Do These 6 Things First for Your New Business

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Giving your small business a leg up is hard, but essential for success. When you are just getting started in the business world, it can seem overwhelming to juggle everything that you need to keep your business afloat.

It can seem like everyone around you knows what they are doing and are making all the right business decisions, but that is not true. No one is born inherently knowing exactly what to do when starting a business for the first time. It takes time to learn and grow and become the entrepreneur you desire. It takes experience and making mistakes in order to gain that knowledge.

If you feel lost about how to set your business up for success, then it is important to learn as much as you can and then take action. It can be easy to get so lost in research that you procrastinate actually doing the work, but you have to move forward in order to really learn. Here are some ideas of things you can do to get started off on the right track.

Form an LLC for Your Business

If you are starting a small business, it is important to set it up as an LLC. It may seem unnecessary, especially if you are completely self-employed, do not have any employees, and are funding the venture with your own money, but don’t skip over this step!

Setting up your business as a separate taxable and financial entity from the very beginning can help save you a lot of headache down the road. It usually costs less than $1,000 to start and will instantly grant you peace of mind when it comes to your personal assets from getting tied up in legal issues related to your business.

It helps you keep your business and personal finances separate and will help keep the IRS off your back when it comes to tax season. Most small businesses don’t get into legal trouble, but the possibility is always there. When you set your business up as an LLC, then the worst that happens is that your business dissolves. While this is not ideal, you won’t have to worry about your personal finances being in trouble as well.

Keep Finances Separate

Along the same lines, it is important to keep all your personal and business finances separate from each other. If setting up your LLC gets delayed for some reason, then this step becomes especially important.

You can easily set up a business bank account, or at least open up a separate personal account that is only for business use. You and your business are separate entities when it comes to doing taxes, so this will help you file both your personal and business taxes correctly and avoid an audit.

Accounting

Most people do not have the technical and practical expertise to run their business finances without a little bit of help. If your budget doesn’t allow you to hire an accountant, don’t worry! You can find a lot of good accounting software options that will walk you through keeping your finances in order.

For as little as $20 a month, you will save so much time when it comes to compiling your finances. You can avoid losing receipts, forgetting about major expenses, and compile professional looking invoices that are delivered on time.

Education

As the owner of your business, it is important to invest in your own education. You make the decisions, so it is important that those are informed decisions. You can probably figure it out after some trial and error and a lot of internet searches, but it makes a lot more sense to invest a little bit of money in your own education to save on time and mistakes later. You can read more about how to promote your own education and then choose a course that is right for you. 

Employees

When you do hire employees, it is important to find and train your employees well. In order to train a new employee well, you will likely have more work to do at first. You will need to invest time into this employee in order to help them get to a place where they can make your life easier.

They will need time to get used to your business and the atmosphere of your company. They will not instantly know the proper protocols and procedures for your business. They need time to get to know the layout of the business and get to know the people.

If you take the time to train your employees from the beginning, then you will be able to delegate and reduce the amount of time you need to help them later. You will avoid high turnover rates which slow down your business, and you won’t have to spend time going over and redoing work.

Work in Batches

Most people think that they are good at multitasking and that it saves them time during their workday, but that is not true. Your brain can only focus on one thing at a time, and multitasking is actually forcing your brain to rapidly switch between several tasks. This not only wastes small increments of time that add up over the course of the day, but it will also make your brain much more tired by the end of the day.

Instead of trying to multitask everything, work in batches instead. Focus on one area of work at a time and when that is done, move on to the next task. One area where this can be especially helpful is with emails and other forms of communication.

If you are pausing whatever you are doing to answer email notifications or place phone calls scattered throughout the day, then you are working harder than you need to work. Most of the time the phone calls we make and the emails we answer do not need to be answered the second they are received.

Set up a time each day where you check your inbox and respond to the important emails. You can also use this time to place all the phone calls. Discontinue email notifications on your phone and computer, so the little dings don’t distract you further.