The Florida 8(a) Alliance (http://www.florida8a.org) will hold the first Annual Conference on June 5 and 6, 2012. The Florida 8(a) Alliance, a non-profit organization, has a mission to strengthen, train, educate and promote 8(a) and other small businesses in Florida through informational seminars, Internet groups, and summit meetings.

Speakers include: Cassius Butts- SBA Region IV Administrator; Linda Oliver- Deputy Small Business Director, Office of the Secretary of Defense; Wilfredo Gonzalez- Director, SBA North Florida District and Kenneth Hamilton- Supervisor, SBA Business Development Division.

The Conference is for all businesses 8(a), small businesses, Historically Underutilized Business Zones (HUBZone), Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSB), 8(M), Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB), large businesses that have an interest in strengthening, training, educating and promoting 8(a) and small business firms in Florida in alignment with the organization’s mission.

Founder of the Alliance Andy Harold said “that providing a place for small businesses to network and learn from each and giving back to the small business community that has given so much to him was the primary reasons that he established the organization.” Mr. Harold is CEO of A. Harold and Associates (AHA), LLC a Florida-based, service-disabled veteran-owned (SDVO), 8(a)/small disadvantaged business (SDB)-certified firm.

The 8(a) program name comes from Section 8(a) of the Small Business Act. The Act, as amended by Congress, created the 8(a) program so the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) could help small companies owned and operated by socially and economically disadvantaged persons develop their businesses. This Alliance could not exist without the generous support of their wonderful sponsors: Beaver Street Enterprise Center; 5/3 Bank and LSQ Funding Group; Keystone Benefits Group; Ennis, Pellum and Associates CPAs; Deltek; Brown Insurance; Synovus Bank and First Coast Community Bank; Florida SBDC at UNF; Brown & Brown Insurance and FHM Insurance and Berman Hopkins Wright & LaHam CPAs and Associates.

To register for this great event, please visit: http://florida8aconference.eventbrite.com/

In this three hour hands on workshop, you will learn a simple five-part formula to growing your business that, when applied, can easily, grow any business by 20%, 30% 50% or more. This event is designed to help small businesses create an effective marketing plan and will also educate and empower you to answer such questions such as, “What makes your business unique?” “Why do customers buy from you?” And, “Who is your target market?”

Register online at http://strategicmarket53012.eventbrite.com. For more information, call 904-265-4700 or email angelia.redding@bsecenter.net.

You can find Alterman performing on stage acting in local theater productions, and playing his saxophone in the Putnam County Community Band in Palatka (where he grew up) and clarinet in the Clay County Community Band.

Getting bit

He says that he has always had the performing bug in him, recalling that his first “real gig” was being the narrator in his kindergarten May Day pageant. To his acting love, he then added his love of music and went on to play the saxophone in his high school band and performed in many of his schools talent shows.

His first experience acting in a play was at Theatre Jacksonville as the Rabbi’s son in “Fiddler on the Roof.” After that he has never looked back and has been in more than 60 musicals and plays at local theaters and has even appeared in movies and commercials. He says people often say to him “You must really love trial work because it’s like acting.” His response to that: “I act for fun, but trial work is serious business.”

Revisiting old loves

After high school, Alterman’s music took a back seat to other events. In fact, he didn’t get back into music again until about 10 years ago when a member from his high school band organized a meeting of band members so they could all get together and play at a class reunion.

He bought a saxophone on eBay and the group practiced during the summer of 2002 until the reunion. Alterman says, “That little event led to me taking saxophone lessons, which then led later to clarinet and flute lessons and the formation of the Putnam County Community Band.”

Playing a new tune

The band, which Alterman was instrumental in starting, has grown from eight to its current 25 members. In addition to playing in the Putnam County Community Band, Alterman also plays in the Clay County Community Band and has played pit orchestra for a few theatrical productions, giving him a chance to combine theater and music.

He finds himself quite busy combining all of these performing loves—a play usually requires about six weeks of rehearsals averaging three nights a week, which becomes every night the week of opening, and his band rehearsals are weekly for one and a half to two hours.

But Alterman loves all of it. “I love doing theater and music because as a child I always admired and envied performers I saw on television and in the movies and wanted to do what they did,” he says, and is grateful that it turned out that he had the ability to do it.

“Besides the artistic satisfaction acting in theater companies and playing music with bands provides, I love the social activity and camaraderie—people pulling together to pursue a common goal and having fun doing it,” says Alterman. “Not to mention the lifelong friends I have made in both arenas.”

Leonard Alterman is an Attorney at Law in the Jacksonville area. He can be reached at 904-739-3440, alterlawjax@gmail.com, or through www.altermanlawyer.com.

By Nathaniel Herring

Nationally, economic indicators across the board suggest a rebound, however gradual, from the recent downturn—and businesses in all industries are taking note. The Jacksonville climate, in particular, continues to slowly brighten: The metro area added 5,500 private sector jobs last year, landing the area in the top 50 U.S. markets for job growth.

As the recovery continues to take hold, many business owners are considering more aggressive expansion strategies—and lending to small and mid-market companies is on the upswing.

Yet while banks are more actively lending, some business owners are hesitant to face credit standards and the underwriting processes. Companies looking to ramp up production, invest in new product development, hire more people, and otherwise march toward greater growth and profitability shouldn’t let this stop them—but they should plan on doing some work before going to a lender.

If you are planning to seek new capital through a business loan, consider the following tips:

Take a team approach

No matter where your company is in its business cycle, it’s crucial to maintain frequent and open communication with a team of professionals: your accountant, investment adviser, banker and other professionals. A balanced dialogue—that includes advisers who are well-informed about the market landscape and your business—is critical to helping you effectively shape the direction your company takes.

Your banker can serve as an insightful business adviser. Maintaining open and ongoing communication will help you take advantage of near- and long-term growth opportunities, as well as effectively weather downturns. When you sit down with your banker, be prepared to discuss not just your borrowing needs, but your overall business situation as well.

Plan ahead

Too many small and mid-sized companies focus on landing a large account without considering the end game: meeting needs, without going under. Put simply, businesses can’t afford to commit to a significant new project without securing the capital necessary to complete the job.

A forward-looking approach is essential in financial planning; if possible, forecast six to 12 months out for anything that can make a material change or put stress on working capital. Don’t wait until you have the purchase order in-hand before getting your bank involved.

Prepare a persuasive presentation

Present a clear view of your financials. To show that your company is financially sound and capable of taking on new endeavors, support your claims with detailed income statements and balance sheets, as well as at least three years of income projections.

In short, “Sales are up!” or “Talk to my accountant,” simply won’t cut it. While enthusiasm and confidence do count, you must articulate the specific value you expect from a new infusion of capital and demonstrate your ability to repay the note.

Another tip: Tell a compelling “story.” Give the financials context and dimension by providing background. What makes your business viable? How are you unique? What obstacles have you overcome? How do you stack up against the competition? If you’re meeting with a bank for the first time, consider rounding out your story with the following details:

•Company history

•Company accreditations, credentials, awards, recognitions

•Management team bios

•Product and services overview

•Marketing analysis and strategy

•Relevant operational and production plans

•Risk evaluations

Avoid common pitfalls

Many mistakes are easy to sidestep. Here are a few tips:

Get current valuations. Many business owners overstate the value of their collateral. Even though the bank will obtain an independent appraisal, it’s important that you have a solid understanding of your assets, including land, buildings and equipment.

Use setbacks to your advantage. Banks recognize that all businesses go through ups and downs, especially in a challenging market. Rather than downplay losses, discuss how you minimized the impact and what strategies you have in place to mitigate future issues.

Time it right. Banks underwrite based on a full year of financial reports, so consider this: Would your case for financing be stronger six months from now?

Be flexible. More stringent risk management policies in banking may mean your entire borrowing needs can’t be met with a single, lump-sum loan. Be open to exploring other options, such as an incremental financing program. Success with smaller infusions of capital over time can help increase your business’s credit-worthiness while assisting with cash flow.

Also, be sure to discuss all available funding options, including government initiatives like Florida’s Economic Gardening Institute—a program to support the growth of second-stage businesses—and SBA (U.S. Small Business Administration) guaranteed loans, with your banker.

Is it time for your business to take advantage of more favorable interest rates and improved lending terms to secure new capital? From gains in national consumer confidence to a two percent drop in Florida’s unemployment rate last year, signs of economic recovery are encouraging companies to explore opportunities for growth.

Before you decide to initiate expansion plans or take on that new, large project, make sure you have a banker on your team and your financing plans secured.

Nathaniel Herring is the city president of Fifth Third Bank (North Florida) and oversees the bank’s operations in the Jacksonville market. He is a Jacksonville native and has more than 19 years’ experience in the banking industry. He can be reached at 904-486-1927 or Nathaniel.Herring@53.com. For more information about Fifth Third Bank offers, visit www.53.com.

By John Featherstone

Have you ever hired the wrong person? Most managers will have to answer “yes.” Hiring the right person the first time can save you tens of thousands of dollars in time and resources. And it’s not as difficult as you might think.

People are a company’s most valuable asset, so the company will only be as successful as the quality of the people it hires, trains and leads. Identifying what you need for the most success in a position, and then knowing how to find it in a candidate, is critical.

Improve your process

Step 1. Clearly identify the “musts” needed for a position, and then weight each criterion. These are things that candidates must have in order to be called for a phone interview. Beyond basic skills, managers need to give serious thought to special skills the employee will need to solve current problems and achieve performance improvements.

Step 2. Look for and rate those “musts” during the initial resume review and all interviews (phone and in-person). Ignore your “gut feeling”—whether positive or negative—until all candidates are interviewed and evaluated against the same criteria.

Step 3. People succeed from their strengths, so keep your focus there during the interview. Just be sure there are no weaknesses that would almost surely lead to failure on the job.

Step 4. The in-depth interview is a fact-gathering session that allows you to make a good hiring decision. Spend your time gathering facts directly related to job performance. Don’t do all the talking. Candidates should be able to share tangible results that are directly relatable to the position for which they are applying.

Step 5. Commit to taking time for a successful recruiting project. Take no shortcuts. Doing the job properly the first time will save you time, money, energy, frustration (yours and the employee’s co-workers) and the need to do this all over again too soon.

Too many managers hire based on their “gut feelings” or on interviews in which the hiring manager has talked more than the candidate for hire. Seldom does one learn anything while talking. The purpose of the interview is to gather job-related facts. This requires that the candidate talk about 80% of the time.

Areas of assessment

There are areas of assessment in which intensive questioning is needed to clearly identify the best people to hire. Here is just a sampling of those areas and related questions:

1. The practice of management
a. Define “management” for me.
b. How would your previous superiors describe your management skills?
c. What is your style of management, and can you share an example of how well it has worked for you?

2. Leadership
a. Tell me about a policy you put in place that generated employee resistance.
b. Describe and give examples of your self-confidence.
c. How do you convince people to want to do what needs to be done?

3. Risk-taking
a. How do you assess risk?
b. Describe the circumstances where you had to make a decision before you had sufficient facts.

4. Results-oriented
a. How did you bring about your greatest achievement?
b. How are your previous employers better off as a result of your employment?

5. Delegation
a. Is delegation worth the risk? Explain with examples.
b. How do you manage a task delegated to a subordinate?

6. Judgment
a. What was the worst decision you made in the last year, and what was the outcome?

7. Ability/desire to learn
a. What periodicals do you currently read?
b. What did you learn from your previous superior?

8. Planning ability
a. Tell me about the best plan you prepared, how you implemented it and the results.
b. How do you decide what elements of a plan to delegate?

9. Ability to organize
a. Help me to understand how job descriptions help employees work better.
b. What data do you collect to measure progress in your area, and how do you use it?

The other areas can be identified by contacting the author:

John Featherstone, author of “Start Hiring Winners,” is a consultant to small business and a former five-year volunteer with SCORE, mentoring and training small-business owners and employees. As a division vice president/general manager for a privately held confectionery company, Featherstone managed a spectacular annual growth rate of 50% for seven consecutive years.

By Wendy Bautista

From their 100 acres of land in Keystone Heights, Tom and Cathy Perryman, owners of Country Caterers BBQ (www.countrycaterersbbq.com), have turned a family restaurant into a turnkey event/catering company that expanded into disaster relief and government contracts feeding the troops.

Ice cream to catering

“Years ago, we bought a little ice cream shop and turned it into a restaurant called Tasty Cave,” says Tom. “When I did that, I also obtained a mentor who taught me about catering. I began shadowing and doing jobs with him, and eventually expanded the restaurant to include catering.”

The Perryman’s clearly and fondly remember their first catering job—it was for Clay Electric Cooperative, whom they still provide services for 35 years later. “That many years ago, there weren’t many caterers,” says Cathy. “We were somewhat of a novelty, which was great.”

They eventually sold the restaurant and went strictly to a catering business, but it wasn’t long before the needs and desires of their customers changed their business forever. “We went from ‘just food’ to acquiring our own equipment; tents, tables and chairs; and moonwalks and other amusement-type things because the customers wanted them,” says Cathy.

“When we first started, Cathy and I had a pick-up truck and a makeshift cooker,” says Tom. “Today, we have 20 rotisseries, 25 flat grills, 15 vans, tractor trailers, trailers, semis, and all this equipment, with some we built ourselves to make jobs easier and to suit our needs.”

Those needs include being able to prepare all of the food wherever they may be.  As no food items arepremade, they bring in all the cooking equipment needed for each event.

A catered affair

With a staff of  about 70, to include their children Teresa and Tom Jr. (Tommy) the Perryman’s achieve close to 1,200 parties a year, which averages to about 25 to 30 events a week and an average revenue of about $4 million a year.

While the hub of their business is barbeque, the scope of what they can do is much larger than most people think—and its pig logo may be the culprit. “While we are known for our gourmet barbeque ribs, pork, slaw, beans, and potato salad,” says Teresa, “Unless you know us, you don’t realize we can do a large variety of meals other than just BBQ like, meatloaf, spaghetti, seafood, gourmet foods, and the like.

“We can do the same events as the fancier hotels do downtown for upscale weddings, banquets, corporate picnics, corporate events and holiday parties—even with a pig as our mascot,” jokes Teresa.

Tom and Cathy also pride themselves on being able to offer turnkey events to customers. “If the customer just wants food, they can get just food. If they want to just rent tents, they can just rent tents,” says Cathy. “If they want it all, they can have it all—it really is all about what they want and/or need for their event.”

This turnkey mindset is also what helped them branch into aiding in disaster relief and obtaining government contracts.

Discovering new avenues

In 1990, during Desert Storm, they acquired their first government contract to feed the troops during amilitary exercise at Fort Stewart. “I remember that we had just bought a fax machine and were still learning how to use it, but we had to get the signed contract to them by midnight,” says Tom. “We faxed it over just before midnight and started feeding thousands of troops the next morning for the next three weeks, 24 hours a day.”

After successfully completing Fort Stewart, they started looking for other jobs that were similar in volume and began acquiring work with power companies such as JEA, Florida Power and Light, Sumter Electric Cooperative, and other commercial companies around Florida. It was then they realized that the training exercise resources could be used in hurricane disaster relief.

When the hurricanes hit in the early 2000s, they were ready to assist. “We would go in with these companies, set up, and be there to support the community and feed the linemen and the tree trimmers and the people that were there to bring the community back to life,” says Cathy.

It was after completing these events successfully that Tom and Cathy began to explore government contracts.

Good work if you can get it

Teresa, who was working in retail management at the time, was asked by her parents to come back and help work the government contracts. “Mom had just acquired a GSA (U.S. General Services Administration, www.gsa.gov) contract, but was just not sure what to do next and asked me to figure it out,” says Teresa. “I soon figured it out and we started winning contracts. Our first major contract was in Wyoming feeding soldiers from Nebraska, 24 hours a day for 30 days during a military training exercise.”

When they returned, they received a phone call from someone who found them through the GSA directory. He had a customer, who was looking to use a GSA contractor, but he was not on schedule, he said would you be interested in priming the contract under your GSA schedule and letting me supply you all the life support resources for the exercise. Of course, Teresa said, “Yes,” and their second major contract ended up lasting 56 days and served 150,000 meals.

“Life support resources include sleeping tents, shower and laundry trailers, toilets, fuel and water tankers, power generation, cots, dining facilities, tents, tables, chairs, lighting—all the items you need to set up what we call ‘base camp,’” says Teresa.

Knowing those same resources are used after an emergency as well, they took some of the contract money and reinvested it into the company. They purchased more life support resources for themselves so they can be the one vendor clients can call that has or can get all the resources—be turnkey.

“We’ve been fortunate enough to continue working for a year and a half in Ohio providing base camp resources,” continues Teresa.

Working the deal

Teresa has spent the last five years focusing on government contracting and post-disaster contracting. She admits to writing hundreds of bids—winning some, losing some, but learning the ins and outs of contracting in general as she went along.

Obtaining government and commercial work, especially when it comes to hurricane relief, takes time, with a lot of backend work. “You have to find the jobs, bid on them, hopefully win them, and then secure them,” says Teresa. “You have to do a lot of work prior to a hurricane because once it hits, you don’t have time to be doing all the details. All I have to do is pull the file and the plan is already laid out, which I can’t execute unless a hurricane hits.”

With many of the foundations laid, she is looking now at expanding. “I have made critical industry connections and am a more knowledgeable bidder now,” says Teresa. “We did a few small jobs to get the big jobs, and did some big jobs so we could go after the even bigger jobs.”

Country Caterers is currently pursuing a second GSA contract. The second contract will position them to be able to bid on more base camp exercises, giving the ability to provide operations, logistics and management support to the U.S. military on a larger scale.

They have also used their GSA contract at the city level to secure post-disaster contracts and other city work. Through the Federal Business Opportunity (FBO), they acquired a post-disaster FEMA contract. “If and/or when a hurricane hits, I come in right after the storm to support FEMA’s search and rescue team, setting up a smaller scale base camp,” says Teresa. “They will use me for various life support resources. It’s a great contract, but, unfortunately, there needs to be a hurricane to execute it.”

Re-energizing focus

Even though they are active in government contracts, they can’t—and won’t—forget about the local market. “We maintain a nice balance between our government work and our local market because it’s cyclical and you don’t know what next month holds,” says Tom. “We don’t focus on just one thing at a time; you can’t. You have to be able to do all the different types of jobs to sustain work 365 days a year—diversifying has been a key to our growth and continued success.”

Over the years they have noticed that their different lines of work “flip-flop.” “Some years the government work will generate 80% of our revenue and the corporate/local side will produce only 20%,” says Cathy. “And other years it flips, and the corporate/local side generates 80% and the government work generates 20%. We just fill in the months with what available to us.”

Teresa, being a numbers kind of a person, thinks it will flip flop again soon and is concentrating on re-energizing the local market. “Our core customers haven’t gone anywhere, they just haven’t been able to do as much as in the past,” says Teresa. “By ‘maintaining’ relationships with our customers through the good times and tough times, we hope to continue their support and commitment as in years past.”

It takes adaptability

“If the customer wants it, you need to be able to adapt and get what they need,” says Tommy. “There is no, ‘I can’t get that for you.’ Only, ‘Yes I can.’ That is one of the reasons why we are where we are today.”

“We may not always get it right, but we don’t fail,” says Tom. “There are times that we could’ve done better, but I haven’t met a company yet that’s perfect. We do make mistakes, but when we make them we admit them and work to correct them for the next time.”

“I can pretty much tell you the growth of the business is because of my parent’s original vision,” says Teresa. “That and my father’s motto of ‘Large or small—we cook them all!’ I am very proud of my parents’ accomplishments; they are my heroes.”

All of this together explains why Country Caterers BBQ has been such a longstanding premiere catering company in Jacksonville and is more than just great barbecue.

Wendy Bautista is the editor of Advantage Small Business Magazine. She can be reached at Wendy@advantagebizmag.com or 904-222-8140.

.

Business vitals

Owner: Tom and Cathy Perryman

In business since: Late ’70s, incorporated Country Caterers BBQ in 1981

Projected growth: “We will definitely continue to do government contracting work, and will keep the emergency disaster relief contracts active—but you can’t call that part growth unless a hurricane strikes or you land a contract, unfortunately,” say Teresa. “We will also continue to grow our local customers, but the major vision is to have a facility in town to house our own events.

“We would like to own a 20-30 acre facility which contains a banquet space for 1,000 or more people, halls, grounds, etc. where we could do more than one event at a time and sustain all of our customer’s different needs. For our local business, that is the one element that customers need that we have not been able to provide for them. It would be the final episode of our turnkey event solution.”

How you can do it

“Buy and build your company, but constantly reinvest in your company,” says Tom.  “You might have to sacrifice for a few years, but you want to be smart about where you spend your money.”

“There will be times when you are going to fail in one way or another,” says Cathy. “It’s how you pick yourself up and move on that makes you successful because we haven’t always done it right. You have to meet the customer, follow through, do what you say you are going to do and if you still fail, then you correct it.”

“I wouldn’t say there was one thing that made us successful,” says Tom. “It really is the ability to never give up and to persevere. Look around; everything is an opportunity. It’s how you learn from those opportunities, do better, grow, and meet the ever changing demands. I guess it’s about having stamina.”

“Every year, my husband and I pick two to three key sporting events to participate in from our ‘bucket list,’” says Carson. “This year, they include the Boston Marathon in April and the Miamiman Half Ironman in November.”

As an immigration and business attorney, she works long hours, but still finds time to train four to six days a week—alternating between swimming, running, cycling, yoga and walking. “Since I never know what the day may bring, I schedule my training for early in the morning. I swim and run at 5:30 a.m. during the weekdays and run and bicycle in the morning during weekends.”

At the starting line

Carson recalls that it all started when her and her husband Jeff started training for the Bike MS 150—a 150mile, two-day bike ride that benefits the North Florida Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. “My husband works for Mayo and they have a very strong Bike MS 150 team. In 2002, we started training with them and have completed six MS 150s since,” says Carson.

To add variety to her fitness routine and stay involved with the athletic community of Northeast Florida, she also began training and completed her first Gate River Run in 2004, and is now one of her favorite races. “This year will mark my ninth year running it, and placing in the top 10,” says Carson. “Several running friends told me the Boston Marathon was the world’s greatest running race and that I had to train, qualify and finish it. So I trained, qualified and now continue to train to run and finish the legendary and demanding 26.2 miles across eight towns from Hopkinton to Boston in April!”

Pure joy of it

Carson says the main reason she does all of this is because of the people she has met and the places she has seen. “It is a beautiful sight to run or walk over Jacksonville’s Main or Acosta Bridge at sunrise or sunset,” says Carson. “It is beautiful and peaceful to run, bike or walk through the city in the early morning hours when the streets are quiet, and there is little traffic. You can appreciate the beauty of Jacksonville’s environment and our quality of life.”

Her husband is also very physically active and they enjoy cycling, walking and hiking together in Jacksonville and wherever they travel. In fact, it isn’t uncommon for them to run a race or hike a mountain when they travel. “Last year, while I was a forum speaker at the annual American Immigration Lawyers’ Association conference in Arizona, Jeff and I extended our stay to climb Mt. Whitney, the highest peak in the contiguous U.S. with an elevation of 14,497 ft.,” says Carson. “Some careful planning, conditioning and a positive mental attitude allowed us to submit and make the 22 mile round trip hike an unforgettable experience.”

Reasons behind it

For Carson, a marathon, a triathlon, a challenging hike is about living life, achieving goals, creating friendships, and learning from the experience. “There are so many reasons why I run and train and compete—the experience, friendships, confidence, bragging rights,” jokes Carson. “But primarily because being physically active and living a healthy lifestyle is the key to my personal and professional development.

“It makes me more productive throughout the day and I have more energy for my profession and life. I encourage anyone looking to have more energy, less stress and a happier life to start exercising! And the effect is compounded. Physical activity will benefit you, your family, your friends and your colleagues….how can it get any better?”

By Mike deVaux

If you are like most employers, you are wondering where the health reform roller coaster is going to take you and your company’s medical insurance plan next. You would also not be alone.

The question of, “What actions do I need to take as an employer to comply with health reform” is frequently asked, but the unfortunate reality is it is not very easy to answer. With 26 states in a lawsuit against the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), better known as health reform, that is to be heard by the Supreme Court this spring, the future of health reform remains uncertain.

If the Supreme Court rules the mandate unconstitutional, it doesn’t necessarily mean the entire health reform will be reversed. A change in the presidency and the Senate in 2012 also don’t guarantee complete repeal, with many of the reform measures already incorporated into our medical insurance plans remaining.

Regardless of which side of the debate you are on, the issue for many companies remains how to best deal with the changes that have already occurred and the changes to come. Most of the early aspects of the health reform were not favorable to lowering the cost of the coverage.

Components such as no policy maximum, dependent coverage to age 26, 100% coverage for preventative care and no pre-existing conditions for under age 19 dependents are all good features to have in a policy. The bottom line, however, is they add to the cost of the claims incurred by the carriers, which means health reform isn’t going to lower the cost of coverage for employers.

What’s next for health reform?

In 2012, the big item implemented was the requirement for employers to report the cost of employer sponsored health coverage—which only applies to employers who produce more than 250 W2s per year. (For information on this requirement, reference IRS Notice 2012-9.) In 2013, all employers will be required to report cost of health coverage on W2s.

The next big event in health reform will be the implementation of the exchanges. Without getting into too much detail, the exchange concept was created to provide a marketplace to make insurance more affordable and easier to purchase for small employers and individuals.

By 2014, every state is required to provide an exchange to allow the comparison of cost and different types of benefits for employers and individuals to purchase insurance. If your state chooses not to implement an exchange, then you will have access to a multi-state exchange.

Like many aspects of health reform, the exact rules and regulations haven’t been finalized. With state budgets being tight, not many states are proactively spending the money to develop exchanges and the likelihood of the exchanges being ready for a roll out in 2014 is highly questionable.

One thing is for certain: If the exchanges do come about, the only way to claim the Health Insurance Premium Tax Credit for your employees that qualify will be through insurance purchased through the exchanges.

What to do as an employer?

You can’t control what is going to happen with health reform. One thing you can do is not worry about it until the next aspect of health reform is implemented, more than likely sometime after the Supreme Court ruling and the elections of 2012.

If your company is on a fully insured plan, your insurance company will help you keep your plan in compliance.

As far as saving money goes, health reform is not going to bend the medical insurance cost curve for you and costs will continue to go up as they have in the past. The national medical trend rate (i.e., medical inflation rate) is 10% to 11% and will most likely continue to be a starting point for your renewal rates.

Prior claims and demographic changes will be factored around the medical trend factor to determine your renewal rates.

How to control costs

Now that you know health reform isn’t going to lower the cost of health insurance, what can you do to control costs?

To contain and reduce costs, you need to change the way you look at health insurance. There are some businesses that have had low claims years but still received double digit renewals, but why?  There was components of their health plans they were paying too much for.

Bottom line: your company is most likely overpaying for first-dollar insurance company benefits that most of your employees never use.

Statistics show that:

•88% of your employees will spend less than $500 per year on health care;

•93% of your employees will spend less than $1,000 per year on health care; and

•Tower Perrins studies show that 80% of your claims will come from 20% of your enrolled.

To cut unnecessary cost, remove overpriced components of your health plan that very few employees actually use. You can also stop pre-paying insurance companies to administer benefits that are not cost-effective.

If providing first-dollar coverage is essential to your business and employees, then incorporate a Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA) and a high-deductible strategy to have the money available for employee use, but only send to the providers when services are utilized. If services are not utilized then the money stays with the company and not the insurance company.

Finding a solution

Health insurance is never going to be free and health reform certainly didn’t provide a solution to make it less expensive. The health insurance market will continue to be a very fluid environment.

The only solution to managing medical insurance costs is a proactive approach on the part of the employer working with their broker to build a cost-effective and comprehensive medical insurance program that provides protection for your employees and their families at the best possible cost.

Mike deVaux is a Registered Health Underwriter and Managing Partner of Keystone Benefit Group, an employee benefits consulting firm in Jacksonville. Keystone Benefit Group serves clients throughout the U.S. helping them develop, implement and manage employee benefit solutions. He can be reached at mdevaux@kbgllc.com, 904-464-0888 or by visiting www.YourInsuranceKeystone.com.

Small businesses near and far are thankful that technology is on their side, especially when it comes to financing. Tremendous strides have been made in the banking world in the last few years that makes getting a loan easier than before, but many small businesses are finding that there is none easier than online.

Online financing?

Touting themselves as something of a Match.com for lenders and borrowers, BoeFly (www.boefly.com) is an online loan exchange that efficiently connects small business owners with more than 2,000 business lenders.

“We connect borrowers and lenders by helping borrowers build a better loan package and helping lenders find those borrowers,” says David A. Nayor, co-president and chief operating officer for BoeFly. “Being former lenders ourselves, we noticed inefficiencies in the marketplace—mainly where borrowers were having trouble finding lenders.

“We took a step back and figured there’s got to be a better way,” Nayor continues. “Looking at other industries that use the Internet to connect parties more efficiently, such as eHarmony, Match.com, Cars.com, or eBay, we took that concept and applied it to small business lending with BoeFly.”

How it works

BoeFly is a loan-packaging service with software that helps the borrower gain a thorough understanding of what goes into a small business loan request and how to properly package it. Within that process, the borrower receives feedback from the exchange explaining where the strengths and weaknesses are in the deal and allows adjustments to be made as to what lenders want to see based on the marketplace of lender preferences.

“It’s not incredibly complicated, but it does take work to get a loan—no matter the size,” says Nayor. “There is a certain amount of work that lenders want to see in the loan request and we empower borrowers to be prepared before they connect with lenders. It also helps lenders find deals they wouldn’t have ever been privy to otherwise. Really, the success comes down to us matching borrowers with lenders, and ensuring it’s the right lender.”

Kevin Ellis, vice president of Small Business Lending at Atlantic Coast Bank, is one such lender that uses BoeFly to make connections. “With traditional methods, someone looking for lending would have to send their information, documents, and loan package to me. Then I would have to sort through it and ask for documents that may be missing,” says Ellis.

“With BoeFly, there is very little to sort through as everything is right in front of you to make an informed decision—the business plan, tax returns, estimates for build out costs and equipment costs, data on the franchise and the industry, resumes… the whole spectrum of things we would ask for, which sometimes when dealing with a busy borrower can take a long time to obtain,” says Ellis.

Making a deal

One such informed decision Ellis made after a BoeFly alert came across his desk was with Nick Borst, a Jet’s Pizza franchisee in Destin. Borst, who was looking to get funding to open this franchise, says he saved the online financing option for last not thinking he would find anyone, “but within 24 hours we had Atlantic Coast Bank interested.”

“It is probably the best example of the strength of BoeFly’s platform in matching me with the borrower,” says Ellis. “He’s in Destin and I’m in Jacksonville, and we were still able to make this deal happen in a matter of hours.”

“This project would have been up and running three months earlier if we would’ve started with BoeFly,” says Borst. “We tried several traditional avenues, and while they thought we would be great people to run it, they didn’t have the ability to fund us and we lost a lot of time with their processes. With BoeFly, you know the interest you receive from a lender is from somebody with a serious interest.”

“There is a lot of information you have to put in to the system, but the more you put in the better your chances are and the nice thing is you only have to put it in once,” continues Borst. “In our case, we had a very in-depth, several hundred page—probably too much—business plan and BoeFly helped us determine what was pertinent information and actually needed for the loan. They outlined what they and lenders look for which allowed us put the right information in the right spots.”

Ease of use

“The word that always comes back to us is that it is efficient,” says Nayor. “Efficient from a time perspective as the borrower only has to build a loan package once and efficient from a cost perspective as borrowers and lenders only pay a very small posting or subscription fee to use the platform.  There are no large commissions involved as BoeFly did not want to drive up the cost of the transaction or this interest rate that the borrower ultimately pays. This allows lenders to get more aggressive on their pricing and terms and it allows borrowers to find the best deal for them.”

Ellis adds, “It’s a different financial world these days. This is a great way that allows borrowers, lenders, franchisors—really everyone—to navigate this new environment and reach places and surrounding areas that wouldn’t have been available to them otherwise. It allows me to be mobile without being mobile.”

By David P. Grigaltchik

So, you’ve got a plan, a product and a partner, and you’re ready to launch your very own business and take the world markets by storm. In this article, we will explore the different legal issues that prudent business owners should address before going forward with any business venture. Essential to the operation of any successful business is the effective management of the three P’s of business: patrons, partners, and property.

Patrons

The success or failure of your business depends on one thing: your patrons, customers and clients. Having a large pool of clients is always a good thing, but, as with most things in life, quality counts for more than quantity.

Business owners learn early and are reminded frequently that customers may be their best friends or their worst enemies. Billing disputes and frivolous lawsuits regularly cost American businesses millions of dollars.

Since business owners typically lack the ability to pick and choose their patrons, they must learn to protect themselves through other means. Liability or malpractice insurance is something that business owners routinely pay for and hope to never have to use. Liability waivers may allow business owners to resolve adverse litigation quickly or to prevent it altogether, thereby avoiding having to pay larger insurance premiums.

By using waivers, business owners may guarantee certain rights to the patrons of their businesses, accepting liability in specific cases for the patrons’ financial or physical security, but limiting liability in other ways. By signing waivers, business patrons are essentially signing away their rights, and many such rights must be considered when drafting waivers, including rights to privacy.

Since courts are typically hesitant to limit the rights of individuals, waivers containing specific and clear language will have a higher chance of enforcement than waivers containing general and vague language. Waivers are not just for business owners whose businesses involve routine operations that have a high risk of causing financial or physical injury to clients.

As a rule of thumb, if you pay a liability or malpractice insurance premium, you should probably be using waivers. Waivers will not protect business owners who cause harm to their clients wantonly or take unreasonable risks. There is no reason, however, for business owners to live in fear of being held liable for the negligent actions of their employees or for damages caused by unforeseeable environmental factors.

Partners

Your business partner is your wing man. More than just a friend, your business partner is someone you rely on to keep your dreams of operating a successful business alive.

The process of starting a business is exceedingly simple in Florida. In most cases, in order to form a limited liability company, future business owners must simply file the Articles of Organization and pay a small fee. The Articles contain tiny snippets of information concerning your business; typically, the names of the officers and the registered agent, and the address of the company are listed, but little else.

This means that, at the outset, nothing exists delineating the duties, obligations, rights, privileges, or profit allocations among business partners. In other words, at the outset, your relationship with your business partner and, by extension, your business is held together with nothing more than a gentleman’s word.

With a little foresight, this precarious situation may be remedied by way of an operating agreement for your limited liability company. For a limited liability company consisting of two or more business partners, an operating agreement is an absolute must. Not only do operating agreements contain such essential information as the initial capital contributions of each business partner or member, but also provide for the allocation of profits, the timelines of disbursements, and the assignment of other duties.

Operating agreements may contain information specifying the employment of certain professionals, such as lawyers and accountants, and may designate members as specifically responsible for handling tax issues or other specific duties for the benefit of the company.

Consider that most people get married without ever intending to divorce, and yet divorce happens all the time. Similarly, even if the relationship between business partners is stellar, prudent business owners must have the vision and foresight to consider the possibilities of disagreement and dissatisfaction.

Property

Your interest in your business is a property interest. Like most property interests, it is freely alienable, which means that you are free to dispose of it as you like. It may be sold. It may be given away. It may be inherited upon your death. What’s true for you is also true for your business partner.

What happens to your business if your business partner no longer wants to be involved? What happens to your business if your business partner, god forbid, dies an untimely death? The answer is that you may end up having to deal with someone you never wanted to deal with, a business partner you don’t know, like or trust. In many situations, this will effectively bring an end to your business.

Once more, with a little foresight, you may address these issues before they arise by executing a buy-sell agreement with your partners. Buy-sell agreements govern the transfer of a business interest upon a business partner’s unwillingness or inability to continue with the relationship.

Typically, buy-sell agreements grant to the remaining partners the first option to purchase the withdrawing partner’s interest. Such agreements also contain provisions addressing the purchase of a deceased partner’s interest from the estate of the deceased partner. Buy-sell agreements may be tailored in many ways, in some cases making the purchase of the withdrawing partner’s share mandatory.

Regardless of how such agreements are tailored, they allow business owners to protect their interest in the business by giving them the option to continue to operate the business on their own terms following the departure of a business partner.

Gain foresight

In order to be successful in managing the three P’s of business, patrons, partners and property, business owners must have foresight and exercise such foresight by timely executing a series of available legal agreements.

In dealing with patrons, customers or clients, business owners should make use of waivers to limit their liability, thereby protecting themselves from frivolous lawsuits. In dealing with business partners, business owners should make use of operating agreements to ensure that all the rights and duties are clearly delineated at the beginning. In order to manage their property interest in their business, business owners should make use of buy-sell agreements to enable them to continue operating their business on their terms.

Many surprises will greet you in during all phases of business operation, from formation, through expansion, and into dissolution, but with a little foresight, you will be able to nip some of these in the bud.

David P. Grigaltchik is a business law attorney practicing law with his own law firm, David P. Grigaltchik, P.A. His office is located at: 6144 Gazebo Park Place South, Suite 215, Jacksonville, FL 32257. He may be reached at: 904-738-8398 or info@griglaw.com.