• You owed more than you thought you would?
  If most of your income is from a salaried job, you might need to adjust your Federal (W-4) and State withholding. There is a convenient IRS Withholding Calculator at irs.gov.
• I got a huge tax refund. Whoopee.
  This is actually your own money that you have been loaning to the government interest-free for the entire year. As with the above issue, use the Withholding Calculator to adjust your W-4. Paying as close as you can to your actual tax liability each pay period gives you more money right away, which you can either spend, invest, or save.
• My records were really disorganized.
  Keeping good records can be as low-tech as saving your receipts and statements in an accordion file.  Personal finance software such as Quicken and TurboTax are also easy and convenient to use.
• I have a small business and always forget to keep track of my business mileage.
  The easiest way is to keep an envelope in your car and put your receipts in it as you go. There are several really good mileage-tracking apps for your smart phone, such as Trip Cubby ($2.99), TripLog/1040 ($4.99), and  MiLog ($3.99).
• I didn’t contribute enough to my IRA.
  The best way to add to your IRA is through regular contributions – e.g., monthly payments.  This allows you to benefit from dollar-cost averaging, as well as not having to come up with a chunk of money at the last minute.
•  I wish I hadn’t waited so long to file.
  Well, it never hurts to get an early start. Even if you wait till February, you will be ahead of the game, as you will have time to find everything you need to prepare. And I’m told the line at the Post Office is pretty long on the night of the deadline.
  TSCPL has the latest Income Tax Guides each year ( Ernst & Young and J.K. Lassiter), located in our Business and Investment Center in the Library’s Reference Room and also available for checkout.

• Business Areas:  Accounting; Buying, Expanding, or Closing a Business; Sales,;Legal Issues; Business on the Internet; Employees; Operations; Going Green; Management and Leadership Topics and  more.
• Industry Information by Business Type
• Business Basics:  Includes valuable information on how to manage your business after it is up and running.
• Start-up Kit and Business Plans

In addition to the above resources, this database also features several full-text PDF versions of business books published by NOLO press.  These books provide legal guidance from starting your business to managing your taxes to negotiating with contractors and consultants.  There is also a guide to effecive fundraising for Non-Profits.

Business videos are available to provide critical information to business owners in a teachable format.  Choose from literally hundreds of videos,  including

• Business tips from the nation’s top CEOs
• “Lessons Learned” features to help avoid the pitfalls of running a business and to let you know you are not alone in facing daily challenges – large or small.
• Lectures from leading business educators
• “How-to” videos

The Small Business Reference Center is a terrific resource  to help foster success in all aspects of starting and growing a business.

Whereas Collins’ focus in Good to Great was on company performance, this time he conducted a much more scientific study. With a team of twenty researchers, he targeted companies whose performance beat their industry index by a minimum of ten times over fifteen years in environments characterized by big forces and rapid shifts that company leaders could not have predicted or controlled. These companies were designated as “10X companies.” They were then compared to similar companies that failed to thrive in similarly extreme environments.

Only 7 companies were chosen as 10X-ers out of over 20,000 samples. They are Amgen, Biomet, Intel, Microsoft, Progressive Insurance, Southwest Airlines and Stryker.

Here are 5 entrenched business myths that were undermined by the authors’ research:

• Successful leaders in a turbulent world are bold, risk-seeking visionaries. Quite to the contrary, the best leaders observe what works, figure out why it is working, and build upon proven foundations. They are more disciplined, more empirical, and more paranoid.
• Innovation distinguishes 10X companies in a fast-moving, uncertain, and chaotic world.  Surprisingly, no. Evidence supported that innovation itself did not affect success. More important was the ability to scale innovation – to blend creativity with discipline.
• A threat-filled world favors the speedy; you’re either the quick or the dead. 10X leaders figure out when to go fast and when not to.
• Radical change on the outside requires radical change on the inside. The 10Xers changed less in reaction to their changing world than the comparison cases.
• Great enterprises have a lot more good luck. Both sets of companies had luck and lots of it, both good and bad. The critical issue is what you do with the luck you get.

If I gain only one insight from this book it is this, “…yet the question of what it takes to achieve superior performance amidst unrelenting uncertainty faces them all [public schools, sports teams, churches, military units, businesses, hospitals, orchestras, etc]: Greatness is not just a business quest; it’s a human quest.” (p.12)

*Morten Hansen is a management professor at UC Berkeley and a former professor at Harvard Business School. Currently he consults and gives talks for companies worldwide – when he isn’t helping colleagues write groundbreaking bestsellers.

How much debt you have; your payment history; your debt utilization ratio; how far back your credit history goes; your mix of various types of credit.

Here are five things that can kill your credit score and lessen your chances of getting an affordable loan:

1.  Making late payments.  Payment history counts for 35% of your total score, so it’s very important to pay on time. Furthermore, if you’re late on a payment, it stays on your credit report for about 7 years.  A single late payment can lower your score by as much as 80-110 points.

2. Carrying a big balance.  30% of your credit score is based on a debt utilization ratio - i.e., how much you owe in relation to your credit limits.  So, carrying a balance of a high percentage of your available credit can adversely affect your score.

3. Closing a credit account.  This goes along with #2.  If you close one of your accounts because of security concerns or just because you don’t want any more credit, you might actually be hurting your credit score by raising your debt utilization ratio.  As a very simple example, if you have two credit cards with $1000 limit each and have a $500 balance on one, you have a  500/2000 - or 25% – ratio.  Closing one of your accounts doubles your ratio to 500/1000 – or 50%.

4. Opening an additional credit account.  This is not really a killer, but just be careful not to open too many accounts at once.  People who open new accounts are considered a higher risk immediately after opening an account.  Also,  when you apply for a new account, the credit card company needs to check your credit.  This automatically dings your score 5-15 points. Any negative effect of opening a new account usually lasts only about 6 months.

5. Defaulting.  This (foreclosure; credit card chargeoff; bankruptcy) is the single worst thing you can do to kill your credit.  Any of these actions can knock your score down 200-250 points.  But, if it happens, you can start building back by making on-time payments, keeping a low balance, and possibly taking out a small loan and paying it off.

As with any issue regarding money, credit, or identification, there are people out there ready to scam you and take your money for little or no service. Often,  doing it yourself is the best way to repair your credit. The Federal Trade Commission’s “Credit Repair: How to Help Yourself” explains how you can improve your creditworthiness and lists legitimate resources for low-cost or no-cost help.

Whatever you do, don’t give up.  Even if you’ve done some of these no-nos in the past, present good behavior can make up for a lot, and usually within about 2 years of consistently paying attention to your accounts, you can raise your score back to an attractive level.

Sims convincingly argues that we need a new model of creativity, focused around gradual improvement and constant innovation. He profiles diverse creative thinkers and doers from Apple CEO Steve Jobs, comedian Chris Rock, Thomas Edison, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, architect Frank Gehry, and the story developers at Pixar Films. These guys have all used methods that unshackle them from the constraints of conventional planning, analytical thinking, and linear problem-solving that our educational system overemphasizes at the expense of creativity.

The author offers 4 tips for entrepreneurs trying to get a business off the ground:

1. Think about what you can afford to lose, rather what you can expect to gain.
2. Be curious. Learn a little bit from a lot of people. I don’t care if it’s a cab driver or janitor, everyone you meet knows or does something much better than you do. You can find new lessons and opportunities everywhere if you’re open to it. Curiosity is one of the most distinctive qualities of a great entrepreneur.
3. Learn a lot from a little. For example, Pixar shows its work-in-progress films to its employees and their kids. Seeking out a small group of these active users of ideas with little bets is a proven way to discover unique insights and desires.
4. Improvise, test, iterate, and repeat.  Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com often compares Amazon’s strategy of developing opportunities in new markets to “planting seeds” or “going down blind alleys.” ‘Many efforts turn out to be dead ends,’ Bezos says. ‘But every once in a while, you go down an alley and it opens up into this huge, broad avenue.’”

• Is deciding whether to go back to work full-time after you have a child really all about money? Should it be?
• Is prepaying a mortgage a smart money move, or is it really about wanting security and stability, and freedom?
• How much do your bad habits really cost you? Is saving thousands of dollars enough motivation to get you to quit?
• Are college degrees really worthwhile? Is it worth it to you personally to be in a field you love, earning $40,00 a year while paying off $150,000 of student loans?

All of the chapters are eye-opening in terms of the real costs of living. The author has a sense of humor along with the good and bad news, and gives it to us straight. She explores the real costs of owning a home, going to college, marriage and divorce, raising a family, bad habits, saving, and investing. What sets her apart is her seamless discussion of financial costs and benefits along with personal costs and benefits.

Probably one of the most practical chapters is “The Real Cost of Credit Cards.” She explains the cost of credit in terms of actual interest fees and also the cost of not investing or saving the money you are using to pay off your cards – effectively a loss of income. To lower the cost of credit cards, she recommends

• Get out as soon as possible. The sooner you can get rid of your balance, the better. ALWAYS.
• Maintain a high credit score. Usually translates to lower interest rates and also gives you the freedom to…
• …Surf your balance. Transfer high-rate balances to lower-rate cards, but consider the balance transfer fees in deciding whether this is a good move.

This is a good book for anyone making personal and financial life decisions -which is practically everyone over 15. As the author says, “we have discovered that having more money may not bring more happiness, but knowing what really will make you happy can be worth any cost.”

• SQUARE – Free - Is literally a “square” card-reader accessory that attaches to your smart phone. You can process credit card payments from anywhere using the accessory on your iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, or Android. One simple fee – $2.75 per transaction-  with no monthly charges or contracts. Especially helpful for individual contractors, freelancers and small businesses. www.squareup.com
• EVERNOTE – Free – An easy-to-use app that helps you remember and sync all of your notes across all the devices you use. Evernote lets you take notes, capture photos, create to-do lists, record voice reminders–and makes these notes completely searchable, whether you are at home, at work, or on the go.
  http://www.evernote.com/
• DROPBOX – Free – Lets you bring your documents, photos, and videos anywhere. Any file you save to your Dropbox will automatically save to all your computers, phones, and to the Dropbox website. You can also easily share your files and even send people links to specific files in your Dropbox.
  http://www.dropbox.com/
• SCANNER PRO -$6.99 - iPhone only - Transforms your iPhone into a portable scanner. It can add, move, delete pages and even combine pages in landscape and portrait orientations. http://readdle.com/products/scanner_pro_iphone/
• FLIGHT TRACK PRO – 9.99 – A travel tracker that alerts you to flight delays, gate changes, cancellations, and alternate boarding plans. Import trip data from an airline confirmation email, and it will monitor your itinerary. The program also provides satellite and weather imagery and maps of airport terminals. http://www.mobiata.com/apps/flighttrackpro-iphone

I have downloaded Evernote, Dropbox, and Flight Track Pro to my own iPhone and am really looking forward to what I can do with them.

According to Jane Bryant Quinn, personal financial expert and monthly contributor to the online AARP Bulliten, the best way to keep up with the finances is to share the responsibility; take turns paying the bills.  Perhaps each of you can handle some of the investing.  In any event, Quinn suggests answering the following five questions together to be prepared:

• What is your annual income and what does it cost to live?  Create a budget together.  Identify all your sources of current income and of available income should one of you pass away.  Subtract your expenses, and you should have a good idea of what it will take for the surviving partner to get by.
• How should you handle investments?  It’s probably best to establish a trusted financial adviser in whom each partner feels confident .
• What will you do with a lump sum of income? It is likely that a surviving partner will collect life insurance or some sort of inheritance, so you should discuss how to handle it (i.e., what to pay off, what to invest) and attach a note to the policy to recall your joint decision.
• Do you need to have long-term care insurance?  Find out from your financial adviser
• Where are the financial records?  As a couple, you should identify all of your household accounts and keep clear, accessible records.  You should also have a list of online passwords to all financial accounts, a record of both Social Security numbers, and a file of personal papers including legal documents.

By planning ahead, you will be doing yourselves a favor and providing future stability and peace of mind.

The author points out that in today’s global marketplace, most companies employ a diverse workforce, and she writes about the challenges of diversity, including the interactivity of multiple generations. She also addresses what is common to all generations and genders, and I find that particularly refreshing. Every worker needs:

• Trust and respect
• Dynamic technology and adequate training
• Opportunity to learn and grow
• Recognition and appreciation
• A balance between work and “life”

She also offers tips for conducting virtual meetings or webinars. Large companies report saving as much as 50-80% on travel budgets by incorporating virtual meetings into their operations. Other advantages are

• Minimizing schedule disruptions of participants
• Gaining skills from people who can’t travel or relocate
• Greater participation
• Saving money and increasing productivity

Another important chapter is on Managing a Virtual Workforce.  As the author points out, working virtually is here to stay.  As commuting times grow, gas prices rise, and technology becomes faster and more reliable, more companies will realize the benefits of having employees in a virtual workplace.  The trick is to establish trust, communication, and a balance between autonomy and accountability.

Each chapter contains strategies. Readers will learn how to prepare effective webinars, use Twitter as a job-search tool, format an electronic résumé so it gets noticed, and much more.  Overall, it’s a pretty good guide to the virtual workplace and how to thrive in it.

• Volatility ahead. With Europe now teetering, economic uncertainty will remain the big issue for every small business owner, with 44 percent of owners naming it the “one thing that stands between where you are today and growing your company,” a Guardian Life Small Business Research Institute study found. Winners will have flexible long- and short-term plans so they can shift gears quickly.
• “Right-time” multichannel marketing. Watch for new tools that will help business owners better analyze complex customer behavior and comments on various social-media platforms. You will be able to use that data to tailor marketing campaigns.
• More cheap online ads. Marketing will center around a move to low-cost online tactics such as paid search, says Kenneth Wisnefski, founder/CEO of the SEO firm WebiMax. “Merchants and retailers who chose innovative and less-expensive advertising channels including social media and paid search were rewarded well during the Thanksgiving weekend,” he says in reference to the spike in online sales.
• Customers in charge. More businesses will involve customers directly in merchandise and marketing decisions, Susan Reda writes in STORES magazine. How? Here’s a hint: If you aren’t doing online customer polls yet: Facebook makes those insanely easy to set up.
• Mobile purchasing grows. “Those retailers not optimizing their website for mobile phones need to start as soon as possible,” says Diane Buzzeo, CEO of ecommerce-software provider Ability Commerce. Research firm eMarketer adds that m-commerce more than doubled this year to $6.7 billion, and expects it to quadruple again by 2015.
• Credit gets easier. Business owners may finally get the capital they need, says Odysseas Papadimitriou, CEO of the credit-card portal CardHub. Underwriting standards relaxed this year and will continue to loosen up in 2012, he says.
• Services head offshore. Service-sector businesses will be in demand overseas, Elance forecasts. This year, U.S.-based contractors exported their services to more than 140 countries through Elance’s freelance portal.
• Daily deals die down. Experts agree: The daily-deal space is oversaturated with competing offers. Also, many business owners lost money doing daily deals. Expect a shakeout, both in the number of deal companies and in the types of deals offered.
• Retail-format experimentation picks up. Expect more retailers and restaurateurs to experiment with their store layouts.
• More collaboration. The small businesses that stay afloat will be the ones that reach out to complementary businesses in their town or their industry and find ways to help each other.