Growing a pond or water-feature business relies on solid communication with both existing and potential customers. Without a solid marketing plan, it is difficult to collect leads, build the operation’s brand or increase sales. As important as traditional marketing hasMore…
Employers have long preferred to treat workers as independent contractors, reaping payroll tax savings and avoiding any fringe benefits and other expenses associated with employees. By the same token, workers — including the owners of many pond and water featureMore…
Industry events such as the Water Garden Expo in February are a good way to gain know-how, find new suppliers and network with others in the industry. Best of all, Uncle Sam, in the form of our tax laws, isMore…
Whether the result of a booming economy, tighter immigration laws or an educational system gone astray, finding qualified pond construction job applicants has become increasingly more difficult for those in this industry. Even more troubling for smaller businesses isMore…
Pass-through business entities, garden pond professionals operating as partnerships, limited liability companies (LLCs), S corporations and sole proprietorships have long been extremely popular. In fact, one form of pass-through business entity, the S corporation, is currently the most used businessMore…
Since 2010, small-business owners have seen a significant uptick in reasonable compensation challenges, as the IRS has increasingly trained its tax examiners to examine payroll tax issues — among them, reasonable compensation. After all, the payment of a salary inMore…
Regardless of when you plan, the goal with any planning is to keep the tax bill at a legal minimum, year after year. So, keeping in mind that a garden pond professional’s obligation is to pay their fair share ofMore…
The continued use of cash is surprising, given its inconveniences and the risk consumers face in carrying it around. Love it or hate it, however, cash is playing an increasingly smaller role in society, especially with pond retailers, distributors, andMore…
Thanks to the Supreme Court’s late-June decision in King v. Burwell, many garden pond professionals will escape at least some of the sharply escalating costs of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). That Court decision should, however, be a wake-up callMore…
Many pond companies use independent contractors to cut down on labor costs and get projects finished. But thanks to new legislation, the IRS has much different standards for what constitutes a “nonemployee” than you might realize — and miscategorizing yourMore…
