It seems that hardly a week goes by without headline news of another major data breach at a large U.S. corporation. A recent online article1 listing the biggest data breaches so far in 2016 included major cyberattacks at the U.S. Department of Justice and the IRS, Snapchat, Premier Healthcare,...
When seeking to borrow money, raise equity capital, make an acquisition or enter into a joint venture, owners of small and mid-sized businesses often face unexpected hurdles due to the fact that they haven’t kept their business and financial house in order. I have encountered a number of situations...
Since we last wrote about big data over a year ago, the topic has been getting a lot of media attention. It seems like businesses of all sizes and in all industries are figuring out how to use data mining techniques to tap into big data and use...
“We’ve always done it that way.” These may be the most dangerous six words in the English language. Los Angeles and Southern California small businesses that don’t adapt to change could eventually end up being the 21st century equivalent of the buggy manufacturer who in the early 20th century...
Most businesses, regardless of their size, utilize policies and procedures as part of their organizational structure. The larger the organization, the more important policies and procedures (or P&Ps) tend to be. However, even small firms can benefit by creating well-defined P&Ps, communicating them throughout the organization, and taking steps to...
Most Los Angeles and Southern California business owners and entrepreneurs are familiar with recent headline-grabbing cyberattacks on large organizations like the ones that have occurred at Target, Home Depot, Anthem Blue Cross and Sony Corporation. It is easy to think that cybercrime is only a threat to large corporations...
As we discussed in a recent article, once a business reaches a certain size, it needs to make sure that a solid financial and operational infrastructure is in place if it wants to be successful and progress to the next level of growth. A key component of this infrastructure...
With the digital revolution that has occurred in recent years and the growing use of scanners and email, Los Angeles and Southern California business owners and entrepreneurs are now creating and sharing more business documents in electronic formats like PDFs. While there are many potential benefits of creating and...
Los Angeles and Southern California business owners and entrepreneurs have two options when it comes to which method of business accounting they will use: cash basis accounting (“cash accounting”) and accrual basis accounting (“accrual accounting”). Many owners and bookkeepers, especially in small businesses, believe that cash accounting is preferable to...
When they hear the term “big data,” many Los Angeles and Southern California business owners and entrepreneurs mistakenly think this is something that only large corporations with multi-million dollar information technology budgets and sophisticated IT systems can benefit from. So it’s not surprising that according to research conducted by SMB...