Restandards Institute

Some people fail to realize how much of an impact color can have on our lives. Multiple studies show that different colors affect you mentally and physically. For instance black gives a sense of power, sexuality, and elegance. Blue has been said to slow a pulse rate, reduce appetite, and lower body temperature. Green signifies nature, health, and has been believed to hold therapeutic powers. Orange represents balance and warmth while purple can reflect luxury and royalty. 

The list can go on and I’m sure we all have sensed at one time or another, a colorful room having an affect on our mood. This allows us to control our household and our surroundings to help ourselves grow as people. Imagine being able to control your mood by walking into different rooms in your house; who needs a shrink anymore? If you’re thinking that you despise painting, rest assured you can achieve the same affect with great pieces of furniture. 

You may now speculate where you can find great furniture in such an array of colors. Just think of a design capital, for instance a furniture store in NYC. There will most likely be an endless selection of color schemes. Furniture in New York tends to be loud and strong enough in design that it can speak for a whole room in itself. Of course they have more subdued hues such as white, beige and browns, but what’s the risk in that? Challenge yourself and your surroundings and think outside of the box for once. 

Make a bold statement that can enhance the frame of mind of you, your family and your guests. People will leave your home talking about how elegant, calm, warm, etc…it made them feel. Put yourself in control of your life and mood by enhancing your rooms with color. Whether it is paint, furniture, accessories, or wall art, make an impact with your next home improvement project with the color of your choice.

Most taxpaying citizens are honest and forthright when it comes to paying their taxes, which is why it can come as a complete surprise when they are informed that they are being audited. Irs auditing can happen to you at any time, no matter what your earnings are. While the chances of you being audited are rather slim, one out of every one hundred people that make fewer than one hundred thousand dollars are audited each year. Your odds of being audited double if you happen to make over one hundred thousand dollars.

The irs auditing process can be quite intimidating, especially if you are completely unprepared for an audit. It is always in your best interest to keep comprehensive records of your financial information and to make sure that everything is organized and accessible. In the case that you are audited, you will need to be able to provide whatever proof is necessary to back up any deductions or claims that you made on your tax return. When it comes to irs auditing, most of the time the IRS will ask you to verify certain information or to send them a copy of some type of paperwork. You will save yourself a lot of stress if you have all of this material ready to go.

If you are a business owner in California you must also always be ready for an audit. The California sales and use tax is a very lengthy and ambiguous piece of tax legislation that has been the subject of debate since it has been passed. Many business owners have had problems interpreting the provisions set forth and have encountered obstacles when reaching out for help. Yes, the state does provide numbers to call with your questions, but these hotlines can only reiterate the laws. If you are looking to find out how these laws specifically apply to your business you will have to seek out some professional councel from someone that is knowledgeable about the California sales and use tax.

If you have been reviewed for a violation of the California sales and use tax your best defense will be to have kept comprehensive and organized files and to hire a tax attorney to defend you. Always make sure that you keep track of all of your business transactions and that your bookkeeping is done meticulously. A tax attorney can give you with the expert advice that is necessary to be prepared for the audit.

I run a housewares business, importing glasses and tiles from the Middle East and Mediterranean. Like most exports from the region destined for the eastern seaboard, most of my inventory makes it way through ports in New Jersey. To service my clients – mostly higher-end home design stores – I had to run LTL sized orders from my NJ warehouse to destinations all up and down the coast: from Portland, ME, to Miami, Florida. While my business is one built on solid markups, the cost of transportation sometimes ate as much as 1/3 of my gross margin.

I was astute enough to realize that I could use some assistance with logistics. I wasn’t sure exactly what sort of help I needed, but I was sure there had to be a better way to manage and deliver inventory more effectively – whether it was requiring my customers to order more, or storing it closer to them. On the recommendation of a friend who runs a paper business in New Jersey, I contacted Transport System Inc., basically to get their consultation on ways to reduce my freight shipping expenses overall.

After hours of free consultation and taking time to become familiar with my inventory and replenishment cycles, they were able to devise a somewhat decentralized solution that would allow me to deliver full trailer loads to other warehouses up and down the east coast, from which LTL sized orders could still be filled. This allowed me to serve my customers better, since I didn’t require them to wait until I could get a mostly full trailer to their area – and mine is not a high volume (by actual volume) business: tiles and glasses are small and expensive.

From a main NJ warehouse, inventory gets moved to satellite locations by the trailer load. With the help of an asset management solution that TSI implemented for me, I am now able to see my real-time inventory all up and down the coast, which allows me to plan my buying and importing much better. The net result is that I am actually holding the same quantity of inventory, but delivering it much faster (same day or overnight for most of the East Coast at no extra charge to customers), more reliably, and far more cost effectively. I also have new markets that have been opened up to my products by new capacity elsewhere – TSI has setup my logistics for a push into the Midwest / Chicago market with a warehouse.

For businesses who are finding that logistics eats into a lot of their high margins because they are forced to ship LTL or deliver customer orders same day or overnight, having the humility to enlist the help of logistics experts is crucial. I had that humility – I can brag about it now – and it truly paid off. I am thankful for my carrier and warehouse company’s expertise.