Why You Need to Keep Up With Trends,
Do you remember fidget spinners? Those small, pinwheel-like toys claimed to improve focus by channeling users’ excess energy. Last summer, fidget spinners were a worldwide craze. In May of 2017, fidget spinners appeared in every single slot of Amazon’s top 20 best-seller list for toys. Then, just as quickly as they appeared, their popularity vanished. By October, an eBay listing sported 50,000 premium metal fidget spinners for a total price of $2,500. At one point, those fidget spinners would have sold for at least $15 each. Now, the eBay seller was willing to take a measly 5 cents per spinner just to get rid of them. Collecting dust in warehouses, on store shelves, and atop dollar store checkout displays, fidget spinners are haunting reminders of the danger of trends. Whether it’s “Pokemon Go” in 2016, Pogs in 1993, or tulips in 1593, fads appear suddenly and generate a lot of consumer demand and attention, but they don’t have lasting impacts on the market as a whole. More often than not, companies that try to ride the success of a fad end up taking a big loss. They’re left with overstock they can’t get rid of.
Trends, however, change the marketplace by shifting the way consumers buy, and over time, they can alter the products and services customers demand. In 2017, livestreaming on social media rocketed into popularity. For years, consumers have sought to participate with the brands and businesses they support. As video content gained steam, livestreaming became the ultimate way to allow genuine real-time engagement. Major brands like Disney and BuzzFeed invested a lot of time in livestreaming last year and earned billions of views within 30 days of posting new content. To tell the difference between a trend and a fad, Jeffery Phillips, senior consultant at OVO Innovation, recommends asking these four questions: 1. Is this emerging need likely to grow and to sustain itself over time? 2. Is the emerging need basedmostly on novelty? 3. Is the need based on political, economic, societal, or technological changes?
JANUARY TESTIMONIAL Leslie Conquered Her Hurdles With Us
After almost 17 years of practice at a mid-size law firm, I ultimately decided to hang my own shingle at Wargo Law, LLC. With that decision, however, came a significant hurdle. How would I perform my bookkeeping duties, and what would I do about taxes?
QuickBooks Online also links to my business accounts. Therefore, when money is spent on business expenses, client development, professional fees, computer equipment, or travel expenses, the system keeps detailed reports so I can properly allocate the expenses in the appropriate category.
This was especially troubling for me because math is not my forte. I never had to enter my own time spent on client matters, I never physically processed client bills, and I never had to perform a business’ tax projections. When I met with Borbala Banto at Better Numbers for Lawyers, she introduced me to the system she developed for small law firms to handle the financial side of their practice, a program that has been a life saver for me. As I endeavored in my own law firm, I made it a mission to learn as much as I could about the different aspects of bookkeeping work, and Borbala was a great coach. She set me up with QuickBooks Online. Over the couple of sessions I spent with her, I learned how easy it is to input time spent on client matters and generate bills that were professionally sent to clients in just a few clicks of a button.
The detailed reporting permits efficient reconciling of my business accounts each month, so I can understand the profit and loss of my business. The Balance Sheet and Profit and Loss statement are so valuable to understanding the financial status of my business and are useful when I have my quarterly review and strategic tax planning sessions with Borbala. The significant hurdle I feared when I opened my law office no longer seems unconquerable. Rather, implementing a system for my bookkeeping duties and taxes became one of the most
important tools for my business. –Leslie Wargo, Esq. Wargo Law, LLC Cleveland, OH
2 ConciergeCPAs.com
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