You work hard to keep your business running smoothly. Just focusing on your products and services can be difficult enough, start including your daily, monthly, and annual expenses and suddenly your stress levels rise. The amount of expenses leeching off your profits is mind boggling and sometimes goes unnoticed. Just having a CPA and attorney might not be enough to protect those hard earned funds, and often aren't. That's why I look at everything. Amazingly, it only takes me about 20 minutes to identify and locate those missing funds. 10 answers to 10 simple questions is all it takes. After that, I work with you and your CPA to recoup those funds for you. For simple business expenses, those typically take up to 72 hours to get back into your account. For property taxes and tax incentives, those will take up to 90 days to put in your account. Regardless, you still get your funding back where it belongs. Average businesses recoup around $200,000 per location. To identify and locate missing funds, doesn't cost a thing to discover. I'm compensated only a percentage of the funds recovered. No recovery, no payment...simple as that. For a free consultation, contact Ron Lester at 216-386-6715 or via email at rlhelpsu@gmail.com. ...read more

Working in the commercial financing arena, I've recently encountered a couple of mayors looking into the possibility of having the cities purchase dilapidated properties from the banks. Their plan is to do a complete rehabilitation of the property, then help folks get back into them. This is a fantastic plan that I, personally, would love to see come to fruition. Why? Many of the banks and other lending institutions are tearing these properties down because they are losing so much money on them and they, certainly, can't afford to repair all these properties themselves. Realistically, it makes more sense for towns and cities to take a proactive approach in tackling the housing dilemma. Property values are way down and having dilapidated areas around only makes it that much worse. Banking institutions can only look at this dilemma in terms of financial gains or losses, whereas towns and cities can see many more opportunities within the situation. They don't have to purchase all the properties at once. By simply investing in a handful of properties at once, they could help homeless families get back into a home. Instead of charging thousands a month in rent, they could charge lower rent on a rent to own basis. They could also assist these homeowners in finding work around the community, perhaps even look into creating career educational programs to help them hone and craft their abilities. Suddenly, the rent is going to the community. On a rent to own basis, the community would also receive significant tax advantages. The community is also benefiting from the taxes they're receiving from the renters working in their community. This is precisely what some community leaders are trying to do. Homelessness, unemployment, and property enhancement are problems surrounding communities throughout the entire nation. There's a change in mindset happening around the country, focusing on the need over the greed. I, for one, applaud these efforts.  ...read more

Maybe you just got your business up and running or you've had your business for years, but have you thought about what you'd do when it was time to step down?   You've probably seen it happen time and again, something happened beyond the owners control and they were forced to shut down their operations.  Folks show up to work, only to discover the business is now closed.  The former owners leave a note on the front door instructing their former employees to contact so-and-so to pick up their final paycheck.   A short time later, that same owner is liquidating everything in their inventory.   That's one scenario that happens all the time, especially in the restaurant industry.   How could that possibly happen to someone?   There are numerous reasons that folks shut down their businesses. Retirement, relocation, debts, divorce, etc.   You've built your business, created a strong customer base, and have employees relying on you.  That's quite an image you've built for yourself.  So when the time's right, shouldn't those folks that have come to love and respect you trust that you'd take care of them after you've left? There are folks that are always looking for businesses to purchase, it's far easier to purchase an established entity than to create one of their own.   So it's important to keep your business running, even if you're shopping it around.  You don't want to startle your employees by letting them know you're selling the business.  The moment they find out you're selling, they immediately start worrying about their jobs.  The same goes for your customers. You want to identify buyers, who are willing to come in and take over where you're leaving off.  When the time's right, you can introduce them to their employees.  Let your employees know their jobs are safe and your customers will be well cared for.   So, the question remains.  Are you prepared for such an emergency? ...read more