Manage Your Business

The following are important guidelines for better managing your business. Please contact Alexandria SBDC staff if you’d like further guidance or referral to professional resources.

Review Your Business Plan
Once your business is up and running it is important to periodically step back and take an overall look at your business, and how you are fulfilling your business plan. At least once each year review your written business plan and update it to reflect the current state of your business and your plan for the future. The SBDC’s Business Planning Guide is a useful tool for this exercise.

Maintain Good Records
You have taken the steps necessary to start your business in the proper manner. Be sure to maintain required records throughout the life of your business. This checklist includes some of the important records to be maintained for LLCs and Corporations. Recordkeeping Checklist

Retail and Restaurant Businesses
Retail and Restaurant businesses offer unique challenges to business owners. These types of businesses are very important to the economy in the City of Alexandria, and the Alexandria SBDC encourages Alexandria’s retailers and restaurateurs to take advantage of our services. A particular service that is offered through the Virginia SBDC Small Town & Merchant Program is a Retail Business Checkup and a Restaurant Checkup. Click on the links below to take the self-checkup, and contact the Alexandria SBDC to be included in the next round of free on-site visits with the State’s Retail /Restaurant Consultant.

Retail: https://www.virginiasbdc.org/survey.aspx?srvnum=8&issnum=34&public=1

Restaurant: https://www.virginiasbdc.org/survey.aspx?srvnum=9&issnum=35&public=1

Get Insurance
Be sure that your business is adequately insured. There are many resources available regarding business insurance, including:

Small Business Administration’s website description of various types of business insurance: http://www.sba.gov/content/types-business-insurance
Alexandria SBDC’s Business Insurance Checklist

Hire Employees
It is crucial that small business owners take all of the proper steps when hiring employees. There are many factors to take into consideration. The following resources should be of assistance:

The Small Business Administration’s website contains important information regarding hiring employees, distinguishing between employees and independent contractors, and other areas. http://www.sba.gov/category/navigation-structure/starting-managing-business/managing-business/running-business/human-resources
The Alexandria SBDC has compiled a checklist of steps to take when hiring employees in the City of Alexandria: Employer Checklist
Check the Alexandria SBDC Workshop Schedule for educational programs on timely HR topics.

Pay Taxes
Depending on your business structure and type of business, you will owe various Federal State and Local taxes. It is the business owners responsibility to know what taxes must be paid and to pay them on time. Some general information about the types of taxes that must be paid by small business, see:
http://www.sba.gov/category/navigation-structure/starting-managing-business/starting-business/establishing-business/taxes

Track Cashflow
Periodically, you will want to update cash flow projections comparing the actual results from the latest month (and later, quarter to quarter) to test the validity of your assumptions and manage your cash flow. This important function can provide a path to growing your business, expanding, answer other “what if” questions and point to possible solutions for working capital needs.

Rather than prepare one forecast, some businesses prepare several: best-case and worst-case scenarios, along with the most likely outcome. This range of possible outcomes will assist with decision making by highlighting the risks and rewards of following certain financial strategies.

An interactive sample format can be found at the following site: http://www.score.org/resources/business-plans-financial-statements-template-gallery

Use Social Networking
Many small business owners find that Social Networking is a useful marketing tool, particularly if your target market includes the younger generations. Some tips for using Social networking for your business are included in this document: 10 Tips for Web 2.0 Success

Prepare for Emergencies
All businesses, regardless of size, need to be prepared in case of disaster. The ability of a business to get back up and running after disaster strikes is much easier if steps were taken before the disaster to prepare for such a possibility. The Alexandria Small Business Development Center and Dominion are making the publication Open for Business available for download on this website. This publication was written by the Institute for Business & Home Safety and is especially geared to the needs of small businesses.

View Open For Business

Request Research
The Alexandria SBDC provides business research to its clients at no charge. This research includes:

Company Profiles
Competitive Industry Information
Tools to research prospects and clients
Company News and Industry Analysis
Demographics

View the Alexandria SBDC’s Research Services form .

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