Little things mean a lot

I had a discussion with a small business owner recently. She was typical of many people who start a small business. The was in it for her skills, and she was really good at what she did. What was lacking was the business skills. She hated accounting, tracking expenses, doing calculations, etc. So she did it when she absolutely had to, no sooner. She did what we all do with something that we don't like, we procrastinate. Then we come to the time when we must do it and it is very painful. We dread it.

Many activities required for a successful business are not things we like to do. They are things that we must to to succeed in business. What we need to do, is ensure that we build a system to manage our business. Don't do a bunch of "one of" things just to get through it. Find someone to help you put together a system that will get the job done with minimal effort. For example, if you have to do quotes, is the data captured so that you can automatically create the invoice? When you order materials for a job, is it tracked as part of the job, or is it a separate activity? Are your invoices and costs automatically allocated to the right accounts? Setting things up this way can greatly simplify your business and make it easier for you to manage those things that you hate to do.

You may not have the knowledge to do this for yourself, so get someone to help you. Set it up once, then use it. That will minimize the complexity, eliminate the need for you to think about it. It will happen automatically, so you don't have to procrastinate. And when the big time comes (tax time), everything will be ready for your accountant.

Setting up once, saves you time, saves you frustration. Even if it costs you money fora bookkeeper or accountant to set it up for you, it will be worth it.