The Financial Flipside Podcast, Episode 20: Black Capitalism or, I’m a Business, Man

September 16, 2019 by Heyward CPA

a closeup of an eye from a $100 bill — Photo by Vladislav Reshetnyak from Pexels

“Gentrify your own ‘hood before these people do it/Claim eminent domain and have your people move in/ That’s a small glimpse into what Nipsey was doing/ For anybody still confused as to what he was doing /The neighborhood designed to keep us trapped. /They red-lined it so property declines if you live by blacks /They depress the asset then take the property back. /It’s a ruthless but a genius plan, in fact….”-Jay-Z, performing at Webster Hall, NYC on 26 July 2019

We’re starting this post with Jay-Z not just because of his deal with the NFL, in which Roc Nation partners with the league on matters of “entertainment and social justice,” or because he claimed that we’ve “moved past kneeling” and “…need actionable items.” The lyrics above and the first glimpses of the Roc Nation/NFL partnership (Inspire Change apparel, Roc Nation’s artists having their songs strategically placed during NFL broadcasts, and a Chicago-centric pair of charity donations, including one to a group that posts photos of young black people having their dreadlocks cut as part of the road to a “better” post-gang life on Twitter) are a great jumping off point for a discussion of black capitalism that we’ve been meaning to have for a long time.

This is a long one, and we have a lot of… thoughts, and feelings. So many feelings. Listen in as we talk about Reconstruction, economic anxiety, Booker T. Washington, shadow economies, entrepreneurship, space travel, Kamala Harris’s student loan proposal, self-sufficiency vs. self determination, and much more. Capitalism alone is a complex topic, as is Black people’s relationship with it. Consider this episode as a way of laying the groundwork for discussions that we will likely return to off and on in future episodes.

Show notes and related links are as always, below the cut. To listen to previous episodes, check out our website, or subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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Blog Repost: 7 Signs That Instantly Identify Someone With Bad Leadership Traits

July 10, 2019 by Heyward CPA

The following post was authored by Marcel Schwantes, Founder and Chief Human Officer of Leadership From the Core. It originally appeared on Inc.com

Getty Images

Understanding the traits of bad leadership is your first step

Do you work in a toxic environment under bad leadership? If you do, and you choose to keep your job, there comes a time when you need to hold up the mirror and decide if it’s worth it.

Over the years, I’ve gathered enough evidence to support the case that bad leadership may hurt you, the employee, in several ways, including:

Impacting your mental and physical well-being for the worst
Seriously diminishing your work productivity
Potentially damaging your and your company’s reputation
Hurting your career path and the trajectory of your professional goals

Clearly understanding the characteristics of a person exhibiting bad leadership is important. Here are seven to raise your awareness.

1. They ditch face-to-face communication.

In the digital age where communication apps like Slack, email, and texting are utilized for work productivity, bad leaders hide behind their tech and solely manage through digital interactions rather than the preferred human interaction to problem-solve issues that digital mediums of communication can’t effectively resolve. A problem that could have taken two minutes to fix in person now takes two hours or two days as workers try to interpret their managers’ words over a screen.

2. They display charisma (which later backfires).

Some of the most successful leaders in the world are known for their charisma. But charisma clouds people’s evaluations of how leaders actually perform, says Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, author of Why Do So Many Incompetent Men Become Leaders? (And How to Fix It). The professor of business psychology at University College London and Columbia University points out that charisma, when combined with narcissism and psychopathy, is a lethal combination. Furthermore, research has shown when followers have more information on a leader, the importance of charisma declines.

3. They can’t clearly communicate.

Employees have no idea what is really going on and no one knows the real truth of the current situation or what the future holds. This causes confusion, fear, and anxiety in the minds of workers.

4. They are control freaks.

A person with bad leadership micromanages to the last detail. The situation is overbearing and stifling because he or she wants control over decisions. He or she distrusts the team and doesn’t delegate; there’s no room for group discussion or input because the leadership style is autocratic. In turn, creativity or learning something new is absent under this dictatorship. The motto is: Just take your marching orders and report back.

5. They are never wrong.

Ever work with a manager who’s always right and you’re always wrong? A person with bad leadership skills has a hard time taking blame or ownership for things and will never admit to having made a mistake. He’s more concerned with preserving his reputation and saving face.

6. They are secretive.

Does your boss give you all the information you need? In the literature, this is one of the most predictive traits of people with bad leadership. It is reflective of someone who hoards or withholds information and employees often end up lost and confused.

7. They only look after themselves.

Bad leaders aren’t concerned with driving the company mission or aligning team goals to organizational objectives. It’s about their individual performance and getting that annual bonus. Bad leaders displaying this attitude are playing for the name on the back of the jersey and are only concerned about their accomplishments and how they look to their superiors.

Published on: Jul 10, 2019

Source: Inc.com

The Financial Flipside Podcast, Episode 19: Housing Things

July 8, 2019 by Heyward CPA

A row of colorful Victorian houses.

As of May 2019, the average price of a new house in the US was $377,200, a price that will buy you, on average, an apartment’s worth of space for every member of your household. Alongside expanding house sizes and the proliferation of luxury condos is a stark reality: the United States, like many other places in the world, is in the throes of a housing crisis. While there is plenty of physical housing to be had, very little of it is affordable , especially when one takes into account that most people’s wages have remained relatively flat. For example, as of June 2019, there is not a single place in the US or Puerto Rico where a minimum wage job would allow a person to afford to rent a two-bedroom apartment.

Despite what looks like a bleak housing picture, people, especially in the United States, remain invested in home ownership, even if staying in their homes means stretching their salaries or spending hours commuting each week. Why are Americans obsessed with home ownership? Does the idea of one’s house as a source of wealth hold up? Is HGTV ruining the way we think about real estate? What are the ways out of our current mess? We take on these questions and more in this episode.

Lots of interesting links below the cut

Blog Repost: 7 Signs You Need a Virtual Assistant (and How to Hire the Right One)

July 8, 2019 by Heyward CPA

7 Signs You Need a Virtual Assistant (and How to Hire the Right One) | Inc.com — Getty Images

Grow

This is a repost of an article by Melanie Curtin, an author and activist whose work has been featured on the Huffington Post , the New York Observer, and the Today Show (Australia). This post originally appeared on inc.com.

7 Signs You Need a Virtual Assistant (and How to Hire the Right One)

Time to get some things OFF your plate.

I have two Dropbox accounts. One is associated with my current email and the other with an old one (from a job I had years ago). Apparently that old address is tied to my paid Dropbox account, but I can’t get it to sync with my phone, nor can I log into dropbox.com with it … because since I can no longer access that email address, I can’t do a password reset.

This is the kind of task that drains me. I’ve scoured the Dropbox support site; I’ve emailed them and gotten a rather long and seemingly convoluted response about how to fix this.

This is also a good example of the kind of thing I would absolutely, positively love to hand off to a virtual assistant

Almost every entrepreneur or businessperson I know has considered hiring a virtual assistant (aka VA). But a lot of us haven’t quite taken the plunge, for reasons either financial or because we’re not quite sure exactly what we’d have that person do.

But according to Ardenia Gould, business expert on working remotely, if you’re even considering doing it, you should. “I took the plunge early last year,” said Gould, “and it was the scariest but best business decision I ever made.”

Here are 7 signs you need a virtual assistant:

1. Your business is holding you hostage

You’re vacation-deprived. You need more time off but you’re reluctant to take it. As an entrepreneur, you love the idea of setting your own hours and calling the shots. But if you can never find the time to step away from your business, it’s time to call in reinforcements.

2. Your business needs skills you don’t have

“I needed serious help with business taxes, securing business loans, and taking on a major renovation project so I could host retreats,” said Gould. “I’m not a tax expert, I knew NOTHING about business loans, and I’m certainly not a general contractor.”

The solution? She hired a virtual assistant who had a background in real estate, underwriting, project management and bookkeeping–and she’s never looked back.

3. You wish there were two of you

I run a podcast called Dear Men, on sex, dating, and relationships. I love interviewing guests, but I don’t love sourcing guests, (researching people who would be a good fit), and I hate dealing with scheduling. This means I put that stuff off, which in turn means my editorial calendar is often running behind.

When growing your business (or trying to), it often seems like there aren’t enough hours in the day. This is a good sign that it’s time to get a VA.

4. You spend more time on administrative tasks than the core business itself

It’s hard to add value to the bottom line when huge chunks of your day are spent invoicing, billing, e-mailing, booking, etc. Admin tasks are necessary, but often distract you from adding your highest value by doing what you do best.

Plus, they tend to drain your energy (like me with Dropbox). So not only are you getting less done, but you actually feel worse than when you started.

5. Your business is a hot mess

You’re finding yourself missing deadlines or meetings (or things on your calendar go MIA). You’re not hitting your goals–or maybe you didn’t even have time to set goals because you’ve been so busy putting out fires. There’s no room to be strategic when you’re in a constant state of overwhelm.

6. You’re ready to scale

When it’s time to scale, you typically need three things: systems, cash and people. When it comes to people, you should start with the most critical role that will help you scale. For example, if you’re launching a membership site, you may need a part-time VA to handle sales and conversion. Or you may need someone to handle member support and customer service for new members. Determine your most essential role(s) and start there.

7. You’re big on vision but short on execution

You’re a visionary. You’ve got a ton of great ideas. You’re going to revolutionize the game. But first, you’ve gotta get it done.If you’re great at big-picture thinking but get bogged down in the details (or avoid them altogether), a VA will help you thrive.

When you’re ready to hire, here are a few smart ways to find the right virtual assistant:

Referral from someone you know and trust (that’s how Gould found hers). Just post to LinkedIn and/or Facebook that you’re looking for a good VA and follow the leads
Niche placement agencies like HireMyMom.com, which staffs experienced, highly-qualified work-from-home moms
Freelancer platform Upwork. Conveniently, Upwork itself tracks your VA’s hours, screenshots what your VA is doing, and manages the payment processing, which can streamline things
If you don’t want to spend the time to hire your own VA, you can use Leverage, a company specializing in hiring virtual assistants. This can be pricier but easier

According to Gould, hiring her virtual business manager was a life-changing decision. “My sanity–my mental, physical and emotional well being have drastically improved since I lightened my load. I can take real vacations, knowing things are actually being handled in my absence.”

She has also managed to put more money in her pocket, since her VA has tightened up her invoicing so she gets paid sooner (no more chasing down clients for payment). And she estimates that her VA has saved her tens of thousands on taxes, subscription services, canceled flights, late fees and by negotiating excellent rates with vendors on her behalf.

You don’t have to do it all yourself. There are financial, emotional, and spiritual benefits to getting a little help.

Published on: Jul 8, 2019

The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

3 Ways Your Small Business Can Work With a CPA

June 8, 2019 by Heyward CPA

A couple of years ago, I was a guest blogger on hiscox.com and wrote this article. The subject matter is still relevant – check it out.

https://www.hiscox.com/blog/3-ways-your-small-business-can-work-cpa

The Financial Flipside Podcast, Episode 18: Looking Back: A Tax Season Wrap-UP

May 6, 2019 by Heyward CPA

A woman with shoulder length curly hair and glasses sits in front of her laptop. She holds a phone in her right hand. She is wearing a cream-colored blazer with a green shirt underneath. Her facial expression is suprised--raised eyebrows and a slightly open mouth. She points gestures toward herself with her left hand. — Photo by rawpixel.com from Pexels

The first tax season after the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was full of surprises. When the IRS published its weekly filing statistics during the last week of tax season , the numbers confirmed what many taxpayers were shocked to see when they finished their returns: namely, that tax refunds were both smaller and a bit harder to come by. The number of refunds decreased by 1.9%, while their size decreased by 1.3% (or about $36–this is a correction from the $55 reported on the show). In this episode we talk about what happened and why, our national love affair with tax refunds, corporate tax avoidance, and why the IRS isn’t pursuing as many investigations despite new data that reveals that more people are cheating on their taxes.

A show outline and links can be found below the cut.