NASE News

As a 15 year entrepreneur, I have naturally acclimated towards fellow creative business minds. Enjoying hearing ideas of our youth and supporting educational efforts from serving as an adjunct educator at our local junior college to volunteering with junior achievement, small business has been a passion of mine. From owning and failing a small grocery business in a small town to successfully franchising a service model that truly disrupts the liquidation market, I have felt the sting of making mistakes and finding success! As an entrepreneurship author, speaking at national BPA (Business Professionals of America) and DECA (Distributive Education Clubs of America) conferences across the US, the excitement of the youth has continued to motivate me. Having a business fail drove me to write books. The first was a youth entrepreneurship book, “Cardinal Rules: Financial Resources for Young Adults”. A few years later I wrote the second book for adult use. Like myself, many adults need a second chance. Speaking in prison ministry programs, conducting my own boot camp, or assisting adult workforce development agencies were a nice fit for my work.

Q: I am getting ready to do my taxes for last year and not sure how to treat stuff I bought for my business like my laptop, printer, and office furniture. What line on my business tax return do I include these expenses? A: The costs associated with the new equipment and furniture will certainly provide a tax deduction to the extent the items are used in the ordinary course of business. However, unlike many other expenses these items are not direct expenses to be included on a particular line of your Schedule C, Profit or Loss from Business. The items you mentioned are considered capital assets which basically mean they will typically last your business more than just one year and therefore must be capitalized. The total cost of the business assets will still generate a full deduction over time but must be allocated over the expected useful life of each asset recognizing a portion of the expense for each year for which there is a benefit.

On Tuesday, January 12, 2016, President Obama delivered his final State of the Union address to the country. What is usually a laundry list of “to do” items for the Congress, the President realizing that his final 12 months in office will be lame duck, elected to use his speech to discuss his progress as President over the past seven years and reassure the country that things are headed in the right direction.

As President Barack Obama delivers his final State of the Union Address, the National Association for the Self-Employed (NASE), the nation’s leading advocate and resource for the self-employed and micro-business community, applauds him for making the small business community an important part of his address tonight: two small business owners are guests in the First Lady’s box, Mark Davis of Washington, D.C. and Ronna Rice of Greeley, CO.

Employee retention is perhaps one of the biggest challenges many businesses face today, and often keeping your best employees is about more than just paying them well. Many people are also looking to their employers for affordable healthcare coverage, but for small business owners the cost of offering group health insurance can be crippling. Rather than risk losing your employees to competitors who offer benefits, many companies allow employees to go out and shop for individual insurance plans, then provide reimbursement to help cover the monthly premiums and other health care costs.

For 28.2 million small business owners mastering the art of change is a major requirement to growing a business. A significant catalyst behind the winds of change is technology. For established family businesses, and especially for micro business owners, technology has changed the entrepreneurial landscape making it a more level playing field. The bottom line is that technology saves business owners both time and money spurring enormous growth and success.

Have you ever wanted to talk with a Lawyer but thought it would cost too much money? How about an accountant or financial planner? It is easy to think that getting expert advice is hard to come by because it may either cost too much for that experts time or you simply might not know who to ask. That’s why the NASE provides this service free of charge to our members. We know experts can be costly and we know that not everyone knows who to turn to for sound advice. Included in every NASE membership is the ability to use our Expert Portal to ask specific questions you have about your business (or future business) and your own situation.

Every savvy business owner loves a great deal, and we’ve got one for you. As we approach the holiday season, I want to share with you about an amazing event that NASE is proud to be a part of. The Abounding Business Conference is a day of empowerment for small business owners, coming to 10 cities across the US in 2016 and I am excited to be a part of it.

Can you believe it, 2015 is already coming to an end? We know that you have been hard at work this past year either starting or growing your business and we invite you to share your story with us and your fellow self-employed colleagues. If you are interested in sharing, please fill our or Publicity form!

On December 9, 2015, the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship approved Mr. Darryl DePriest to be Chief Counsel for the Office of Advocacy at the U.S. Small Business Administration.