The cost for managing and processing payroll in-house for those small businesses with 50 to 100 employees can average over $50,000. Payroll mistakes and penalties unfortunately happen when humans are involved in reporting. A recent survey found that these ‘mistakes’ can cost over $30,000 to fix.

This data is exactly why most businesses choose to work with a payroll outsourcing company to avoid these fees. So how do you negotiate a better deal with a payroll services company?

• Do you belong to any trade or business groups? If so, some of these associations will negotiate discounts with payroll companies so check before you call.
• Check to see if the company offers a rate package or sliding fee structure.
• If you need a variety of features for your business, negotiate a ‘package’ deal instead of paying per service.
• Will the company allow you to try them for free? How about negotiating a lower introductory rate? Most companies will offer discounts to new businesses but make sure they are credible before you hand over all your business information.
• The payroll company should have a clause that takes responsibility for late filings. Make sure this is in your contract before moving forward.

Payroll processing companies can charge additional fees if you add new employees or even change billing information. Ask for these fees up front and find out which fees you can negotiate before you ‘lock in’ with them.

One of the most satisfying tasks while setting up your own business is developing your business logo. Logo is a symbol that identifies a company, and is often used to project a company’s intended image.

A well designed logo is not only attractive but also simple enough to tell the purpose or nature of the company easily. Such a logo shows that company has strong commitment to quality and professionalism. On the other hand a badly designed logo is often associated with businesses that are undercapitalized and poorly organized.

Entrepreneurs mostly do three common mistakes while designing their logo. Eventually, these mistakes develop negative impression on the prospective customers, and instead of success, a business has to face decline regardless of the fact that all other branding elements are fine.

Mistake 1: Not designed by a professional logo designer: Designing a logo is not a pastime of amateurs. Usually, logos that are designed by non-professionals are unable to portray the right message. Hiring a professional logo designing company is always the right choice. They have a better understanding of using shapes, fonts and color, and you get the true return if designed by them.

Mistake 2: Not designed for all mediums: Secondly, your logo should be designed for all the available marketing and advertising mediums. It would be a biggest mistake to design a logo for one media type and the logo look awful on another type of media. No matter how much beautiful looking your logo is but if it is not compatible with all mediums, it’s a waste of resources. Therefore, during the designing phase, make sure to make it looks great wherever you use it.

Mistake 3: Complicated design: Complexity in a logo is a killer of your brand image. Too many colors, complicated images and unreadable fonts will make your logo complicated and knotty. Complex logos are difficult to apprehend and thus can be rendered ineffective.

Unfortunately, recession is already shaking the businesses, and at the same time, if you are unable to portray the right message to the right audience, all your survival efforts would become useless. Research shows that about half of all businesses fail within their first year. One reason of failure that is commonly mentioned by experts is poor or ineffective marketing, and if your logo, which is a greatest marketing tool, does not stand out from those of your competitors, your sales will suffer and resulted in failure of business.