The BOSS Network Blog

Tisa L. Silver is an educator, philanthropist, and the award-winning author of  The Time Value Of Life  , with a passion for inspiring others to become lifelong learners and community servants. Tisa is the current Associate Director of Financial Education and Wellness at University of Maryland, Baltimore. The BOSS Network: What were some obstacles that you faced in the beginning process of starting your business or career? Tisa Silver: I can think of two obstacles: fear and being ahead of the curve. Fear was more of a factor in the real of my work as an author. We live in a world of "Breaking news." There is pressure to be quick and on the pulse of whatever is happening right now, but for me, the thirst to be first is less important than my personal commitment to producing quality content. I value accuracy too much to rush. I use my name on all of my content, and sacrificing quality can diminish your credibility. As for being ahead of the curve, you will not f...

Eighty percent of employees are employed by small businesses. This shows that small businesses are a great contributor to the economy.   Many small businesses struggle to stay afloat and an even smaller number are able to remain in the black.     Many small business owners wear several hats which causes them to neglect tracking their business finances. They often neglect basic financial tasks that come back to haunt them in the future. Other small business owners wait until the end of the year to start organizing their business finances which can cause them to miss out of deductions and tax credits. Small business owners have to be more diligent in properly tracking the business finances because they are more susceptible to economic conditions such as the recession and government shutdown which takes longer to recover from. Financial problems consume valuable time and business resources. Small businesses must utilize resources available to maintain th...

Nina looked at her email, and saw that her favorite shoe store sent her an email saying, “save 40% off this weekend only!”  Nina immediately started to think about how many new shoes that she “needed”.  She thought, “OMG that’s almost 2 for the price of 1.  I need to go there, because I need a new pair of black pumps and I have to have a pair of nude shoes.”  As Nina took a step back, she started to realize that was exactly what the store wanted her to think.  They wanted to trigger a sense of “I have to have it now.” Nina thought about it a little more, and then decided to go to her closet.  She decided to take a survey of her shoes to understand what she already owns.  One of the things that she realized is that she loves black pumps.  She loves them so much that she has about 10 pair already, with very little differentiation and some of which had only been worn once or twice.  Immediately she realized that she didn’t “need” another p...

Women earn approximately $.74 for every dollar a man earns and pay over $426 billion a year on hair, nails, toiletries, and beauty products. Women pay more than men for services such as hair salon, dry cleaning, insurance, housing and healthcare. Unfortunately there is no federal law banning gender pricing which varies by state to state. Earning less money and mishandling their finances puts women at risk for financial failure.  If you mismanage your finances these bad habits can carry over in other areas of your life. When your finances are out of balance so are other areas of your life such as your career, relationships, family and health. Managing your finances properly requires discipline, attention to detail, organization skills, strategic planning, sacrifice, and logic skills. These skills are also useful in other areas of your life. Being the CEO of your finances reduces stress, anxiety, sadness, frustration and anger and helps keep your life in balance. Since ...