4 Things You Need to Have Covered When Owning a Business

Owning your own business can be a minefield of tasks, and finishing everything can be stressful. There can be so much to do that at times, and you feel like you are lost. We are here to tell you not to suffer alone. There are some things you can make sure you are covered on to avoid the stress and strain of the day to day business activity.

Whether you are new to business ownership or have always been the entrepreneurial type, there are likely still many things you are unsure about. Life running a business is a lot like being back at school; a day never goes by where you don’t learn something from it.

We have a lot of experience and will share some of that with you now. We hope you enjoy our tips and can avoid some of the mistakes we have made by following them.

Timing for Taxes

Taxes can be taxing, and you are not alone if you find the doing them time-consuming, complicated, and slightly draining. We feel your pain, but you can make life easier for yourself by staying on top of it. Don’t procrastinate on your taxes, because you could miss something which can result in you being fined and in the worst-case scenario prosecuted.

In Canada, you need to check out the essential details. The advice from the best tax accounting firm Toronto is : “Corporations have to file tax returns within six months of their fiscal year end if at any time in the year the corporation was resident in Canada, carried on business in Canada, has a taxable capital gain, disposes of taxable Canadian property, or has (or would have but for a treaty) tax payable under Part I for the year.”

Insurance

Running a business means opening yourself up to a wide variety of potential liabilities. It could be personal injury, damaged inventory, or even theft that causes you to lose hundreds or thousands of dollars. The good news is there are plenty of options out there to mitigate risk.

People often think that insurance coverage is not essential, while at the same time spending thousands on stock and equipment. Be sure to protect yourself and your inventory. 

If the worst-case scenario happens and you are robbed, for example, at least this way you can recover the costs. The same goes with covering yourself for liability on injuries suffered at your business premises. 

Employee Rights

You may think that you can easily hire staff when you need them and fire them when you don’t. Although this used to be the case, particularly in more seasonal industries, you need to be much more aware of how you treat staff. It could land you in a lot of trouble if you poorly treat your workers and may cost you both money and your reputation. 

Try to keep up to date with the latest contracting and legal advice when it comes to taking on staff. Everybody in your team should be treated fairly and equally; don’t try to bend the rules here. 

If you need short term staff, you should look into contracting rather than offering permanent positions. Another method you can use is hiring people on a 90-day trial. If you are satisfied with their work, you can choose to add them permanently to your organization. This is also a fantastic way to check that the team-members you wanted fit your company.

Cash-Flow Planning

This is the biggest killer of new and old businesses alike, cash-flow. Many business owners make this mistake when planning their finances as they think that the medium and long term forecasts are the most important thing to a business. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

If you cannot pay your staff on time, they will not come to work or will work below the required standard. If you cannot keep stock on your shelves or raw materials in your factory, then there is no way you can make money through sales to customers. 

Final Thoughts on Running a Business

Running a business is much more rewarding if you can avoid major issues. Sometimes this is entirely unavoidable, but in most cases, excellent planning can help mitigate the issue. 

Treat every day as a lesson in how to be better, and you will find your business will grow. Don’t sit back on your success to date and think that will be enough in the future. It probably won’t be.