Business Journal

Posts Tagged ‘Firm’

Today’s the one year anniversary of our original posting of our third virtual office case study: James, His Law Firm and a NYC Virtual Office. To date, it has been the most popular and has had the most viewings of any of our case studies.

The original post, from August 25, 2009, is below:

How can a Virtual Office help you?

Case Study: James
Type of Business: Attorney
Location: Brooklyn, New York
Services: New York Virtual Office, Meeting Room Usage

James worked for a prestigious law firm in Midtown Manhattan – all day, early mornings, late nights, all nighters… He had enough!; enough of the schlep, enough of the commute and most of all, enough of the suit and tie! James HATED the suit and tie. He was ready to break away and start his own law firm and hit the ground running. He gave his 2-week notice and left his position at this dreadful law firm.

He immediately started preparations to go out on his own. Purposefully having no Plan B, he was going to make this work, he had to. He quickly realized that he would need, first and foremost, an office. Being on a limited budget, he knew that he would not be able to afford renting his own brick and mortar office, not to mention all the associated costs that go along with renting an office: electric, furniture, insurance, staff, supplies, etc…

James recalled that one of his former colleagues, Bruce, left the same midtown law firm a few months before he did. James contacted Bruce to touch base and see how independent life was treating him… and to possibly get some guidance. Bruce told James about the services he was utilizing along with services offered by VH International Business Solutions. James was intrigued about the quality and affordability of the services recommended by Bruce, this is just what he needed.

James contacted VH International Business Solutions to open his own New York office. James initially subscribed to our physical office address rental (virtual office) service. He needed to receive paperwork, correspondence, legal documents, and service of process at our offices. Any items received in his new law firm’s name would need to be overnighted to his Brooklyn home address. James was quickly tying all those loose ends, it was coming together for him.

James was ready and excited to finally be able to work from home. His office was all set up with VH International Business Solutions in Manhattan. He got his website domain name, business cards, and placed a few ads.

Today, James wakes up bright and early, showers, and puts on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and works in his home office all day. He takes a quick break in the morning and afternoon to walk his dog. By late afternoon he receives any paperwork that has been overnighted from the office. He works with clients via phone and email during the week. James rents the available office meeting room for 4 hours every two weeks or so from 12-4pm. He schedules all his client consultations during this time period, one every 30 minutes.

When client consultation day arrives, James gets to the office in the dreaded suit and tie, with his Fiji water in hand, sets up his laptop and is ready within seconds for his first guest. He leaves a list of his appointments with the receptionist and she greets and announces each client. If James needs copies of legal documents or ID’s, he gives them to the receptionist to make. After his last appointment, he leaves the office at 4pm and is back home in Brooklyn before the 5pm rush.

James is a pleasure to have as a client. He loves his virtual work life and more so since our services enable him to have the freedom he wants by providing the physical presence he requires. And most of all he loves only having to put on his “Monkey Suit” (and tie) every couple of weeks!

According to Preston Blevins, Vice-President of BatchMaster (www.batchmaster.com), Nutraceuticals manufacturing has been a very impressive growth industry with no end to its growth in sight. This growth is fueled by a public who is increasing focused on health and wants to have increased vitality and longevity. In many respects this parallels the situation in the food and beverage industry, consumers want healthier foods and greater variety. The popularity of organic food, kosher food and the acceptance of functional foods underscore this growing desire.

Despite the forecasted growth for nutraceuticals manufacturing there is a developing belief by some executives within the industry that there will be a consolidation of manufacturers. This consolidation will be driven in part by increasing regulatory compliance requirements, enforcement of claim statements, tighter quality requirements and operational inefficiencies. There is a formula that the nutraceutical manufacturer can use that will improve competitiveness and increase their survivability and benefit from those who ignore it. This formula has five active ingredients:

 INTEGRATION OF BUSINESS PROCESSES & INFORMATION

 BUSINESS PROCESS CONSISTENCY

 DATA ACCURACY

 VISIBILITY

 EFFICIENT USE OF RESOURCES

INTEGRATION OF BUSINESS PROCESSES & INFORMATION

Integration is a somewhat abstract word that requires explanation for those who do not have it in their business operations, individuals who have acclimated to “islands of information”. The reality today is that many small to medium sized manufacturers operate off numerous independent spreadsheets and a few stand-alone computerized legacy systems. While many manufacturers are GMP compliant and individual tasks are executed per the prescribed Stand Operating Procedure (SOP), they are not connected to facilitate a logical information flow. This results in limited access to information that is cumbersome to get, with significant data quality (accuracy) problems and to add insult to injury, is expensive to maintain. How expensive will be discussed in the benefits of integration section later.

A few examples of business process integration:

 Lot/batch control and traceability in the ingredient and finished goods supply-chain

 Lot/batch control and traceability in the manufacturing facility

 Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

Regulatory authorities have forced a form of integration through the requirement of lot traceability record keeping throughout the entire supply chain. The illustrations below depict this requirement.

About BatchMaster

BatchMaster Software, Inc. has provided advanced ERP solutions for over two decades with more than one thousand five hundred installations worldwide. BatchMaster’s customers can be found in every formula or recipe-based business, including food, beverage, cosmetic, personal care, paint, coating, nutraceutical, pharmaceutical, and specialty chemical industries. Flexible, easy to learn and use, and scalable to grow with a process manufacturing business, BatchMaster is the definitive solution for the challenges facing small to midsize process manufacturers. BatchMaster has more than a hundred technical staff numbers of highly-qualified software professionals.

It’s the $51 billion industry you’ve likely never heard of: PEOs. Private Employment Organizations, or PEO’s as they’re known, were deemed the fastest growing business service during the 1990s by the Harvard Business Review. Currently over 700 PEO’s operate in all 50 states and provide service to approximately 100,000 small to mid-sized businesses. So what exactly is a PEO, and how can your business benefit by using one? Following is an introduction to the basics of PEOs.

What is a PEO? A PEO is not a temp or staffing agency and it is not a payroll service. As defined by the National Association of Professional Employer Organizations (NAPEO), a PEO is an “organization that provides an integrated and cost effective approach to the management and administration of the human resources and employer risk of its clients, by contractually assuming substantial employer responsibilities and risk, through the establishment and maintenance of a co-employer relationship with the client’s employees.”

In other words, a PEO legally hires a company’s employees, which makes the PEO the “employer of record” for tax and insurance purposes. The employees are leased back to the original employer under a co-employment contract. The PEO is then responsible for administration of payroll, workers compensation, employee benefits, and workers compensation. Numerous duties such as 401 (k) administration, risk management, employee counseling, and training and development can fall under these categories depending on the terms of your contract.

Why use a PEO?

Being an employer can be a headache: there are over 60 different employment-related governmental regulations with which a business must comply. The U.S. Small Business Administration reports that owners of small or mid-sized businesses now spend up to a quarter of their time on employment-related paperwork. By outsourcing to a PEO, employers can focus on operating and building their business. Employees gain improved, comprehensive benefits. Some other benefits to consider:

• Improved human resource practices can increase your profitability. PEOs handle basics like employee handbooks or more delicate HR tasks such as sexual harassment training.

• Comprehensive employee benefits makes your business a more attractive place to work.

• State of the art HRIS systems better serve you and your employees with on-line access to payroll and employee information.

• Coverage under a PEOs master workers comp policy means insurance is more affordable. PEOs yearly shop for the best insurance rates, and since they have an interest in keeping claims low, they conduct risk management training.

• Progressive PEOs offer benefits such as college tuition reimbursement programs and travel services

Who can benefit from a PEO’s services? Businesses from numerous industries—medicine, automotive, construction, retail, manufacturing, hi-tech— outsource to PEOs. According to the NAPEO, their member PEOs average client is a small business with 17 employees. PEO clients are small enough that they do not have the need or ability to staff a human resource department. Even large companies with a dedicated HR department can benefit: they get access to supplemental HR expertise, competitive health insurance, and state of the art HR information systems. PEOs work in cooperation with larger companies’ HR departments.

When is your business ready to outsource to a PEO? Industry experts advise careful preparation when deciding if your business should contract with a PEO. Do your homework. Here are some questions to consider (courtesy of StaffMarket.com):

Are you spending too much for workers’ compensation insurance?
Are your employees asking for benefits you can’t offer?
Are you paying too much for health insurance?
Is your company compliant with state and federal regulations?
Is your turnover rate adversely affecting your company’s performance?
Is your HR department as effective or as efficient as you believe it could be?

If the answers to these questions lead you to believe that a PEO is in your future, appoint a team to the task of conducting thorough market research, attend conferences, and read case studies about HR outsourcing. Utilize their findings in your PEO search.

How do you choose a PEO? First, make sure the PEOs you consider are accredited by the Employer Services Assurance Corporation (ESAC), a nonprofit organization which protects the interests of businesses contracted with PEOs. Accreditation means a PEO meets ESAC’s ethical, financial, and operational standards.

In addition, Make sure your PEO meets state licensing and registration requirements. The following states have licensing laws: Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Montana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Vermont. The following states have registration laws: Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, and Virginia.

Here are some more guidelines provided by the NAPEO:

1. Assess your workplace to determine your human resource and risk management needs.

2. Make sure the PEO is capable of meeting your goals. Meet the people who will be serving you.

3. Ask for client and professional references.

4. Check the firm’s financial background, and ask for banking and credit references. Ask the PEO to demonstrate that payroll taxes and insurance premiums have been paid.

5. Check to see if the company is a member of NAPEO, the national trade association of the PEO industry.

6. Investigate the company’s administrative and risk management service competence. What experience and depth does their internal staff have? Do any of the senior staff have professional training or designations? Check to see if the PEO’s risk management services have been certified by the Certification Institute at www.certificationinstitute.org.

7. Understand how the employee benefits are funded. Is the PEO fully insured or partially self-funded? Who is the third-party administrator (TPA) or carrier? Is their TPA or carrier authorized to do business in your state?

8. Understand how the employee benefits are tailored. Determine if they fit the needs of your employees.

9. Review the service agreement carefully. Are the respective parties’ responsibilities and liabilities clearly laid out? What guarantees are provided? What provisions permit you or the PEO to cancel the terms of the contract?

Despite the forecasted growth for nutraceuticals manufacturing there is a developing belief by some executives within the industry that there will be a consolidation of manufacturers. This consolidation will be driven in part by increasing regulatory compliance requirements, enforcement of claim statements, tighter quality requirements and operational inefficiencies. There is a formula that the nutraceutical manufacturer can use that will improve competitiveness and increase their survivability and benefit from those who ignore it. This formula has five active ingredients:

 INTEGRATION OF BUSINESS PROCESSES & INFORMATION

 BUSINESS PROCESS CONSISTENCY

 DATA ACCURACY

 VISIBILITY

 EFFICIENT USE OF RESOURCES

According to Preston Blevins, Vice-President of BatchMaster (www.batchmaster.com), Nutraceuticals manufacturing has been a very impressive growth industry with no end to its growth in sight. This growth is fueled by a public who is increasing focused on health and wants to have increased vitality and longevity. In many respects this parallels the situation in the food and beverage industry, consumers want healthier foods and greater variety. The popularity of organic food, kosher food and the acceptance of functional foods underscore this growing desire.

INTEGRATION OF BUSINESS PROCESSES & INFORMATION

Integration is a somewhat abstract word that requires explanation for those who do not have it in their business operations, individuals who have acclimated to “islands of information”. The reality today is that many small to medium sized manufacturers operate off numerous independent spreadsheets and a few stand-alone computerized legacy systems. While many manufacturers are GMP compliant and individual tasks are executed per the prescribed Stand Operating Procedure (SOP), they are not connected to facilitate a logical information flow. This results in limited access to information that is cumbersome to get, with significant data quality (accuracy) problems and to add insult to injury, is expensive to maintain. How expensive will be discussed in the benefits of integration section later.

A few examples of business process integration:

 Lot/batch control and traceability in the ingredient and finished goods supply-chain

 Lot/batch control and traceability in the manufacturing facility

 Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

Regulatory authorities have forced a form of integration through the requirement of lot traceability record keeping throughout the entire supply chain. The illustrations below depict this requirement.

About BatchMaster

BatchMaster Software, Inc. has provided advanced ERP solutions for over two decades with more than one thousand five hundred installations worldwide. BatchMaster’s customers can be found in every formula or recipe-based business, including food, beverage, cosmetic, personal care, paint, coating, nutraceutical, pharmaceutical, and specialty chemical industries. Flexible, easy to learn and use, and scalable to grow with a process manufacturing business, BatchMaster is the definitive solution for the challenges facing small to midsize process manufacturers. BatchMaster has more than a hundred technical staff numbers of highly-qualified software professionals.