Starting something new

It's the time for new beginnings. For being brave and trying something new. Following your dreams and putting a plan together for your future. 

Yes ok, so maybe your gym membership might not get as much use as you'd like. Chocolate and beer might stay off the menu until the end of Jan (but life's too short to deny yourself, right?). You may not end up moving to New Zealand like you'd dreamed of in the haze of Christmas puddings and Auntie Meg's sherry trifle.

But if your new years resolution involves taking your first steps into self-employment, here are a few tips to get you started on the right foot with your admin and accounts. So, hopefully it'll be more successful than your attempt to train for a marathon.

Start as you mean to go on...

It might seem like overkill to invest in software to do your accounts when you first start out. Excel will do the trick, won't it? Well, technically yes. But I can tell you from experience, it's not always that simple. Picture the scene... your business is growing and you're busier than you ever imagined! Now is the time that you need to streamline your admin so it's not such a headache, and start looking at your numbers so you can budget for that tax bill. So you can take a day or two out to learn new software and set it up, can't you. All whilst marketing your business, servicing clients and just dealing with life in general. Maybe not... Get it sorted while you've still got the time. And with some options available for free, and the heavy hitters like Quickbooks and Xero available from as little as £2/month, why wouldn't you?

Keep everything

Us number geeks are a bit like detectives... we are brilliant at finding clues and finding out the truth, and we're obsessed with evidence. And so are HMRC. They love proof. Of everything. So do yourself (and us!) a favour and keep all your receipts. Have a regular clear out and allocate a dumping space for all of your bits of paper. Emails? Download the attachments and save them in one place all together. It's so tempting to rest easy, knowing that you've got the email somewhere, but try finding it in a hurry and you'll find it's not so much fun after all...

Don't listen to the bloke down the pub

We've all met him. Or sometimes her. The one who's got the flash car, buys the drinks and tells everyone it's going through the business. He gets away with it, so you can too, right? Wrong. One thing I guarantee he'll never tell you is how enormous his tax bill was. Because any accountant worth their money will be filtering all that stuff out. These guys always get into trouble eventually. If you can't afford to pay someone who knows their stuff, do your research and above all else, be careful not to take the Michael.

Be strict

Yeah I know I probably sound like I'm nagging, but in a similar vein to my first point, start setting aside time to keep on top of your admin. I don't care when. Just have that time set aside. And be strict with yourself. There is nothing worse than sitting at your laptop late at night, minutes away from the submission deadline, desperately trying to remember what you spend £7.95 on at B&Q 18 months ago. People lose money every day just by being disorganised. Don't be one of them. 

Ask why?

Anyone who's been at this for a while will be able to tell you their reason why. Maybe it's because you hate being micro managed. Maybe you want to build a better future for your kids. Maybe you just want to be more in control of your own time. Whatever it is, keep going back to it. Make sure that the decisions you make and the paths that you follow are all leading you towards your reason why. Then, on your bad days, the stress will seem worth it, because the payoff is exactly what you've always wanted.

Listen to your gut

No, I don't mean go and get a sandwich. You know what I mean. Intuition. Gut feel. Instinct. Call it what you like. We all have it and one of the hardest lessons I had to learn was to trust it. It's ok to say no to a client if you feel like something's a bit dodge. Your gut will never let you down. Unless it's late at night, you've had a drink and you're passing a kebab van. Maybe then it might be a bit ropey.

Keep an open mind

One of the best pieces of advice I was given when I started out was to keep an open mind about opportunities that present themselves along the way. Don't be solely focussed on one path. There are so many ways that things can twist and turn, and it can be exciting so go off on a tangent and explore a second income stream that compliments your core business. Just remember your reason why and listen to your gut.  

Hopefully these will help if you're just setting out in the world of self-employment.

If you've been on this path for a while, what tips would you add?

Laters!