Just1Group

Are you doing what you love?

noreply@blogger.com (Deena Fischer) — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 13:45:00 +0000

(Editor's Note: Today's post is a guest post about the struggle to between entrepreneurship and stability. Between doing what you think you have to do and doing what you love. About the drive to become an entrepreneur. Submitted by a Just1Group Member, who has asked to remain nameless. If you would like to submit a guest post, you can send it through the contact email at www.just1group.com)

The Straw

I've often wondered, what was the straw that broke the camel's back?

What was the one idea, the one "thing", the one epiphany... that gave someone the courage to say, "I've got this great idea. And I know I can make money at it, and I know I can do it right. I'm going for it." And just like that, the brave he or she quit the 9-5 grind, gave up the subway, parkway, interstate or gridlock, to buckle down and see their idea come to fruition.

Hey, sometimes it's a fortune cookie that
gets you moving... Whatever it takes...

At what point - in the midst of uncertainty - was there that nudge, that said "it's now or never."?

Just a few days ago, I attended the funeral of a friend. In her early 40's, and mom of two boys, she was always (in some form or fashion) a librarian. As an adult, she was a children's librarian, and to anyone who knew her, that was her calling. Parents and children alike sang her praises of creativity, fun, education, and a genuine love of what she woke up to do, every single day.

Sadly, I lost touch with her over the past few years. I reconnected with her just recently. It was a short conversation, but I was surprised to hear she had recently taken a new career path. She had left the world of libraries and the children in them, to work for a mortgage company. Upon her passing, it was shocking to all of us who knew her, to hear she'd left what she dearly loved - what we all believed she was born to do - to take a job that gave her more "stability".

Stability, she told me, was the reason she left the job she loved, and took another. The exact words of my friend, I believe, were, "She realized doing what she loved wasn't giving her the stability that she needed." I found that to be profoundly sad, as the myriads I come across on a daily basis rarely tout that they are doing what they love to do.

In the few days that have passed since her funeral, it has had me thinking. When my alarm goes off at 4:08 am every morning, do I have excitement and the wherewithal to jump out of bed, excited at what the day has in store for me? Do I have the gumption to crawl out of bed, knowing that for the next 10 hours of the day, I'm contributing to something that I have a passion for? The answer is no.

Unlike my friend (or maybe just like her), I jumped from my 12 hour days in my home office - complete with getting my kids on and off the bus, taking temperatures when they were sick, or taking a bit of time out of my day to hang out and just "be" - to the life of "stability". The salaried job, that offered what we all so desperately need. 60 hours a week, over worked and under paid, and paying a good chunk of my mediocre paycheck towards insurance benefits that don't cover dental, vision or prescription coverage. Living the dream, right?

Hardly. If there were any lesson to take away from the tragic incident that took away a person who had found her passion in life, shortly after trading in that passion for "stability", I've learned this: life IS too short. Every cliche that I've heard, read or found on a great Facebook post holds true. Do what you love, and love what you do. There is no time like the present. Live in the moment. Yada yada. We have heard them all. But, there is a reason for them; they ring true to those who choose to believe in them.

If we don't trust enough in ourselves to take that jump - despite the uncertainty, instability, unknown or general "what if's" - who will? Who will continue to cheer us on in our quest for making our dreams realities? Most likely, not those who continue to suppress the dreams they have tucked away. You are the only person who will champion your dreams.

If you aren't happy, change your circumstances. It's a rare occasion that the great bird of fortune will zip on by and poop on your shoulder.

Quit waiting for it. Quit waiting for other people to validate your dreams.

Knowing that you have peers and resources who are where you are - or who have been where your are right now - are your champions. With the advice and support of those who believe in helping others grow, succeed and achieve, the only thing holding you back is YOU.

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Conquering the Fog of Entrepreneurship

noreply@blogger.com (Deena Fischer) — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 15:22:00 +0000

Entrepreneurship – and the ability to find opportunity and success – isn’t without its significant hurdles.

Can you see your way through?

Developing and growing a business idea is often like moving through a fog. Creating and following a path along something you can see, feel and sense but cannot physically control, can easily make you second guess whether or not you can navigate your way through successfully.

Come to think of it, in a lot of ways, it's very similar to moving through a fog....

Moving through a fog can hinder your vision, cause you to lose your sense of direction, or generally give you an uneasy feeling about what may lie ahead. If you understand it – if you realize you CAN be in control and have the ability to not only navigate through difficulties, but also pave your way above them, you and your business will survive.

But how do you pave your way through the fog? Just remember that you're looking for "PAVED FOG"......

Passion If you don’t have a burning desire to see your business idea succeed, who else will?

Attitude If you don’t wake every morning with the mindset that this is going to be the day great things happen for your business, chances are great things aren’t going to happen.

Vision Do you have a clear vision of where you see your business growing to? If you don’t have a vision of your successful business in the future, chances are it’s never going to get there.

Excitement When you talk about your business and your goals to others, can they sense the excitement you feel about your product or service? If you don’t have excitement about what you have to offer, others won’t either.

Drive Does your business idea drive you towards your desired end result? Are you always thinking about ways to make your business better? Do you see how much better your life can be, once you get your business off of the ground? Drive. We all need it.

Fear Every entrepreneur needs a taste of fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of failure. Whatever your fear may be, you need a bit of it to induce the fight or flight reaction within. If you fight, you’re overcoming your fears….if you choose flight, your business idea isn’t quite the right one for you.

Opportunity Opportunities are everywhere. From your local mom and pop diner, to your son’s orthodontist, opportunities present themselves to you every day, all day. Do you recognize and capitalize on them, or do they pass you by? Think about it.

Goals Where to you want to be? Where do you want your business to be? If you don’t have SOME understanding of your desired end result – which can absolutely change and evolve over time – you’re spinning your wheels. How can you reach your destination, if you never leave the starting point?

Understanding and accepting that you cannot control every step of the path to your successful future is certainly a part of your pathway to success. Things are bound to happen. If you make a mistake, learn from it. If you lose a sale, go get the next one. But that doesn't mean that the process is entirely out of your control, even when it seems like it is.

When navigating through the fog of small business ownership, understand that you cannot control the surroundings, but you can control the way YOU deal with them. Do what you love, and love what you do. We wish you all of the success you can handle!

Is the Cost of Health Insurance Holding You Back?

noreply@blogger.com (Deena Fischer) — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 03:05:00 +0000

Incurring the high costs of health insurance - especially when you are an entrepreneur or small business owner - can often present challenges and hesitations that reach far beyond they day-to-day operation of your business.

Are you letting the good potential employees
walk out the door?

Perhaps the inability to offer heathcare coverage is preventing you from hiring much needed employees. Maybe your business is ready to take off, if only you could leave your 9 to 5 job that is currently providing you with health insurance. Whatever the reason, many entrepreneurs and small business owners are stuck between a rock and a hard place when it comes to growing their business.

On one hand, you have grown and cultivated a business that is generating interest and income. On the other hand, health benefits for you and your employees seems out of reach, due to high costs.

What is the alternative?

Many entreprenurs and small business owners simply play Russian roulette with their health. Going to their physician is reserved for those times when there are no other alternatives. Yearly checkups, routine bloodwork, and the like are put on the back burner because of the high costs that are paid directly out of pocket.

The hiring of much needed staff is put off in favor of overseas staffing, which costs little and sacrifices quality and teamwork. Why? Because most potential employees who are qualified and dedicated ask for benefits in return; and at the top of the list of benefits required is heath coverage.
Until recently, entrepreneurs and small business owners have been "outsourcing" important roles and jobs within their business, offering only "contractor" status to the very best workers. What this means to the contractor is that he or she needs to handle all of his or her own taxes, and no benefits are available. What this means to entrepreneurs and small business owners is the fact that it will be difficult to attract and retain employees, when there is no benefit package available.

Thankfully, Just1Group understands these concerns. The team at Just1Group comes from a diverse background, and all understand the importance of pursuing the dream of business ownership, without sacrificing the need for health insurance.

Finally, there are options for entrepreneurs and small business owners which can offer quality health insurance at affordable rates.

For more information on the options that are available to you, visit our website at http://www.just1group.com.

If you'd like to receive notifications from Just1Group about new blog posts and other happenings (no, we don't ever sell or rent our list, but you can visit our privacy policy here for more details), please sign up for email alerts below.

The High Cost of No Insurance

noreply@blogger.com (Deena Fischer) — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 13:13:00 +0000

Many entrepreneurs and small business owners believe they cannot afford to purchase health insurance for themselves or their employees. However, taking into consideration the greater costs of not having health insurance, it may be worth rethinking that position

Lost Employee Time  

Often, people who do not have health insurance defer doctor visits until they are having major health problems. As a result, illnesses and conditions that can be addressed when they are minor concerns often become extremely expensive to treat. Instead of missing one or two days of work, the employee ends up missing more than a week or longer due to illness.

Employees who do not have health insurance for their families also lose work time if they need to stay home taking care of their children. Again, instead of being able to easily take their child to the doctor to get needed medications and treatment early in an illness, minor health conditions turn into major illnesses, requiring longer and more expensive recovery times.

The rewards for helping your employees is
immesurable

Employee Financial Distress  

Whether you are considering insurance options for yourself or for your employees, one of the major factors to think about is the financial impact of not having health insurance. Unfortunately, medical care is expensive, especially for chronic or major health problems. Health care expenses are often one of the major factors behind bankruptcy, and can cause substantial distress for you and your employees.

Small business owners need employees to be focused on work priorities, and solopreneurs can rarely afford to lose valuable time growing their business. However, for those without health insurance options, the cost of routine checkups and doctor visits can become a major worry. Self-employed business owners may be challenged with the cost of medical care if they find themselves facing a major or chronic illness. Health care expenses are not limited to doctor visits. Other costs that can quickly escalate include medications, physical therapy, hospital stays and other needed medical treatment.

Improved Employee Performance  

Healthier employees tend to also be more productive employees. Employees with access to quality health insurance are more likely to get regular checkups and undergo critical health screening procedures. When health problems are detected in early stages, they are often easier to treat and can prevent employees from necessary, lengthy absences due to a major illness.

Employees who believe that their company takes care of them by providing benefits also tend to be happier overall and more productive. Companies with benefits find more highly qualified employees and have better employee retention than those without. Without the need to worry about health care issues, you may find your employees more willing to extend themselves in other ways to provide you with the best efficiency and productivity possible.

Tax Credits  

For many entrepreneurs, the tax impact of providing health insurance can be a significant factor in building a benefit package for themselves and their employees. With the new mandated Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) coming into effect, many small business owners are only now becoming aware of tax credits that can help pay for heath insurance benefits.

Already in effect, entrepreneurs with less than 25 full time employees can receive a tax credit of up to 35 percent of the premium cost for health insurance for their employees. In 2014, the tax credit rates increases up to 50 percent of health insurance premium costs. The goal is to increase the number of people covered by health insurance and small business owners are one major group who can provide access to health insurance for millions of people currently uninsured.

There are specific qualifications to receive the tax credit. Small businesses must have fewer than the equivalent of 25 full time employees. Additionally, they must pay annual average employee wages of less than $50,000 per employee and must assist with at least half of the cost of health insurance premiums for their employees to receive the credit.

While many small business entrepreneurs are deterred by the idea of spending money on healthcare benefits for their employees, the cost of not providing health insurance options can be substantial. With all of the benefits and the new tax credits available to help with the costs of health insurance, it is an option certainly worth considering for the smart business owner.

Just 1 Group understands the importance of quality healthcare for entrepreneurs, small business owners and their employees. Formed out of the desire to offer corporate-style benefits at a reasonable cost, Just 1 Group has provided a unique way obtain healthcare coverage by building a core membership of entrepreneurs, soloprenurs and small business owners who want to each other succeed.

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Data retention policy? What data retention policy?

noreply@blogger.com (Deena Fischer) — Thu, 17 May 2012 11:36:00 +0000

How many of you have a data retention policy?

How do you know when to
throw stuff away?

Raise your hand if you have one.

That's what I thought...

If your first question when reading the headline is, "What's a data retention policy?", you really need to pay attention. No, really.

A data retention policy is an internal written policy that sets forth how long you keep each type of personally identifiable client information. How long you really want to keep the information is going to depend on your type of business.

Things you'll want to think about when crafting your policy are:

- The types of information you collect
- How long it is reasonable for you to need each type of information
- How often you're going to purge your records (monthly, quarterly, yearly)
- How you're planning to destroy the information so that it doesn't fall into other people's hands

(This is something you should also consider when you're getting rid of a computer or server that has contained customer information. Just deleting the information doesn’t actually erase it from the hard drive of your computer. If you want more information on how to properly destroy information, let me know...)

A simplified sample data retention policy would look something like this:

Effective February 2, 2012

Bob Inc. collects each client's name, address, email address and phone number from its clients. In order to protect its client's personally identifiable information, it sets forth the following data retention policy.

Bob Inc. shall retain its client's information for three months after the date of the end of the relationship between Bob Inc. and its client with the exception of the email addresses of clients who have opted-in to receive emails from Bob Inc. on a continuing basis and/or any information that may be included in any contract between Bob Inc. and the client, which may be printed from the computer and kept in Bob Inc.'s corporate files.

Materials will be destroyed in a manner that prevents such data from being recovered by others (insofar as such destruction is currently technologically feasible).

Please note that if you're collecting financial or credit card information, you need to comply with other standards set forth by your state and/or federal laws. Make sure you check the laws in your states and the ones where you have customers if you're crafting a data retention policy.

Once you know all of these things, you need to make sure that you actually follow your policy. If you don't, it's not going to be worth the paper it's written on.

So, why do you want to do this? There are several reasons. First, you never know when you'll be subpoenaed or will be the subject of a lawsuit. If you have a data retention policy (and you follow it), it is assumed that you won't have information for them to discover outside of that.

The other reason is more practical and is going to be the subject of my legal blog (which I hope to finish this afternoon) which is about what to do when you have someone hack your system and steal your clients' information. The less inactive information you have in your system, the less people's information you have to worry about being stolen.

Just thought you'd want to know....

Please protect yourself.

If you'd like to receive notifications from Just1Group about new blog posts and other happenings (no, we don't ever sell or rent our list, but you can visit our privacy policy here for more details), please sign up for email alerts below.

Originally posted in my blog on Savor the Success on 2/3/09

The rest of it.

noreply@blogger.com (Deena Fischer) — Thu, 10 May 2012 00:57:00 +0000

Ok, it's not a gazillion
dollars, but you get the idea...

You've got it.

You know you do.

The BIG IDEA!

You're gonna be a gazillionaire.... No. Really.

You're ready to go. You've got your product or service all lined up. You've given notice to your boss that you're leaving.

I'm telling you, you've got all your i's dotted and t's crossed. You're golden.

Right?

Well, maybe.

Someone puts a bee in your bonnet about insurance. And you're like, "Eh, no big deal. I've got COBRA from work. That'll hold me until I have enough money to buy more insurance."

Hey, that may be true. You CAN keep your work insurance through COBRA. At least for a little while (though, in even the short run, it may be cheaper to find other insurance...).

But what about the rest of it?

Ok, if you're now looking at the screen with that blank look on your face that says, "What rest of it?", you might want to pay attention....

Of COURSE you need health insurance. You know that.

But what if you're disabled and unable to work? How are you going to pay your bills? What happens to your family if you're unable to work? How are you going to continue to pay someone else to run your business? Disability insurance is a serious need. If you can get a policy that'll be portable before leaving your corporate job, I'd suggest it. But if not, you still need it.

That's not nearly all though...

You're a business owner now. Being a business owner makes you responsible (and legally liable) for a whole heck of a lot of stuff.

In addition to setting your business up correctly in the first place to protect yourself (which you really should hire a competant attorney to do), you need business insurance.

Quite a bit of it, to be really protected. Even beyond just general liability insurance.

Do you have a storefront? Then you're going to need a policy to cover you if someone is hurt on your premises.

Do you have a product? You're going to want to find out about product liability insurance then. I mean, what if someone is injured while using your product?

Can I just say that the part that I really like
is how it's not even the top of the ladder
that's holding it up, it's that little
shelf-y thing that you put the paint on...
*shaking head*

Don't think that it could happen to you? You don't have a dangerous product? I'm pretty sure that the guys who manufactured the ladder didn't expect this guy to do this with it either...

And it won't stop this idiot from suing the ladder company when he breaks his neck because the top of the ladder gave way under the strain. I can almost guarantee that he will.

And it's not only product companies that have to be careful. How about if you have intellectual property that you're using? (Intellectual property insurance) Or if you're making claims about your products or services online? (Cyber Liability insurance)

The list goes on and on.

The best thing to do is find yourself a good insurance person and sit down for a real chat. About what you need now, what you're going to need in the future and how you can best protect yourself and this gazillion dollar business you're going to be running...

Because it's no fun to build up a great business just to have it snatched out from under you by the costs of defending a lawsuit. In fact, it's a nightmare.

Please protect yourself.

If you'd like to receive notifications from Just1Group about new blog posts and other happenings (no, we don't ever sell or rent our list, but you can visit our privacy policy here for more details), please sign up for email alerts below.

You're taking the plunge... Do you have a safety net?

noreply@blogger.com (Deena Fischer) — Wed, 02 May 2012 20:46:00 +0000

Some challenges that face entrepreneurs are greater than others.

Getting ready to dive head first off of the high dive into the deep end of the pool is scary. And what makes it scarier is the fact that you may find (usually about halfway down, in my experience) that there's no water at the bottom.

Ready to dive in?

It's every entrepreneur's nightmare.

Worse than that, we dive without a safety net.

Here's what I've discovered in my years of entrepreneurship....

It's great being able to be your own boss. It's great to work in your PJs if you want to (though, for some mysterious reason, not as effective as actually getting dressed before you work). It's great not to have to ask someone else if you want to take a vacation day or take time off to pick up a sick kid from school.

But there are a lot of things that I miss about being in the corporate world.

Like someone to ask the questions to. Someone who's done what I'm doing before me and can tell me if I'm doing it right. Or a list of professionals that I work with on a semi-regular basis who I know are competant, responsive and who my company has a track record with.

Or insurance.

I never realized how much I'd miss having my insurance paid for by my employer. I'd always known (in the same way that you know that a Ferrari is probably out of your price range) that individual, and even small group, insurance is expensive.

Expensive didn't even begin to cover it.

I dropped my health insurance when it went over $650 per year for me (my kids are covered on my ex husband's policy at work). And I've been uninsured for almost 2 years.

And I'm not alone. Not even close.

I did the research before I started Just1Group and the numbers were mindblowing...

According to the EBRI (Employee Benefits Research Institute), as of 2010, there are 3.6 million self employed workers under the age of 65 who are uninsured. About 17 million of the uninsured workers under the age of 65 work for companies with less than 100 employees.

It's crazy.

So, long story short (Ok, well, not that short...), I decided that it was unreasonable that people who work as hard as entrepreneurs do should have to live in fear of getting sick. Of living without adequate access to doctors, hospitals and medicines...

So, I decided to fix it.

I haven't quite figured out how to fix the insurance industry yet (and, no, I don't think the government is going to be helpful, sadly), but I have figured out a way to provide cost effective health, life, business and other insurances to the entrepreneur community.

And here's the best part. The larger we grow, the lower the premiums will be for all the members. How cool is that! I've made a commitment to pass any savings I'm able to negotiate directly to our members.

And I'm offering a 20% discount on membership to any entrepreneur who likes our FB Fan Page. Just go "like" the page and drop me an email at info(at)just1group.com to tell me that you've done it.

You can also follow us on Twitter at @just1group.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Come back next week for more entrepreneur tips...

Welcome to Just1Group!

noreply@blogger.com (Deena Fischer) — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 04:05:00 +0000

Hi. I'm Deena and I am the principal of Just1Group.

I want to take this opportunity to welcome you to the Just1Group blog! This blog will be used to keep you up to date on information that is important to entrepreneurs and solopreneurs.

From blog posts, guest posts and news from other sources, we strive to bring you information that will make your trip into the world of entrepreneur-dom a little bit less rocky.

If you have topics that you'd like to see us cover or if you'd like to submit a guest blog, please feel free to let us know at info@just1group.com. We love to hear from you.

Thank you so much for reading!