FRESHviews
WALLY AMOS:BE POSITIVE
Wally Amos is the
founder of Uncle
Wally’s Muffin
Company. You can
reach him at
www.wallyamos.com.
tion from the New York Marathon that gave him
a new perspective on his life. He was watching a
man with no legs and one arm navigate a wheelchair ever so slowly. The man was not complaining. He was going through his challenge.
I had a call from a woman who was stuck
competing for two contracts without any guarantee of getting either one. She told me she had
decided to extract herself from the negativity and
leave the national depression to volunteer in a
home for street children in Ruiru, a small town
outside Nairobi, Kenya. After she finished her stint,
she returned, got her job back and once again got
caught up in the rat race. Instead of complaining,
she decided to quit her job and return to Kenya to
work with the children. Even though she was anxious, she went through the situation to reach the
solution. It’s not hard. It’s just a decision: suffering
or freedom.
What are you going through? Evaluate it honestly and keep going through it. Get rid of those
cameras. Choose peace of mind and freedom! C
Building
credit
Going through
HOW MANY TIMES have you heard someone who
is in a challenging situation say, “I am going
through a rough patch” or something similar? The
key is in the phrase “I am going through.”
If you are in a similar situation, my advice is to
keep going through whatever you are dealing
with. A friend, J. T. O’Hara, had a unique way of
saying the same thing: “When you are going
through hell, don’t stop to take pictures.” That’s
where the problem lies. In today’s world of high
tech, we have so many ways to “take pictures”
and constantly share them with everyone we
meet. We love to wallow in our troubles by shar-
ing with others just how bad our life really is. I
guess misery really does love company.
Just how bad is your life, really? My oldest
son, Michael, called me last fall with an observa-
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benefit, says David Staub of Staub Anderson Green LLC, a Chicago-based law firm. To ensure a smooth transi- tion, business owners should create lists—with company names, contact information, account numbers and log-in information—of the vendors and suppliers, credit-card com- panies, banks, Web sites and Web hosts, Internet service pro- viders, e-mail accounts and file transfer protocols they use. This information can be kept somewhere safe, and a designated
person should be able to access it.
When Web sites outlive the owner
In addition, business heirs should be designated in the will so there are no legal problems
gaining access to accounts or dividing business
assets. For instance, checks payable to a business
may be accepted for deposit by a bank postmortem in the short term, but a spouse will not be able
to withdraw money unless he or she has account
signing authority. Without a will, deposits will be
tied up until the estate’s legal representative sorts
out issues, and business revenue may not go to the
intended heir, says Staub.
A succession plan will lead to a smooth transition of the business from business owner to
rightful heirs or to a smooth wrap-up of the business.—Paul Lima; writer@paullima.com
IN THE PAST, BUSINESSES often died when
self-employed owners died, especially if the business was not incorporated, because small-business owners often don’t have anyone to take over
when they’re gone.
However, many small businesses are now
online, and Web sites can live on despite the
death of the business owner. If the business has
an automated payment and order-fulfillment system, it might carry on until the Web site expires.
If there is no automated fulfillment system,
orders might be paid for but not shipped.
As more businesses continue to generate
income online, executors are left scratching their
heads over how to wrap up the business or ensure
that it continues to function so the right people
LEGISLATORS ARE encouraging financial institutions
to increase credit to small
businesses to stimulate the
economy. Is your business
ready to take advantage of
the opportunities?
Allen Anderson, presi-
dent of Experian’s Business
Information Services, says
“Making sure that your
small business has a solid
credit report is as important
as maintaining a positive
credit history in your per-
sonal life. In fact, when
creditors are reviewing
the creditworthiness of
a small business, having
a solid credit history
becomes critical to that
business’s success.”
Experian has teamed
with SCORE to offer a new
eGuide, “Grow and
Maintain a Healthy
Business Credit Score,”
now available for download
at the “Financing Your
Business” section at www.
score.org/financing_your_
business.html under
“eGuides.” The eGuide is
designed to educate busi-
ness owners on the basics
of their credit profile, as
well as provide tips and
resources about how busi-
ness owners can effec-
tively manage their credit.
SCORE, which has
helped more than 8. 5 million aspiring entrepreneurs
and small-business owners,
also offers a free monthly
newsletter, SCORE Expert
Answers (
www.score.org/
internet_enewsletters_sub
scribe.html), reaching more
than 100,000 small-business
owners, with small-business and industry experts’
advice, and online workshops, webinars, mentoring
and other business tools
and articles. C
MAY 2010 ;e Costco Connection 11
