Although summer is a time for leisure and relaxation for many, it can also be the busiest season for many independent contractors. Keeping up with the duties of the busy season may make operating a company much more difficult and lead less critical obligations, such as paperwork and marketing, to slip between the cracks. But, losing track of apparently little things might lead to huge issues later on. Thankfully, a few proactive behaviors are all you need to stay organized and productive. As the end of the summer approaches, here are some organizing ideas for independent contractors to keep in mind.
What you’ll discover:
Are you up to date on your documentation and recordkeeping?
Are your expenditures, expenses, and deductions optimized?
Have you begun preparing your contracts with your frequent clients for next year?
Have you gone through your summer marketing strategy?
Have you planned your trip yet?
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Are you up to date on your documentation and recordkeeping?
Documentation and recordkeeping might be among the most time-consuming aspects of operating your own company, but they are critical to its success. To remain on top of things, use these strategies.
Control both physical and digital clutter. Even in today’s digital era, the documentation needed to manage a company may rapidly pile up. A stack of papers on your desk or table looks messy and unprofessional, takes up work space, and has the potential to overwhelm and discourage you every time you look at it. The same may be said for an inbox stuffed with thousands of unread or unstructured emails. Worse, wading through piles when you need a certain receipt or contract wastes important time and makes tax season a real nightmare—especially if you are audited.
Spend the time up front to set up and maintain your physical and digital file systems. There are several methods for handling papers and documents, many of which are low-cost or even free. Your company filing system should contain the following at a minimum:
A physical inbox for paper messages and documents that have yet to be processed.
A digital mailbox where you may store unprocessed digital messages and documents.
A physical file system for storing vital paper documents for your company in an easily accessible way.
A digital file or folder system for organizing and storing digital documents.
Knowing that your company’s documentation is in excellent order and available for examination at any time may give you peace of mind and make you more confident, productive, and, ultimately, successful.
Maintain a daily administrative schedule. Set aside some time each day to administer your systems once they are in place. At that time, collect all of your new physical records and place them in your physical inbox; if your digital records aren’t already in your email inbox, do the same. Then, go over each one step by step. Reply to emails, delete or discard junk mail, and pay bills. Add bigger tasks produced by communications to your to-do list or timetable, such as finishing a new project. Most crucially, file records that must be preserved in the proper spot. Anything else should be deleted or discarded. At the conclusion of your routine, your inboxes should be empty.
Consider hiring assistance. If your company has expanded to the point where it requires more than a few minutes of paperwork and recordkeeping every day, you should seriously consider hiring assistance. You may be cautious to add additional expenditure to your overhead expenses, particularly if it is something you can accomplish yourself. But keep in mind the potential expenses. Your most important asset is your time, and every minute spent doing anything is a minute spent not doing something else. Assume you charge $150 per hour for consultation and spend an hour every day on paperwork. Employing someone to handle the paperwork for $50 per hour would enable you to spend that additional hour consulting, earning you $100.
Are your expenditures, expenses, and deductions optimized?
Good contractors understand where their money comes from, where it goes, and what it does for them. Use these guidelines to make the most of your money:
As much of your company procedures as feasible should be digitized and automated.
Invest in accounting software and make it a part of your daily routine to check and update it.
Analyze the tax breaks you will most likely claim. Make physical and digital folders for records pertaining to such deductions
Separate bank accounts should be kept for business and personal costs and revenue. Most major banks allow you to swiftly and simply create and manage numerous accounts.
Give yourself a consistent income or commission. Save away a regular amount, often 25 to 30% of your salary, to meet income and Social Security taxes.
Take into account incorporation. As a company expands, it is a good idea to create a formal corporate structure to protect yourself from responsibility and to guarantee your organization is ready to develop to its maximum potential.
Have you begun preparing your contracts with your frequent clients for next year?
A strong company depends on repeat consumers. It is never too early to consider how to build, maintain, and even grow such ties. The end of summer might be an excellent time to examine your present contracts and start planning your stable revenue stream for the next year. Consider the following inquiries:
Which of your clients is likely to need comparable services next year? Customers who have been pleased with your work and with whom you have a good working connection should get extra attention. These consumers will not only be the most likely to renew their contracts with you, but they will also keep you feeling energetic and successful, and they may suggest you to others.
Do you need to change your services or offers to better satisfy the demands of these customers? Consider researching market trends and concerns impacting your clients’ industry. The COVID-19 epidemic, for example, produced a large need for remote work and meeting opportunities. Convey your desire to better fulfill the requirements of your customer and ask honest input on how you might do so.
How can you strengthen your bonds with your top customers who conduct similar or related work? A customer who appreciated your efforts in preparing her company’s annual summer vacation may be willing to let you handle this year’s winter charity drive. If you provide services throughout the off-season, make sure your clientele are aware of what else you provide.
Have you gone through your summer marketing strategy?
Developing a marketing strategy is a wonderful method to expand your company throughout the summer. Yet, if you design a strategy and then abandon it, it will not drive growth. Changing your strategy before the conclusion of the summer season might help you finish stronger or save money.
Set aside some time to go through your strategy and compare where you are now to where you expected to be at this stage. How many of your planned campaigns have you carried out? How many of your regular customers have sent you comments or reviews online? Have you modified your marketing materials to capitalize on seasonal and holiday themes? Even if you haven’t fulfilled all of your marketing objectives, there is still time to make up the difference between now and the conclusion of the season. Try a summer sale or a back-to-school social media campaign to offer your company a sales boost before the holidays.
Have you planned your trip yet?
As a contractor, you understand the value of time better than others. The desire to succeed, along with the never-ending list of chores produced by owning your own firm, may drive many contractors to exhaustion. Yet, such method is unsustainable. Apart from lowering your quality of life, weariness and burnout will reduce your productivity and, ultimately, your company. Independent freelancers must plan their own frequent breaks and holidays in order to relax and rejuvenate. A planned vacation might offer you something to look forward to at the conclusion of your hectic season, and you don’t even have to travel anywhere. Just taking some time off may do wonders for a person.
If time and money, or COVID-19, are an issue, try a “staycation,” in which you take time away from work to reconnect with friends and family or participate in things you like, such as hobbies. Make a vow to avoid doing any work—email, accounting, or phone calls—except in emergencies, whether you’re at home or at a lovely place. You will return revitalized and eager to expand your company and prepare for the next busy season.
