When Starting A New Business It Pays To Remember That It's All In the Details

by Karol
(Georgia)

My greatest source of frustration has been the business side of the business.

I had no problem with coming up for an idea for my scrapbooking business, getting customers, or completing orders on time.

The problem for me was the taxes, taking the orders, and getting people to pay on time!

• I just ignored this stuff, especially at first.Had I known anything about using business expense forms or business accounting forms, it would have saved me tons of frustration and time


• But once I started making some real money, I realized I needed to set up as a business to get the deductions and to make myself legitimate.


• I was showing too much income and was afraid the IRS would come around.

So, I resolved to get my business record-keeping activities organized and then bribed an accountant friend to help me incorporate and get set up.

I bartered with her...my services for her service. There was so much to get through.(So, just to make the barter fair, we had to go from a memory book for her first child to adding two more for her sister as gifts)

I am terrible with record-keeping.

So we spent a LOT of time dealing with my random note-keeping system of who had paid what. Then we discovered several thousand dollars in unpaid invoices, for scrapbooks I had completed and satisfactorily delivered over eight months ago!

Once we untangled the mess, she helped me create a filing system for all of my billing stuff.

Now, I have a standard order sheet for all of the scrapbooks I do, and I keep track of all the costs and receipts, etc. for business expenses.

Now that I am incorporated as a company, I keep myself organized by keeping a large file of business expenses and forms.

And, now, each quarter, I send those large file of business expenses and forms to my accountant friend. And...as a part of the barter, I make her a scrapbook, either for herself or as a gift to give, each quarter, and she takes care of all my accounting needs.

Establishing some type of record-keeping system for your business upfront will give you both confidence, peace of mind, and help you manage many of the stresses of starting a new business.

As you can see, when starting a new business, organizing with the right accounting and finance expense reporting tool can really save you a lot of time, money and frustration.

Oh and just a little additional tip regarding stress management...

I found major stress relief by staying organized by using system to record all of my transactions on business expense forms and business accounting form.

I also found a way to relieve my start-up stress by finding a way to outsource a particular part of the process that brought major stress to me...the cutting.I have started recruiting my neighbor to help me to do a lot of the cutting. She is an older housebound lady, who helps me do the cutting while she watches TV.

Delegating that part of my business has been a major stress-relief.

It is also a win-win for both me and my neighbor. I pay a few cents per piece,I come over once a week to chat and collect my pieces and pay her, and she has some extra income.

When starting a new business, learn from my experience.

Invest in a sound record-keeping system upfront by using business expense forms and business accounting forms that will make the business side of your business run a lot more smoother!