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Trends to Watch in the final 365 days of the Decade by @SBSLEducSoltns

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by SJ Barakony | Featured Contributor

 

2019 awaits. How ready are you & your business for these 13 trends?

 

Can you believe it?! Yes, its true: we’re less than 2 weeks away from another New Years’ Day; so, let’s dedicate a toast to our businesses, our families, & friends!

Not only that … did you notice?  It’s also the last year of the first decade of the ‘new’ century.

 

Where were you on 01 Jan, 2010?

 

Was your business even open?

How did you communicate with your clientele?

Have you rebranded since then?

 

…  That’s NINE years ago, believe that!

 

The Mindset of the Futurist

 

“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”  — Buckminster Fuller

 

#quotestoliveby #futurist 

( Click to Tweet the above )

 

Many thought leaders, chief amongst them the futurists, visionaries, and creative disrupters, know of Fuller. He laid this cornerstone of thought and its now part of his legacy, to be embraced by generations not yet born. It is from this core thesis that we’ll push ahead – unveiling a market basket of trends that your business will be impacted by in some manner in 2019 ( & beyond. )

 

 

A Bakers’ Dozen

 

Laying out 13 that I, as a futurist, am personally invested in tracking; each of these are invigorating and, in the hands of the benevolent & bold, will usher in as yet unknown amounts of potential energy to our nation(s), states/provinces, and localities:

 

Mobile revolution

Smart Cities

Blockchain / Crypto currencies

Gig Economy ( Conceptual Age )

Automation ( AI, Machine Learning, Robots )

Autonomous Vehicles \ Drones

Holistic Wellness ( > sickcare )

Decentralized [ social & news ] media

Self directed education & learning ( schooling & credential seeking )

Communities / tribes

Social enterprises ( modern mutual aid societies )

Principles > politics

Holocracy ( future of ‘work’/places )

 

 

In pursuit of a deeper understanding of the bright future which awaits

 

Even a rudimentary understanding of 1, some, or perhaps all of the 13 trends shared above won’t be embraced at deeper levels of awareness, acceptance, and consciousness without continually reading, listening ( podcasts, audio books ), & watching ( videos, webinars )

 

Two #mustread books in this space are linked below, to further illuminate your path.

I wholeheartedly suggest investing in them as a holiday/Christmas present for yourself & for those whom you hold most dear.

 

A Whole New Mind

The Code of the Extraordinary Mind

 

Suggested Follows out in the ‘Twitter’verse

 

Futurist Rankings by Ross Dawson

Generations Timeline – After the Millennials by Anne Boysen

Gold vs. Cryptos: Invest or divest … Here … from Gerald Celente

4 questions to test your intellectual humility via Daniel Pink

 

 

Don’t Argue, nor Debate

 

Instead, as we see, hear, and experience more & more creative disruption which impacts our professional sphere ( inc. our business’ cashflow, income streams, etc. ), shall we abandon the negativity, time loss, & win/lose (or worse, lose/lose) outcomes from arguing & debating?

I propose an equivalent swap of the above two non futurist, consumerist terms for those that produce & add value:   Discussion & rational discourse.

 

As 2019 dawns, I thoughtfully (channeling one of my many informal mentors, Mr. Dale Carnegie), throw down a challenge:

 

Whether with yourself ( self talk ), your staff, clientele/customers, or a prospect, engage in thought provoking win/win discussion or a structured rational discourse with him/her/them in the next several weeks

 

Word Play: Choices to make to embrace the transformation underway in our workplaces  

 

As we ascend the ladder from unconscious incompetence on up to unconscious competence, let’s fully embrace how exciting each of these trends will be in our ongoing entrepreneurial journeys & resolve to learn new words

Some which are becoming anchored to the past as these 13 futuristic trends continue to evolve, expand, & replicate:  ‘employee’ ; ‘hierarchy’ ; ‘college for all’ ; ‘health care’ ; ‘cash’.

Does this indicate that these (let alone others) will disappear forever? Not necessarily. Yet, the early adopters in our business networks will already grasp the above, and quite a number more will eventually ‘see’ as you have/will!

 

 

Websites, articles, blogs, & organizations: Learn More & Take Action

 

Define. Learn. (then) Do.

We’ve defined a vision for 2019 & beyond. With numerous resources are embedded in the post already, let’s expand your learning zone:, what if you want to self educate even more?!

 

Ever more important, investing time in additional concrete steps to ‘future’ prep your business venture would be wise. I’m applauding you proactively, if you choose to do so!

 

 

Trends Research

Future Frontiers

A-speakers

Mind Valley

 

Future Today

AdWeek.com

Visual Capitalist

Futurism Blogs

 

In short …

 

  • 9 years down, 1 to go in the decade #ThinkItOver
  • Suggested Twitterverse follows
  • A bakers’ dozen trends
  • The futurist rankings & further resources to dig into
  • Don’t argue, debate, or fight the existing; discuss & set time for rational discourse
  • Word swaps:  let’s ‘play’ on a 2020’s field
  • What’s coming is exciting & transformational; fear not!  Embrace. Encourage. Uplift.

 

Thank YOU for reading!

& …

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Self-Employed or in the Gig Economy? Why the Difference Matters for Taxes by @DeborahSweeney

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by  | Featured Contributor

Unless you happen to fall into one of the two categories, you may not know the difference between self-employed professionals and gig economy workers. According to the Second Annual Self-Employment Report released by accounting software company FreshBooks, these two groups are often categorized as a single entity despite their differences. Self-employed professionals are defined as having a primary income that comes from independent, client based work. Members of the gig economy, on the other hand, work side gigs such as rideshare driving or freelance writing in addition to maintaining a traditional full-time job. Their primary source of income is the paycheck from their full-time position, with side hustles bringing in a little extra money.

With 27 million Americans estimated to exit traditional employment for self-employment by 2020, defining the difference between the two groups has become crucial for tax purposes. As you work on filing tax returns, here are the key areas for both self-employed professionals and gig economy workers to keep in mind.

Make sure you have been properly classified

Both self-employed and gig economy professionals must be properly classified for the services that they provided. The IRS states that business owners must correctly determine if these individuals are employees or independent contractors (AKA self-employed).

Self-employed individuals are in business for their own self and therefore do not have businesses that withhold or pay their taxes. Businesses that work with gig economy professionals use common law rules to determine if these workers are employees or independent contractors. The major three factors are behavioral (control, or not, as to how the worker does their job), financial (if there are business aspects of the worker’s job controlled by the payer), and their relationship type (such as written contracts).

Once these three factors have been examined, businesses will have contractors complete and file the appropriate forms like Form W-9 or Form 1099-MISC to pay their associated taxes.

Determine if you will need to pay estimated taxes

Paying estimated taxes is a tax strategy that self-employed professionals and members of the gig economy may consider doing, if they haven’t started already. Estimated tax payments are used by taxpayers to pay income and self-employment taxes. These quarterly payments are due on the 15th of April, June, September, and January.

If you do decide to start making estimated tax payments, remember that your payments must be made in full and on time. Failure to do so may result in being charged a penalty for underpaid taxes.

How are your records looking?

One of the most strategic moves that anyone, self-employed, in the gig economy, or an employee, can do when filing their tax returns is to keep their paperwork organized. Who did you work for or complete work throughout the year? Did you receive all of your necessary tax forms or are you still waiting on a few? What about deductions? Do you have your receipts handy for business expenses you can deduct? Establish a solid recordkeeping system for every year that you are self-employed or a member of the gig economy and keep it as up-to-date as possible. Doing this allows you to document and track your income and expenses and can come in quite handy if you need to provide proof of your professional activities within a specified timespan.

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Deborah Sweeney – Legal Expert, CEO, MyCorporation.com – Calabasas, CA

Deborah Sweeney HeadshotAs CEO of MyCorporation Business Services, Inc. (MyCorporation.com), Deborah Sweeney is an advocate for protecting personal and business assets for business owners and entrepreneurs. With her experience in the fields of corporate and intellectual property law, Deborah has evolved from lawyer to business owner. She has extensive experience in the start-up and entrepreneurial industry as she has been involved in the formation of hundreds of thousands of businesses for MyCorporation.com’s customers.

Ms. Sweeney received her JD & MBA degrees from Pepperdine University. She is active in the community and loves working with students and aspiring entrepreneurs. She serves on the Board of Regents at California Lutheran University and is a founding member of Partners of Pepperdine. Deborah has served as an adjunct professor at the University of West Los Angeles and San Fernando School of Law in the areas of corporate and intellectual property law. Ms. Sweeney is also well-recognized for her written work online as a contributing writer with top business and entrepreneurial blogging sites.  She is a regular contributor on Forbes, American Express, Social Media Today, and BlogHer among many others.

In her ‘free’ time, Deborah enjoys spending time with her husband and two sons, Benjamin (8) and Christopher (6). Deborah believes in the importance of family and credits the entrepreneurial business model for giving her the flexibility to enjoy both a career and motherhood. Follow her on Twitter @deborahsweeney and @mycorporation.

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Your Simple Plan to Jump from Side Hustle to Full-Time Business by @lieshapetrovich

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by Liesha Petrovich

A side hustle can be so much more than a weekend gig.

Maybe your business is a way to pay for a cool hobby, like pottery or jewelry making. Or maybe your one tiny idea evolves into the next Apple (they started in a garage!). And it all depends on what your goal may be.

If your goal is to take the leap from weekend business owner to full-time business professional, one pathway is choosing a side business that’s scalable.

You’re Creating a Brand

It’s hard to build a brand. That takes time, strategy and consistency. But adding a new profit stream to an existing brand is pretty easy. Think of your favorite authors. Buying the first book is always an unknown, but now you pre-order books because you’re already a fan. That’s the whole idea behind choosing a scalable side-business.

Start with deciding what you want your brand to look like. It’s a lot more than choosing a logo, but that’s a decent place to start. In How to create a brand book. Guide and Examples, the author suggests adding the following visual information into your own brand book: logo, brandmark, colors, typography, photography, and any other graphics. Maybe you want your brand to be stylish, professional, fun, quirky, modest, or even sexy. Choose the right visuals to convey that image to your customers.

Once you’ve started building your brand, it won’t be so hard to add a new profit stream since you already have the major pieces of the puzzle in place. Now you’re simply adding another layer to your existing brand’s image.

Choose an Industry, Not One Idea

Let’s say you’re a writer. That may be your official title, but you’re much more than a writer. You’re also a researcher, networker, sales professional, marketer, and maybe even an editor.

In 105 Side Business Ideas You Can Start Today, Nicole Yingling lists tons of profit stream ideas including selling online courses. Here’s an idea for experienced writers to teach others how to write an article pitch:

“Not everyone knows how to do this, and they may be missing key elements when they try. This is where you come in. If other writers see that you are consistently successful in your professional writing work, they will likely pay to learn your personal tricks of the trade.”

So you start as a writer. With the right planning, you easily grow your business to include several different profit streams including creating courses, mentoring or even managing other authors. The idea is to choose a business that has lots of opportunities to branch out and allows you to sell multiple products/services within the same industry.

Build On Your Success

You start as a dog walker. But soon you’re offering grooming services, boarding and maybe a line of irresistible pet treats. Or you start as a wedding planner, and now plan baby showers, anniversary parties, and corporate retreats.

There isn’t one right way to build a business and many side businesses don’t make enough for you to quit your day-job. Yet, why stop at just one side-hustle? Build the foundation and keep adding more profit streams until you’re ready to make your weekend business your full-time profession.

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Liesha’s a freelancer by day and Kyokushin Black Belt by night. Liesha’s the author of Killing Rapunzel: Learning How to Save Yourself Through Determination, Grit, and Self-Employment (her mother hates the title – but it’s a metaphor mom!). She talks freelancing adventures at Microbusiness Essentials and grassroots movements at Kat Tales.

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5 Oddball Jobs to Escape the Traditional Corporate Grind by @lieshapetrovich

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by Liesha Petrovich5 Oddball Jobs to Escape the Traditional Corporate Grind

There is nothing wrong with having a traditional corporate jobs. They are predictable, mostly dependable, and help create workforce stability. Traditional jobs are the backbone of our economy and completely essential.

They’re just not for me.

In Secret To Working Part-time – Create A Lifestyle Business!, I shared how you can create a business to fit your particular lifestyle. I’m a firm believer that you can live your life the way you want, including the job you choose. As a 20 year self-employed veteran, I can say it’s not always easy but it was the right choice for me.

If you’re bored of your job and ready to try something a little different, here’re are 5 cool job ideas that may be the key to your new professional future:

1. Teaching Mad Skills

These days, teaching goes way beyond public school classrooms. My main business is a karate school and about 10 years ago I started teaching after-school programs. I obviously had some experience, but I simply called and offered my services. It’s a main staple of my business these days.

If you have a skill you want to share, see what organizations may want your services. After-school programs are perfect for me, but you can try summer camps, day-cares, civic/church groups, and elderly care facilities. These organizations want to provide fun activities for members, like music, yoga, dance, singing, drama or even hula-hooping.

2. Flipping Cheap Houses

If you love watching guys flip houses on home improvement channels, why not try it yourself? According to Sean Terry, from Flip2Freedom, 5% of the population are distressed sellers. This means they need to get rid of a property for some reason and are motivated to sell at a lower price. And that’s your opportunity.

This isn’t the kind of new job you can jump into, but it can be a lucrative side hustle if you have the money to invest and don’t mind a little risk.

3. Pet Sitting

Americans will spend almost $60 billion on their pets this year! Sure, people love their kids and family, but they go bananas over their pets. And many of these people don’t want to leave their fur-babies at cold, unfriendly kennels. They want their pets to be pampered and loved while they are away at work or on vacation.

If you’re an animal lover, consider becoming a pet sitter. Some operate large doggie day-cares, while others specialize in home care. It’s the perfect job for anyone who would rather take a dog for a walk than sit through another boring meeting.

4. Legal Cannabis Grower

Although many still consider the cannabis industry weird, unorthodox or even unethical, it’s actually becoming mainstream. And it’s also incredibly profitable as it’s projected to be worth $44 billion by 2020!

I recently attended a cannabis industry convention and was amazed at how normal it was. I expected the attendees to be hippies and burnouts. Instead, they were grandmothers and professionals. The industry isn’t easy, as laws continue to change and evolve, but it’s certainly an interesting industry with lots of business opportunities.

5. Lunch Truck/Food Cart

Many good cooks dream of opening a restaurant someday. Yet opening a restaurant is one of the riskiest and most expensive startups in the world. The overhead alone is staggering. However, starting a lunch truck business is much less expensive and it’s a growing industry. The mobile cuisine industry was worth about $850 million in 2015 and is expected to grow another $130 million by 2019!

There are still local regulations, permits and inspections to deal with, but the possibilities are endless. BBQ, ethnic cuisine, cupcakes, waffles and fusion are just a few crazy lunch trucks themes. It’s not easy, but why not try this first if you’re dream is to own your own restaurant?

Your Business, Your Way

One of the best parts of the self-employed journey is that there are no rules – you can create or invent any kind of business you want. You can take what you love and figure out how to get paid for it. You could try one of these businesses or come up with something entirely new.

Just remember, your business is only limited by your imagination and creativity.

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Liesha PetrovichLiesha Petrovich is the creator of Microbusiness Essentials, a blog dedicated to helping the smallest businesses succeed. In her free time, she’s working on a Doctorate in Entrepreneurship. Grab a free copy of her new book Killing Rapunzel: Learning how to save yourself through determination, grit, and self-employment.

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