The Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) requires businesses to submit Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) to FinCEN, aiming to increase transparency and prevent financial crimes.

As of today, November 27, 2024, Lake Forest, Illinois, business owners have 35 calendar days (or 25 business days) remaining to file their BOI report with FinCEN—act promptly to avoid fines of $500 per day!

What You Need to Do:

1. Determine if Your Business Must File.

Most LLCs, corporations, and small businesses qualify as "reporting companies." Exceptions include publicly traded and certain regulated entities.

2. Identify Your Beneficial Owners.

Beneficial owners are individuals who have substantial control or 25% or more ownership of your business. For example, a co-owner of a Lake Forest consulting firm with a 30% stake and decision-making power qualifies.

3. Gather the Required Information.

Prepare:

• Your business’s name, address, and EIN.

• Each beneficial owner’s name, address, DOB, and ID details.

4. File Your BOI Report.

Deadlines:

• Existing businesses: 01/01/2025.

• New companies (2024): File within 90 days of formation.

• New companies (2025+): File within 30 days of formation.

ZenBusiness can assist with filing and simplify the process for you.

Key BOI Filing Details:

Who Needs to File?

Most small LLCs, corporations, and similar entities in Lake Forest need to file. Exemptions apply to publicly traded companies and certain regulated businesses. For example, a family-owned Lake Forest bakery must file, but a national retail chain would not.

What Is a Beneficial Owner?

A beneficial owner is anyone who either:

1. Exercises substantial control over the business, OR

2. Owns 25% or more of it.

For example, the 40% stakeholder of a Lake Forest real estate firm actively involved in decision-making is a beneficial owner.

What Information Is Needed?

You’ll need details about your business and beneficial owners, including:

• Business name, address, EIN.

• Owners’ names, addresses, DOBs, and identification information.

How and When to File:

BOI reports must be submitted electronically to FinCEN. Deadlines are:

• Existing businesses: File by 01/01/2025.

• 2024 startups: File within 90 days of formation.

• 2025+ startups: File within 30 days of formation.

Learn how ZenBusiness can streamline your BOI filing today.

Penalties for Non-Compliance:

Failure to file may result in fines up to $500 per day or $10,000 in total, along with potential criminal charges. A 90-day safe harbor allows time to correct errors.

Additional Resources:

• FinCEN BOI FAQ

• ZenBusiness BOI Filing Services

• Corporate Transparency Act: Reporting Requirements for Small LLCs and Corporations

• State Requirements for BOI Filing

Your input makes a difference! Take a few minutes to complete our BOI survey by December 18, 2024, and for every 25 responses, our Chamber will receive a $100 donation. [Take the survey here!] Thank you for supporting our Chamber and sharing your feedback!

*As of December 3, 2024, a Texas federal district court has issued a preliminary injunction for all states to block the CTA and its relevant regulations. However, filing your BOI will help you avoid fines if this injunction is overruled.

Experiencing a surge in growth as a small business owner can feel like catching a wave of exhilaration and chaos all at once. Not only does it open a floodgate of opportunities, but it also brings a myriad of challenges that can test the very fabric of your business. From maintaining your unique company culture to managing increased financial demands, navigating this new terrain requires strategic foresight and adaptability. This article is your guide to transforming these challenges into pillars of strength that will sustain your success for the long haul.

Keeping Your Company Culture Intact 

When your small business experiences rapid growth, preserving your unique company culture becomes essential for maintaining employee morale and productivity. Start by implementing careful hiring practices to ensure new team members align with your core values. Additionally, regularly reiterate your mission to keep everyone focused on the company’s goals, and make training and development accessible to all employees. Encourage open communication channels, which is crucial for addressing concerns and fostering a collaborative environment. Finally, recognize and celebrate employee achievements to reinforce a sense of belonging and commitment. 

Building a Business Emergency Fund

Creating an emergency fund for your business is essential to navigate unexpected costs and revenue dips that come with rapid growth. An emergency fund can act as a financial safety net, ensuring that you can still pay your bills and maintain operations during turbulent times. Automating contributions directly from your business revenue into a separate high-yield savings account can enhance your efforts and prevent the temptation to use the funds for other purposes. 

Reassessing Your Business Structure

When experiencing rapid business growth, it’s crucial to reconsider your business structure. Forming a limited liability company (LLC) offers substantial benefits, such as shielding your personal assets from business liabilities, enjoying tax advantages, and benefiting from less paperwork and operational flexibility. You can save on high legal fees by handling the filing process yourself or through an affordable formation service like ZenBusiness. 

Embracing Flexibility for a Growing Team

Introducing flexible work arrangements, such as remote work or adjustable hours, can be a strategic way to manage the complexities of a rapidly expanding workforce. These arrangements provide employees with greater autonomy and enhance their work-life balance, which in turn can boost morale and productivity. Moreover, providing options like compressed work weeks or part-time hours helps accommodate diverse employee needs and schedules. 

Leveraging AI: Streamlining Operations for Smarter Growth

Utilizing AI and machine learning can be incredibly effective for small business owners aiming to handle rapid expansion. These technologies can automate mundane tasks like data entry and payroll processing, which can cut costs. Furthermore, AI tools can enhance decision-making by analyzing extensive data sets, thereby reducing errors and improving productivity. With the support of AI, you can focus more on strategic initiatives rather than getting bogged down by routine tasks. 

Captivating Your Audience with Engaging Content

To effectively maintain your customers’ interest and add significant value, concentrate on crafting engaging and informative content. This strategy hinges on understanding your audience deeply through detailed buyer personas, which help tailor your content to resonate with their needs and preferences. By emphasizing high-quality, value-driven material, you ensure your content stands out in an era where quality surpasses quantity. Additionally, incorporating interactive elements like polls, quizzes, and user-generated content campaigns can greatly enhance engagement and build a loyal community. 

Investing in Staff Training to Manage Supply Chains

Investing in staff training is crucial for equipping your employees with the necessary skills to manage increasingly intricate supply chains. As your business expands rapidly, comprehensive training ensures that your staff can handle complex processes, leading to efficient and proficient supply chain management. Training programs not only cover essential skills but also address potential issues such as variability and integration, thereby preventing disruptions. Additionally, innovative training solutions like on-the-job training can help employees stay current with technological advancements and best practices. 

In the whirlwind of rapid growth, small business owners have a unique opportunity to redefine their legacy. By approaching each challenge not as a stumbling block but as a stepping stone, you can build a foundation that not only supports your expanding venture but also propels it into a future of sustained success. Embrace the chaos, harness the opportunities, and watch as your small business transforms into an enduring powerhouse in the industry.

In the competitive landscape of service-based industries, the client onboarding process is a pivotal moment that can define the trajectory of your business relationships. A well-structured onboarding experience not only sets the stage for client satisfaction but also establishes a foundation for enduring partnerships. By integrating innovative strategies and leveraging technology, businesses can transform onboarding from a mere formality into a strategic advantage. This approach not only enhances operational efficiency but also aligns client expectations with service delivery.

Improving Client Feedback for Enhanced Onboarding

Incorporating feedback loops into your client onboarding process is a strategic move that can significantly enhance the overall experience. By actively gathering input from clients during their initial interactions with your service, you can pinpoint areas that need improvement and make necessary adjustments. This continuous feedback mechanism not only empowers clients by valuing their opinions but also provides your organization with critical insights to refine and optimize the onboarding journey. As a result, businesses that prioritize client feedback are more likely to build stronger relationships and ensure long-term satisfaction. Implementing such a system can transform what might be a challenging transition into a seamless and engaging process.

Streamline Client Onboarding with Digital Tools

In today's fast-paced business environment, utilizing online tools to manage, organize, and store essential onboarding documents for clients is crucial for efficiency. By leveraging platforms that allow for easy access and secure storage, you can significantly reduce the time spent searching for information. These tools not only enhance productivity but also minimize the risk of errors and miscommunication, which are common pitfalls in client onboarding processes. Additionally, combining files using a PDF merging tool can consolidate multiple documents into a single file. Read here for more info. 

Mastering Client Success Through Effective Training Modules

Creating comprehensive training modules is essential for educating your clients about your services and ensuring they achieve optimal results. By designing these modules with the non-technical learner in mind, you can make complex information accessible and engaging, which is crucial for client satisfaction and retention. It's important to present the features and benefits of your services in multiple ways, allowing clients to understand and apply them effectively. Additionally, utilizing a learning management system (LMS) can help tailor the training experience to different client segments, providing real-time insights into their progress and challenges. This approach not only enhances client engagement but also transforms them into advocates for your brand.

Empower Your Team with Effective Onboarding Training

To ensure your team is well-prepared to meet client demands efficiently, it is crucial to provide comprehensive training on the best practices and tools for client onboarding. By equipping your staff with the necessary skills and knowledge, you enable them to handle client interactions smoothly, thereby enhancing the overall client experience. Implementing Standard Onboarding Procedures (SOPs) and utilizing tech such as project management and communication tools can significantly streamline the onboarding process. Training sessions and updates on the latest tools and techniques will keep your team agile and responsive to client needs. Investing in your team's onboarding capabilities not only boosts client satisfaction but also contributes to higher client retention rates.

Enhance Client Onboarding with Interactive Learning Systems

Incorporating a Learning Management System (LMS) into your client onboarding process can significantly enhance the delivery of training materials in an engaging and interactive manner. By utilizing an LMS, you can present information in various formats, such as videos, quizzes, and interactive modules, which cater to different learning styles and preferences. This approach not only makes the onboarding experience more enjoyable but also improves retention and understanding of crucial information. Furthermore, an LMS allows for the personalization of learning paths, ensuring that each client receives content tailored to their specific needs and pace.

Harnessing Feedback for Tailored Onboarding Experiences

To create onboarding journeys that truly resonate with each client, it's essential to gather and utilize feedback effectively. By understanding individual preferences and business needs, you can design personalized onboarding plans that cater to diverse client segments. This approach not only enhances client satisfaction but also boosts engagement and retention rates, as clients feel valued and understood. Implementing tools that automate the collection and analysis of feedback can streamline this process, allowing you to adapt onboarding strategies in real time. Ultimately, leveraging feedback to customize onboarding experiences ensures that your services align perfectly with client expectations, fostering long-term relationships and business growth.

Crafting a Tailored Roadmap for Client Success

Creating a personalized roadmap for your clients is essential in ensuring their journey aligns with their unique goals and objectives. By understanding the holistic business aims, even those not directly related to digital strategies, you can develop a roadmap that integrates seamlessly with their broader business needs. This approach not only helps in setting clear priorities but also in identifying potential areas of waste, which can be verified and adjusted in collaboration with the client. Such a roadmap serves as a strategic guide, allowing you to test new channels and refine strategies in an efficient way.

A refined client onboarding process is more than just a procedural necessity; it is a strategic asset that can drive business growth and client loyalty. By focusing on digital integration, feedback mechanisms, and personalized training, businesses can create an onboarding experience that not only meets but exceeds client expectations. This commitment to excellence in onboarding not only enhances client satisfaction but also strengthens the foundation for a successful and enduring partnership.

Change isn’t just inevitable in business—it’s the whole game. Markets shift, consumer behavior evolves, and what worked yesterday might be irrelevant tomorrow. If your market research strategy isn’t keeping up, you’re not just behind the curve; you’re operating on outdated intel. The challenge isn’t just collecting data—it’s scaling your research so that it adapts alongside your business. That means being nimble, expanding methods without bloating budgets, and making sure your insights are actually actionable. Market research should never be a static process; it should breathe and move with the rhythm of your industry.

Move Beyond the Survey Trap

Surveys are a staple of market research, but relying on them alone is like trying to understand a city by only visiting its main street. People answer surveys based on how they think they behave, not necessarily how they actually do. That’s why it’s critical to blend in behavioral data, social listening, and even observational research. Think about how consumers interact with your product in real-time—what do they do when they don’t know they’re being watched? Scaling your research means embracing a broader toolkit, one that balances traditional methods with real-world insights.

Leverage AI Without Letting It Drive

AI is revolutionizing market research, but it’s a tool, not a replacement for human intuition. Predictive analytics, sentiment analysis, and chatbot-driven surveys can scale your insights quickly, but they still need human oversight. Machines are great at spotting patterns but terrible at understanding nuance. If you’re expanding your research capabilities, use AI for the heavy lifting—processing big data, identifying trends—but keep real people in the loop for interpretation. The businesses that strike this balance will stay ahead of those that blindly trust algorithms to do all the thinking.

Turn Insights Into Action

Market research isn’t just about collecting data—it’s about making sure your team can actually use it. When you’re sharing insights, clarity and accessibility matter just as much as accuracy. Instead of cluttered Excel sheets that can be accidentally altered, converting reports into PDFs maintains formatting integrity and ensures consistency across devices. If you’re tabulating your market research results in Excel, you can use an online converter to seamlessly turn it into a PDF for easy distribution. The next time you’re circulating key findings, give this a look and make sure your insights are as actionable as they are informative.

Turn Customers Into Research Partners

The best insights don’t always come from third-party reports; sometimes, they come directly from the people using your product. Instead of treating customers as passive data points, engage them as active research partners. Beta testing communities, feedback loops, and even co-creation opportunities can give you richer insights than any generic survey. A business that scales its market research effectively knows that customers aren’t just numbers—they’re collaborators in shaping the next evolution of the brand.

Don’t Just Scale—Sharpen

Growing your market research efforts shouldn’t mean drowning in data. More information doesn’t automatically mean better decisions. Scaling isn’t just about adding more—it’s about refining how you interpret and apply insights. A lean but highly targeted research approach often outperforms a bloated one filled with redundant or irrelevant data. Businesses that win in the long run aren’t necessarily the ones with the most data, but the ones that know how to extract the right data and use it well.

Revisit, Revise, Repeat

Market research isn’t a one-and-done operation. If your research framework looks the same as it did a year ago, that’s a problem. Scaling effectively means building a dynamic system—one that evolves alongside your business, revisits its methodologies regularly, and isn’t afraid to pivot when needed. Keep questioning your assumptions, testing new approaches, and challenging the status quo. The businesses that treat market research as a living, breathing part of their strategy—rather than a periodic obligation—are the ones that stay ahead, no matter how fast the market moves.

Adapting your market research to the changing needs of your business isn’t just about keeping up—it’s about staying ahead. The companies that scale their insights intelligently will make sharper decisions, connect with their audience more authentically, and remain resilient in the face of disruption. In the end, market research isn’t just about understanding your industry—it’s about ensuring your business is always ready for what’s next.

Egg Harbor Café's Spring Specials are available from March 19th-May 20th!

Bacon Bibimbap

White rice surrounded with pickled onions, pickled cucumbers, and a medley of diced bacon, mushrooms, carrots, cabbage, and green onions sautéed in butter and gochujang sauce. Topped with one sunny side up egg, a drizzle of gochujang sauce, and garnished with fresh cilantro. Served with a side of fruit

Key West Crépes

Three Swedish style crépes loaded with house-made strawberry cream cheese, fresh kiwi, strawberries, and bananas, drizzled with raspberry sauce and topped with whipped cream

1985 Burger

Seasoned dry-aged burger, Jack cheese, garlic aioli, pickled onions, pickled cucumbers, and arugula stacked between a buttered brioche bun. Served with Harbor potatoes and a side salad *Available as a single or double.

Smoked Salmon Avocado Toast

Multigrain toast, lightly seasoned mashed avocado, cold smoked salmon, tomato, red onion, and dill. Served with two eggs, any style, and fruit