 ArtMetalsocial networking for the metal arts |
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Oh the stress of it all...
Emfairmeadows -
Wednesday, October 25, 2006 - 3:18pm
Money Makers I'm having a rough day prioritizing the business stresses at the moment. Any thoughts on how to keep going when things get complicated? So maybe that was a bit vague. I'm juggling the ordering of supplies, customer follow up, documentation, billing, employment issues, accounting and taxes. I'm trying to keep lists, but there are so many things on the list that it seems never ending. I try to put out the fires that are blazing when I arrive at work. Then I try to handle a couple time sensitive items on my list. Then the phone starts ringing, more things get added to my list, then I lose track/focus/the will to be at work.  take the time to smell the roses
Emfairmeadows -
Wednesday, October 25, 2006 - 5:40pm
Thanks Enrique. I'll read Alex's post again. It really is in the attitude. I'm working on it. I'm trying to be organized with QuickBooks Pro for the Mac. My accountant and I have been talking about letting him take over the books. I guess we'll find out next week if the conversion betweeen Mac QuickBooks and IBM QuickBooks can work smoothly. Yes, I'll always have a back up. Elizabeth M. Meadows "Gotta love a gal with an anvil." » reply  Do what you are best at let others do the rest
jbin -
Wednesday, October 25, 2006 - 5:27pm
One thing I learned early was to outsource as much as possible. I don't do books, taxes or payroll. There are too many very competent people in a very competitive service market who are more than willing to do this for me at a very reasonable cost. If you outsource just those three think how much more time you would have for the things that are more central to your business. Jim » reply Outsource
Emfairmeadows -
Wednesday, October 25, 2006 - 5:45pm
I'm getting better at delegating. It's just hard to let go of some task. I'm still looking for a person to do my filing on a regular basis. I've let go of the fantasy of only doing filing all day. I need to do a better job of budgeting those outsourced needs so that we can always afford it. Our work is feast or famine. When the need is there, the funds sometimes aren't. Thank you for your advice. "Gotta love a gal with an anvil." » reply Quickbooks Mac to PC
jbin -
Wednesday, October 25, 2006 - 6:01pm
We use Quickbooks on our Mac and of course our accountant has a PC. With the Quickbooks 2006 Mac version they have finally gotten the majority of the bugs out of the sharing of data from the Mac to the PC. Earlier versions had mucho problems about getting all the data over to the PC file. So we typically had to print out the data and let the accountant work from the paper version, what a pita. Jim » reply QBooksPro conversions
Emfairmeadows -
Wednesday, October 25, 2006 - 11:42pm
Quickbooks has not been entirely Mac friendly over the past couple of years. I'd hoped that they would stop treating Mac users liked step children and dedicate more time to our need for cross platform use. Plus, their upgrades and tech support are pretty pricey. So, I was slow to upgrade to the newest version. Hearing your complaint made me think that I should upgrade by one version (7.0) so that I might have a better chance with my accountant's 2007 version of QuickBooks. I use quick books as a catalog for materials/chemicals that I purchase every 2-3 years. I have paper files, but if I can do a computer search for a specific word in the memo section of a register, I don't have to spend time remembering the name of a vendor I only use every 2-3 years. Elizabeth M. Meadows "Gotta love a gal with an anvil." » reply  I've heard of banks that
QuiQue -
Wednesday, October 25, 2006 - 10:38pm
I've heard of banks that have some sort of system set up where a 3rd party takes your business accounting information and then does all the payroll, taxes, and bookkeeping based off of your banking inflows/outflows. What are the services you use Jim? » reply I use Intuit Payroll
jbin -
Thursday, October 26, 2006 - 8:13pm
I use Intuit Payroll services which initially came through my bank. but I deal directly with Intuit not the bank. I use a local CPA and a local bookkeeper recommended by the CPA. When I lived in Ca my accountant there told me that it was silly to do payroll when the service was so inexpensive and they are the ones on the hook for the accuracy of the withholding taxes so if there is an audit they are the ones that deal with the IRS. Jim » reply  Like Jim, I use Quickbooks
Ries -
Wednesday, October 25, 2006 - 9:33pm
Like Jim, I use Quickbooks on the mac- but I have my bookkeeper come and do my books on my computer every two weeks. I think part of the problem is that when you are a parent of multiple munchkins under 21, a large part of your brain processing power is constantly running Parent 3.0. The other thing is you just have to admit to yourself you cant do everything and still remain sane, so you have to take the occasional time off for a good dinner, or a hike, or a vacation, and let a few things slide. » reply Learning to trust and let go
Emfairmeadows -
Wednesday, October 25, 2006 - 11:56pm
Learning to trust our accountant to enter the info the way I'd like it to be entered is really hard. We had our accountant come here to do bookeeping and I guess I wasn't ready to let go of those tasks yet. I'm ready now. I want to be able to find information in the manner I'm used to finding it, though. I have to be specific with my accountant to make sure that the memo, cust:jobs and items info is entered so that I can do my obscure searches when I need to find something at 2am. I'm awfully anal about filing and data entry for an artist. That's why I get to do the office work instead of my spouse. I have started having my accountant do all of my payroll and tax forms, that's been a HUGE relief. This summer, my kids were in and out of the shop/office every 3-4 hours. It's hard to defragment the brain to be a business owner when the kids run in screaming. A hug usually solves most of the tears, but I tend to forget where, what , how I was thinking before the screaming started. Tonight is the exception, but I usually haul ass to get home by midnight to go to sleep. Elizabeth M. Meadows "Gotta love a gal with an anvil." » reply  de-stressing
Cassandra -
Thursday, October 26, 2006 - 8:36am
Ok, you probably already know this but you may need a reminder. Make a date with yourself. There is an excellent body oil somebody makes (hope your package arrived safely) that can help you with this. Here are directions: 1) Find a babysitter you can take the kids to (must be out of the house). 2) Light candles in the bathroom and run the tub. Put on some great soft inspiring music. Pour a glass of wine and make a snack. Squeeze a glug of Balinese Body Oil into your hot tub. 3) Adult tub visitors are fine but no one under 30. Male partners you live with allowed into tub too. Alone is also good. Take some deep breaths and become one with the music on the stereo. If adult visitor present, trade foot massages. That's it, super easy! Let me know how it works... Cassandra www.tanzende.com » reply Oils get me started for the day.
Emfairmeadows -
Thursday, October 26, 2006 - 12:44pm
Thanks Cassandra, I'm giving myself one day during the week to take care of myself. That takes care of the babysitter problem we have. Our business can function without me for one day. We just have some extraordinary things that are occur that require my presence. Elizabeth M. Meadows "Gotta love a gal with an anvil." » reply Thats why we have a
jbin -
Thursday, October 26, 2006 - 8:18pm
Thats why we have a bookkeeper do the books. It is much easier to get a bookkeeper to do them the way you want than an accountant. The CPA often wants to get too fancy. Jim » reply Posted for Ken Gastineau
Emfairmeadows -
Friday, October 27, 2006 - 6:54pm
Elizabeth: I tried to post this to the Blog you started but for some reason it does The bookkeeper advice is spot on unless that is your area of expertise and For working with clients and documenting conversations and correspondence For management of todo lists we have had to simplify to a basic program Speaking of employees, do you have any? I am not saying you need to go out Ken Gastineau » reply  Time Management
raferguson -
Friday, October 27, 2006 - 11:01pm
When I was working, I took a half day time management class. I really needed it at that point, I had started a new assignment and was buried with lots of projects. What I got out of it was an effective way of using a Day-Timer type system. I used a system that had one sheet per day. Your situation sounds a lot like what I had at work, with many priorities, many projects, many details, phone calls, you name it. I carried around a full size (8.5 x 11) three ring binder that zipped shut, and had my whole life in there. If I was supposed to call my Mother I put it down, and checked it off when I called her. I wrote down if I was supposed to make a follow up call in a few days for business. It worked very well, especially when I was very disciplined about using it. I never switched to the Palm, although I know some people love them. I am not promoting paper over Palm, just system over chaos. When I retired I downsized from 8.5 x 11 to 5.5 x 8.5, and from one sheet per day to one side of a sheet per day. I don't have as many projects to manage now. ;-) But the system was so effective that I did not want to give it up. I think that I spend $25 a year on refills, costs a little more to get started. I am using the Day Runner brand, but there are many similar systems. Day runner is more reasonably priced than Franklin, for example. You might think about taking a little time management class, and try their system. There are probably classes on the web. You can always adjust how you use the system later. My other tip is that I always did better if I took two minutes at the end of the day to list what I needed to do the following day, and assign a priority to each item. It made me feel better that I was handling my loose ends, not just panicking about having too much do do, and helped me hit the ground running (in the right direction) the next day. Richard http://www.fergusonsculpture.com » reply  I use the one day, one list as well
Alex in Welderland -
Saturday, October 28, 2006 - 11:27am
To keep everything in your head gets overwhelming. I have specific days I do specific jobs, and those are listed as repeats on the calendar. Then I take the day and have it on one page list, both the specific jobs that day calls for and all that additional stuff that pops up as well. Yesterday, I had to break it down even further. My shipping days get very convoluted, with all the litte details and fixes that need to be tended to. So yesterday, as I scratched things off my list (sometimes I like to play beat the clock and win some free time) I had to go and do a micro list towards the end of the day to keep it all straight. It really does keep it from being overwhelming. Plust it keeps you from ommiting important details. » reply Organizer
Emfairmeadows -
Saturday, October 28, 2006 - 3:44pm
Ken, Richard and Alex, The chaotic way of life here seems to overrun everything. I suppose if I were able keep an office employee for a longer period of time, I might be able to regain some semblance of doing a good job, while juggling four- five large sculpture projects a year. Maybe I should just invest in better day care. That might be easier. We've talked about hiring a part time project manager in February. To answer your post Ken, we have two part time employees and one full time employee not including myself and Nick. My standards for employees gets higher and higher each time one leaves, because, I've learned that my time is too valuable to have to teach someone the alphabet, or how to use a Mac, or what the differences are between sandstone and limestone. I've demo'd SOHO Organizer Chronos, replacement for Personal Organizer, but it does not have the month view options that I require to work with a calendar organizer program. I'm demoing Daylite and I'll find out whether it can provide what I need to be organized. I suppose it's a work in progress being an office person and artist simultaneously... Thanks for the problemsolving.Elizabeth M. Meadows "Gotta love a gal with an anvil." » reply |
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ArtMetal
God Elizabeth, it does sound
God Elizabeth, it does sound like "WORK"! First thing to do is to make it more like play. I know most artists do not like the whole administrative task thing. However, it is a necessary part of being in business. There is a good thread Alex started on Grinding Day that may shed some light.
The other suggestion I have is organizing yourself with computer software. I use AccountEdge on the mac for the tracking of customer, vendor, parts, and products. Now I want to say that I only used this software when I was doing the wholesale gallery work. Since I've stopped doing that, I no longer use it. But maybe something like this will help you get organized so you don't have to worry so much.
Also, make sure you take time to smell the roses!