now some deets

A Business Plan. Just the words sent a chill up my spine as visions of spreadsheets and pivot tables and MATH swirled through my brain. and how was i supposed to project next quarter's revenues, when i didn't even know who, what or where i was going to be selling? then i realized it was a Plan For My Business. i have a coffee mug that says "no goals, no glory." then it became less scary, and coincidentally, i found a book called the Right Brain Business Plan, by Jennifer Lee. I highly recommend it whether your business is art or computer tech. it is a plan for your business, done in a way that is un-scary, easy, and actually fun. every morning, i would devote the 1st two hours to it. don't skip over anything. and i now have a plan. a karate instructor i worked for had a saying: Plan the work, then work the plan. simple, yes? yes.when i got to the part about finances and banking and loans, i was stumped. so i called on my friend Joan from the Small Business Development Center. There is an SBDC or something similar in every area. It's free advice, and it's good advice. Use their knowledge. This ties in with the "you can't do it alone" bullet point. Being a sole proprietor will have you wearing many hats until you can afford to hire employees - if you ever plan to. you will be the designer, the craftsperson, the marketing person, the media buyer, the accountant, the inventory clerk, and the sales rep. On top of your usual household duties. you simply cannot do it alone. and you shouldn't - it leads to tunnel vision. having advice from the outside helps you see things in a different way. if you don't have computer skills, learn them from adult ed or from a free computer lab. or barter with someone who knows Excel - have them teach you. you need to have these skills in order to keep control of your own business, and to be able to quickly respond to changing opportunities. bartering is a good way to get things/knowledge/help in exchange for what you need. be sure the terms of the barter are very clear and acceptable to both parties...if your paintings sell for $2500, and someone offers to trade a painting for goods or services worth much less, that isn't acceptable. ask them how much they would charge you for xyz, and if it more than you can afford, ask if they would accept a trade for abc. negotiate the trade. and if you can't come to a reasonable, friendly agreement, then see if you can make payments, or find another source. Accept help & advice, but remember it's your business, and you are ultimately responsible. if it doesn't ring true to you, let it pass. That bit ties in with start up money. it's often very tempting to chuck the 9-5 to start your own business. you imagine how great it will be to be your own boss, captain of the ship, working your own hours. but truth be told, the business works you too. especially if you haven't prepared financially with start up costs and savings enough to tide you through your first year of business AND household expenses. it will take about a year to get everything rolling and a trickle of steady income headed in. start saving. every time you want a cup of Starbucks, ask yourself if that $5 cup of coffee is worth more to you than owning your own business. really. get down to that level. because that's where the frippery starts. that's $100 bucks a month if you buy 1 coffee a day, monday-friday. same with lunch. can i tell you how many $10 tuna sandwiches i've bought at the local sandwich shop when i worked in the cube farm? bento. keep a separate savings account to put x-number of dollars away every payday. find 1 or 2 things you really can do without buying during the week, and put that amount in the account. learn Excel, and Quickbooks or some accounting program. these are invaluable. you can get free 30-day copies online, along with free tutorials. i prefer the older versions of Excel as they are easier to navigate. one spreadsheet can be the psychic of your business...with one click, you can see where most of your money is spent, and where most of your money comes in. focus on both. if you are dancing with joy over how much you made at a craft fair, take a look at the spreadsheet before spending a nickel. you may find that the costs involved for entry fees, booth fees, meals, lodging, gas, tent, and all the incidentals leave little, if any, profit. (this year has been particularly devastating for the art & craft fair vendors.) but that little store downtown may be placing consistent orders from you, or has generated interest from other stores. use these tools to pick apart every aspect of your business. if you have a website (and you must), there are free programs you can run that will tell you how many hits you have per day, which day, which hour, where they are coming from, etc., much like Statcounter does for blogs. if you see that most of your hits are in the evening, have fresh merch up by afternoon. if most of your hits are on a tuesday, then advertise a special deal for the following day that uses a code they got on tuesday. reward return customers. or find out why most of your hits are on a tuesday...is that the day you post to your blog and link to the website? Excel is a powerful business tool. And accounting software is essential, even if you have an accountant. you need to be able to flip open your laptop and see the numbers at any time, in order to be flexible. The Big Calendar...yes, i know, we're all electronic now and have pop-up calendar items and schedules and what-not. but i'm telling you, there's nothing like seeing the month in front of you in writing. it helps to visually plan. and, should you get the Blue Screen Of Death, at least you'll know where you should have been instead of where you were, which is weeping in front of the computer store. I also have Carbonite as a backup in case of failure, or if i get a new computer. one click, and it delivers all your info back onto the screen. even your desktop looks the same. best $59 i ever spent. yes - $59. and it's deductible. That's another thing i forgot to mention - deductions. before you count on deducting your car, house, new computer, or even a ream of copy paper - talk to a good accountant who has experience with small business. i love my personal accountant, but am not comfortable with his small business skills. so i hired someone just for the business. one of the contract points i have with him is that he has to coordinate with the other accountant regarding where some of these write offs will occur. i have a room in my house that's completely and solely dedicated to my business. not an inch of it has any other purpose. but because i have a d/b/a status, my taxes are prepared differently than if i incorporated. seek guidance. the IRS gets real un-funny about things. and stay organized. have folders for everything, paper and electronic. i have a file for receipts in date order for jewelry supplies, another for office supplies, another for gas receipts & mileage, another for postage - including delivery confirmations with the name of the person i sent it to on it. I have files for art opportunities such as shows, competitions, forms to submit, confirmations received, rejection letters...anything to do with an opportunity to show my art. another file holds similar folders for business opportunities. i break my business down into those two categories - art shows, and art selling. you can set yours up any way that makes sense to you and will be easy to put your hands on when you need to. okay, now i have a howling dog, and a grumpy stomach - must be dinnertime. see you back here later on, or tomorrow, depending on how much more work i get done. my plan is to talk about banking, and some specific websites and products that have made my life easier. hope you've been able to pick up a pointer or two that helps you!