• Clean Up Your Workspace
• Clean Up Your Tech
• Reconfigure Your Schedule

The last three days have been pretty active. Today, let’s sit and dream a while.

Imagine your perfect business year. What happens? What are you doing? What is your company like? What does your company feel like?

Let’s wallow in that for a bit, shall we?

From that vision, can you draw three big-picture goals? A goal has three requirements that makes it different from a mere wish.

1. A goal is measurable. You know if you have completed it or not.
2. A goal is time specific. There are deadlines.
3. A goal is achievable through incremental steps.

Stating good goals is harder than it seems but once you get there, you will have a prioritization plan for the year. Those goals can drive your decision-making. You’ll just keep asking, “Does this take me one step closer or one step farther away from my reaching my goal?” If the work is put in ahead of time, it’s amazing how easily the day-to-day, nitpicky details tend to fall into place.

Now picture yourself at the end of 2012 and feel the glow of your accomplishments. It can definitely be.

Happy year’s end, everyone! And all the best for the next one!

But if you have to be at work, or at least want to feel like you are at work, how about being productive without really doing what you do?

For example, how often have you felt frustrated at losing something important at a critical time this past year? How many times have you wished that thing out of your way?

It’s no surprise that clutter makes us feel anxious and disorganization causes stress. So right now, while the phones are not ringing and your inbox isn’t refreshing constantly, why not take the the time to physically rearrange your space?

• If you haven’t used it in two years, then you don’t need it. This is true of everything from a color scanner to the pens in your cup. Put them in the donate pile.
• Fix your ergonomics by raising your monitor, getting a mouse that fits your hand, and upgrading or modifying your chair. A pillow behind your back or a box under your feet works wonders.
• File your paperwork. Yes, it must be done, and you can make a big dent in it all by doing a big chunk all at once. Take rests as you need and put on some fun music.

If you feel like you can do with a second pair of eyes, please give me a call. You can even send me a picture. I would be happy to send along some suggestions.

You will feel so much better with cleaned surface areas. A comfortable space allows for greater energy and optimism. Hey, 2012 is going to be a great year! Let’s prepare to meet it.

Tomorrow, clean up your tech.

When I come on board, it is rare that the scope of my work remains only on the initial project. Usually, I become a sounding board and a discussion partner.

Running a small business can be an isolating endeavor. Oh, sure, the resources are out there, but the time to access them may not be. Trustworthy peers can also be hard to find.

In these instances, someone like me, a fellow small business owner and someone with experience in a wide variety of fields and tasks, can be so valuable. Why not give me a call to see what I can offer?

Make sure your staff is not afraid to point out mistakes and offer solutions. Every boss will do better with back-up and another working mind.

Capable assistance is an asset and the cultivation of this relationship is absolutely worth it. It may appear to be a waste of time and money to not simply do things your way, but over the long run, a team on your side will catch those huge problems before they occur.

And then one day we turn around… Man! Where did that pile of receipts and statements come from?

And perhaps the more important question is: How long will it take before the whole mess is cleared out?

Wouldn’t you love to drop it off somewhere, and it all comes back organized and in order? And perhaps someone could even put it into your company’s books for you?

Ah, but the dream is at hand. Why not give me a call at the Detour Services office? I am an Intuit certified QuickBooks User. Microsoft Excel is my favorite of the MS Office programs, and I really do enjoy putting things in order. I can help you keep your business resolutions.

As an employer, what are your costs?

To pay the part-time employee, you have to run payroll. That means you are either paying a service or person to do all this for you. Without that, you are putting in unbillable hours to do it yourself.

Then you have to track the withholding taxes from those paychecks and keep the amounts for eventual payment to the federal and state taxing authorities at regular intervals throughout the year. To top it all off, you even have to kick in your share of that person’s Medicare, Social Security, as well as all of your own owed federal unemployment insurance and state unemployment insurance.

Now let’s look at the contractor. As the hiring company, you pay her invoice.

Yes. That’s it.

At most, you’ll have to send out a 1099 form and its associated single-paged summary sheet at the beginning of 2012 to document total payments for this contractor.

It sounds like a big difference doesn’t it?

Keep in mind though… The IRS is serious when it comes to avoiding the payment of your fair share. Certain conditions must be met for someone to be a contractor and not a staff member. Please study their documents carefully. Or contact me for help.

A business assistant can help take away some of that isolation. He or she can serve as a sounding board and may be able to provide perspectives that you have not considered.

And it always helps to have another pair of eyes, another set of hands, and another calculating brain around.

The photo to the right is one that I took of a local shop window. That entrepreneur could have used a little freelance help.

I’m often asked about the standard $10-an-hour pay offering by those advertising for assistants on Craigslist. I must assume that these entrepreneurs get responses because otherwise, they would stop asking.

For my part, I usually respond to this inquiry by saying—they probably got what they paid for.

There probably is a reason that the ad answers are willing to settle for this wage. The bottom line is, they accept $10 an hour because (for whatever reason) they are not able to get someone to pay them more than that.

Even if there are extenuating circumstances, I feel that the small business runner would be taking a big risk. Once a good assistant begins to realize that he/she is being underpaid and is able to command a higher price elsewhere, then the entrepreneur will either have to step up and match the demand or be willing to start all over with someone new and of perhaps a lower quality.

When you own a business, I know that business is you. And you deserve an administrative professional who is capable, experienced, and trustworthy. Not someone purchased at a bargain basement rate.

They really wanted to get the word out, but I highly doubt that this is the first impression they wanted to create.

People start their own businesses to do what they love. No one, however, is good at everything.

If you need some help with a quick copyedit run through of a business document, please don’t hesitate to drop us a line. I have six years of editing experience in the publishing industry and continue to perform these duties for my current clients. We’ll stop those glaring errors from reaching the light of day.