My wife and I run the family business, providing bookkeeping and business management consulting for small businesses in our area who don't need an in-house person to manage their books. We help...
Exemplary
My wife and I run the family business, providing bookkeeping and business management consulting for small businesses in our area who don't need an in-house person to manage their books. We help people by keeping track of the money as it goes in and out and make sure that everything is right when taxes or other governmental filings need to happen, but beyond that we structure their books to help them understand what is going on in their business, and support them in having and maintaining that understanding.
So many people start their own business with a solid understanding of their product, but no clue about how to run a business. For instance: If you're a programmer who has a great idea and wants to start your own company to make it happen you may be a great programmer, but there's no reason to expect you also understand business administration. We're here to help make sure the frame of the business doesn't break down while you, the engine, keep it moving forward.
As far as my experience... it's been both great and awful, sometimes at the same time.
My wife and I work from home on the computer all day, and it can be very lonely. I did it alone for years, and it can be really hard to stay productive when you're physically isolated from other people. Working with my wife has made it a lot easier, but it's still been invaluable to be part of a business networking group not just for the clients that have come from it but because it provides some badly needed business/social contact with someone who isn't a client.
It's an ongoing struggle to determine what our time is worth, and what we should charge. I had been raising our rates purely at the rate of inflation for years, even as cost of living in this area rose much, much faster than that. I identified so much with my clients that I wasn't paying attention to what I needed to charge for my own well-being. Managing your rates is going to be an eternal struggle, and one that has to happen to make sure you're properly compensated for your time.
On the topic of money: make sure you're planning for your own retirement beyond "I'll sell the company when I want to retire". You need not just enough money to handle your monthly budget, but also to pay taxes (since no one is deducting payroll taxes for you) and to save for retirement or other financial surprises.
I've been doing this since 2006 and I've seen a lot of clients come and go, good ones and bad ones alike. It can be incredibly rewarding to help people understand and feel comfortable with their money, especially when they came to us terrified by the prospect of even looking at their books. It can also be exhausting. I've had to hunt down clients who still owed me money, over-committed myself and lost clients because of it, and made plenty of other mistakes besides. It's still been better than working for someone else.
My wife and I run the family business, providing bookkeeping and business management consulting for small businesses in our area who don't need an in-house person to manage their books. We help people by keeping track of the money as it goes in and out and make sure that everything is right when taxes or other governmental filings need to happen, but beyond that we structure their books to help them understand what is going on in their business, and support them in having and maintaining that understanding.
So many people start their own business with a solid understanding of their product, but no clue about how to run a business. For instance: If you're a programmer who has a great idea and wants to start your own company to make it happen you may be a great programmer, but there's no reason to expect you also understand business administration. We're here to help make sure the frame of the business doesn't break down while you, the engine, keep it moving forward.
As far as my experience... it's been both great and awful, sometimes at the same time.
My wife and I work from home on the computer all day, and it can be very lonely. I did it alone for years, and it can be really hard to stay productive when you're physically isolated from other people. Working with my wife has made it a lot easier, but it's still been invaluable to be part of a business networking group not just for the clients that have come from it but because it provides some badly needed business/social contact with someone who isn't a client.
It's an ongoing struggle to determine what our time is worth, and what we should charge. I had been raising our rates purely at the rate of inflation for years, even as cost of living in this area rose much, much faster than that. I identified so much with my clients that I wasn't paying attention to what I needed to charge for my own well-being. Managing your rates is going to be an eternal struggle, and one that has to happen to make sure you're properly compensated for your time.
On the topic of money: make sure you're planning for your own retirement beyond "I'll sell the company when I want to retire". You need not just enough money to handle your monthly budget, but also to pay taxes (since no one is deducting payroll taxes for you) and to save for retirement or other financial surprises.
I've been doing this since 2006 and I've seen a lot of clients come and go, good ones and bad ones alike. It can be incredibly rewarding to help people understand and feel comfortable with their money, especially when they came to us terrified by the prospect of even looking at their books. It can also be exhausting. I've had to hunt down clients who still owed me money, over-committed myself and lost clients because of it, and made plenty of other mistakes besides. It's still been better than working for someone else.