Where does the money earned by your home business go? Many work at home moms find that they started out slow, so the money just went into the regular, family account. Then, when the business grew, they just left it at that. However, having a separate business account is a good idea for several reasons.
Less Tempting. When you have the money in your personal account, it´s very easy to say, “Oh, I need a hundred bucks for groceries, I´ll take it from the business amount and put it back later.” Later often doesn´t come and eventually, you lose track of exactly how much is owed to your home business.
Easier to Track. While it is possible to keep excellent records and track your business money within a personal account, it just isn´t that practical. Having a separate home business bank account is easier to keep an eye on.
More Professional. To present a more professional front, it´s far better to have checks that say “Linden Flowers” than “Marie Somebody”. The same goes for when you accept direct payments, a business account will offer more credibility.
Safer. There are always unexpected expenses that pop up and if you are mixing your home business money with your personal cash, you may not leave enough for emergencies, causing bigger problems down the road. If your home business has a separate account that you won´t be touching, that money will be there for those unexpected payments.
There are plenty of reasons to set up a home business bank account. If you plan to be serious about this, then go to the bank and start one now, even if you aren´t really earning much yet.
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Money is often an issue during the holiday season and if you are a work at home mom just getting started in your business, things might be a little tight this month. That doesn´t mean you can´t have tons of Christmas fun, though. Here are 10 tips to help you save money this holiday season.
1. Make a Christmas budget. Decide how much you can afford to spend on gifts and food, etc. Divide it up according to priority and then take the money out and put it into designated envelope. You will also want to divide the gift money into envelopes for each person you plan to give something to. This is a good way to make sure you don´t spend too much on any one person.
2. Have a Christmas decorating party. Send out invitations asking each guest to bring a specific craft item, such as glitter, wired ribbon or paint. Have a variety of craft ideas ready and everyone can work together to produce three or four Christmas decorations. It´s a lot of fun to work together and with everyone chipping in, the ornaments will end up costing less for everyone. You could go with specific decorations if you like, such as a wreath-making party, or a window decor party.
3. Go old-fashioned this Christmas. Get the kids to help you make popcorn strings, paper chains and salt dough ornaments. They cost next to nothing, but are a great way to bond with your kids and get into the Christmas spirit.
4. Limit your decorating to one room. If your living room is the most occupied room in the house, why not limit Christmas to that room and the entry? It saves a lot in decoration costs and you will be able to go all out for that one space.
5. Freeze cookies. If you like to make Christmas cookies, but just don´t have time, so you usually buy them, there is an easy solution. Set aside an afternoon or two for baking and make up three or four batches of each cookie. Then freeze all but a dozen or so. Most cookies keep very well in the freezer and can be thawed in the microwave. This lets you have yummy Christmas cookies all throughout December, without baking every few days.
6. Turn the heat down and put on more clothes. Here in Guatemala, it´s getting a bit chilly, but we don´t have a heater. So we simply put on sweaters and socks. You can do the same thing to save on the heating bill, just turn the heat down to something bearable, like 18º and then have everyone wear a sweater. It may take some getting used to, but you´ll be surprised at how much you can save.
7. Make edible gift baskets. These can be a very elegant gift without costing too much. I find that I give out quite a few edible gift baskets each Christmas to in-laws and friends. You can fill your basket with a variety of tasty homemade goodies, like Christmas cookies, truffles, fudge, hot chocolate mix, etc. Lay some green or red tissue paper inside a cheap straw basket and arrange your goodies in it. Sprinkle with red and white mints or add a few ribbon curls for decoration. Then just wrap in dollar store cellophane for an elegant look, tied with ribbon.
8. Give away some product. Why not use your product as a Christmas gift? You get it wholesale, so it will cost less than a regular product. For example, if you make soaps, why not do up a batch of Christmas tree soaps and give them away as gifts. Include your business tag like normal and you may even get some extra orders when the soaps are used up!
9. Send out Christmas emails instead of cards. You might want to still send out some special cards to family members, but by emailing everyone else on your list you will save up to $5 per person, between postage and the card! An email can include your Christmas photo and a nice letter, but it´s free.
10. Make your own wrapping paper. Kids can help with this. Make potato stamps or buy a few Christmas stamps and stamp out your own designs on butcher paper or newsprint. You can add handwritten greetings if you like, as well. This could save a fortune on wrapping paper! Another option is to use cheap aluminum foil, which looks bright and shiny under the tree, especially with a red ribbon tied around it.
What are your frugal tips for Christmas?
Many work at home moms feel a bit uneasy about asking for money, even though they´ve earned it. If you have a service that you provide, like freelance writing, you really can´t afford not to bill clients. And there´s no point in hoping they will pay you all on their own!
Keep Track
First things first, you should have an agreed on rate at the beginning of the project. Whether you are charging by project or by the hour, or page, it is vital that you keep track of your time and what you spend it on. A simple spreadsheet is perfect for this, Excel works well. You will want to keep track of the date, hours worked and what you did with those hours. This is as much for yourself as for the client. If you charge by the project, this information will help you see if you´re charging enough.
Write an Invoice
There are plenty of invoice templates out there, particularly if you have an accounting program. However, you can also make one up easily enough in Publisher or a similar program. Your company information should be in the upper right corner, with the hiring company´s information below. You will also want payment info, of course. This can be as simple as having the project name with the set cost beside it and marking it as owed.
However, if you are working by the hour or on several smaller projects, you will want something a bit more detailed. In this case, each task should be listed, with the number of hours spent (if billing by the hour) and the total cost for each task and a grand total at the bottom. Make sure that you also include the fee per hour on the invoice.
Online Billing
If you use PayPal, billing is even simpler. Just click on the “Request Money” button and you will be able to fill in the basic information which PayPal will then send to the client. This is a good way to go if you have a client who isn´t interested in paying, since you can later start a dispute in PayPal if they don´t pay up.
Follow Up
What do you do if your client doesn´t pay? If you are using an online service like PayPal, you can open a dispute, which can drop their reputation if they don´t pay, limiting further usage of the service. Most clients will pay up pretty fast if this is the case.
If you are doing things the old fashioned way, it might be a good idea to send a warning letter, but you should talk to a lawyer first to find out what your options are. This is why it is always a good idea to have a contract at the beginning of a project, particularly if it is a large one that requires plenty of hours and large sums of money. I also would get some of the cash up front or after the first task is finished.
For example, when I do a large number of articles for a client, I require them to pay me after every ten articles, to avoid issues down the road.
What do you do with non-paying clients?
