Starting your own business can be an organisational nightmare. There are so many things to consider, from setting up the bank account, to finding premises, to working out which software you will use.
I’m not going to pretend that starting a business can be made easy. But there are a few tips and tricks out there that many small businesses use to make their operations a little less chaotic. So what are they?
Business credit cards
One thing you’ve probably considered if you’ve just started is who you want as an accountant. The problem is that account fees tend to be quite high, and so you want to do as much as possible to reduce your expenses.
One way of doing this is to make sure that all your business outgoings are filed away neatly into a single account. Most small businesses put all their business expenses on the business credit card.
This means that when their accountant comes to produce their financial statement and calculate any tax, the process is easier. All your business expenses are listed on a single account sheet, meaning your accountant needs to spend less time on your accounts.
Business credit cards also offer you a bit more peace of mind than simply using your debit card. A credit card transfers the risk to the creditor. So if your credit card is stolen, the creditor pays, not you. If your debit card is stolen, your bank account can be cleared out and there may be nothing you can do to recover your money.
Meeting scheduling
As soon as you start generating a significant amount of business, you’ll find that your timetable is soon filling up. But organising the timetable itself can be a time consuming process, even if you are using something like Google calendar.
Online scheduling software takes a lot of the pain out of the process. Customers can see exactly when you’re free and can then book a slot that suits both them and you.
Most online scheduling software is quite sophisticated and will allow you to schedule the type of appointments that suit you. Perhaps you client only wants to book you for an hour, but you know that the whole meeting time will be more like 90 minutes. Maybe you have to clear up afterwards, and that will take 30 minutes.
Well, good software will allow you to add in the extra 30 minutes automatically. This means that when customers book, other customers cannot then book sessions immediately after. They’ll have to wait another half an hour before they can book.
Digital accounting
Accounting software both simplifies your accounting and allows you to keep track of your business. Most small businesses make the mistake of not knowing exactly where they are financially at any given moment.
Usually, they wait until the end of the year. But good accounting software can keep you up to date daily with financial reports. And it can simplify your accounting processes still further so you can get out there and do your job.