There are so many deadlines and requirements for business owners to keep up with right now. I feel your pain. Are you doing okay with staying on top of them (or at least keeping your head above water)?
Obviously, the big one happening right now is tax season (which is open this week, as of January 27th). But you may also need to allocate some of your attention to your 2021 tax return if you claimed the Employee Retention Credit for that year. If you haven’t yet amended your return, you must do that before March 15th (or April 15th if you extended your return).
This ERC issue is a huge mess right now, with the IRS neck-deep in about a million claims yet to be processed. Let us give you a hand here, so a sticky situation doesn’t get stickier.
But more about tax season. Taxes for business owners are never painless, I know. You may even have a couple different tax returns to wade through (and maybe more, depending on the number of active entities you’re managing).
So if you want to get a jump on things (and as your Miami Metropolitan accountant, I’m telling you: You definitely do) here’s where you can reach us:
calendly.com/ralfheyer/30-minute-meeting
Even if you don’t yet have all the documentation you need yet, it will still pay off to chat with my team. We can start the ball rolling for you.
A few other quick reminders:
- Q4 estimated payments for 2024 were due back on January 15th. If you missed this deadline, don’t panic – just get them taken care of as quickly as possible.
- W-2s and 1099s must be sent (not necessarily received by) your employees and non-employee workers by January 31st.
Okay. Now we’ve got that covered, we can talk about the more fun stuff.
The past few weeks, I’ve talked a lot about dreaming and strategizing for your business. Today, I want to continue in that vein by putting some jet fuel into those goals with tools for you to consider. These aren’t just cool gadgets – they’re musts if you want to keep up in today’s ever-evolving business landscape.
Must-Have Tools Your Southeastern FL Small Business Needs To Stay Ahead in 2025
“Adaptability is the simple secret of survival.” – Jessica Hagedorn
It’s not a “new” development that business is changing. Every entrepreneur has had to ride the waves of changing currents or face the consequences. But the current trends are challenging in their own way.
AI has its artificial fingerprints on just about everything, sustainable is becoming the new affordable, and cyber-attacks are surging to an all-time high.
And while I can try to tell you how to navigate these trends, what you really need are the right small business tools in your hands. Believe me, I know the process of finding, buying, and adjusting to new tools in your business is clunky. I’m with you on that.
But it’s a necessary growing pain.
Because in today’s world, you only have two options: Adapt, or become irrelevant.
Smiles all around
Want to keep up? Start with your customers. In a recent study, 86 percent of customers said good customer service was the biggest determining factor in deciding what to buy.
The best upgrade here (as is the fashion these days) is to use AI. The numbers don’t lie: Businesses that use AI for customer service see 3.5 times better satisfaction rates than those that don’t.
How does AI make such happy customers? Because AI can deliver accurate answers instantly. And, it shows via hard data how you can better meet your customers’ needs.
For example: Say you own an online clothing store. An AI chatbot can help your customers track orders, handle return requests, and answer FAQs. Tools like Tidio, Intercom, or Zendesk AI can be a great starting point.
Also, AI-powered tools for your small business like Thematic and MonkeyLearn can help you collect customer feedback (and know what to do with it).
The Great Cloud Migration
Storing data in the ominous “cloud” simply means uploading it via the internet to a third party’s electronic storage.
About 80 percent of businesses are cloud-based, and for good reason. Cloud tools make team collaboration smoother. They eliminate the need for expensive hard drives for data storage, and they put the burden of data security on your provider.
Once you’ve sent your data to the cloud, you can start integrating cloud-based small business tools in pretty much any sphere of your business. Here are some ideas, though this list is not exhaustive by any means. Do your own research, too.
For storage and collaboration: Google Workspace or Dropbox Business.
For managing your customers (CRM): Hubspot CRM or Zoho CRM.
For project management: Asana, Trello, or Monday.com.
For customer service: Zendesk or Freshdesk.
Stay safe out there
A cyber attack happens every 39 seconds (which means about 5 have already happened since you started reading this article). AND around 43 percent of cyber attacks are on small businesses.
It isn’t just financial loss you should be worried about here – you could lose your customers’ trust and critical data for your business if you become a victim.
But you don’t have to be a sitting duck. There are tons of cyber security tools out there, like antivirus software, firewall solutions, and tools for password management, network security, and data backup. You might start by checking out programs like Norton Small Business, Mimecast, or Wireshark.
Of course, there are way more tools out there that could be the answer to your Southeastern FL business’s specific needs, so make sure to do your own research on this. My aim is to show you what’s available as you’re navigating 2025’s unique challenges.
Another 2025 challenge you’re currently up against? Getting your taxes done. But the good news is, you don’t need any fancy tools for this one. All you need is a spot on my calendar:
calendly.com/ralfheyer/30-minute-meeting
Helping you stay ahead,
Ralf Heyer