September 10, 2021

Second Wind!

Second Wind!

Welcome back! I hope you had a wonderful and restful summer. As much as Tracy and I relished the chance to relax on Long Island with the kids, I’m ready to return to the rhythms of office life.

In New York City, we are up and running at our new headquarters office on Third Avenue, between 45th and 46th Street. While some companies are reducing their real estate footprint in response to WFH, we still believe that showing up in person is an indispensable part of client service and team collaboration. We accept that WFH is now a permanent part of the culture, but there never has and never will be a substitute for live-and-in-person work. It remains to be seen what the long-term prospects for working in an office are, but I don’t think we’ll ever go back to the 5-day, 40-hour routine.

Many of our clients have expressed a similar outlook. They have big plans for the rest of 2021 and are moving in exciting new directions that we are ready to support. Did you know that new business registrations hit a record high in the sixteen-month period leading up to June 2021? They’re already up 60% over the first half of 2020.

It goes to show that you can’t keep an entrepreneur down. This is what we do every day, and we always find ways to persevere and find new opportunities.

And there are going to be plenty of opportunities for the middle-market companies we serve in the months to come. We’ve all learned a lot in the past year-and–a-half about how to build companies that thrive under fast-changing conditions and how to innovate on the fly. Now, with the economy continuing to open up, it’s time to profit from that knowledge. The future is going to belong to companies that come up with strong strategies to make the most of market conditions and great systems for executing on their plans.

Speaking of plans, with the fourth quarter just around the corner, now is the perfect time to book an appointment with your Marcum advisor to review your strategic plan to make sure it’s still current–and to discuss year-end tax-saving moves while there is still time to make them. We can also look ahead with you to what 2022 may have in store, when it comes to tax policy.

If you invested heavily in operations to stay relevant during COVID, whether by building or improving on e-commerce or introducing new technology, you may be eligible for R&D tax credits. Besides federal programs, you may also be able to tap into some of the new state and local economic incentive programs. You can check the Insights section of our website for current information or consult with your Marcum advisor.

The more you plan, the more you can optimize your company’s finances and take advantage of the many opportunities to invest in growth that have materialized in this new environment. It’s a great time to be an entrepreneur, and it’s only going to get better.

There are a couple of things worth mentioning. This week was the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. To those of you who observe, L’Shana Tova. Next Wednesday night starts Yom Kippur — the Day of Atonement, perhaps the most sacred day of the Jewish calendar, when Jews repent for their sins of the past year. May you all be inscribed in the Book of Life for another year.

And lastly, tomorrow is the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks on our country. 9/11 changed our country and the way we live our daily lives forever. We took for granted that our geographic distance from the rest of the world prevented an air attack on U.S. soil, only to discover that the terrorists behind 9/11 figured out they could turn passenger aircrafts into the bombs they couldn’t launch against the U.S. from their own soil or planes. We solemnly remember those who perished on 9/11 and in its aftermath, and we stand with their grieving families.