Just a friendly nudge — don’t forget to do your taxes! Here’s how to do it online at no cost.
5 free resources to grow your business
Entrepreneurs and small business owners need all the help they can get. When you’re a self-starter, you’re constantly on the go, multitasking and doing all you can to grow your company quickly. Luckily, there are a ton of free small business resources that can help you along the way.
That’s where we come in. We scoured the internet for some of the best freebies you can use. For example, we recommend saving money on Microsoft Office by using its free alternative, LibreOffice, instead.
It works just as well as Microsoft’s official programs but costs nothing, so you can put your money toward your small business. Tap or click here for our 10 favorite free apps. We also found a ton of business freebies you can use to grow your company. Keep reading to get started.
1. U.S. Small Business Administration
We love this website because it’s practically the Valhalla of small business knowledge. It can help you get funding through SGA-backed loans. It also has many programs to procure financial and federal contracts.
On top of that, it has guides that walk you through expanding to new locations, mastering your management system and more. It also offers specialized advice for female business leaders, minorities and veterans.
You can even use the SBA to find loans that help you when natural disasters hit your small business — or when expanding overseas. It’s a website you need to bookmark. Best of all, it’s free.
We’ve got you covered if you’re short on time and don’t want to click through pages trying to find free resources. We put together some of our favorite freebies from the SBA site. Scroll down for all the details.
2. Master market research and analyze your competitors
You’ll find many helpful small business tips online. Not all of them will apply to your specific situation, though. Sometimes, you just need hard data.
When to hire an employee vs. a contractor
So you need new talent to lighten the workload, but you aren’t sure about how much you should commit. If you’re wondering if you should hire an employee or an independent contractor, you’ve come to the right place. First, you need to break down exactly what you need and what you can afford.
🚔 Publishers Clearing House scam: This is something! An 84-year-old woman was told she’d won $5 million and a Mercedes-Benz. The catch? All she had to do was pay $30,000 in “taxes” first. She handed over $19K before realizing something was off and setting up a sting with the cops. Granny wasn’t playing around, and the police caught the crooks. Reminds me of when my son Ian asked, “Grandma, how old are you?” “A woman never reveals her age,” my mom said. Ian said, “Alright, just give me the first digit.” “Seven,” she said. “And the second?” Mom sighed and said, “Two.” And Ian said, “And the third?” 😂
$10,000 an hour
What lawyers might charge in the future, according to the LexisNexis CEO. With AI doing the grunt work like digging up case law and writing summaries, they’ll have more time to focus on the important stuff. Better service, bigger bills. Let’s just hope these lawyers do their due diligence and fact-check the work. In my humble opinion, at $10K an hour, your lawyer should also do your taxes, walk your dog and solve your childhood trauma.
⚡️ 3-second tech genius: Made a mistake in the iPhone Calculator app? Simply swipe left on the numbers to delete the last digit. Still not gonna help you with taxes, but it’s handy.
✍️ President Trump threw crypto a bone: He signed off on killing an IRS rule that would’ve forced decentralized finance platforms to act like brokers. Yep, meaning they’d have to track and report your activity for taxes. Critics said it was a privacy nightmare and would’ve overloaded the IRS with too much data. One small win for crypto, one giant headache coming for stablecoins.
100,000 iMessages
Sent by scammers each day. They’re using iPhone farms (aka groups of phones with rotating Apple IDs) to slip past security filters. If you’ve gotten a text saying you need to act fast about an unpaid road toll, shipping fees or taxes, that’s likely where it came from. Barry texted me, “Call me.” So I called him and said, “Text me” and hung up. I thought it was hilarious! Him not so much.
📞 Scammers posing as IRS agents: Just ask Brad, who got a call saying he misfiled his taxes and owed over $800 or else he could face jail time. The scammer knew his address and wife’s name, and Brad ended up giving him access to his bank account. PSA: The IRS never calls or texts. If it’s legit, it comes by mail.
Doing taxes this weekend? Fun times. Remember that if you made over $5,000 using apps like Venmo, PayPal and Cash App for your side hustle, you’ll get a 1099-K form. I answer your FAQs about this here. Here are each app’s reporting rules.
10%
Price increase for Acer laptops next month. Why? CEO Jason Chen says new tariffs are raising import taxes. Now those get passed along to me and you. If you’ve been thinking about upgrading, hurry.
💸 Imagine winning the lotto: I bet you have. A Hillsboro, Missouri, couple thought the magical moment was real when someone told them they’d won $17 million. All they had to do was pay taxes upfront. They mailed over $800,000 in cash and gift cards to random addresses until their daughter figured out what was going on. They’re not getting that money back.
Get this from the IRS now
Imagine this. You sit down to file your taxes. Then, you get a notification from the IRS saying you can’t file another return. Do this to make sure it doesn’t happen to you.
Tech after death: Startups breathing new life into the funeral industry
People say there are only two certainties: death and taxes. But another thing is also certain: technological advancement. In this fascinating, thoughtful and surprisingly funny podcast, Kim explores the deathcare industry, where tech startups are shaking up the funeral profession. Cutting-edge technology is changing the way we’re buried, and creative professionals are bringing more innovation than we’ve seen in centuries.