Every day opposing political views are hurled across our television screens like the historical punches of Mohammed Ali and Joe Frazier. Current programs aren’t working and many proposed programs are heavily debated. Meanwhile, our national debt has grown beyond comprehension.

Who will take the hit when national plans fizzle? We will. Such is the responsibility of business owners. You are fiscally responsible. Will you succeed or succumb?

You must have realistic goals and a solid business plan with every detail lined out. You must be vigilant in your desire to succeed and adept at finding your way through the financial maze. It’s difficult to keep your company prosperous if you aren’t focused on making money at all times.

The best ideas are killed by lack of business savvy. Your grandeur vision was to go into business to either manufacture, service or sell something. Consider all aspects of expertise required to run a business and your mind will go in multiple directions, most of which have nothing to do with revenue production.

One must have ongoing studies in employment law to keep abreast of the changes, learn how to effectively manage a work force, have a detailed human resource program, have up-to-date employee documentation, annually update software, and manage the administration of payroll, workers’ compensation insurance and claims management, benefits administration, and a long laundry list of other duties. A couple of unemployment claims and workers’ compensation claims mishandled could cause your rates to go up drastically, increasing your cost for years.

Your employees are the neck that turns the head and without a solid work force you won’t reach your goals. It’s paramount to your success to have highly qualified advisors in human resources and risk management, and it doesn’t matter if you employ a couple or a couple hundred employees.

Key point - If you’re not personally handling the administrative liabilities, how do you know it’s being done adequately, sufficiently, and that you’re covering your assets? The alternative to doing everything in-house is to outsource these duties to a team of professionals. PEO companies (Professional Employer Organizations) take care of all this. They bring a whole team of highly qualified professionals into place. You might not be able to hire all these people for what their services cost.

Back to the national scene – we worry about other parts of the world deciding to ramp up their nuclear program. We’ve gone to the polls and elected a president to make the decision to push the button if that time should ever come. We pray for our president and his staff of advisors.

If you own a business then you’ve got your finger on your financial button and who’s advising you on policy? If you hired someone to take care of all these things, then that would be the person who has the finger on your button.

Keep your business right side up with a plan of success; ensure your back office administrative work is handled by professionals in human resources and risk management, payroll administration, workers’ compensation insurance and claims management, and safety management and training, to reduce your liability exposure.