How To Set Goals That Are Achievable

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Goal setting is easy. It begins with an idea or thought and moves to taking action. The hard part is the taking action part. How can you set a goal that is achievable? I wrote about this in a previous post but essentially here are the steps:)

Step One

Start where you are by taking stock of what you have achieved so far in your business.

Step Two

Make sure your goal is something you are really excited about achieving.

Step Three

Break your goal down into tiny bits that can be measured in a S.M.A.R.T way.

Step Four

Celebrate your wins

I hope these tips help you to get FIRED UP about crushing your goals and reaching success in your business!

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Welcome

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I hope that you were able to get many things on your to-do list done in May. June is finally here and the summer season is in full swing here in Las Vegas. There are so many fun events happening everywhere in town and I can’t wait to check them out. Another thing that excites me is to take a peek at my quarterly goals to see if I have successfully executed them. 

I hope you are doing the same but if you are stuck on goal setting and goal execution then do not fret. This month I will focus on how to set goals that are achievable and and a few tech resources to help you to stay organized. 

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NO Sales = NO Business!

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Sales. That one word has so much power. It is the reason why we are all in business. If you are not interested in getting sales then you are a non-profit. There are so many tools available to help you to get more sales and thought leaders. The question remains: What exactly is a sale?

It seems simple but the definition according to Investopedia is, “A transaction between two or more parties in which the buyer receives tangible or intangible goods, services, or assets in exchange for money or other assets.”

Sounds simple enough but why does it seem more complicated than that in real life? My own definition of sales is sharing knowledge and resources that can improve clients’ lives in exchange for money.

Here are some resources to help you get started on the path to obtaining that elusive sale:

Tips On How To Increase Sales In Your Business

Content Marketing Tips & Tricks

Tools To Help You Stay Organized In Your Sales Workflow

I hope these resources help you increase the sales in your business and create more peace in your life.

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Are You Managing Finances Successfully In Your Small Business?

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The life of a business owner is so hectic. If you are working solo or with a small team, it can become completely overwhelming to stop and take stock of the health of the business finances. Many owners feel comfortable with managing their business finances with a quick glance at their business checking account and maybe a brief glance at the P&L. But that is not enough. It is important that owners go further to make sure that their business is going in the right direction financially before it is too late. The two areas below will help you to get on the right foot.

Hire a bookkeeping/accounting professional - This is the first step in the right direction. I have seen numerous clean-up projects from clients that decided to D.I.Y. their bookkeeping at some point in their business journey and it didn’t end well.

Use professional accounting software - This is important to put into place so that you are ready to file taxes in an organized manner. Additionally, software like QuickBooks Online will enable you to run management reports that help you to run your business better.

Read your financial reports - This is crucial. There is no point in doing monthly bookkeeping for your business and making the monetary investment if you don’t read your reports. A strategic partner like a bookkeeping/accounting professional can help you to make sense of your reports. To get a jump start check out this post I wrote about the Statement of Cash Flows report.

The life of a small business owner is not boring. It is filled with constant activity but if you are not on top of your business finances then all the sales in the world will not stop your business from ceasing to exist.

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3 Tips To Help You To Get Organized

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Are you running your business in a constant state of chaos?

Is this costing you money?

According to the International Association of Business Organizing a Forbes ASAP article states that “the typical executive wastes 150 hours a year, nearly an entire month of work, searching for lost information.  For a salaried position earning $50,000 a year that is a loss of almost $4000.

That is a lot of time & energy going into the ether

No fear - Check out the 3 tips below to help you get started on the path to getting organized:


Tip One: Start where you are and declutter your work area. It is simple but provides the most impact. If you know where to find the items when you need them and your space is clean, your day will flow much better.

Tip Two: Document your work processes so that you will have the foundational standard operating procedures for your business. This will help you to understand which processes can be automated or when you need to bring in a team member to help.


Tip Three: Make a weekly habit of organizing your digital files so that you will be able to find things exactly when you need them. I like to do this on Fridays and use it as my admin day to get organized and ready for the following week.


I hope these tips help you to start getting organized so that you can work in a stress-free manner and minimize wasting money due to disorganization.

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Welcome To The Month of May!

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Photo by Olya Kobruseva: https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-person-writing-on-a-desk-calendar-5408684/

The tax season is over and spring is in full swing. We are in month two of the second quarter and now is a good time to take a look at your business goals to see if you are on track to execute them. This month we will take a look at how to run a successful business. There are many opinions and research statistics available to glean but we will look at 3 areas that will help us to be the most successful:

  • Financial Management

  • Sales & Marketing

  • Staying Organized

I am excited to dive into these 3 areas with you as we learn more about how to run a successful business.

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Is This The Right Time To Hire Team Members?

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Photo by fauxels: https://www.pexels.com/photo/photo-of-people-looking-on-laptop-3182812/

Is your business keeping busy beyond what you can manage alone? If so you might be wondering if now is a good time to start hiring team members. According to Neil Patel, online marketing wizard and successful entrepreneur, here are a few signs it is time to hire:

  • You lack time to take care of business operational essentials like marketing and finances

  • The quality and standard of your service are taking a nosedive

  • You have new ideas for other services you want to offer but you don’t have the time

  • You are saying no to new sales opportunities

If any of these signs sound familiar to you then it might be time to bring on a team member or two or more. The most important thing to do before you make that decision is to make sure you can afford to do it.

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When Can I Start To Pay Myself In My Business

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Photo by Andrea Piacquadio: https://www.pexels.com/photo/portrait-photo-of-woman-in-red-top-wearing-black-framed-eyeglasses-standing-in-front-of-white-background-thinking-3762807/

You became a business owner to live the dream life. The one where you sleep in and take vacations when you want and earn a living from the fruits of your labor. This all sounds delightful, right? The reality according to a survey from Fundera is that 30 percent of small business owners don’t take a salary.

WAIT!

What happened to that vision of living the dream life? At least when an employer was a part of the equation a paycheck was delivered regularly. 

So what gives? 

Why are business owners NOT paying themselves? There could be many reasons, but one of the main reasons could be that they don’t know when they should draw a paycheck from their business. Here are a few factors to consider to help you decide to pay yourself:

  1. Is your business profitable? If you look at your profit and loss statements and see a positive net income number, it might be time to start paying yourself.

  2. What stage is your business in? If you’re in the early stages of your business then it makes sense to put everything back into the business to help it grow and press pause on paying yourself. However, if you are in a growth stage in your business, it might be time to earn an honest living and pay yourself.

  3. If you are a sole proprietor for example and your tax bill is out of control then putting yourself on the payroll might be the way to go. Discuss your thoughts about paying yourself with your tax professional. They will be able to assess the best course of action to take depending on your entity type and tax situation. 

There you have it! 

I hope these factors will help you in your decision-making process.

It’s so important to know if your business is profitable or not. That is the starting point. The very next thing to do is talk with your tax professional to start planning when and how to pay yourself. You work hard and deserve it.

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Welcome To The Month Of April!

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Photo by Bich Tran: https://www.pexels.com/photo/white-blue-and-purple-stars-illustration-974197/

April is here and the 1st quarter of the year is behind us. I hope that the year is getting off to a good start for you and that sales are pouring in. This month we will look at 3 reasons why knowing your numbers and the status of the financial health of your business matters. The 3 reasons are:

To help you to know if you can pay yourself and how much

To help you to know if it is a good time to hire new team members

To help you to know if you are making money or is it time to close down your business.

I am excited to dive into why knowing your numbers and the financial health of your business is crucial to being a successful entrepreneur. I hope you are ready for the journey.

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March Round Up!

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Photo by Bich Tran from Pexels

This month we looked at tips to get started on the entrepreneurial journey. We started off with taking a dive into how to develop an entrepreneurial mindset. I can’t stress enough how important it is to take time to develop this type of mindset because it will come in handy when you hit a brick wall during your journey but you have to continue on. Next we looked at important tips to help you set up shop like testing the waters for your business idea first to make sure you have a business and not a hobby. We also talked about creating a business plan, creating a seed money fund, ideas for generating a business name and making sure you select the legal entity that is right for your business. Finally, we looked at the final piece of the puzzle which is making sure you have the right licensing and creating a bookkeeping system.

These posts are an overview of what you will need to get started on your business journey. I hope you put them to use as you start on your amazing journey to business success.

Keep IT Sunny~

The Final Piece of the puzzle: Licensing & Tracking Your Business Finances

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Photo by Ann H from Pexels

The entrepreneurial journey can be exciting and rewarding. In the previous post I shared a few tips to help you get started on your journey. This week we will finish the tips list with discussing how to make sure you have the correct licenses for your business and my recommendation on software to use for setting up the tracking system for your business finances.

Licensing For Your Business

It is so important to get started on the right foot when you start your business and making sure that you are operating legally is paramount. According to Legal Zoom, “Virtually all businesses will need a license of some sort, and many will need to apply for a number of different licenses and permits. The types of licenses and permits your business requires will depend on where you live and the type of industry you’re in.” Check out their checklist to make sure you have the right licensing/permits for your business.

System For Tracking Your Business Finances

You are going to put in many hours and days getting your business off the ground and selling to your customers. You will have your own personal money that you will use to fund your business and hopefully a ton of customer sales. Once the money starts flowing in then you will most likely focus on how to keep the process going and taking a moment to see how financially well your business is doing might take a backseat. That is unless you get started on the right foot. My recommendation is to set up your business bookkeeping system using Quickbooks Online. This will help you to begin tracking your business finances correctly from the start. Once you have opened your business checking account then you are going to want to subscribe to Quickbooks Online and connect your bank to the software so that you can start tracking your business activity within the software. 

This is important so that when tax time rolls around you will have all your ducks in a row to get the most tax deductions possible. My suggestion is to start with their basic subscription called Simple Start and as your business grows then you can always upgrade to a higher plan later. Incidentally, I do not recommend the Self-Employed Subscription as it only tracks the Profit & Loss activity and you can’t upgrade to a higher subscription later. This subscription is basically geared towards working professionals who intend on doing a side-hustle and not go into business as a full-time entrepreneur.

The entrepreneurial journey is filled with ups and downs but getting started on the right foot will help you to be a successful.


Keep IT Sunny~



Tips To Set Up Shop!

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Photo by Anna Tarazevich from Pexels

Are you excited and ready to open for business?? I hope so. Here is a short list of items that you want to make sure are in place before you put that sign on the door:

Create a business idea & test it out - This is to make sure that you have a business that will make money and not a hobby.

Create a business plan - This is to make sure you have a clear vision of where you would like to go with your business and to attract investers if needed.

Create a seed money fund - This is to make sure you don’t starve during those early days of running your business.

Create Your Business Name - Do you have a cool name in mind for your business or are you stumped? No worries. Check out Business Name Generator to help to get those creative juices flowing. Once you have your new business name double check to make sure it is not in use on Nolo.com.

Set up your legal entity - Are you going to operate as a soleproprietor, LLC, S-Corp, Corp or LLC taxed as an S-Corp? If you are not sure which one to choose then check out Nolo.com to do some research. They also have information about how to start a business in every state here. To get everything set up check out Legal Zoom for tools and resources.

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3 Tips To Help You Develop An Entrepreneurial Mindset!

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What does it take to be a successful entrepreneur? A slew of thoughts come to mind BUT the single most important attribute that you must have in my opinion is an entrepreneurial mindset. What does it mean to have this type of mindset?

According to Inc.com, “It starts with becoming more mindful and connected with what you want and believe in. From here, your business will have a clear direction, you'll be able to sell from an authentic place, and you'll connect more easily to your clients, team, and community.

Building a mindset is the process of taking beliefs that don't serve you and replacing them with ones that do. 

Here are 3 tips to get you started in the right direction:

  1. Develop a Positive Attitude - Yes, I know this might sound like a no brainer BUT it is necessary. Things will get tough along your journey and sometimes the only person who is there to cheer you on is yourself. It is natural to get down from time to time and that is why developing a positive attitude will come in handy to help pull yourself out of the dumps and propel forward.

  2. Remember your “Why” - Put your vision statement in a place where you are able to review it often so you can remember why you are doing this entrepreneurial journey in the first place. If you need some help with figuring out your “Why” check out Simon Sinek’s TED Talk about this.

  3. Surround Yourself With Great Entrepreneurs - Jim Rohn said, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” So who is in your circle? If you have a bunch of negative nelly’s in your circle then you are shooting yourself in the foot and your friends who are not entrepreneurs are great to have but will not understand what you are facing on this treacherous entrepreneurial journey. So what can you do to fill in the gap? Join business groups online or in person and listen to entrepreneurship type podcasts. My favorite one to listen to on Stitcher is Entrepreneur On Fire by John Lee Dumas.

I hope these tips help you to develop an entrepreneurial mindset that will bring business success!

Keep IT Sunny~

Welcome To The Month of March!

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Photo by Lukáš Dlutko from Pexels

Spring is in the air and new beginnings are on the horizon. Are you a new entrepreneur? If so in the month of March we will take a look at a few key essentials needed to get you started on the right foot:

Mindset & Motivation

Operational Setup

Licenses & Accounting

I hope you are ready to go on this journey together!

Keep IT Sunny~

February Round Up

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Photo by Monstera from Pexels

Did you enjoy the month of love? February went by like a blur but I did have a chance to enjoy the beautiful weather here in Southern Nevada. I spent time reflecting on my own business and how I can deliver even more value for my clients. I put a few books on my reading list. The first book is Atomic Habits by James Clear. As I write this I just realized that I have been on his email list since July of 2020 which tells me that I need to slow my life down.

:)

His book is on everyone’s lips. I even heard a sermon at church that included a reference to his book. My business club is reading his book so it is time for me to see what all the talk is about. The second book is Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress - Free Productivity by David Allen. This book is a game changer.

I hope you find time to read these books and take time to reflect on your business journey. If you didn’t get a chance to read my previous posts about how to get out of a business rut & how to get organized then I hope you will add those short posts to your list as well.

Keep IT Sunny!


2 Steps To Get Better Organized in Your Business

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Photo by Lisa Fotios from Pexels

How organized are you in your business? Don’t answer that. If you are getting stressed out looking for items or looking at a growing digital e-file system gone array do not fret. Here are 2 steps to help you to get better organized.

Declutter Your Workspace - We work in a myriad of ways these days but somehow clutter still finds us. Pick a time weekly to go through all your physical paper items like stickies on your work desk and give them a home. Next, make a plan to tackle your e-files in small bites until everything is where you need it to be.

Document Your Work Procedures - These are better known as S.O.P.s or standard operating procedures. These are the processes and workflows for how each part of your business operates down to the smallest detail. This is another project that you might want to break down into tiny bites so you won’t get overwhelmed.

A great book to read on how to make your business and your life more organized is Getting Things Done by David Allen. It is a business book classic with tips that will change the way you live.

I hope these tips help you to get better organized in your business and it overflows into your personal life.

Keep IT Sunny~

Are You In A Business Rut?

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Picture this: You are a new business owner. You are filled with excitement at the idea that you are going to be your own boss and call the shots. You have so many creative thoughts that you are ready to put into action. Your customers are great and they pay you well. You are making more money & experiencing more freedom.

Life is beautiful~

Well, that was your first few years in business and now it is year 4 or 5 or even more and you have hit the wall. The ideas are not there like they used to be and you are overwhelmed with all the work that you have to do to keep up with demand.

Life is not so great~

You are in a business rut my friend. That is the bad news. But the good news is that you can climb out of that hole and get back to living the good business owner life. Check out some tips below to see how:

Go back to the basics - Revisit “your why” which is the reason you began your business journey in the first place. If you are looking for more insight into “your why” check out this TED Talk here by Simon Sinek.

Maybe it is time to rebrand your business - If your brand is outdated or just needs a little bit of sprucing up then this could be just the thing to get you reinvigorated. Check out this article to learn how to do it.

Take a vacation - You might just need a break to collect your thoughts, rediscover yourself and chill out.

We all get into a funk from time to time and that’s OKAY. Just don’t live there for too long. Check out some of the tips above to get the pep back into your step.


Keep It Sunny~

Welcome To The Month of January RoundUp

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I hope you had a productive first month for the new year. It went by pretty fast it seems. Did you keep any of your new year's resolutions? Don’t feel bad if you leave some by the wasteside. Now is a great time to reassess everything and get back in the saddle.

The road ahead is waiting for you. If you need help check out the post I wrote this month below:

This Is Your Year To Make Your Dreams Come True

New Year's Resolutions

How To Crush B.H.A.G's in 2022

Keep IT Sunny~