Handling Paperwork
Found in: Studio Management
Kerry V. AU
Hi all,
I have struggled with the business side of my business for some time now and was wondering if people could give me some insight as to how you run your business? How they split their time with paper work, finances, studying etc. I am hoping to start a basic accounting software (MYOB) course soon so that should help a bit too.
To give you a brief outline, I put off doing things, (usually the paper work) I really don’t understand the accounting side of things, and then in the end feel the pressure because things have to be done that haven’t been and so becomes a last minute job, which is not satisfactory to me by any means. I think I only need a little understanding of how and why to do things.
I do not expect you to give me private details, only on how you manage things in a general sense.
Jeff W. North Dakota
This doesn’t get into any specifics at all, but I hope it helps a little.
The best way to take care of paperwork is to just do it right away when it should be done. Yes, paperwork is a pain and most of us don’t like to do it, so it’s easy to put it off — procrastinate. But it’s so much easier to do if you do it right away when the situation is fresh in your mind. If you put it off for a week or two — or longer — then the details become less vivid, it’s hard to remember what each item is for, and you suddenly have LOTS of paperwork to do all at once rather than just 10-15 minutes at a time. I don’t know about you all, but 10-15 minutes of paperwork won’t kill me. I can do almost anything for 10-15 minutes. Having to sit down for a couple of hours to try to catch up on several weeks worth of paperwork — now that’s another story! Honestly, though, if you schedule just 5 minutes between lessons, I’ve found that’s usually enough for me to jot down what I need to about each student and get on to the next lesson. If I’ve purchased something business related, as soon as I receive the item I go to my financial journals and make the necessary entries immediately
and file the receipts. Then I know where the receipt is and I don’t have to try to remember what purchases I made for what purposes.
As for studying, I try to set aside time first thing in the morning. Then my brain is fresh and ready to learn. Be sure to schedule enough time. It’s better to have a little too much time set aside for
studying than not enough. You can always fill any extra time with review or practicing or something. But if you haven’t scheduled enough time, then you feel rushed and you don’t learn what you need to.
As I said, there is very little in the way of business management specifics here, but some good self-discipline tips, I think. Self-discipline is the key to successfully doing anything, especially managing your own business. A good key phrase to remember often is “Just do it”. No, the paperwork isn’t fun, but if you “just do it” right away, it saves a lot of headaches later on when it becomes even less fun.