Your Business Checklist: Get Your Business Off To A Good Start!

Your business checklist is your friend. In spite of starting my home business as a complete novice, I did manage to do some things right! Here is a business checklist for the new entrepreneur.

1. Open a separate checking account.

For the first few months, any money you bring in will probably be reinvested into your home business. Keeping a business account separate from your regular checking can save you major headaches at tax time. Some banks run specials and you can open a business account with free checks at little to no cost. Put this on your business checklist before you start spending any money setting things up. If you mix these expenditures in with your family income, they can get lost in the shuffle and you’ll miss out on deductions!

2. Have a business credit card or debit card used only for business expenses. Again, major stress reliever at tax time!

3. Go to your local office supply and get a mileage chart. Any time you are out on business, write down the starting and ending mileage. You need to note the date, where you were going and what the purpose of the trip was. Side trips don’t count. If you are smart, you can schedule personal errands in between - for example, when traveling from a business appointment back home, you can stop in and get groceries, if it doesn't take you out of the way!

4. Set up a budget. Probably one of the most important things to put on your business checklist is setting up a solid budget. You'll need some startup cash, but it can go quickly so be smart.

Building on a Budget may be broken down into categories like this:

• Product Inventory - whether it's a hard product or an informational product, you will probably need to make some initial investment. Don't go overboard until you know that you and the particular business are a good fit.

• Promotions/Advertising - there are a lot of ways to get free traffic on the internet, and you can upgrade to the ones that cost as your business grows. However, you will still need business cards, business stationery, thank you for your business greeting cards, etc. Don't forget to include the cost of postage. You may also give away free samples, or door prizes for certain events which you need to deduct from your promotional budget. Plan on $50-$100 a month to start.

• Training - Your mlm may offer training. Ours was up to three times a week at $7.00 a pop. Then there are the seminars, and leadership training meetings which can be $75.00 and up. I prefer to spend my network marketing training budget on programs I have hand picked to suit my needs.

For example, I bought “The Renegade Network Marketer" e-book by Ann Sieg for $67.00. I then joined the affiliate program which cost me nothing.

In return, I have access to all kinds of training and materials which I am free to peruse on my own. There are also team calls or webinars which provide further instruction. This ongoing training costs less than it would have to attend three and a half weeks of my mlm training! So plan ahead and budget for any learning materials, books, or resources you may come across.

• Web presence: You can start out slow and cheap by using a no-cost service such as Squidoo.com. At Squidoo, you can put up a little paragraph about something interesting in your area and include a link to your sales or "landing" page. A blog can be put up for a nominal fee as well. You'll probably want to purchase a domain name or two.

When you start to feel like you know what you are doing, web building sites like Sitesell(SBI) can help you put up a full blown site. Your company may have its own site, which has limited value. More on that in the section on how to build a website.

• Office supplies: maintenance on your computer, paper, ink cartridges, file folders, pens, pencils...keep track of all these purchases, and again, be sure to keep it separate from your household expenditures.

• Long distance or call minutes: you will likely be spending a good deal of time on the phone. Be sure your phone plan has unlimited minutes. You might consider getting a separate phone line for your business. Most of my calls are outgoing, rather than incoming since I do so many consultations. I have a service that lets me make phone calls from my computer, saving both my cell phone and the bill. Document your business calls; list time and length of call, the purpose and with whom.

• Entertainment budget: If you meet with clients over lunch or coffee, you need to budget in this expense. Even buying someone a Starbucks coffee can add up if you do it several times a week! Be sure to document the purpose of the meeting and record it in your planner along with the receipt. If you can establish a legitimate business activity, you have a tax deduction.

• Get a good tax person who specializes in home business. At least in the first year there will be deductions you never thought of so keep records of everything! Include products that went for personal use, were given away, or which you sold without recouping the sales tax. For home business tax help you can try the software and books like "It's How Much You Keep That Counts" or MLM Tax Helper. I use the first system and know team members who use the second. Both are good and easy to use.

• Get a planner and document your activities. If the IRS comes to call, they will want proof that you are consistently running your business as a business and not a hobby. You need to be able to show time spent each day working your business. Be specific: "10-11 answered emails 11-11:30 consultation with Jane Smith."

• Insurance and Legal Matters: If you keep a large volume of product in your home, you may want to insure it. Your home owner insurance will not necessarily cover any losses. You also want to protect yourself from legal hassles. Check with a lawyer to avoid inadvertently getting in trouble when you post anything on the web!

• Gasoline, parking fees, toll road expenses: I had a meeting with a client at the Plaza of the Americas in downtown Dallas. When the meeting was over, I had to pay over $14.00 in parking fees! Yikes!

5. Organize!

You will wind up with volumes of papers, notes, receipts, phone numbers, and so on and you'll waste precious time if you don't start out with a good filing system. Even the files on your computer will be much more manageable if you take the time to group them once in a while. Look into contact management systems like iContact or Outlook. I have notes, emails, and send out campaigns grouped under categories like:

Step 1: set up initial appointment

This includes the prospect's contact info, an introductory email, and notes on what I need to know about them to help come up with business solutions.

Step 2: initial consult and follow-up

This includes notes on their business needs, an appointment time for the full consultation (1 hour), email confirming date and time of consult, a worksheet to send to the client so they can take notes, consultation walk through notes, and follow-up email.

Step 3: after the consultation

This includes any follow-up needed depending on whether they required further help, checking to see if they have questions, or updating them on any new information relevant to their business.

I keep paper pages on each of my clients and prospects. I’m one of those people who need to have the actual paper in my hand, and a copy on the computer for backup. I have to keep track of when a consultation is scheduled, as well as follow-up appointments and mail outs.

One of my upline members passed on a tip that has been very helpful: I purchased several sets of notebook dividers numbered 1-31. I keep a set of dividers in 12 different expanding file folders. If I have an appointment with someone on the first of February, I file their page in the February folder under 1. After the consultation, I simply move the page to whatever I want the follow-up date to be. Each morning I pull out the day’s pages and there are all the people I need to call or email!

You can see if all these documents were simply listed in the file, I would have to hunt and peck through each one to find what I needed. And let's not even imagine what it would be like if the actual paperwork wasn't filed immediately! Time is money, after all, and I don't want to be paying myself to look for something I should have put in the right place to start!

You will probably come up with additional categories that suit your business needs, but at least this will get you thinking in terms of the money going out. Granted, it's much more fun to think about the money that's going to come in, but good bookkeeping at the start will save you from ugly surprises later!

Your business checklist should be a continuing part of your growing business. Every day make a list of six things you want to accomplish that day. This little trick can really help you to stay focused and will force you to take care of small tasks that you might otherwise put off.

I sometimes find refuge in my writing as a means of avoiding the bookkeeping. I don’t enjoy balancing the ledger the way I do writing articles. But when balancing the books is written down on my business checklist, I’m more likely to go ahead and take care of it!

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