5 New Year's Resolutions for Small Business Owners in 2015

In addition to the obligatory personal New Year's resolutions, it's a good idea for small business owners to set some fresh goals for their companies in the New Year as well.

After all, businesses, like people, need to grow over time. And any mistakes, missteps, and missed opportunities made in 2014 should serve as motivation for business owners to improve going forward in 2015.

To that end, here are five New Year's resolutions for small business owners:

1. Improve your cybersecurity measures. Hopefully, your business already takes cybersecurity seriously. But even if that's the case, there is always more that can be done to protect your business from being hacked, including improving password security, using two-step authentication, and investing time to train your employees.
2. Pay less in taxes. Many small business owners are paying more in taxes than they need to by missing out on the tax-saving strategies employed by big corporations.
3. Learn more about employment law. Between federal, state, and local employment laws --- all of which are constantly evolving -- there is plenty to chew on when it comes to getting up to speed on the basics of employment law.
4. Stamp out workplace discrimination. One of the major areas of employment law deserving special scrutiny is workplace discrimination. Employers should double down on efforts to root out any workplace policies or practices that may result in discrimination on the basis of race, religion, sex, or other class of employee that may be protected under federal, state, or local law.
5. Ensure your business is handicap-accessible. Business owners should also ensure a business does not discriminate against customers. One common mistake: not providing equal access to a business to disabled individuals in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

For more legal lessons for small business owners from the last year, check out the Top 10 Free Enterprise posts for 2014.

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Related Resources:

• After Target Hack, 3 Tips for Vendor Cybersecurity (FindLaw's Free Enterprise)
• Ignoring These 5 Labor Laws Can Cost Your Business (FindLaw's Free Enterprise)
• Top 5 Legal Tasks You Should Do This Year (FindLaw's Free Enterprise)
• Is Your Business ADA Compliant? (FindLaw's Free Enterprise)