small business 101 – Growing Forward

Taking Care of Your Small Business’ Accounts

11/20/2018 Scott Asai2 Comments

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When you first set up a small business, you will generally have one thing at the forefront of your mind: profit. But where profit is concerned, there are a whole host of steps that you have to take to deal with your accounts. Not only do you need to take account of everything to do with your business and its finances for legal purposes, but you also need to take account of your finances for the sake of your own benefit. After all, if you are unsure of where your business is making money and losing money, how can you expect to move forward and progress? Here are a few steps that you can take to manage your business’ accounts effectively.

Getting to Grips with Accounting

Put simply, accounting is a form of systematic and comprehensive record keeping that primarily revolves around your business’ financial transactions. Any records kept can be summarized and analyzed, allowing you to make more informed decisions regarding your business’ future transactions, reducing spending in futile areas and increasing spending in other areas with more potential for profit. Records kept can also come in extremely useful when you come to file your tax return at the end of each fiscal year. While you can become qualified in accounting yourself, and could, by all means, take care of your accounts independently, it’s generally best to leave this work to professionals within the field. Hiring an accountant can not only save you a whole lot of time, but a whole lot of money too. Remember that accountants can take care of so much more than simply filling in your tax return. They offer services such as Small Business Bill Pay Service, payroll services, bookkeeping, and management reporting too!

Open a Business Bank Account

Many small business owners will start out using their own bank account to fund professional practice. As they begin to grow and expand, they stick with what they know. However, you should never use your personal account for anything to do with your business. It’s always best to keep personal and professional finances completely separate. This will help you when it comes to filing personal and business tax returns, as well as helping you to organize your finances more simply and effectively on a day to day basis. While a business account doesn’t tend to vary from a standard checking account all too much at first glance, it means that you can carry out all professional transactions separately from personal ones. Browse different options available to you before signing up to one bank or another. Some will charge you to make transactions, so it’s best to compare rates and get the best offer possible.

Accounting for your business can, of course, be a complex and difficult process. But it’s important that you take care of your accounts effectively from the start of your business venture. This will set you off in the right direction and minimize the amount of problems that establish themselves over time.

What Does Your Business Need?

11/22/2017 Scott Asai1 Comment

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If you’re just starting out, this is a question that will plague you for a long while. If you’re a well established business, there will come a time when things seem to come to a stand still and you’re left questioning what your business needs. But the worst thing you can do is panic. All you need to do is take a step back, reevaluate, and see where the next part of your journey takes you. If you’re already successful and well established, don’t panic about a drop in sales, if you’re a small new business, then don’t worry about no sales at all. Everything takes patience and time, and with a few pointers from this article you can be on track in no time.

Outside Help

It doesn’t matter whether you’re established, or just starting out, you should never be afraid to accept outside help. If you’re a new small business, seek help from financial advisors and other business owners. Financial advisors can help you obviously stay on track with money, but can also help you divide your money up between the different areas you need to spend it on. They’ll help create budgets and just generally make sure things aren’t getting out of hand. Other business owners have the wealth of knowledge you need. Don’t be afraid to reach out and just ask for some friendly advice on how to get things going successfully. If you’re a well established business, brain fog can sometimes stop you from seeing the bigger picture. There’s that many things going through your mind on a daily basis that it might be an idea to enlist the help of a business analyst. Yes, it may be annoying having someone tell you how to run your business, but it can work wonders for you. They’ll have a fresh pair of eyes and will be able to see clearly where things are going pear shaped.

Better Systems

Each year better systems are being designed to help you with the running of your business, no matter how big or small it is. The first thing you need to look into is what system you can put in your office to help the running of things, Take technology such as VoiceOnyx phone service. Your business needs the smooth running phone systems that such companies can provide. They’ll help to improve communication with your customers which is always vital in any business. Then you need to take a look at other things such as your website.

A good website is what draws any customer in. It needs to look sharp, smart, and the ease of use must be impeccable. Look at ways you can use your website to improve systems such as payments. Slow payments are the end of purchasing can really annoy users. Research how to make yours better and implement it. The best way to see if it has improved is to test it yourself rather than waiting for a customer to complain. The smoother the process the happier the customer.

Hidden Costs of Running a Small Business

11/17/2017 Scott Asai2 Comments

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When running a small business, there is a lot that needs to be taken into account. Of course, one of the most important aspects is the financial side of things. If you don’t manage your finances well, this could quite easily spell the end of your company. Unfortunately, this happens more often than you’d think, and one of the reasons for this is because business owners underestimate the costs they face. So, with that being said, let’s take a look at some of the hidden costs associated with running a small company.

Credit card fees – It is wise to give your customers the option of paying by credit card. After all, the more payment options that are available to a customer, the more likely they are going to be to place an order with you. Nevertheless, you do need to account for the fact that there are going to be fees in place if someone does make a credit card payment. In most cases, this will be around three percent of total charges.
Cleaning and janitorial services – A lot of business owners forget about the fact that they are going to have to upkeep their business premises. After all, no one wants to be working in a mountain of dust. Plus, the way your company looks says a lot about your brand image. This is why you need to factor in janitorial services when working out your budget. Shop around for the best price and see if you can secure a good discount by paying a company on a yearly basis and taking on a long-term contract.
Time – You know what they say, time is money, and that is most certainly the case. Time is one of your business’ most valuable resources, so you need to make sure you are using it effectively. If you are spending too much energy and time on tasks that could be delegated to another employee, then you could be costing your business money.
Payment delays – Payment delays can significantly hurt your bottom line. It is as simple as that. When someone does not pay your business on time, it slows down your business, meaning you are unable to take on new orders or work as efficiently. The problem becomes even worse when you were waiting on the said payment in order to cover costs. After all, this can lead to interest charges, as well as fees for using your overdraft or bounced payments.
Insurance – This is another cost that a lot of business owners simply forget to include in their financial plan. Your business is going to need public liability and employer liability at a very minimum. You then may also need insurance for injuries and illnesses, property, and negligence. Don’t make the mistake of simply going for the cheapest policy you can find. You need to have the right level of protection. After all, you are going to cost your business much, much more money in the end if you choose an insurance plan that does not cover you effectively.