For small businesses, it’s a thin line between success and failure. Flexibility is key.

This ability to respond swiftly often gives small businesses a desirable advantage over their much-larger competitors because they can adapt to take advantage of growing opportunities and changes in their particular industries.

The reality is, owners must constantly look to evolve, says Steven Rogers, professor of entrepreneurship at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. The business they’re in today may not be the business they’re in tomorrow.

Looking ahead and adapting also includes costs and competition. So, how can small businesses stay nimble in the face of these challenges? Here are three can-do items to add to your small-business flexibility list:

1. Look for a niche. 

Small businesses often can spot and react more quickly to market trends. If you don’t already have something in mind, the U.S. Small Business Administration suggests conducting a market survey with current and/or potential customers to uncover untapped needs. Look for areas that are being ignored by your competitors. Maybe it’s a certain feature in a product or a tool aimed at a small but passionate audience.

2. Find technology that fits multiple needs. 

Larger businesses may have receptionists, IT departments and contractors, but for small businesses, implementing technology that has a big-business look and functionality without the cost is a must. For instance, changing the phone system to a virtual phone system can trim expenses because it’s designed for start-ups and small-sized businesses. It involves a quick and simple set-up.

3. Cultivate communication within. 

Successful small business owners must master operations, sales, customer service, marketing, human resources and accounting. They must also maintain accurate accounting books in order to maximize tax liabilities.

A receipt-scanning program like Shoeboxed helps quickly document and track tax-deducible expenses including:

– Travel expenses such as costs of plane tickets, taxis, lodging, meals and automobiles. Automobile costs can be tracked by multiplying mileage by the standard mileage rate or by claiming the business-related expenses for the vehicle. Standard mileage rates cannot be included on Forms 1065, 1120S and 1120. Mileage logs should include odometer readings, total miles driven, percent of mileage used for business, destination and purpose of the trip.

– Expenses for advertising, promotions, interest on borrowed money and bank fees.

– Legal and professional fees in the year incurred. If consultation relates to future years, the fees must be deducted over the life of the benefit.

– Miscellaneous expenses such as bad debts (goods sold, not services), customer gifts, business-related books, postage, seminars and trade shows and business association dues.

If job descriptions, time sheets and W-2s are on file, unincorporated small family businesses employing their children can enjoy several tax benefits:

– No Social Security or Medicare taxes are due. State unemployment and disability taxes are typically waived.

– Child labor restrictions generally do not apply.

– If children are paid less than the standard deduction, earned income is not taxed.

– Owners can use their children’s earned income to open Roth IRAs. Earnings are non-taxable, and withdrawals for college-related expenses or a down payment for first-time homeowners can be made without penalty.

Tax software can be used throughout the year to help owners understand how financial decisions affect their tax situations. By organizing early, owners can maximize deductions and save time when it’s time to submit their tax returns. Customers who pre-order TaxACT Preparer’s Business software can use preview versions as soon as they’re released in October. Final versions of TaxACT Preparer’s Business 1065, 1120 and 1120S are released in January.

Tax information for small businesses is available at www.IRS.gov, and TaxACT information can be found at www.TaxACT.com.

For business and technology students at DeVry University, the name of the game was innovation — not just graduation — as they presented their final senior projects to industry experts and local leaders.
Students really get to showcase their talents when they present their senior projects, said DeVry University Associate Professor Deborah Helman. And they’re also given the opportunity to demonstrate for business leaders the importance of building healthy, dynamic relationships with local communities.

Campus-wide, DeVry University senior project presentations, or fairs, are held several times a year.

Employers and business leaders in the community are invited to attend the events, view the projects up close, talk to the student inventors and get a first-hand look at the imagination, creativity and industry prowess a student might bring to a job.

At DeVry University’s North Brunswick campus, more than 60 seniors in 16 groups presented the projects they had worked on for the past several months, focusing on creating smart business solutions and strategicmarketing plans for local small businesses.

One team of students worked on redesigning a website for Xtreme Dezines, an online home-based business specializing in custom jewelry and handbags. Our client wanted to gain revenue and market share, so we decided that she should concentrate her business efforts on exposing her products to the public, said DeVry University student Nilsa Martinez. This would help to create the best sales opportunities for our client while also increasing additional market share and expanding her customer base. So, the team decided to design an attractive website, create an expansive promotional plan and develop the accounting software needed to help her better establish her company.

At the DeVry University Fremont campus, a team of Information Technology students created a Top Security Access Authentication System, which they designed to add multiple levels of critical security clearances at high-powered facilities such as power plants and military bases. Meanwhile, another team of students proposed their senior project, a Pilot Authentication System that uses various biometric sensors to ensure passenger safety by confirming the pilot’s identity and sobriety before allowing the airplane to take off.

Read Also: 3 Tools Every Small Business Should Use

To reinforce how the effort that the students put into their senior projects will pay off with career success, chief technology officer for Integrated Media Management and DeVry University alumnus Nish Shah came back to the North Brunswick campus to give a keynote speech.

The best part about DeVry University’s training was that it gave me hands-on experience. It allowed me to think about what I needed to do and how I should respond to a real-life situation, said Shah. He also credited DeVry University with improving his communication and team-building skills.

Although not all DeVry University senior projects make it into commercial production, the experience of identifying a need and creating a solution is just as important to the overall learning process.
For more information, visit www.devry.edu.

Talk about sweet justice. If you’ve ever thought you’re paying too much in taxes — ya think? — here’s your chance to maybe claw some of it back from the government.

Every year, the IRS bemoans how much money taxpayers needlessly wind up forfeiting to Uncle Sam — $1 billion is the latest approximate annual figure — because of costly mistakes made when filing or even failing to file returns. And every year, taxpayers make the same (or new) mistakes all over again.

Well, now through April 30, H&R Block (www.hrblock.com) is offering free “Second Look” reviews of 2008 to 2010 income tax returns not initially completed by the giant tax preparation firm itself. If its pros at participating offices discover pay dirt — and they say they “recovered” $100,000 in overlooked credits and deductions during a recent roll-out in Detroit — they’ll tell you and even file the necessary IRS paperwork themselves for a minimal fee.

The idea is to help people get back their own money, says Elaine Smith, master tax advisor at H&R Block. No matter the amount, they could use the extra cash these days.

Among the most common errors unearthed during Detroit’s Second Look:

₪ Missed education credits. Actually, it wasn’t always just a matter of some people not knowing about the still-available American Opportunity Credit ($2,500 for the first four years of college education for each student), the Lifetime Learning Credit (up to $2,000 per return for post-secondary degree programs) and the Tuition and Fees Deduction (a reduction in taxable income of up to $4,000). In the case of 24-year-old Russell Gismonde, for instance, the part-time student and restaurant manager wound up $1,135 richer after H&R Block figured out he was personally better off claiming the Hope Credit than the Lifetime Credit he’d originally checked. (You can only pick one of these.)
“My plan is to have my own business someday,” says a grateful Gismonde, who’d always done his own taxes. “Every penny helps.”

₪ Inaccurate filing status. Don’t snicker. Understanding the financial implications of “married filing jointly” vs. “married filing separate,” say, isn’t a Detroit-only problem. Merely switching from one to the other meant a $5,498 refund for one family.

₪ Overlooked Earned Income Tax Credit. It’s supposed to incentivize employment among low-income earners, but not everyone knew they were eligible for the potentially thousands of dollars in credits.

With this year’s April 17 filing deadline looming, it could make sense to have past returns scoured before risking a replay of past blunders. If it’s easier, the review is accessible online using the Block Live video conferencing tool. 

Read More: 3 Tips to Help Small Businesses Save at Tax Time

With regards to technology, small businesses and entrepreneurs working out of a home office used to be at a competitive disadvantage. But the abundance of productivity tools and online resources for small business has changed all that. Being small doesn’t have to look small — now you can run your business from beaches and terraces of the world with just a cell phone or a tablet.

Now, smartphones are practically office computers in and of themselves, allowing you to stay connected 33,000 feet up in the air or stuck in gridlocked traffic. Not surprisingly, a Small Business Technology Poll taken by AT&T reports a steady increase in the use of tablets, 4G devices and mobile apps for business purposes. The next step for the 85 percent of small businesses using smartphones is utilizing the variety of tools available online.

Here are three inexpensive resources offered online that help small businesses and the one-person team working from home — and your business shouldn’t be without them.

1. Virtual phone system.

This system allows companies of all sizes to have a business-class virtual phone system designed to help small and home-based business owners build the same strong, professional image as larger competitors. It comes with toll-free numbers, Internet fax, voice mailboxes and more.

2. Payroll software.

Depending on the size of your business, it may not be pragmatic to have a full-time accountant, and outsourcing can be pricey. But payroll software can be optimized for all payment methods, and accuracy is based on a money-back guarantee. Software of this nature tends to be very user-friendly and extremely secure.

3. Email marketing software.

Social media marketing is all the rage right now, but according to SmallBizTechnology.com, email marketing software remains more effective. An email marketing software tool will track who opens, reads and forwards your emails, design more targeted newsletters, increase referrals and get quicker results.

One last word of advice, which may be the most crucial of all: Type TestThis4Free.com into your browser and bookmark it. The website is a one-stop shop for online productivity tools, including virtual phone systems, payroll software, email marketing software and more.

The best part? It offers free trials of various software and services to make sure users will use and benefit from a tool before buying it.
With these tools offered for free online, small businesses actually stand a chance against large companies and big budgets.