Use these must-have business tools to save money on your small business

Having the business tools, you need to make your daily activities run more smoothly saves you time and money. And when you are an entrepreneur and running your small business solo, anything that can lighten your task load is a welcome addition.

Here are my top picks for must-have money-saving business tools and habits for your organizing business.

1. Must-Have Tool For Budgeting

When you started your business, you most likely made a budget that covered the expenses that you would need to grow and sustain your business.

It’s a good idea to check in on your budget quarterly and see where your money is going in comparison to where you have plugged it into your budget.

Where you spend your money over time will change. Keeping track of these shifts will keep your budget on track.

2. Must-Have Bookkeeping Tools

Great bookkeeping software is an absolute lifesaver and must-have tool for anyone who owns a small business.

There are a lot of software programs and apps out there to choose from; we love Bench as it is primarily geared toward small business needs.

Keeping track of your finances will save you money in your business because you can see what you are spending on what. Of course, it will also save you time and stress when it comes time to do your taxes!

3. Must-Have Habit: Check-in on your monthly subscriptions

You will be surprised how your monthly business subscriptions can creep up on you. An app here, a trial you never canceled there. The next thing you know, you are dropping $100 a month on tools you don’t even use or know you have!

Make it a habit to check in on all of your active subscriptions a few times a year.

Are there apps that can do double duty instead of paying for two separate programs? For example, Tailwind allows you to schedule multiple social media channels, including Pinterest, so you don’t need to use different tools.

Consider what still serves you, keep your essentials, and cancel the rest.

4. Must-Have Habit: Think Beyond Cash

You may find yourself short on cash at some point in your business, especially when you are first starting or going through a growth phase or transition.

Don’t let this stop you from getting the things you need for your business.

You may want to consider bartering your services or goods in trade for what you need. You will be surprised how many businesses will be happy to trade services or goods with you.

5. Review Business Expenses

Small businesses have all kinds of expenses, which often go unaccounted for. Make it a habit to keep track of all of the things you spend money on for your business as you go along.

Then, choose a few times a year to check-in and realign your budget. Downloading an app to your phone connected to your bookkeeping software is a great way to make a quick note of on-the-go expenses.

Bonus Tip:

Even though most of your business info may be electronic, you will still have paperwork you need to keep organized.

Tax documents, contracts, client info, order forms, inventories, all of these things need to be sorted and organized so you can easily access them when needed.

Time is money, don’t waste it digging around endlessly for missing paperwork.

The container store has excellent office storage options so you can keep your home office running smoothly.

Conclusion

Saving money in your small business is essentially like paying yourself more money, and who doesn’t want that?

By taking the time to set up these tools and systems in your business that will help you keep track of spending, you are investing valuable time in the success, sustainability, and growth of your business.

New post Must Have Money Saving Tools And Habits For Your Small Business on A Personal Organizer by Helena Alkhas

Are you ready to create a home office you love and will serve as the growing space for your thriving organizing business?

Creating A Home Office For Your Business

If you love all things home, then this part of building your business will be a pleasure for you!

Since many of us run our business from home, if you don’t already have an office space, take a look around your house and see where a good area would be to create one.

What should you consider when selecting a space for your organizing business?

Great Lighting

Of course, natural light is the best, but if you don’t have it, then make sure you install great lighting all around your office and desk.

Sound & Noises

Are you in the kitchen or in a quiet area of your home? Will the kids be running around you? Does that bother you or not? Consider this before investing too much in any space.

Access To Outlets

You don’t want to plan any space before checking that you can actually plug and charge all your equipment.

Strong Wifi Signal

I used to have a feeble signal in my current office and had to buy extra routers to improve it.

Shared Space Or A Room All For Yourself?

We have to start with what we have and that might be sharing the office with hubby or having our desk in a corner of the rarely used dining room.

In any case, make sure to establish boundaries so that when you’re sitting to work, you can focus, and when you have to speak with a client, you don’t have the sound of the TV, kids playing, or your husband on a conference call in the background.

Office Equipment

You’ll need basic office equipment to get you started: a desk and chair, a computer with access to the internet, wi-fi, a dedicated phone number, a small printer, a bookcase or cabinet, and a small filing cabinet with keys.

Of course, these are not all “must-haves,” so start with what you have. In my case, it was an Ikea desk, chair, and drawer unit on casters that I set up in our guest bedroom.

Phone Line

You can get a Google number if you don’t want to hire it through the traditional carriers.

Set it up so it redirects calls to your cell phone, making sure you only answer calls now when you can give your full attention and don’t have your kids (dogs, etc) around you. It might just be a potential client on that next call.

Set up a dedicated email account for your business. If you don’t have a website yet (we’ll discuss that soon!), start with a Gmail account specifically for your business. We will change that later when you’re ready to invest in a website, etc.

The next step is to create your email signature, which should include your phone number and the addresses of your social networks and website, as soon as it’s ready. Here is one to get you started!

Finally, if you don’t already have one, I highly recommend purchasing a cloud-based backup service for your computer.

There are many services available, but my personal experience has been with Carbonite, which we have used for over a decade without any issues. File-sharing can be done through Google Drive or Dropbox, for example.

I’ll leave you now, as you’re researching and dreaming of the beautiful office space you’ll create for yourself. Enjoy every minute of it. I’m a firm believer that whatever you do, do with love.

I’ll see you next week!

Helena.

PS: Do you have a friend who’d love to join us? Share this post!

New post How To Create A Productive Home Office For Your Business #5 on A Personal Organizer by Helena Alkhas

Setting Up the Pillars of Your Professional Organizing Business

Today, we’ll work on the essential pillars of your professional organizing business.

Hello! Hello!

How are you doing this week? I hope you’re having a great time learning and working on building your business!

Now that you have completed your work on the last posts, conducted market research, and chosen the name of your business, it’s time to create the basic structure of your business.

We will cover the legal, financial, and logistical steps you will need to address. So let’s pay great attention to them.

You want to have everything set up correctly so that when you start taking clients, receiving payments, and when tax time comes around, you have everything in place and can enjoy each step of the way instead of scrambling to get it done.

Thinking through and implementing every part of your business professionally will make you feel and look (you guessed it!) professional.

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

Legal, Finances & Logistics

As I did in the previous texts, I will go through each step in a commented checklist format, allowing you to print and start working on your list.

Since I’m not a CPA or a lawyer (in the US), you must consult a professional to clarify all these points and explain the outcomes of your choices.

For example, the business structure you select will impact your taxes, so you must understand them beforehand.

1. Legal Structure

It’s time to decide on your business structure.

Sole Proprietor

Most of us start our businesses as sole proprietors, and then, as things pick up and we feel we have tested the water enough to know this is what we want, we move to other business structures.

Let’s see what a sole proprietorship means.

The U.S. Small Business Administration defines sole proprietorship as “the simplest and most common structure chosen to start a business. It is an unincorporated business owned and run by one individual with no distinction between the business and you, the owner. You are entitled to all profits and are responsible for all your business’s debts, losses, and liabilities.”

Let’s break this down.

As we compare the two most common forms of business structure when we’re starting, the critical points we should pay attention to in this definition are:

1. It’s unincorporated versus incorporated, similar to an LLC.
2. Owned and run by one individual – no partners.
3. No distinction between the business and the owner.
4. You are entitled to all profits.
5. Responsible for all the business’s debts, losses, and liabilities, which makes you and your assets personally liable in case you’re sued.

A simple way to summarize a sole proprietorship is that there’s no distinction between you and your business in the eyes of the law. They’re one entity and will be treated as such.

While it is the simplest form of starting your business, you’ll still have to comply with State and local requirements like business licenses and permits. Search your Secretary of State and your city websites to check and comply where needed.

Limited Liability Corporation – LLC.

The second most common route for starting your small business is the Limited Liability Corporation, LLC.

LLCs are a business structure allowed by state statute, and each state will have its own regulations about it.

By deciding to create an LLC, instead of taking the sole proprietorship route, you separate your business assets from your personal ones, which will protect you from debts or costs associated with your company — the most significant selling point about LLCs.

Compared to a Sole Proprietorship, what will distinguish an LLC is that you can have one or more people as owners, and the owners are not personally liable. Tax-wise, you will pay self-employment tax in addition to personal or corporate tax, while in a sole proprietorship, you’ll pay personal tax only.

While I wanted to provide you with an overview of these two most commonly used business structures, you may also consider others. Whatever your decision, I advise you to consult a qualified professional to assess your situation and help you determine which option works best for you.

2. Finances

Once your business is registered, open a separate bank account from your personal account and have a credit card for your business, different from your private card.

This is critical because if you start mixing your personal expenses with your business expenses, the likelihood of making mistakes is high. So, take out your monthly fixed income (salary) and leave the rest of the money in your business account as working capital.

Another critical point is to research the payment options you can offer your customers. Check and cash are the most common forms of payment in our industry; however, offering alternatives like Zelle, PayPal, or credit cards might open the doors to larger projects.

Accounting – you should be tracking income and expenses as soon as you’re open for business.

The easier route is to use a service like FreshBooks, QuickBooks, or Bench.co. When tax time comes around, or if the IRS ever audits you, you’ll be so happy you have all your receipts, expenses, and income filed and organized.

Finding an accountant – They will be an essential partner in your entrepreneurial journey. Select this professional carefully; ensure you communicate effectively and that they are prompt, organized, and able to answer all your questions.

3. Insurance

Business insurance is a biggie for me. I know this can become one of your most significant expenses when you’re starting; however, not having it can put your business at risk even before it has a chance to get off the ground. And that’s why I’m not joking when I say I don’t even leave my house to offer a consultation if I don’t have insurance.

It’s common for colleagues to start without insurance, but consider these simple and not uncommon scenarios for a professional organizer:

• You move a piece of furniture at a client’s home, and you scratch the hardwood floor or rip the carpet.
• You are organizing documents and advising your client about shredding specific documents. Months later, the client receives a letter from the IRS initiating an audit, and she needs all the documents, including the ones you shredded.
• You make a recommendation on installing shelves to improve storage and decide to install it yourself since you’re a very handy person. In the process, you perforate a pipe that is now leaking and flooding the house.
• You are decluttering a house, and when moving things from room A to room B, you break a valuable or irreplaceable item.

As you can see, these situations can happen to all of us. However, if you don’t have insurance, you and your business (depending on your business structure) may be liable and responsible for the repairs, among other expenses.

To determine the type and amount of coverage you need, I recommend scheduling a time with an insurance agent and clearly explaining the type of work you will perform.

If you are a NAPO member, you can look for the NAPOsure option.

Types of insurance to be considered:

• Liability, commercial and professional
• Errors and omissions
• Income protection, like disability
• Auto insurance

Very well! That’s all for today.

You’ll have plenty of work to get done, and I am looking forward to hearing from you and your new business!

New post Don’t Make These Mistakes When Setting Up Your Organizing Business #4 on A Personal Organizer by Helena Alkhas