Take back your time

Business Management, Down Time, Useful Tips No Responses »

Jan 272009

This week is National Take Back Your Time week. (I don’t make these things up, I promise.)

What are you doing to take back your time? What is your time? My time is the time I spend doing things I want to do. That usually involves doing things with my family, going hiking or to the lake. In order to make money to be able to do things with my time I have to be organized. I mentioned last week some of my organization tips. I also make it a point to know when to leave the office so I have some down time. I schedule activities into my day/week/month so I have things to do that is MINE.

What do you do to take back your time?

Real-World Cost-Cutting Practices

Business Management, Useful Tips 1 Response »

Jan 262009

A colleague of mine, Cortni of Essential Excellence, was featured in a recent article in entrepreneur.com which has been picked up by MSNBC, Fox Business, The Washington Post, and Yahoo Biz. The article has great ideas on cutting business costs without sacrificing your business. Take a look.

How are you cutting costs without sacrificing your business?

My office

Business Management, So, you wanna be a VA No Responses »

Jan 232009

Since I just did a couple posts on my organization I thought I’d post some pictures of my office. Plus, I haven’t done it since I moved in here.

This is my desk. (Duh) On the left is my file rack for work that needs to be completed today (when they are finished they will be put back in the tickler file (top drawer on left) in the appropriate day. Also on the left is my check printer and some random supplies that I use all the time (rubber stamps, paper clips, business cards, and hand toys). Middle top is monitor and other supplies (tape, stapler, pens, timer, and pictures). Middle desk is the folder I’m going to start working on after I post this. Right is my calculater, phones, laser printer, note pad and the holder for my phone (I took the pictures with my phone which is why it’s not in the blue thing).

Here’s a larger (fuzzier) picture of my desk. The window looks in to the reception area. On the floor is my purse and briefcase.

Another view of my desk. You can see my color printer/fax/scanner. And my wall of fame (LOL). This window looks down into the shop. Not a great view, honestly. LOL

Behind where I sit. The view out to the pasture where I get to watch the horses play. My file cabinet. The two boxes on the right are for my old files (haven’t finished cleaning out the file cabinet yet. On top is a basket of work that a client brought in for me to complete. And, of course, my jacket. LOL

I didn’t clean up for you or anything so if you see something in the pictures sorry. LOL I didn’t plan on doing this today.

There you have it…what does your office look like?

Organizing E-mail

Business Management, Useful Tips No Responses »

Jan 222009

As I mentioned yesterday I’ve made some big changes in my productivity. First was my to do list overhaul and the second big change was organizing my e-mail. What I do goes against what so many people tell you to do with e-mail. So, it might sound strange. I know it won’t work for everyone but it definitely works for me.

First off, I have my e-mail to NOT automatically download. I don’t need the notifications coming every time I get an e-mail interupting my work. At set times during the day I do an e-mail check. I usually check after I complete each project I’m working on and if I’m expecting something related to the project I’ll do a check then.

The second thing (and this goes against what a lot of people have told me in the past) I do not use rules to organize my e-mails. Every e-mail I get comes in to my inbox. At the time that I receive all my e-mails I IMMEDIATELY deal with each one. (That may seem weird but hear me out.) If the e-mail requires a quick response or delete then I do it right then. If it’s something that can’t be handled immediately I create a subfolder for it and move it there to be handled then. Later, when I’m working on that client, project, or issue I deal with it, delete or file the e-mail then delete that subfolder. At any given time I usually have about four subfolders with things waiting to be done.

At the end of the day I do a quick review of all my pending e-mails. That way I know I didn’t miss anything urgent. Occassionally I need to write something on a certain day and put it in my daily file. But, usually it’s just my e-mail.

And, don’t forget, don’t hit delete too quickly. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to go back and find an old e-mail. I do have another folder for old e-mails that have some subfolders for better organization. I try not to go in to those e-mail but it happens.

Organization

Business Management, Useful Tips 1 Response »

Jan 212009

With the start of the new year I prepared and had fully implemented a new organization routine for my business. I started in December and had the bugs worked out so it runs like clockwork now. Without a doubt this new routine has transformed how I work.

I love to share, so share I’m doing. I can’t take the credit for coming up with this (and to be honest it’s so basic I’m almost embarrassed to say I just started it). I have been reading the Getting Things Done book by David Allen. (The book is amazing by the way.) I’m slowing implementing things because I’m just having trouble getting through the book (it’s good, I just am overwhelmed reading it). So, here’s my transformation step.

My two organization steps are in regards to e-mail and my “to do” list. Today I’ll discuss the to do list. In the top drawer of my file cabinet I have 45 files. Personally I use the hanging file folders because it works for me. Each hanging file folder has one folder in it. The first is for random stuff that I use ALL THE TIME like address labels, stamps, and other misc. blank labels stuff. The second is just temporary (because it’s January) and has 1099 envelopes and forms and some sample supplies for tax preparation work. After that are folders (one in each) for 22 – 31, February, 1 – 21, March – January. 22 because I’ve already cleared out my 21 folder and moved it to February’s section.

Each morning when I arrive in the office I empty that days folder and move it to the back for next month. Within each folder I have pieces of paper and folders. My clients each have a folder with their work or other information and random things I need to work on are on pieces of paper by themselves. After I complete a project I move it to the next time I need to work on that client.

For example Monday I worked on Client A and knew I needed to do some updates today so after I was done I put it in today’s folder. After I complete that work I’ll move it Friday’s folder.

Simple, I know. But it really works for me. That’s not to say that something doesn’t come in that makes me pull something from a different day or things don’t get added to that days pile but I don’t overlook things any more.

If I’m confusing let me know and I’ll explain better.

Working from home

Business Management, So, you wanna be a VA No Responses »

Nov 102008

Recently I started reading a new (to me) blog, Get Rich Slowly. He posted a good post this weekend Working from Home: What I’ve Learned in 8 Months as a Professional Blogger. My situation is a little different in that I recently moved my office out of my home but for many of us these all still ring true. For me, many of them still do ring true even with my office having moved out of the home.

I’m going to comment on his seven bullet points.

Working from home saves me money. Surprising to many this is actually extremely true. When the kitchen is just down the hall it makes sense to go there for lunch instead of running out for something quick. There’s also the HUGE gas savings with not having to commute to an office every morning and back again at night. My utilities did go down when I moved my office out of my house since the computer wasn’t running all the time so that could be seen as a small downfall.
It’s difficult to budget with a variable income. There are many jobs where this is an issue (commission based jobs, etc.) but when your income relies solely on the amount of work you complete there is a great deal of variability in it. I noticed this the most earlier this year when I got really sick and wasn’t able to put in a normal work day for almost six weeks. I think this is where having a second stream of income or have a good savings plan come in very handy and are extremely important.
I control my own destiny. I think this is one of the biggest advantages of owning your own business. The full credit for your success is YOURS while conversely the full blame for failure is yours. But, you really do control your destiny and can make the decision to truly do what your passionate about.
There’s no way to fake it. If you don’t produce the work, you don’t get paid. It’s simple. Unfortunately in many corporate jobs you can slack off and you still get your paycheck. So, learning that if I slack off for even a day it directly hits the pocketbook is a huge lesson to learn.
Balance is essential. I have had more discussions on this topic recently than I can begin to tell you about. Setting a work schedule is one of the best lessons I learned. I start work at a certain time and I end work at a certain time and I don’t work weekends. That doesn’t mean there aren’t time when I need to pull a late night or turn the computer on over the weekend to take care of something but, for the most part, I have learned at a 9-5 Monday – Friday work schedule makes me most productive and happy because, face it, I work for myself so I can enjoy the life I’m making for myself NOT so I can be tied to a desk for every waking moment of the day.
The perfect is the enemy of the good. You’ll have to read the original post for more on this topic. But, for me this really means that I don’t have to have all the answers and I don’t have to work through all the possible scenarios before embarking on a new venture. If it looks good it’s OK to try it and work out the kinks as they come. That’s not to say I’m going to drop a load of money on a new venture until I’m comfortable that it’s worth it but I don’t have to have every possible problem solved before I’ll take a few steps down that road.
Social interaction takes effort. Oh, yeah. There is no water cooler to stand beside and get a little social interaction. My biggest pitfall came when I made the 100% move to working at home at the same time that I moved 1,000 miles away from where I’d grown up. I knew NO ONE and had no coworkers to help smooth the transition. It’s not impossible. It’s not like you you won’t have a social life. It just takes a little more effort on your part than just showing up at work and saying “hi!” to make sure you see a human face every day.

If you have a chance look at his blog. It’s real and has some cool posts.

Call Assistant

Business Management, Useful Tips 1 Response »

Nov 062008

My cell phone, office phone, and home phone are all through Verizon’s wireless and land services. I recently found a new tool available for Verizon’s land line services call Call Assistant. This tool is AWESOME and it’s FREE. It’s still in the new stages but some of the features that will be added soon look amazing. Just as it is now is great.

There’s a Desktop VCA Software that you can download. This allows a small screen to pop up in the corner of your monitor letting you know when a call comes in

(It’s kinda of neat because it actually rings a couple seconds before my phone rings.) I don’t need to grab the phone because I know right away who is calling and if I’m in the middle of something and can’t take the call I don’t have to.

Then, if they leave a voicemail I get this message

So, I know who left the message and I can go in to listen to it. I don’t usually not take phone calls if I’m at my desk but occassionally I do need to send something to voicemail.

Most often I need to check missed calls or voicemails after being out of the office. When I come in to the office this is the first thing I look at:

Which tells me I had three calls and have one voicemail. I’m a little neurotic about watching which calls I’ve missed so I clear them out after I’ve taken are of what needs to be taken care of so the red bubbles aren’t usually there.

Since I see that there’s one new voicemail I’ll click on that icon and get this:

Which tells me I actually have two new voicemails. I can listen to them on my computer and delete them from here which will delete them from my voicemail system.

I LOVE this thing. It keeps my hands free when I’m listening to voicemail so I can write down information. It’s super easy to see what calls have come in and to listen to and delete voicemail. Seriously, this thing ROCKS!

There’s also a webbased panel so if I’m out of town or at home I can log in to check calls.

I’m super excited about some of the new features that they say are coming:

Call Forwarding Forward your calls on demand or use Selective Call Forwarding to automatically forward calls from specific people or during a certain time frame.

Call Block and Do Not Disturb Block calls from specific people, send them directly to Voice Mail or only allow certain numbers to get through.

Real Time Call Management Decide which calls reach you and which you can ignore by using your Verizon Call Assistant desktop software. A click of your mouse lets you immediately forward incoming calls, send them to Voice Mail, ignore, block or answer your calls.

Calendar Use the new Calendar feature to schedule Call Forwarding or keep track of appointments and tasks.

Contacts Keep track of Contacts by adding them from your incoming calls and Voice Mails. You can also import numbers from other address books you use, like GMail or Outlook so all of your Contacts are in one place.

Have More Than One Phone Number? Use your Verizon Call Assistant to manage several phone numbers at once, even your Verizon Wireless phone.

Other Features You can even use Verizon Call Assistant to display a map of the location of your Contacts and Incoming Calls.

If you have Verizon telephone service check this out. I hope you like it as much as I do.

Accounting Basics

Bookkeeping Tips, Business Management, Down Time No Responses »

Aug 042008

If you’re not a bookkeeper you’re probably thinking you can skip this post. Think again. If you own your own business this is a super important post for you to read. In fact, if you’re a bookkeeper or accountant you’ll probably be bored reading this. If you don’t have a bookkeeping or accounting background you probably think you don’t need to know anything about accounting. Wrong. If you are a business owner it’s super important that you have at the very least a basic knowledge of accounting. So, let’s get a basic knowledge of your financial statements.

First, a brief disclaimer: reading this isn’t going to make you an expert on financial statement. It is going to give you a basic knowledge of financial statements for your own business use.

So, there are two main financial statements: the Income Statement and the Balance Sheet. Many people think the Income Statement is the most important financial statement, that’s not exactly the case…the Balance Sheet is pretty important. In fact, the Income Statement is summarized on your Balance Sheet.

Income Statement

You may also hear the Income Statement referred to as a Profit & Loss Statement. Really they are the same thing. I know, confusing, but it’s the way it is.

The Income Statement is broken in to two parts (sometimes three…but don’t worry I’ll get to that) the income section and the expense section. Then we have what some consider the most important part: your net profit (or if you’re unfortunate loss). Your net profit is simply your income minus your expenses.

Income is all the money you bring in and expenses are everything you pay out. Clear as mud, right?

Then we have that third section I mentioned. Here’s where it can get a little confusing. Occasionally you’ll see a section called Cost of Goods Sold. This section is used by some companies to break out specific income related costs. For example: a painting contractor would have painting payroll, payroll taxes, paint, and equipment rental that would be directly related to the cost of earning his income. That would go to the Cost of Goods Sold section. In the expense section expenses that are related to the overall cost of running the business would go. For example: office rent, accounting fees, and office supplies would go in the expense section.

Balance Sheet

The Balance Sheet tends to be a little more confusing to a lot of people. Really it, isn’t. The Balance Sheet consists of three sections: assets, liabilities, and equity. A Balance Sheet must balance. To do that the Assets must equal Liabilities plus Equity. Trust me, it works.

So, what is an asset? Assets are those things that the company owns: bank accounts, accounts receivable, loans people owe your company, furniture and other property.

Liabilities are those things the company owes: loans from others, accounts payable, sales taxes owed (on your sales), and other debt.

Simply put equity is assets minus liability. Within the Equity section you’ll see two other items: Retained Earnings and Net Income. Retained earnings is the sum of all prior years net incomes. Net Income is the current year’s net income (from the Income Statement — see I told you the Income Statement was summarized on the Balance Sheet).

Now for my bookkeeper soap box. Many business owners ignore the balance sheet and assume it’s not important. Many times mistakes happen on your balance sheet that could negatively affect your business. I HIGHLY recommend watching your balance sheet and keeping each of it’s accounts checked.

So, there you have it, a very basic lesson on financial statements.

Happy Anniversary

Business Management, Down Time 1 Response »

Aug 012008

It’s hard for me to believe but August marks the 6th anniversary of Taylored Office Solutions. We’ve come a long way in six years!

Six years ago I was bumbling around trying to figure out how I could do all this on my own. Today I have client’s that rely on me for my bookkeeping expertise and ask me for advice for their own businesses. I still have a hard time sometimes accepting that I’m a success.

Six years ago I had one small client that asked me to clean up a huge mess his prior two bookkeepers made. Today I’ve helped that same client walk through some major business changes. I have the privilege of leading other virtual bookkeepers as they start their own businesses. People ask me for advice on how they can do what I do. Who would have known six years ago that this crazy girl who needed a few extra bucks would build a company that would be so successful.

Here’s to our future!

Twitter fun

Business Management, Down Time, Website Reviews No Responses »

Jul 312008

Working at home is great in so many ways, but I do get a little lonely now and then. Sometimes I miss the camaraderie that’s part of a brick-and-mortar job. But since joining Twitter, I feel like I have a bunch of friends around all day! I’m having a great time with this social networking site, and want to recommend it to all of you at-home workers, if you’re not already signed up.

Updates to Twitter (which are called “Tweets”) are limited to 140 characters, so any messages you send take only a few seconds to write. I check in to the site regularly throughout my work day, but really only spend a total of 20 minutes there, so I don’t feel like I’m wasting time. On the contrary, these brief visits boost my mood and keep me in close touch with people I care about.

When you don’t have the distractions of the business world around you, you can drive yourself pretty crazy with work. Since there’s nothing to interrupt your concentration, you can find yourself working like a dog, and not enjoying it that much.

It’s important to take a break now and then, to look up from your work and refresh your mind. Twitter is a great way to do that! Just log in, see what your friends are up to right now, take a few seconds to write your current update, and then return to your labor with new energy!

One rewarding way I use Twitter is by using the search feature to find people I’d like to get to know better. If I meet someone on an online networking forum or newsgroup, I can follow them on Twitter and learn new things about them and their ways of working and living. It’s a rich source of tips, ideas, and encouragement and it’s constantly available.

And then, of course, it’s a terrific way to keep up with what your friends are doing. I love being able to stay in contact even though we are busy with our separate lives. Just a word or two from someone you care about can make all the difference to your outlook.

If you’d like to have just a little company as you work at home, check out Twitter! But, be sure to follow me.

Older Entries Newer Entries

Name:
E-Mail Address:

Email Marketing by WP Autoresponder