Small Business Today Magazine JAN 2015 AIM GLOBAL LOGISTICS | Page 28
EDITORIALFEATURE
New Year’s Resolutions
for Entrepreneurs
By Mark Murrah
T
he annual holiday postmortem is upon us
again. How much weight did I gain? I need
to get my finances in order! I’m going to
go to the gym regularly! Most people
think of January for to-do lists…new year, new
beginnings, and new promises to oneself to do
things differently (perhaps better). Something
in our human nature sees the start of another
year as an opportunity to have a clean slate and
start fresh to be better people. The beginning
of the first quarter of the year, though, should
also be viewed as the time of the year to make
good resolutions for your company or business,
to make sure all the hard work done in the
prior year is cleaned up, and your company is
operating efficiently. Following are some bullet
points you can use to help establish a checklist
for your own company to help in your annual
due diligence and some thoughts on ways to
improve your company in 2015.
January is a good time to reflect on the state of
your business and a good time to make sure you
can answer the following questions.
• Did your business undergo any ownership
changes during the prior year? You may have
bought out a partner or brought on new
ownership such as rewarding a valued employee with a small stock option. Make sure
your stock ledger is up-to-date.
• Did you merge or acquire a business? Make
sure all entities are in good standing in all
states in which you do business.
• Do you have fully executed copies of all contracts that obligate you? Making a contracts’
file is a good idea.
• Are all your business licenses up to
date? Keep a licensing log.
• Did you change your company name or add
a division? Make sure your assumed name
26 SMALL BUSINESS TODAY MAGAZINE [ JANUARY 2015 ]
Did your business
undergo any ownership
changes during the
prior year? You may
have bought out
a partner or brought
on new ownership such
as rewarding
a valued employee with
a small stock option.
Make sure your stock
ledger
is up-to-date.
(DBA) filings are up to date. Keep a register
of all your assumed names.
• Do you have any end-of-the-year benefits
issues to address (pension, ESOP, etc.)? Confirm compliance with your inside benefits
manager or outside provider.
• Have you instituted new policies or procedures during the year? Make sure your employee handbook is current and any new
policies and procedures have been properly
disseminated to employees.
These are just a few items that a company
should be thinking about as it enters 2015. Having good checklists and systems in place will make
your life easier and add value to your bottom line
when it comes time to sell your company.
Mark Murrah is a Partner at the law firm of Murrah & Killough, PLLC (Houston’s Business Lawyers). The office is located
at 3000 Weslayan, Suite 305 - Houston,Texas 77027. You can
contact Mark by phone at 281-501-1601 or by email at [email protected]. Visit his website at www.MKTXLaw.com.