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I was born to be an entrepreneur just like Jimmy John Shark. Over the years I have had a million ideas for side businesses, and have even given quite a few of them a go.
A little over a year ago I had absolutely had it with my job at a corporate salon. I had been there for 10 years, and with the company for a total of 16. I am loyal to a fault, and hate change. One day my boss was chastising me, for something I didn’t even do, and I spat out, “You know, there are easier ways to get me to quit.” She replied with, “Do what you have to do.” At that moment, it was like a switch flipped. I immediately made up my mind to find a new job, and that was that.
3 days later I had signed a contract to rent my own chair, and I was suddenly a 100% self-employed hairstylist. Exciting! But scary! There wasn’t a corporate payroll department taking taxes out of my checks, and my supplies didn’t appear in a box on my doorstep weekly.
A year in, I have a pretty firm grasp on the business end of my business, and the best tip I can give you is to STAY ORGANIZED! Taxes and paperwork are the nemesis for most small business owners, and several I know miss a ton of deductions because they weren’t organized enough to track their spending. I use this simple, easy system for tracking my receipts and expenses.
First of all, I keep this printable in my planner so that I can write every expense down AS it occurs. I write the month on the green banner, and then I write down every trip to the supply store, every time I pay rent, etc. I use an online program to track my sales, but I prefer to keep my expenses on paper. That’s just the way my brain works! Tip: If you print this at 75%, it will fit into an A5 planner.
My second organizational tool is my receipt organizer. I use a coupon file, and divide it by month. It is small enough to fit in my bag, or keep at work, and easily portable to bring back home. Depending on how many receipts you need to track, you could also use a larger accordion folder. Label each section as to how you want to divide it – whether by month or category, and place your receipts in each section. At the end off the month I staple my receipts to the printable page, and then file.
I used my DYMO LabelWriter 450® for this project. I purchased it in the DYMO LabelWriter 450® Value Bundle, so I have a variety of labels on hand already. This is available online, and in store.
For this project I used the long file labels. To label the tabs by month, I printed a label with each month, and then folded it over the tab.
This little machine is a workhorse in my business, and I use it for everything from organizing my inventory to pricing my products, to printing appointment stickers that my clients can stick right on their calendar!
Its very simple to use. You create the label from the DYMO program on your computer, plug the DYMO LabelWriter 450® into your computer, and print! I love that you can print 1 label at a time, and that this system doesn’t use any ink! It came with 4 different types of labels, and everything I needed to plug it in and get started right away.
Be sure to go check back every week for Staples Daily Deals for special deals on your favorite DYMO LabelWriter® products including DYMO LabelWriter® 450 Bundle, LabelWriter® 450 Turbo, and LabelWriter® 4XL Turbo! What’s the difference? The LabelWriter® 450 Turbo has all the awesome features of the DYMO LabelWriter® 450, but is super fast – it prints 71 labels per minute, and has the ability to print postage right from your computer! You don’t have to mess with entire sheets of labels, you can print the precise quantity you need quickly and easily.
Do you feel a little more organized already? Today I shared how I use my DYMO LabelWriter® 450 Bundle to organize my business. How could you use one?
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