Category: Business Expenses

Buy Now, Save Later: And A Very Merry Creative Consulting Christmas (Part Two!)

1/2/2021

In one of our very last blogs for 2020, we are wrapping up this blog series about the best things you can do for your business now to make the new 2021 the best year yet!

Hello, Summerville! Welcome back to the blog writer's desk! The year is slowly picking itself up and putting itself away, and boy was it one for the books. We are happy to see it go, and we are happy and excited to see what this new year will be bringing us. As all of us at Creative Consulting have been gathering for our last in-person meetings of 2020, it's been interesting to sit back and see what this year has taught us. First and foremost it has taught us how resilient our town is. Nothing can stop Summerville! In fact, through all of the challenges we have been through as a community, it has been incredible to see just how much we have supported one another and continued to grow together and for one another. We have seen compassion, hope, and the dedication each of you have to your families, community, and your passions.

We have also experienced so much support and an outpouring of love from all of you supporting small businesses of all kinds right here in town. You decided to shop small, give big, and give back to your community. You took more time to be proud of the movers, makers, and shakers right here in town, Thanks to that you now own beautiful pieces of artwork and homemade products made by your incredibly talented neighbors, and you have tried some of the best new dishes and desserts made from your neighbors that you might not have known about unless the pandemic had happened, a tough silver lining, but one just the same. We have also seen resilience in our industry that we are so thankful for. We are honored to support and care for your businesses, and to help build and support them to help reach all of your goals and more. It has been an honor working with each of you, and we look forward to ringing in 2021 with you and stepping into new beginnings.

In part one of this blog, we spent time talking about all of the financial things you can do right now to help save on your 2020 taxes. While many of those decisions, purchases, and money moves might seem like a little bit of strain on your business accounts at the end of a very difficult year, we promise that they are still good decisions. While you might feel every penny this time of year, you will appreciate the time you dedicated to following the list in our previous blog and spending a little more money now. Come April 15th, your tax expenses will not be as challenging to cover, painful, or a surprise. In this blog, we are focusing more on the business aspects of closing out a year. What can you be focusing on and working on now that can help you create the best business plan for 2021? How can you make your goals become realities? How can you uplift and support your team? Let's talk about it!

Year-End Count Down
Before we all wrap up our work for the new year and settle into our holiday parties with our coworkers, there is still so much left to do. This is our busiest time of the year, so we understand that sometimes things can get lost in the shuffle. Don't let that happen this year! Use this end of the year checklist to wrap up 2020 and get your head in the game for 2021! We know the pandemic has been devastating to so many of you, and many companies are still trying to recover from its reverberations. Keep strong, keep going, you've got this!

It's time to focus, plan, and lock in your holiday plan. Many companies will take off the last week or two of December for the holidays. Do you have a plan for your company and clients during this time? Do you have everything planned and in place to make this possible for your employees and profitable for everyone involved? If you are a client that is affected by this, make sure your needs are met before anyone goes off on holiday break!
Go over the goals you made for 2020, see how much you achieved, had to change, needed to edit because of the pandemic, what didn't work, and everything you learned along the way. Take all of that information and use it to set your goals for 2021. Sit down with your team and work on this together, and make it known to them what your plans and goals are for this upcoming year!
Take suggestions from your team on what can be done to improve the business from their end of things, and how you can improve their daily workload to help promote better business.
Gather up all of your tax documents and get caught up with all of your bookkeeping!
Revisit your pricing! This might be difficult on many levels depending on where you are, how your business is, and how 2020 affected it. If you're a new company and you've grown substantially recently, this is the time of the year to recognize that your goods and services are wanted, needed, and worth more than what you're currently charging. It's hard to allow yourself to admit that worth. It's even more difficult if you used your lower pricing to compete with your competitors and realize that raising your prices could put you in a similar situation with a newer and cheaper company. Trust your instincts and your worth, we promise things will be okay. Then there is the other side of the coin. Has business suffered this year? Are you needing a fast way to recover from the pandemic or another way to compete with your competition and fast? Lowering your prices might sound like a terrible thing, but it can truly save your business in the end!
Take time to honestly invest in updating your website and all of your social media platforms. Give them a good end of the year cleaning and updating, like a deep spring cleaning. If you don't want to, can't, or don't have the time, we might have the perfect company to help you with that! (Hint, hint!)
Inspect and revisit your business structure and model. Is it still working for you, or have you outgrown it and you're in need of a revamp?
Focus on and create a fresh marketing plan, one that is very well thought out and developed. Make sure that it is on-brand for your company, that this marketing plan is rooted in target audience research that you've collected over the year, and dedicated to making your company grow in 2021.
Spend some time thinking about your employees, and make sure to spend time thinking about the ones who have been with you for some time now before you begin hiring for the new year. Are their needs met creatively and professionally within what you can give them?
Think about some ways to give back to your employees, not only in terms of an end of the year bonus or a (safe) holiday party, but also in ways to make their office time better, their moral stronger, and their teamwork dedicated and focused. Plan fun events, (safe) gatherings, and (safe) leadership events for everyone to look forward to!
Sit down with your employees and get ahead in your vacation planning together. This can be key for small businesses when work needs to be shared while other teammates are gone. Get to planning now to not only make sure everyone gets the time they want but to ensure there is a business plan every time someone is gone!
Make sure to plan your vacation time, business owners! It is easy to sacrifice your time, but you need it just as much as anyone. Don't negate your rest and relaxation just because you own the company.
If 2020 taught us anything, it's to be prepared and to work together as a team when things got hard or when someone from the office was gone for extended periods. Were you prepared for that? Do you have a plan set in motion to cover anyone or any work when a team member is out of the office? If not, now is the time to start planning, who knows what 2021 could bring!

From all of us at Creative Consulting, thank you for an incredible year! We deeply appreciate your support and friendship and couldn't do what we do without all of you and the incredible town of Summerville. We are so appreciative to our clients who have been with us for years, our new 2020 clients, and all of our future clients. We wish you all a very exciting and wonderful 2021!

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Buy Now, Save Later: And A Very Merry Creative Consulting Christmas (Part One)

12/26/2020

The end of the year will be here in no time, and with only a few weeks left to spare, end of the year spending could help your upcoming tax season be much less painful!

Hello, Summerville! Welcome back to the blog writer's desk! While we are all ensconced with holiday cheer and joy, we know many of our readers and fellow small business owners are figuring out the best steps, plans, and decisions to make their companies bigger and better in 2021. We know many of our small business peers are trying to wrap up this crazy year as best as they can, planning for what they can, and figuring out and planning for the best ways to save money on their upcoming 2020 taxes. Oh yes, we are going there already. As much as you might hate it now, we promise you'll love us for it later! With so many small businesses being passed up on small business loans and other opportunities this year to help them through what the pandemic left behind, pinching pennies and saving what you can might be the difference between getting your head far above water and doggy paddling.

Like we said, we're going there. Tax season is going to be here much faster than we realize. We'll celebrate New Year's day, blink, and all of a sudden April 15th will be here! It will seem even closer for those who paid their taxes on the extended day of July 15th. Instead of having a whole year to prepare for 2020 taxes, it suddenly became 8 months to prepare. Four months makes a big difference when you're a business owner, you know that and we know that. So give yourself an early Christmas gift and jump on board for being prepared now.

Don't worry, you're not alone. We are already wrapping up our year, deep in planning mode for 2021, gearing up to be as prepared as possible, and ready to jump-start on whatever 2021 might bring us. So, as an early gift from us to you, we wanted to help you get organized with some tips, suggestions, and even a checklist for how to make 2021 your best year yet. In this two-part blog, we are going to be covering it all! This first part will be dedicated to how to save some nickles and dimes now to make tax season less painful, and part two will be an end of the year checklist to help wave goodbye to 2020 in the strongest way possible.

Buy It Now, Save Later!
Our passion is to help companies grow to their full potential and beyond, creating a powerful brand, voice, and social fingerprint. We offer website design services, graphic design services, social media management, search engine optimization services, and much more. Each of these services is beneficial for companies who wish to grow and expand, and to rise above their competitors. Each of these services is also what we are very passionate about. We continue to grow, study, and learn about the latest trends to continue to offer the best of each service. Have you or your company been considering a new website, a new logo, a new rebrand, someone to manage your social media services? Now might be the perfect time to sign on with us! Purchasing a new website or a logo design this year can be used as a business expense to help lower your 2020 taxes for next year! Up your game against your competition and begin bettering your business, all while saving money for your growing business now!

While we are talking about saving your company money, here are some other things you and your small business could be doing right now (after signing on with us for a website or logo project, that is) that can save you some serious tax headaches come April 15th. Please remember to save all of your paperwork and receipts, and make sure everything is documented and dated properly. This will save any confusion if anyone tries to challenge you when you make these financial decisions, and they will make your tax advisor and preparer very thankful for your organizational skills!

Check all of your withholdings
Look for every deduction applicable to your company
See if there is any pandemic tax relief that carries over from this year into the next.
Double-check to see if any tax law has been changed that could benefit your company, and take advantage of that.
Collect your tax credits, and if you have missed this in the past make sure to research what tax credits your company will be eligible for in the future! Don't let these get away from you!
Fund an HSA.
Add to retirement contributions.
Buy business equipment and supplies.
Establish retirement plans if you don't have them yet for you and your employees.
Donate to your favorite local charities. Donating items and property can get you a bigger write off than money in some situations.
Sell off your losing stocks.
Give your employees year-end gifts and bonuses.
Look into purchasing vehicles that are energy-efficient, or look into buying property.

It might be a little different, but with so many great opportunities to save money on your upcoming taxes, this feels like digging into your couch for spare change and coming up with fist fulls of twenty-dollar bills! We hope following these suggestions not only help you save money, but also help give back to your community and employees!

As a little sneak peek at what our next blog is going to be like and some things to start thinking about now, here are a few things you can start doing to revamp your business and save money going into 2021.

Negotiate with your vendors. Many of you might be working with other small businesses that have been hurt by 2020. If you are seeing changes in your product billing, your shipping expenses, and even on products that your company uses every day, don't just let that go. Contact your vendors and see what can be done to get a hold of these prices and if they can do something better for you!
It's so easy to get into the habit of buying extra products for the office. Too many fancy pens, extra envelopes, file folders, and much more. While we wouldn't recommend cutting down on things that make your employees happy (i.e. a fancy water cooler, softer toilet paper, snacks!) make sure you are double checking what your office is actually using and what it can let go of.
Talk with your landlord. Through this crazy year, you've been providing them with rent and have remained a very loyal and kind tenant. Approach them to see if there is something that can be worked out about the rent itself. As a thank you maybe it doesn't go up in 2020, maybe rent goes down for the first month of 2021, or your utilities get taken care of? While some people might scoff at that, the only way to find out is to ask. You might be surprised at the results.

There is still so much to share, so make sure you join us next time for part two of this blog. While it's so easy to let go this time of year and you just want to sit back and enjoy, please don't forget that there is still so much left to do! If you have any questions, comments, or concerns about your end of the year business plan, please don't hesitate to reach out and chat with us! We are here to help make this year and every year the best year yet. We are right with all of you who are burning your 2020 business candle at both ends, believe us, but we know the work and dedication is worth it! We are dedicated to helping our company grow to help yours become the best it possibly can! Until next time Summerville, make sure to shop small and support our community. Make sure to contact us if you are looking to design a new website or a new logo, and never forget to stay extra caffeinated this holiday season!

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The Switch: CC's Blog

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Buy Now, Save Later: And A Very Merry Creative Consulting Christmas (Part Two!)

Buy Now, Save Later: And A Very Merry Creative Consulting Christmas (Part One)

105 SOUTH CEDAR STREET
SUITE A
SUMMERVILLE SC 29483

Home | Graphic Design | SEO
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The Switch: CC's Blog

Author

Archives

Categories

Buy Now, Save Later: And A Very Merry Creative Consulting Christmas (Part Two!)

Buy Now, Save Later: And A Very Merry Creative Consulting Christmas (Part One)

105 SOUTH CEDAR STREETSUITE ASUMMERVILLE SC 29483

Home | Graphic Design | SEO Social Media Management | Contact​Employment | Our Team

105 SOUTH CEDAR STREET
SUITE A
SUMMERVILLE SC 29483

Home | Graphic Design | SEO
Social Media Management | Contact
Employment | Our Team