Client Highlight

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Client Highlight: Squared Eye, LLC

January 31, 2010 by thriveal | No comments

Here we are ready to prove it again: we have the best clients in the world! Matthew Smith, Principal of Squared Eye, LLC is a web development extraordinaire! Working with contractors and clients all over the world, Squared Eye, LLC delivers some of the best the web has to offer:

US Institute for Peace Lighting Africa

Reformed University Fellowship Pattern Tap

Matthew and I spent some time together doing a little strategy on the future of his company. Squared Eye, LLC relies on our firm for help in business strategy, tax consulting and new software services. Matthew and his team see value in what we do, and we love to serve them.

Jason M. Blumer, CPA, and Matthew Smith of Squared Eye

Learning How the Change to an S Corp Will Drive you Crazy (...but Save Tax Money!)

Matthew is your typical serial entrepreneur - finding needs in the market place motivates Matthew to build what is not already available. His Pattern Tap site (“where tasty design is now on tap”) is highly acclaimed as a goto site for designers all over the world. Matthew built this site as a means to provide great design that could not be found in any one place.

The Squared Eye team has a heart to serve those in the creative industries, and mentoring younger companies in the business of design, collaboration and the business of being creative. We love to serve those that love to serve!

X - (Y / 9) + Guacamole = 12 to the 4th power (Huh?)

We asked Matthew to answer four questions for the client highlight, and here is what we got:

What have you or your organization done to remain competitive and successful?

We found a niche, and ran headlong into it. Our niche is craftsman level web and interface design with an eye for function and form. We’ve also launched several products that showcase that niche. The first is Pattern Tap (http://patterntap.com), a showcase of inspirational design solutions to help web designers make better choices. The second is Pocket, a tool for creating iPhone-sized portfolios – this will launch in 2nd quarter 2010.

What do you or your organization foresee as the greatest business obstacle in the near future?

Moving from small to medium in size. Our niche is design craftsmanship, not management. How do we build business, instead of letting the business build us? We’re working through that one track at a time. The first step we’re taking to deal with that, is by producing products like Pattern Tap that can sustain growth and need less input than client based projects.

What do you enjoy most about your work?

The pleasure I feel in bringing order to chaos. I love conquering a formless thing by giving it a shape and a direction. I’m a visual story teller.

What has the Blumer firm done to assist you in furthering your business and its operations?

Blumer and Associates help Squared Eye strategize about business and tax movements that facilitate a clear path to success. In addition to great tax planning, this year Blumer helped us become an S-Corp which will likely save us over 15k next year. We’re enthusiastic about the future, and we’re glad Blumer is going to be there with us.

Riding Matthew's "virtual" Vespa (it was outside)

Matthew and the whole Squared Eye team are fun to serve and we’re excited to call them clients!

all photos Nill Silver

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Client Highlight: Dynamic Realty, Inc.

November 4, 2009 by thriveal | No comments

Dave Barber, CEO of Dynamic Realty, Inc., Jason M. Blumer, CPA, and Rick Stroud, Founder of Dynamic Realty, Inc.

It’s pretty rewarding when you get a client that is interested in developing strategic thought in their business, and change the common models that their industry often operates under. I love clients that let us dive into their businesses, use our expertise in process design, and the implementation of new business technologies to make business smarter, more effective and more profitable. And that is exactly what our firm has in Dynamic Realty, Inc.

I can see it coming a mile away. I knew Dynamic Realty was different when they had to sit down with me and draw out their innovative plans for the future, how our firm fits into that model and what counsel they needed from me. I’m geeking out about it just thinking about our first meeting (I know, I know, I’m a nerd). But it sure is fun when the client is innovating in new unknown ways, and they seek your help to get there.

Dave Barber, Dynamic’s CEO, and Rick Stroud, the Founder and Owner of Dynamic Realty, Inc., came to my office for over an hour to talk strategy. Their models of how the real estate market will change in our country are phenomenal, and I can’t wait to be a part of making it happen. We got to share how our new models of service may be exactly what they are looking for to make their ideas work… and they fit like a glove! We also got to share some newer technologies that take our clients’ businesses into the clouds and eventually make their processes paperless (you can have it too!). Yummy.

Discussing the Dynamic Plan!

If I told you what their plans were to change the Greenville real estate market, I would have to promptly dispose of your body in a dark alley somewhere (and then Dave and Rick would dispose of my body in that same alley). But I digress. As we do with all of our Client Highlights, we asked Rick and Dave to answer a few questions about what they see in business and how our firm can help them:

1. What have you or your organization done to remain competitive and successful?
Dynamic Realty is redesigning our operation in order to more adequately respond to the expectations of today’s home buyers and sellers. We are deploying small “client specialization” teams throughout the state. These teams will be available to the customers who want more than what most general practitioner Realtors can provide.

Our “client specialization” agents will have expert knowledge of their specific real estate customer’s needs. The market has become too diverse and complex to be a one-size-fits-all Realtor.

2. What do you or your organization foresee as the greatest business obstacle in the near future?
One of the more serious obstacles facing our industry is over-manipulation of the housing market by the federal government. It can be very challenging to stay ahead of knee-jerk reactions that will at best produce only short term solutions and unfortunately only create bigger problems.

3. What do you enjoy most about your work?
Being a vital participant in a home buying or selling experience that has a happy ending. Most of the time it’s easy to conduct the mechanics of buying and selling…but it’s something much different and far more satisfying to finalize a transaction and leave a trail of raving fans of our organization.

4. What has the Blumer firm done to assist you in furthering your business and its operations?
We chose the Blumer firm because they weren’t like the other run-of-the-mill accounting firms in town. They offer a fresh and innovative perspective on service and process that was a perfect match for the way we are expanding our company. They provide us access to resources that we can’t get or would be value prohibitive for us to do on our own.

Giving Dynamic a New Perspective!

Dave, Rick and Jason Geeking Out!

Devising the Plan for Future Growth

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Client Highlight: Julienne Correa of Pronto Labels

October 3, 2009 by thriveal | 2 comments

Dr. Steven Trocha, Julienne Correa and Jason M. Blumer

Julienne Correa is one of those people who tells you what she is thinking. She doesn’t hold anything back. And being fluent in a few languages, she has a lot of words she can use too! And we love that type of client – a very intelligent client committed to true relationships usually means we can really help them! Julienne Correa is no exception. She and her husband, Dr. Steven Trocha, rely on us for solid tax advice, advice on business setup and opportunities for new technologies.

Blumer has an idea (Julienne ain't buying it!)

We met together recently at their beautiful home off of August Road (filled with art created by her Mother) and talked about her business. She started Pronto Labels out of her home many years ago, and took iron on labels for clothing to the masses. Whether its children’s clothing, senior residents, child care centers or camps, Julienne and her team offer amazing prices on iron on labels, and ship around the world! She continues to this day to follow a simple business formula: (1) provide straight forward information to your clients, (2) give them great customer service and (3) deliver quality products. This is one formula we could all learn from! And the formula continues to offer great growth year after year. No frills, no big advertising budget, just a simple business model that is executed with amazing precision.

Julienne and Jason both talking (...as usual)

Julienne has grown her business truly online for many years (before it was popular), and has now had to outsource part of the delivery system to other staff. She works virtually from her home, and with her solid focus on building a website that has hit Google’s #1 page rank for many years, she is going to be a solid online business for many years to come (google “iron on labels” to see what I mean).

We asked Julienne to answer our four questions. This is what she said:

1) What have you or your organization done to remain competitive and successful? Keep to simple. Be forward thinking. What worked yesterday may not work today. Embrace technology. Remember who you are working for: your clients. Make the process of clients dealing with your business very easy.

Client Highlight: Richard V. Remigailo, Jr., DMD, LLC

September 3, 2009 by thriveal | 2 comments

Jason M. Blumer, CPA and the Remigailo Dental Practice Team

All pictures by Chris Rank of Rank Studios, LLC of Atlanta

The August Client Highlight is of Richard V. Remigailo, Jr., DMD, LLC in Atlanta, GA. We’ve been serving the Remigailo team for a couple of years now, and they have been a wonderful client to work with. Dr. Remigailo is at the top of his technical game, and is very interested in the productivity, profitability and efficiency of his practice. I’ve learned much from Dr. Remigailo!

Time for some Instruction!

As with all of our Monthly Client Highlights, we asked Dr. Remigailo to answer four questions for our blog:

1. What have you or your organization done to remain competitive and successful?

We have found success in forming caring relationships with our patients. We recently invested in building a brand new facility with all the most modern dental technology. Patients really love our new office but ultimately they need more than this. They need to know that we care about them as a complete person. We find that as our culture increasingly sees medical and dental care as a commodity, we can stand out by focusing on treating our clients like family. This requires taking more time with each patient. In order to do this, we have proactively structured our schedule to create time to listen to our patient’s needs and customize their treatment to achieve their goals.

Occasionally a patient will leave our practice because of a change in their dental insurance requiring them to use a larger dental clinic that is less expensive. More times than not, they will return to our practice and say, “I did not have a good experience at that big clinic. I felt like I was just a number to them and I had a different dentist every time I went. It is worth paying a few more dollars more to receive great dental care.”

We find that patients not only want “high-tech” but also “high touch” dental care.

2. What do you or your organization foresee as the greatest business obstacle in the near future?

The rise in unemployment and losses in the stock market are the biggest reasons patients have avoided or delayed dental treatment this year. Patients who are out of work and uninsured are unable to move forward with any major dental work. Many of our retired patients rely on their investment income to pay for any treatment outside of routine professional cleanings.

The possibility of an increasing tax burden, new federal regulations on small businesses, and changes in dental insurance reimbursement are also large concerns in controlling business costs in the future.

3. What do you enjoy most about your work?

I very much enjoy the friendships we form with our clients over time. Helping patients feel and look better and maintain the health of their teeth for their lifetime is very rewarding and I believe truly enhances their quality of life. Helping a new patient overcome their fear of dentistry and hearing them say, “I don’t know why I was so worried about that, it really wasn’t bad”, is always a highlight as well.

4. What has the Blumer firm done to assist you in furthering your business and its operations?

Jason and his team have always provided us with excellent management and tax advice. When we first started working with their firm a few years ago, Jason pointed out that we really didn’t need to pay them to generate the monthly reports that our previous accountant had provided because we could easily do it ourselves on Quickbooks. He helped us set that up and save a few hundred dollars a month by using our software effectively. I appreciate Jason’s progressive thinking and attitude that doing things best often means changing some of the old management paradigms.

When we built a brand new dental office last year, Jason and his team were instrumental in helping us maximize our tax deductions and depreciation of the building and equipment costs. It has been great to be able to refer several of my friends and colleagues to Jason for their accounting needs. Thanks for taking such great care of us Jason.

Who's Teaching Who?

The CPA Becomes the Dentist!

Dentists are a hoot!

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Client Highlight: M2 Technologies, Inc.

August 4, 2009 by thriveal | 2 comments

July’s highlight this month is of our firm’s technology/IT contractor. M2 Technologies, Inc. has also been a client of our firm since their inception, and their abilities to fix or handle any computer-related problem is unmatched by any other contractor we’ve seen. They quickly handle all of our computer repair requests, the problems with synching all of our tech toys to our network and, lately, how to implement new Apple products into our PC world.

l to r: Matt Marks, Jason M. Blumer and Dan Guerrant (of note: we all have large foreheads to hold our extremely large brains)

Matt Marks sells middle to high end accounting software called VisionCore and NetSuite and supports his clients from his Greenville office, while Dan Guerrant handles all tech and computer related requests for their clients.

M2 Technologies, Inc. has been an outstanding support to our firm, and is always available when we need them.

As with all client highlights, we asked M2 to answer four questions for our readers:

1. What have you or your organization done to remain competitive and successful?

Personal customer service has been our strength over the years. Our customers have access to us via cell phone, email, and office line. We do our best to respond as quickly as possible and our customers know that and appreciate it.

2. What do you or your organization foresee as the greatest business obstacle in the near future?

I believe the biggest threat to our small business is the burden of government. The tax burden on small and medium size businesses is constantly increasing and as obtrusive legislation like cap and trade becomes law, the trickle-down effect from larger businesses will definitely impact us and our customers negatively.

3. What do you enjoy most about your work?

Two things that we enjoy about M2 Technologies are the line of work we are in and the friendship we have established with our customers.

4. What has the Blumer firm done to assist you in furthering your business and its operations?

When we started M2 Technologies back in 2003, Jason and Marc were there to advise and strategize with us on everything from incorporation to payroll and tax planning. At the end of every fiscal year, we have been able to sit down with them and go over our books. This has helped us see where we’ve been successful and where we need to focus for the future.

Thanks, Jason M. Blumer, CPA

We're all giggles.

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Client Highlight: Animal Emergency Clinic, PA

February 2, 2009 by thriveal | 1 comment

Front: (l to r) Dr. Anderson, Dr. Kennon, Dr. Luther, Dr. Phillips, Back: (l to r) Jason M. Blumer, CPA, Dr. Marshall, Rana M. Sargent, Hospital Manager (not pictured: Dr. Felder and Dr. Randall)

In our recent Tax Season Letter to our clients, we mentioned that we would begin highlighting one of our amazing clients each month. This month kicks off with the Animal Emergency Clinic in Greenville, SC. We interviewed Rana M. Sargent, the exceptional Manager of the Hospital with our monthly questions:

1. What have you or your organization done to remain competitive and successful?

We work hard on a daily basis to develop and grow our most important asset – our people. Simultaneously we have worked hard to find the leaders in other industries/fields so that when we must outsource a skill, we have just the right firm supporting us.

2. What do you or your organization foresee as the greatest business obstacle in the near future?

Given the uncertain state of the economic stability of our nation, we will be challenged to work within the constricted financial boundaries of our clients while continuing to provide a better quality of veterinary medicine.

3. What do you enjoy most about your work?

Everyone who works at the Animal Emergency Clinic finds great joy in caring for our patients. We all feel very fortunate that we are able to earn a living by helping to provide quality veterinary emergency and critical care to these animals so that they in turn may continue to positively influence the lives of their human companions and our community as whole.

4. What has the Blumer firm done to assist you in furthering your business and it’s operations?

The Blumer firm provides excellent accounting services on a daily basis. They have assisted us in streamlining our chart of accounts, finding the appropriate monthly reports to serve our needs, and have been a great resource for us whenever we have a question. We truly appreciate the time the firm has spent getting to know the interworkings of veterinary medicine and how our clinic fits into this field. Most importantly, they use their knowledge, creativity, and forward thinking on a continuous basis to offer suggestions and provide services to allow us to operate more soundly, to grow our business, and to maintain our position at the forefront of our industry.