wear whatever you’re comfortable with.
Choose Your Bees

Three types of bees are readily available and good for beginners. Italians are gentle, productive and easy to manage, and they are the most available type of bee. Carniolan bees are good for places with harsh winters, as they withstand the cold weather well. Carniolans are gentle but demanding of management. Russians are docile, but can be erratic. Russian bees are slow to start but build fast once they do.

A merger combines two separate companies into one new business. Mergers can be lucrative, especially for small businesses that are struggling to survive, as they can use it as a growth strategy. With proper planning for the transition, mergers can be a positive move for small businesses, particularly the vertical merger. The challenge is to blend cultures effectively and ensure that the joint venture is compatible.

Instructions
Things You’ll Need

Cash
Financial statements

1

Plan ahead to determine the best avenue to take that will facilitate the merging of organizational cultures that will avoid “collision.” You may need to have the businesses operate as separate entities at first or have one absorb the other. In the latter, you must give careful thought to the integration of cultures. While the focus is on financial gain, you must maintain and possibly boost staff morale. Integrate teams that include members from both entities so that they understand they are one entity with one goal.
2

Consult a merger intermediary, like a business broker who handles mergers of small businesses. They charge a percentage of the cost price for their services, which includes valuation, terms for sale and a follow up on all required legal procedures.
3

Negotiate beforehand who will stay and who will go. You do not need to duplicate duties. Agree on who will be in charge of what tasks so that you avoid conflicts. While each owner reigned supreme in his company, both cannot enjoy the same function in the newly created company.
4

Determine your new company’s name and check the baggage that you will inherit, such as the debts, employment contracts and obligations of the other company.
5

Decide which policies of both companies are best and retain them. Avoid keeping only your original company’s policies and do not destroy policies of the other company that are vital to achieving goals.
6

Employ the services of an attorney to manage your merger closing processes. The closing of the sale is similar to that of buying a house. Your attorney will oversee the legal and financial aspects of the agreement. There are technical issues that can have an impact on the taxation of the transaction and create unnecessary costs. Although these services come with a price, avoiding unnecessary cost can make the services well worth the price.

Tips & Warnings

The implementation of a merger is not without teething pains, but these can be minimal if both parties take the time to discuss and agree on the way forward before signing a deal. Failure to do so can undermine the success of the merged businesses.

When your business takes out a commercial insurance policy for items like worker’s compensation, liability or an umbrella policy, the insurance company estimates your premiums. The company bases these estimates on facts about your business and the average premiums of similar businesses in your field. But the only way to determine your actual premium is to audit your business after the policy term is over to look at your actual usage of the policy. Then, the company adjusts the premium up or down and either assesses an additional charge or issues a refund.

Audit Considerations

Depending on the type of policy you purchased, the insurance auditor will look at written records of your business during the year. If the policy is for worker’s compensation insurance, the auditor will look at your payroll records, as well as records of workplace accidents or injuries. For liability policies, the auditor may look at the types of jobs you did, reports of any accidents, and whether or not you employed outside contractors for work during the year.
Types of Audits

Insurance audits may be in-person, on-site audits at your place of visits, paper audits or audits conducted by telephone. Some companies will alternate, performing an in-person audit every other year and paper audits during the years in between. For a paper or telephone audit, the auditor will ask you to send copies of certain documents to his office for review. You may also be asked to complete an audit questionnaire, or the auditor will ask you questions over the phone. For an in-person audit the auditor will come to your place of visit and view documents and ask questions in person.
Preparing For the Audit

The insurance auditor will provide you with a list of paperwork she needs to see. This may include payroll records, copies of the insurance carried by any contractors you used, accident reports, employee records and financial statements from your business. The request will specify the period of time the auditor will be reviewing. Having these records ready when the auditor comes to your business will speed up the auditing process and ensure the auditor makes an accurate report.
After the Audit

After the audit, the auditor will issue a report and the insurance company will adjust your premium up or down. You have the right to review the report and to question any premium adjustment. The agent will explain to you why the adjustment was made and you may appeal the decision if you can provide evidence that backs up your claim that an adjustment was incorrect. For instance, if you can show the auditor filled in the incorrect number of employees or wrote down the wrong figures for hours worked or showed you didn’t have copies of insurance policies for sub-contractors when you did have these copies, you can make an appeal.

Analyzing a company’s financial condition often boils down to looking at two factors: productivity and profitability. Productivity tells you how efficiently a company generates revenue, while profitability tells you how much of that revenue the company gets to keep. Investors and financial analysts gauge productivity and profitability with two simple and closely related ratios: asset turnover and profit margin.

Asset Turnover

Whatever line of business a company is in, its basic business strategy will be the same: Use its assets to generate revenue. The more revenue it gets out of each dollar’s worth of assets — the more it “turns over its assets,” in business-speak — the more efficient the company is. Analysts and investors measure this efficiency with the asset turnover ratio. To compute it, take the company’s sales revenue for a year and divide it by the average combined value of all its assets. For example, if a company had $40 million in sales and an average of $25 million in assets, its asset turnover is 40/25, or 1.6 — that is, $1.60 in sales revenue for every $1 in assets.
Profit Margin

One of the most widely known and referenced financial ratios, profit margin reveals how much of a company’s revenue becomes profit. The figure a company reports as “sales revenue” is merely the gross amount of money it gets from its customers. Its net income — another term for profit — is what is left of that revenue after the company has accounted for its expenses, including taxes. To calculate profit margin, take the company’s net income and divide it by its sales revenue. If a company had $10 million in net income on $40 million in sales, its profit margin would be 10/40 — or 25 percent.
Relationship

Asset turnover and profit margin tend to go hand in hand. Companies that operate with low profit margins need high asset turnover. Since they realize a relatively small percentage of profit with each sale, they have to do a large volume of business to turn a healthy profit in dollar terms. Grocery stores are a classic example of this. On the other hand, companies with a high profit margin may be able to get by with a lower asset turnover.
Return on Assets

Profit margin and asset turnover are so closely linked that you can combine them to produce a third commonly used financial ratio, “return on assets.” This ratio reveals how much profit the company generated for each dollar’s worth of assets. When you multiply asset turnover (sales/assets) by (net income/sales), the sales figures cancel out, and you’re left with net income/assets, which happens to be the formula for return on assets. So a company with $25 million in assets, $40 million in sales, and $10 million in net income has a return on assets of 10/25, or 0.4 — that is, 40 cents of profit for every $1 in assets. Note that this is the same figure you would get if you’d multiplied asset turnover (1.6) by profit margin (25 percent).
Getting the Figures

All the numbers used to calculate these ratios can be found in a company’s annual financial statements. Sales revenue will generally be the top line of the income statement. Net income is usually the bottom line of the income statement. Total assets can be found on the balance sheet. To determine the average total assets for a year, add together the asset totals from the beginning of the year and the end of the year, and then divide by two.

Deferred employee compensation plans, formally known as Section 457 plans, help employees who work for sponsoring governmental agencies and nonprofit organizations save money for retirement. Your employer will withhold from your paycheck sums you specify and will then repay you the money upon retirement. Because the IRS considers 457 plans as either non-qualified or qualified for tax purposes, you must consider the tax implications of deferral, but you will usually benefit by deferring the maximum annual amount you can afford.

Benefits

If you work for a local or state government agency that offers a 457(b) plan, you can defer up to $16,500 of your annual earnings if aged 50 years or younger and $22,000 annually if over 50, as of the date of publication. Because these contributions are always qualified, you will not pay any tax until you withdraw money from your plan. These retirement plans also feature low or no commissions for fund managers. Reduced fees and deferred taxation allow your contributions to compound tax-free, increasing the size of your portfolio by the time you retire. If you cannot spare sufficient income to reach the maximum annual limits of the plan, you should defer as much income as possible.
Considerations

If your nonprofit employer offers a non-qualified 457(f) deferred compensation plan, you may want to make minimum contributions to your plan, because the IRS usually considers income deferred under these plans as taxable. Because you will receive less income and still owe income tax on earnings you have not yet received, contributing a large percentage of your income to the plan could create a financial hardship. You might want to defer more of your income if you max out your Individual Retirement Account because money earned on investments in a 457(f) plan compound tax-free.
Flexibility

Qualified deferred compensation plans allow you to rollover your retirement funds into an IRA without a tax penalty, allowing you more flexibility in investment choices. Non-qualified plans do not permit rollovers, meaning you will pay tax on all money earned on deferred earnings in a lump sum when you withdraw your funds early from your 457(f) plan.
Risk

Deferred employee compensation plans offer security compared to stocks and bonds, because the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) requires 457(f) sponsors to have a trust or annuity contract that will compensate you if the funds you invest in default. 457(b) plans require government agencies to back retirement plans with their own revenues, making it unlikely that both a fund and your employer will default.
Return

You should contribute as much as possible to a deferred compensation plan if you seek a fair return on your investment with less research. Employers will offer you a basket of funds to invest in, including conservative, moderate and higher risk mutual and bond funds. Your employer will handle the research of funds, so you do not have to select from the thousands of funds currently on the market.

There are definite advantages and disadvantages to every business type. You can choose to operate as a sole proprietor, set up an LLC or incorporate your business. While each of these do have their own advantages, here we will focus on the benefits of incorporating your business.

Benefits

It protects your personal assets (for example, your family’s home) in the face of a lawsuit or business debt. Otherwise, you would be held personally liable.
Time Frame

Your business can go on without you. This means that your business can continue even after you die or decide to step down and retire. This is a major advantage if you want to pass your business on to others.
Prevention/Solution

Incorporating can lower your taxes. If you are a sole proprietor, the self-employment tax is pretty hefty–15 percent of every single dollar you make, even the otherwise tax-deductible portion. You can avoid this by incorporating. It will also be easier to write off business expenses.
Potential

Other people see you as a business. This is especially important if you are offering a service and working from home. Consumers and other companies will perceive you as a business rather than as an individual working from home.
Considerations

It will help protect the name and identity of your business. This is important because you don’t want others to accidentally or purposely take the name of your business.

The merger or acquisition of a business does not always eliminate the bought-out company. In fact, a merger may only be a temporary partnership between two companies looking to achieve a shared goal. The business model during a merger or acquisition depends greatly on the goals and needs of each company. A company looking to purchase a business may have different aims than a company only seeking a temporary joint venture.

Strategic Joint Venture Agreements

A strategic joint venture is an agreement between two separate companies to work together toward identifiable goals. A partnership agreement also refers to this type of business arrangement. The two companies entering into the venture do not merge into one business entity. Each organization remains legally separate in terms of structure, employees and leadership. This allows both companies to remain autonomous from one another while still pooling collective resources to accomplish a common business goal.
Joint Venture Business Model

The business model in a joint venture stresses the strengths of each organization while working to mitigate the areas where each company has weaknesses. For example, a company with a strong product development department may look to partner with a corporation that has a well-developed distribution network to reach more customers. Each company gains something from the partnership: The business with a strong product is able to bring that item to more market areas, and the company distributing the product is able to charge a fee for gaining access to the shipping network. Both businesses can advertise the temporary partnership to generate a positive buzz in target market areas.
Business Acquisition Definition

A company acquires another business by purchasing it from the firm’s owners. This may occur in a variety of ways depending on the ownership structure of the company. For example, a business buys a corporation through the acquisition of the corporation’s stock. In a business acquisition, the purchased company may disappear altogether into the purchasing company. When this occurs, leadership and managerial personnel within the purchased business don’t survive the acquisition process still employed. The purchasing company may also elect to keep the business running as a separate entity or shut the company down completely. What action the purchasing company performs depends on the business model going forward.
Acquisition Business Model

The business model of an acquisition or merger is highly subjective depending on the strengths and weaknesses of the purchased company. If a purchased company has a recognizable name or brand with customers, a purchasing company could decide to keep that business running and use the brand recognition to stimulate sales. Conversely, if the business simply has product patents the purchasing company wants, the purchasing company will keep the patents and dismantle the business. A bought-out company may also have an attractive research and development department or marketing division that the purchasing company will absorb into its own business structure while eliminating the remainder of the company.

One of the biggest things involving a tenant moving out is the condition the apartment is left in. It is in your best interest to have your tenant take a sheet with all of the specific things that need to be looked over in the rental. When your tenant brings the sheet back with a rating of poor to excellent as far as how they left the appliances, carpet and what not are, you factor those in to what the move out fee is going to be. Have a list of the cost of everything. There is the cost of the large blinds on the living room window, any extra stubborn spots on the carpet that need extra treatments. Have all of these prices listed so the tenant is informed and can’t be completely shocked when they get the balance owed after move out demand for payment form.

Most tenants know they are going to get a move out demand for payment form. It’s either going to be a free balance owed after move out demand for payment form telling them they don’t owe anything. All clients want that form since it means everything in the rental has been left in great shape and cleaned according to your standards. You have to decide where your standards are.

The forms that demand the balance owed after move out fee form protects you as a manager or landlord to keep some money from the deposit and demand any extra amount. Tenants that have destroyed parts or much of the apartment know this is coming if the damage is really excessive. It is your legal right to make sure you don’t go 365 degrees in the hole financially over property damage done by tenants.

When your former tenant gets the balance owed after move out payment form you send them, it tells them you are serious about getting the extra money owed to finish repairing the damages done to the rental. There is a legal seriousness to it. That balance owed after move out demand for payment form means if they do not comply, they are going to have it attached to their rental history, probably their credit history, and this will get worse legally if they do not comply or make payment arrangements.Free forms available at my property management.

Make sure you get the balance owed after move out demand for payment form and have it ready to forward to your former tenant’s new address. The balance owed after move out demand for payment form is online and gives an authoritative, legal notice to keep former tenants in line.