SelfInformed Archive

SelfInformed - November 2016

Chris Lashua is the Founder and Director of Wheelwork Arts, LLC, a performance company based in Las Vegas, Nevada doing business as Cirque Mechanics. The company was founded in 2004 as a way to provide a unique brand of entertainment that encompassed theater, the circus, history and all things mechanical. Chris received a Growth Grant in 2010 to build a device to be incorporated in his shows. Cirque Mechanics has toured the U.S. theater arts markets, Canada, Mexico, Europe, Dubai and Hong Kong.

• Accomplishing The Impossible
• Commonly Missed Deductions
• Riding Self-Employment
• Republicans Control the White House, Senate, and House

SelfInformed - October 2016

Q: My wife and I own a limited liability corporation. We just elected to be treated as an s corporation. We are trying to determine salary levels, and I read something about how the owner’s salary must be greater than employee’s for s corporations to minimize the chance of an IRS audit. What criteria should we use to establish our salaries?

• Advocacy: The Benefits For Nonprofit Organizations
• Searching for Self-Employment
• Establishing My Own Salary
• Presidency, Senate, and House all up for grabs in 2016

SelfInformed - August 2016

Teewa Akers is the owner of The Bookkeepers Accounting Service MD (Bookkeepers MD) located in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. The goal of Bookkeepers MD is to provide quality accounting services and increase financial literacy one client at a time. Teewa believes that financial literacy is extremely important for individuals and business owners alike, without a strong financial background, you may not be equipped to make major financial decisions. The Bookkeepers MD also specializes in working with small businesses to free up precious time for business owners to run their businesses instead of worrying about accounting and tax issues.

• HR Best Practices For Small Business
• Advertising Deduction on Vehicle
• Bookkeeping Self-Employment
• Republicans and Democrats Officially Nominate Trump & Clinton

SelfInformed - July 2016

Christian Birky is the founder of Lazlo located in Detroit, Michigan. Lazlo is designing menswear essentials and hiring returning citizens to manufacture them in Detroit. From developing the best possible products and implementing sustainable business practices, to creating jobs for marginalized workers, every decision is focused on developing a profitable model for clothing as a force for social change. Christian was awarded an NASE Growth Grant in December 2015 and we look forward to his continued success at Lazlo.

• Guide For Blooming Entrepreneurs:
• What's Deductible on my Schedule C
• Sewing Self-Employment
• NASE Supports Phased in Approach to Overtime Regulation

SelfInformed - June 2016

Cassandra Tindell is the owner of Mainely Cupcakes located in Indian Trail, North Carolina. Mainely Cupcakes is an online family owned and operated home-based business that serves cakes and cupcakes. Each batch is made to order and never mass-produced. Before starting Mainely Cupcakes, Cassandra was an accountant who worked in corporate America for many years. Joining the NASE in 2015, Cassandra has taken advantage of many of the NASE’s benefits, including our Growth Grants, Ask the Experts and informative videos and articles on the website.

• Ways to Get Funds to Start Your Own Small Business
• Loans and Taxes
• Baking Self-Employment
• NASE Supports Legislation To Stop Harmful DOL Regulation

SelfInformed - May 2016

Wendy Miller is the owner and Principal of Annapolis Senior Care Solutions located in Annapolis, Maryland. Additionally, she holds her LCSW-C license and is an approved supervisor through the State of Maryland Board of Social Work Examiners. Annapolis Senior Care Solutions specializes in helping seniors maximize their quality of life. Their goal is to provide seniors and their families counsel about lifestyle choices and services that maximize health and wellbeing. Wendy has been a member since 2014.

• Cyber Security & Data Hacking
• How Long Should I Keep my Tax Records
• Self-Employed for Seniors
• NASE Joins Coalition

SelfInformed - April 2016

Last year the NASE awarded 12 Grants and 4 scholarships totaling $60,000. We were able to highlight most of last year’s recipients in our December 2015 issue; however, due to timing we were not able to recognize all winners. We wanted to ensure all winners were recognized, below are the Growth Grant Recipients who each received $4,000 at the end of last year to grow and expand their business.

• Facebook Marketing
• Looking For Leads
• Granting Self-Employment
• NASE Releases New Survey Data On Sharing Economy

SelfInformed - March 2016

Brooke Kinsey is the Co-Owner and Chef at Bleu & Fig located in Columbus, Ohio. Brooke has long loved food and attended Johnson and Wales University in Virginia where she got her degree in culinary arts. Brooke met her business partner and Co-Owner Regina (a horticulturalist by trade) and together they started Bleu & Fig where they combined their expertise in catering and floral displays. When starting Bleu & Fig, they had the mindset that food should be entertainment unto itself. Brooke applied for an NASE Growth Grant so they could take their traveling business and set up a brick and mortar store front.

• Go Ahead, Ask The Experts!
• Do I Need A CPA
• Cooking Self-Employment
• You Are Your Own Best Advocate

SelfInformed - September 2016

It’s September and with the changing of the season comes the beginning of a new school year. It also means that we have handed out scholarships again for the 27th year in a row. Members from across the country work with their dependents to fill out applications early in the year. The applications are then carefully and thoroughly reviewed with winners being notified over the summer in preparation of the Fall semester.

• The Benefits Of Buying A Business
• Extended Tax Return
• Dependent Scholarship Recipients
• Clinton Releases Small Business Plan

SelfInformed - December 2016

Do you want free publicity for your business? If you're an NASE Member, the NASE can help you promote your business! Simply fill out our "Get Publicity!" form here, and you and your business could be featured in an NASE publication, like our monthly member e-newsletter, SelfInformed.

• Starting Off Your New Year Right
• 3 Ways Text Messages Help Improve HR Communications
• Picture Yourself in the Spotlight
• VICTORY! President Obama Signs Into Law Legislation that Allows for HRAs

SelfInformed - February 2016

Most of us associate February with Valentine’s Day flowers, Ground Hog’s Day, or maybe even the birthday month of Abraham Lincoln. But for all of us who are also small business owners it is time to start thinking about that dreaded tax return. And worst of all is the thought that what if that tax return gets audited. It’s a random Saturday morning and the weather is nice. You walk out to the mailbox with your fresh morning coffee almost skipping with a song in your step. Life is good. But then a big white envelope appears with the return address reading…Internal Revenue Service. Suddenly, the Saturday is not so bright and the coffee is not so fresh.

• Caring Self-Employment
• Converting My Business
• Preparing For Taxes
• Administration Proposes 21st Century Retirement System

SelfInformed - January 2016

• Cardinal Rules For A Smooth, Lean Start-Up
• Business Expenses
• President Obama Delivers Last SOTU