Proactive Planning - Why is it critical for your business!

Why we hate lawyers? To answer this, and perhaps eventually give you a reason not to hate lawyers, let's look at some of the most common answers. First, if you need one, it usually means something bad happened. Secondly, their involvement in a case, even if it prevails, is a very time consuming, frustrating and expensive process. And finally, you could be completely innocent, but yet to decide its better to write a check to settle in order to avoid a long and expensive journey through the legal system today.

And 'procrastination to blame? Perhaps, but in my opinion, it really comes down to the nature of accounting and legal practices. Too many in the profession are reactive instead of proactive. It 's one thing to strengthen and defend you, is quite another to proactively help to avoid or at least much less attractive to potential litigators. The desired result of effective planning asset protection must not only survive a lawsuit, but discouraging litigation in the first place. As an entrepreneur, you bust your ass trying to manage your employees and squeeze a profit, but too often expensive or sometimes the fatal mistake of assuming if there was a better way of doing things, one of the paid professionals show you the light. But before you throw the blame, I'm here to tell you it's not really their fault. I have worked with hundreds of accountants, lawyers and accountants and has seen in almost every case, are doing their job, doing what they pay. Your accountant prepares timely financial statements, answers your questions and file your tax returns. Similarly, your lawyer every time there is the need. This is really about you - the business owner. This is the call to action. After all, is your business, your assets, your personal net worth at risk. The law provides many protections for consumers, the law seeks to protect. Too many entrepreneurs look to themselves as consumers, but as entrepreneurs, these protections will not be there for you. As an entrepreneur, the law presumes to have a certain degree of sophistication in intelligence, knowledge, experience and or on the road. The law looks at you differently. As such, you can view the legal systems and courts as hard. But the first move is yours. It's up to you, seek and find help - proactively. The question is: what kind of help you need.

I'm here to tell you that a gap in the current group of professionals in the areas of proactive planning. The planning areas critical to the business owners are:

• Planning Asset Protection
• Strategic Tax Planning
• business planning output
• The strategies for building wealth

You are doing everything possible to put more dollars in your pocket, more dollars in your business, and more dollars in the plan for the future that is possible? As an entrepreneur you're taking every opportunity to build your wealth and protect it from litigation? Why not? This is actually the lack of awareness, a lack of knowledge, and lack of planning of all the opportunities that are only available to you as a contractor in the fiscal, commercial and legal planning. For example, are really taking advantage of all opportunities that are available to you in word 7,000,000 IRS tax code and regulations? The IRS tax code can be seen as terribly complex, and expensive, or it can be seen as full of opportunities for the informed.

It may be true that unlike you, the big companies get all the breaks - but not luck. Large companies are aware of and capitalize on "the breaks!" They simply have nothing in their planning. Large companies employ a collection of very competent accountants and lawyers and are constantly supplementing that knowledge with the consulting firm best and brightest. I know it's true. I spent 15 years working for a Fortune 500 and Big Four consulting firm consulting for many Fortune 500 companies. Your biggest problem as an entrepreneur, you do not have access to this experience. Frankly, the big four consulting firms (PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte, KPMG and Ernst and Young) do not work with anyone, except the big boys. This is a simple business decision on their part. As for you, your challenge is to find someone with the education, credentials and experience to offer especially with the schedule that make sense for you and your company.

One of my favorite quotes in this area comes from the Honorable Learned Hand (Judge of the Court of Appeals of the United States) "There are two systems of taxation in our country. One for the informed and one for the currency"

The challenge is to find someone who can help in the critical areas of strategic tax planning, asset protection planning, and wealth building strategies, while keeping the focus on driving your business. So why is the proactive planning so important? First as a company, you are in the class potentially more tax advantaged. You need to be capitalizing on all the programming compensation, benefits, pension and deferral available to you and your company every year. To fail to do so will have a dramatic impact on your financial future. Second and most important, is the area of ​​asset protection. We live in a very litigious society. The statistics indicate a lawsuit is filed every 30 seconds in this country. As a company we are a prime target. Why? People love to sue those who perceive they have deep pockets. The lawyers know that most business owners are not adequately following the corporate formalities and courts probably allows them to pierce the corporate veil and seize not only corporate assets, but your personal assets as well.

And remember this - the facts that determine whether the court will allow contestants to pierce the corporate veil can not be changed after any cause of action could be. All the facts are frozen in time, at that time - the structure of the entity, the ownership of assets, compliance with corporate formalities, etc. And please do not laugh and say that insurance. Every entrepreneur who has lost everything in a lawsuit he had insurance too. They simply do not read or understand the fine print of the policy. Insurance is necessary business expense - but real asset protection comes from your frame size, ownership of assets and compliance with corporate formalities.

This is the call to action. As an entrepreneur - to become one of INFORMED!...