With more of our lives connected digitally, the notion of decluttering our email seems almost impossible. Our emails are a gateway to everything in our lives. It’s not just how we communicate with customers, clients, and other businesses. Our emails become a trove of social media reminders, evites from family and friends, fantasy football updates, and holiday promos from that clothing store from which you bought a jacket for your wife last Christmas.

Merlin Mann is the self-proclaimed “productivity guru” who coined the phrase “Zero Inbox.” The idea went viral and prompted people all over the business world to start thinning the ever-growing crowded space that is their inbox. In short, people took the phrase “zero” a little too seriously. The idea of an empty inbox was almost too good to be true.

But in a world where we’re connected 24 hours a day, seven days a week, this seems unmanageable. We get too many messages on too many mediums: personal email, business email, social media direct messages, Slack, and even text messages from co-workers, colleagues, and associates.

Even Mann says the idea of Zero Inbox has inherent flaws. After all, it’s impossible to just swipe our slate clean. Many of our correspondences are important: They contain dates and critical information; They contain invoices and banking information. The real priority of Zero Inbox, then, is to make the distinction between what is important and what is not, and to tend to those emails accordingly.  

The actual goal of Zero Inbox is not about deleting everything. It’s about managing the time we spend each day in our inbox. Zero Inbox, according to Mann himself, was never about finding a way to get to zero as much as it was finding a way to ensure we’re maximizing our time and energy elsewhere rather than simply spending our days navigating an endless stream of incoming information. Mann was suggesting we get to the point where it takes no time to use our emails.

The underlying ideal was to find a way to leave nothing unattended to in our inbox. In other words, take action on everything, which distills nicely down into five categories:

• Delete: Unimportant stuff. Don’t put off deleting these emails.

• Delegate: Pass this along to the appropriate party.

• Respond: This self-explanatory action is critical. Let the person know you’re planning to take action, thank them for the correspondence, or inform them of the next step.

• Defer: This doesn’t mean simply ignore (that would be the opposite of Zero Inbox). It simply suggests to hold off until action can be taken when you have time.

• Do: Complete this manageable task. If something takes 15 minutes, no need to put it off. Do it now.

From a management standpoint, it is important to remember that we shouldn’t take Zero Inbox too literally. There’s no way to achieve an inbox that’s clear from everything. The moment you hit that final delete button, you just know there’s an email coming from that pizzeria offering a 15% coupon.  

We have had many conversations with clients who are working to be compliant with new CA AB-5 ruling effective January 1, 2020.

The need to be compliant is imperative and I’m happy to provide my opinion on point C of the ABC test. From reading the AB 5 language and various other trusted resources, being a taxable entity is not the only way to be compliant within AB-5 section C. I do know that if an entity is incorporated the argument for passing C is solid, but I do not believe required. Instead, incorporation is an example of “the usual steps to establish and promote that independent business.” Another example includes “routine offerings to provide the services of the independent business to the public or to a number of potential customers,” which some of our my clients clearly meet. https://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/faq_independentcontractor.htm

In the case of some of my professional services client, and to add additional confidence, the section of AB-5 I copied below specifically calls out an exception for bona fide business-to business contracting relationships and the criteria to be considered an independent contractor. In criteria (e)(1)(F) they also use the term “independently established business,” but this criteria is used to describe a cross-section of the population described in (e)(1) of “sole proprietorships, partnerships, LLCs, LLPs, or corporations.”

If by “independently established business,” they meant only incorporated entities, all other business types other than corporations would automatically fail this test, but by placing it as a subset criteria I believe that your LLC is a bona fide business to business contracting relationship.

(e) Subdivision (a) and the holding in Dynamex do not apply to a bona fide business-to-business contracting relationship, as defined below, under the following conditions:

(1) If a business entity formed as a sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company, limited liability partnership, or corporation (“business service provider”) contracts to provide services to another such business (“contracting business”), the determination of employee or independent contractor status of the business services provider shall be governed by Borello, if the contracting business demonstrates that all of the following criteria are satisfied:

(A) The business service provider is free from the control and direction of the contracting business entity in connection with the performance of the work, both under the contract for the performance of the work and in fact.

(B) The business service provider is providing services directly to the contracting business rather than to customers of the contracting business.

(C) The contract with the business service provider is in writing.

(D) If the work is performed in a jurisdiction that requires the business service provider to have a business license or business tax registration, the business service provider has the required business license or business tax registration.

(E) The business service provider maintains a business location that is separate from the business or work location of the contracting business.

(F) The business service provider is customarily engaged in an independently established business of the same nature as that involved in the work performed.

(G) The business service provider actually contracts with other businesses to provide the same or similar services and maintains a clientele without restrictions from the hiring entity.

(H) The business service provider advertises and holds itself out to the public as available to provide the same or similar services.

(I) The business service provider provides its own tools, vehicles, and equipment to perform the services.

(J) The business service provider can negotiate its own rates.

(K) Consistent with the nature of the work, the business service provider can set its own hours and location of work.

There are many reasons to engage us for valuation services and your reason is likely different than someone else’s reason. Some examples are mergers, acquisitions, estate or gift tax, marital dissolution, buy-sell agreements, and many more.

Outside of the formal definitions above, you can think of the following reasons you might want a business valuation in more digestible form:

• To start discussions around a purchase or sale

• To be used as a comparative measure of success and growth

• To obtain bank financing

• To increase or decrease the number of owners in the business

• To meet IRS or other regulatory needs

Based on the reason, and specifically the intended use of the valuation, there will be varying levels of research, activities, and different methodologies used. At the highest level, you need to understand the difference between a valuation engagement and a calculation engagement. The final product of a valuation engagement is a conclusion of value, where the final product of a calculation engagement is a calculation of value.

Conclusion vs calculation is not clear to someone who hasn’t been through this before, so I’ll differentiate them in the following way: the conclusion of value allows the valuation analysis the freedom to determine value using any number of methodologies, industry and market knowledge, and comparative measures. The calculation of value is simply the activity of executing one agreed upon methodology. The result of either can be provided to the client as a detailed, summary, or oral report.

This probably seems like a lot and there are certainly many unique circumstances, regulations, and industry specifics to consider that I haven’t scratch the surface on. With so much that goes into a high quality valuation, how do you know you’ve engaged the right company or individual valuation analyst for your particular needs? As a CPA and member of the AICPA, I follow the AICPA Statement of Standards for Valuation Services No. 1. This standard must be followed by all members of the AICPA to keep the quality of the valuations at the highest levels. Within these standards it clearly articulates that the valuation analysis must have professional competence, objectivity, and independence.

Do you think you might need a business valuation, but would like to talk to someone to talk through your needs, please reach out directly and I can help you.

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https://www.carlsbad.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/0218_CBJ_online.pdf

Originally published in Carlsbad Business Journal -  January 2018

In any business, the foundation for success is a realistic set of achievable goals and objectives for the company, as well as a means by which to realize them. The formulation and implementation is called Strategic Planning (SP). Is the company built to provide its founders with professional fulfillment until retirement? Is the goal to grow and sell for a substantial payday? Somewhere in between? In order to determine and realize these goals, strategic planning is likely the most valuable investment a business can make.

Defining Success

The first thing SP will do is to reconcile the professional and personal visions for a company. It will help firmly and clearly establish a company’s definition of success and prioritize that definition as the company’s primary objective. Such strategies will include long and short term plans, returns on investment, the differentiation between the plan and actuality, and forecasting the future of the company, its competitors, and role in the marketplace.

Successful businesses operate in a culture where there are clearly-defined, uniform goals that have potential to benefit everyone. By consolidating the goals from the top of the organization to the bottom, it’s easier to communicate the message to everyone within the organization, so that all employees become catalysts for the company’s success.

Allocation of Resources

SP ensures the allocation of resources so that every decision -- from personnel to spending to marketing -- is made with a singular goal. Resources are spent with intent rather than speculation. Additionally, every decision (both financial and non) will be adjusted to accommodate the goals of the business rather than individual departments.

Ryan Thomas Consulting offers full expertise and support to help plan for the future of your company and will help realize your company’s full potential.