Business Information for Entrepreneurs by an Entrepreneur

It is necessary in certain small business functions to use a vehicle. Not all business is done over the phone or by customers simply walking into your store. In many instances, a vehicle is needed to accomplish and complete business actions and transactions.

However, how do you determine if you need to purchase a small business vehicle and which car or automobile should you use?

Needs of the Small Business

First, you need to ascertain the needs of your small business. Using a bit of logic will help you put your small business into a category of "need." "helpful," or "unnecessary."

Obviously, if your small business is a taxi service or some form of delivery service, a vehicle will be a requirement as a business function. However, say you own a donut shop chain in your city. If you deliver donuts to clients, or say you use only one location to make and bake your donuts and need to deliver the goods to other chain stores, a vehicle is necessary.

Here are some other examples where a small business vehicle might be necessary to fulfill your business functions.

• Sales travel: Does your business require you or your sales team to travel in order to meet and make presentations to prospective clients? This could be a case where a company car would be useful. However, using personal vehicles and reimbursing per mile instead may be a better option financially. Consider how many miles a car is driven per year, and whether a sales employee is willing to apply his or her own car for that use.
• Deliver goods: Do you deliver your products to clients? Or perhaps you a courier to deliver items from one place to another. A small business vehicle like a delivery truck with your company brand or logo may be ideal for everyday business use.
• Business items: Perhaps you operate a small catering company. You will need a certain kind of small business vehicle that can transport your service items to an event.
• Client transportation: A taxi or limo service is a good example of this. This is definitely a case for a small business vehicle, or even a fleet, that can operate under a business auto insurance policy.
• Advertising: Perhaps you just want to help get your business name in front of more people. A company car may not be suitable for this sole purpose, but a personal vehicle could do the trick with a tax advantage to the owner.

Cost of the Automobile

The cost of the company car could be a barrier for some small businesses. However, if you can afford buying this capital asset, then look at the other cost details for a company car.

• Buying or Leasing: Purchasing a new or used automobile will increase your assists on your balance sheet. You'll also get the advantage of deducting depreciation expense from that asset each year. Leasing a vehicle does not give you any ownership benefit, but the cost of the lease is a fully deductible expense.
• Insurance: Consider what types of small business vehicle insurance you will need, including liability, collision, and comprehensive coverage all under a commercial auto policy.
• Custom painting/interior: Will your small business vehicle need a makeover to display your brand name? Perhaps you want a custom paint job for the car or renovate the interior to accommodate guests, products, or what ever else your intend to use the company car for.

Image and Branding

If you company car can help improve your business branding and name recognition, the ROI may be worth the cost of the car. Some types of small businesses will benefit from a car with a name and logo painted on it, especially if seen in the course of doing business, such as deliveries, catering setups, etc.

Who's Driving?

The last thing to consider about a small business vehicle is who will be driving. Be sure any drivers of your company car have a clean driving record. You don't want the hassle and extra expense of dealing with accidents, especially if your company driver is at fault.

Two weeks ago, I was part of a lobbying delegation charged with telling congressional staffers the story of small technology businesses in the U.S.  The “DC Fly-In” was organized by CompTIA, a trade association focused on advancing the global interests of IT professionals and companies. The goal was to influence laws that affect small businesses.  The meetings took place on Capitol Hill in the various congressional office buildings.  I live in Maryland so I met with the staff of my two Senators, Ben Cardin and Barbara Mikulski, and my Congressman, Chris Van Hollen.  The effort was very worthwhile. Below is a picture of the delegation's motorcade just outside of the Eisenhower Office Building.

Why Small Business Lobbying Efforts are Important

CompTIA's team was extraordinarily helpful in setting up these meetings and provided background information on some of the legislative issues that are affecting small businesses.  They allowed each of us to talk to the staffers about our individual stories and concerns.

Big corporations hire lobbyists to work year round to make sure legislation does not affect them adversely.  In fact, Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez of California, mentioned the story of Bill Gates.  Apparently, Microsoft never used to have lobbyists on Capitol Hill.  Then, after the government said his company was a monopoly and tried to break it up, he hired lobbyists - lots of them.  She said Microsoft now has four lobbyists for every member of Congress.  Most big firms have people calling on congressional staffers all the time to discuss legislation that is important to them.  Small businesses need a voice to explain their issues.  The squeaky wheel gets noticed.

Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-CA) moderating a panel on sales tax for Internet purchases

Meeting the Right People

Having never participated in lobbying before, I was happy to see how open staffers were to meeting with constituents.  All you really have to do is call up your member’s office and get on the calendar.  CompTIA’s lobbyists were able to schedule appointments for us so it made the task easier.  But the process is pretty straight forward.  The meetings are almost always with a Legislative Assistant, the people on the office who take pages of notes to share with the Member of Congress.

The Issues - Start Your Egg Timer

These meetings are fast, anywhere from 10-20 minutes.  The staffers take lots of notes, sometimes ask questions and then talk about what the congressional member is doing about the issue.  Their days are packed with similar meetings so I am not sure how clearly the information is passed along in the form we intended.  Nevertheless, that is the process that most constituents and lobbyists go through unless they have a relationship with the Member of Congress that allows one-on-one meetings directly.

With such a limited amount of time, I chose the following issues to talk about:

1. Anti-spam laws
As CEO of email marketing firm MailerMailer, I pay attention to legislation that affects email.  The U.S. CAN-SPAM Act provided teeth for the government and companies to crack down on unethical email activities.  Canada and European Union have since passed laws that are much more stringent and allow private citizens to file suit.  If we did this in the U.S., it would result in a quagmire of challenges for ethical small businesses.  The EU law also covers a very large base of privacy issues that include things like tracking user behavior with “cookies” on your computer. I urged our legislators not to go down that path since it is too strict.  While our law might need some refinements, the expanded coverage of the Canadian and EU laws is not something we should model.

2. Job Retraining
There is a dearth of qualified engineering talent in this country. While national jobless rates remain at unprecedented levels, there are 450,000 unfilled jobs in technology.  These are high paying positions with an average salary of $81,000.  Offering (re)training options for the un-/under-employed and incentives for companies to hire retrained workers will help everybody.

3. Taxes, both state and federal, from the full perspective of a small business
You might not know this, but the heavy unemployment has caused most state’s unemployment insurance funds to be depleted.  In Maryland, where my business is based, the fund went from $1B to $300M in two years.  As a result, the Governor had few options but to increase the unemployment tax.  This meant a 2-12% increase on payroll taxes for businesses.  If you take an average of 5% as the increase, that means for every $1M in payroll a business now has to pay about $55k in unemployment taxes compared to $6k just two years ago.  For hard hit construction companies, that amount is over $100k. This increase amounts to one to three full-time salaries, inhibiting the small businesses’ ability to expand their workforce.

The federal payroll tax for businesses and employees is 6.2% each. Congress passed a one-year reduction for the employee to 4.2%, which expires at the end of this year.  I urged Congress to extend this reduction because it offers much needed relief for many companies and employees.

4. Section 179 expensing allowances that are about to expire
The tax code allows a small business to deduct the full purchase price of equipment purchases up to $500k.  In 2012, this limit will revert back to $150k unless Congress extends the tax cut.  Why is this cut important?  Businesses who spend a lot on new equipment typically do so to expand.  That means adding more jobs.  By keeping this cut in place, small businesses will have more capital on hand to hire more workers.

Other members of our delegation spoke to their representatives’ aides on related issues.

Is There Any Business Experience in the White House?

The next day, we met as a group with senior advisors on technology and small business to the President in the Eisenhower Office Building next door to the White House.  I did not realize that the President had not appointed a single small business owner to his Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, led by GE Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Immelt.  Apparently, he had the opportunity to do so - several Members of Congress had nominated a fellow CompTIA member - but it didn’t happen.  This point, among others, created an energized discussion. While the advisors were very welcoming with our feedback, the meeting reinforced my impression that there is an shortage of business experience among the President’s staff.  Some understand the needs of small business, many do not.

Me (Raj Khera) in front of Eisenhower Office Building next door to White House

Lobbying is a Process

I was very glad to have participated in this lobbying effort. It made me feel that I was working toward solutions rather than complaining about the problems.  The goal of meeting with Congress was to create more awareness of issues that are important to small technology firms.  The issues are often the same across most small companies.  With the lobbying landscape dominated by large firms with resources to push their interests forward, it is important that small business owners unite in a voice to shed light on legislation that affects us. After all, we employ over 50% of the U.S. workforce.

If you could tell your Member of Congress something, what would it be? Write to Congress and share it in the comments below.

Every business website should have an "About Us" page. In fact, it is one of the most important personal elements on any website. Whether you are building a new company website or remodeling a current one, you should spend some time revisiting your About Us page to find ways you can improve it.

Marketing research has proven in the past that consumers like to do business with companies they trust. It's not your price for a product. It's not even how fast you can ship it. Ultimately, the aggregate consumer wants to know and trust your business before they hand over their precious credit card - and your about us page helps them find that level of comfort.

About Us Page Mistakes

Most small business owners simply do not know how to construct a proper About Us page. Instead, they write up something on the spot and usually it is filled with potentially costly mistakes. Take these for instance:

Telling what your company does
If your company name is Carol's Catering, it is likely your consumers know what you do. In fact, most About Us pages for small businesses make the mistake of telling what they do instead of who they are. Don't make your About Us section another page with a sales pitch.

Leaving out the people
Oftentimes, About Us pages do not have a single iota of information on the business owner, much less any other important people. Make the page more personal, giving insight into who operates the company and helping to make a human connection.

Boring, stiff copy
Another big mistake small businesses make is writing an About Us page that contains unmotivated copy. The tone is stiff, stuffy, business-like, and not at all creative or inviting.

What an About Us Page Should Be

Your About Us page should be inviting and contain these elements:

• Share the company story - Let the About Us page tell how the company got started. Share an anecdote that was the impetus for the company's formation. Provide a timeline. Share why your company is passionate about what it does. Customers love to understand the background of a business.
• Tell the human story - Consumers know your business is more than just a brand. Tell more about the founders and other important directors, and even about the people who customers have contact with.
• Show the company's personality - Even if your company is in a "stuffy" conservative financial industry, it doesn't hurt to show your personality. Have a little fun in the About Us page to show that you're all human, too.

Tips on Designing Your About Us Page

With common mistakes and what an About Us section should include in mind, here are a few ideas to spice up your About Us page.

• Picture and Bios - At the very least, upload a picture and bio of each executive of the company. If the company is small enough, do this with all your staff. Make the bios fun; that is, show a little creativity. Let the visitor know why it would be fun to talk to or meet the person.
• Owner Video - Create a short video of the company's owner giving a brief tour of your facility. Seeing the owner in a hard hat can let readers know that everyone is willing to get their hands "dirty" on the job. You could even do interviews with the owner and other important people in the company and post them on the About Us page.
• Show Timeline Photos - Does the company save photos throughout the years? Consider posting a "travelogue" timeline with pictures of 70's hairdos, 80's clothing styles, and even the humble beginnings of a company. This will help demonstrate that you are an established company, as well as one with a good sense of humor!
• Include Social Media Links - If your small business has social media accounts, be sure to invite online readers to join them. It is easy to obtain icons for popular social sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. You might even include a script showing the feeds from your recent posts on social media accounts.

With your About Us page, the bottom line is to make the content interesting. Share a little bit about the company, and show the human element of your business. Brag a little about how the company has triumphed over humble beginnings. With an About Us page that attracts and connects visitors to the business, it could spell additional conversions for your online sales.