By Miranda Marquit

One of the toughest things for me to get used to, in terms of running a home business, has been the fact that there needs to be separation between my business finances and my personal finances. This became painfully clear when I talked to an accountant about transforming my home business from a sole proprietorship into an LLC.

He was shocked – shocked! – at how deposits to my bank account mixed checks from clients with cash birthday presents. I had to get itemized records from the bank (at a cost, mind you) to show the breakdown so that we could “prove” which items were for business, and which were personal.

Then he had me set up a business bank account. My money from freelancing goes into the business account. Then I write a check to myself or my husband (who is my partner in the LLC) as a “distribution.” I try and keep some money in the business account, though, so that on the rare occasions that I make a purchase I can use my business debit card.

It’s kind of a pain, but this year my taxes were much less messy, since it was easy to pick out business expenses and income from my personal finances. And it meant that I could deduct more, since now I only use business type things in connection with my business. (If you use something personally, it can’t be deducted.)

At any rate, no matter your home business, it is important to keep things – whether it is income, debt or expenses – separate. Besides making your taxes easier, having a business account also adds an element of legitimacy to your home business.

Miranda Marquit writes about personal finances for Yielding Wealth, and about debt consolidation for Destroy Debt.

© Image courtesy of Yvonne Russell at Grow Your Writing Business.com

HomeBizNotes.com

By Jean Murray

If you want your home business to succeed, there are only two things you need to do:

1. Find customers/clients
2. Get them to pay you.

There are lots of reasons why people don’t pay:

• They don’t have the money
• They don’t have the money today
• They don’t think you’re worth it
• They don’t think the price is fair
• They think if they don’t pay, you’ll forget about them (LOL!)

I’ve developed some tips for getting paid and wanted to share them with you:

1. Establish a process. Decide as you start your home-based business how you will handle payments. Write up a payment policy. Include processes for billing and collections.

2. Get paid up front. Ask for at least half in advance before you begin a project. Tell the person you will cheerfully refund the money if they are not satisfied. (Then do it.)

3. Follow up. Don’t be afraid to keep after people about bills. Start out with friendly in-person (or over-the-phone) reminders. Put the reminders in writing; it’s good evidence if you have to take someone to court. If you aren’t comfortable talking with people about payments, find someone to be your “collections department.”

Jean Murray is a b5 blogger at Small Business Boomers. She also blogs at The Thriving Writer where there are more tips for freelancers. Find out more about Jean.

© Image courtesy of Yvonne Russell at Grow Your Writing Business.com

Yes, it’s true. Head along to your favorite Ben & Jerry’s store and get a free icecream today. Ben & Jerry’s are celebrating 30 years in business.

Ben & Jerry’s do things with a flair for fun. It’s part of their branding. They’ve been known to sponsor wacky events such as The World Bog Snorkelling Championships in Wales.

While your business brand may not run to wacky, taking the opportunity to run with a special event or celebration is a great way to create buzz. It’s also a great chance for free publicity (as this blog post demonstrates).

If you’re looking for an excuse to celebrate, here’s a fun site with special days – serious ones and some wildly wacky ones too.

Does this seem familiar?

You’re guaranteed to find great tips and food for thought at Biz Chicks Rule.

Two of my favorite bloggers Kristen King at Bridget Wright make a dynamic team. Their tongue in cheek slogan “Who Says It’s A Man’s World?” sets the scene for what you can expect at their site.

Kristen and Bridget say

Women have been making waves in business and economics for decades. Biz Chicks Rule is all about celebrating and supporting that success. Look for advice, resources, reviews, and humor – dedicated to helping women succeed in the business world.

One of things I enjoy about visiting Biz Chicks Rule is that these women’s personalities shine through. And they’re not afraid of a bit of controversy. In fact, I suspect they love to stir things up a little to get us thinking and to provoke discussion. And that’s a good thing.

Kristen and Bridget have developed a real sense of community at Biz Chicks Rule along with informative and interesting content.

Recent posts I enjoyed include
Memo To PR People & Publicists: Stop Being So Dumb & Do Your Flipping Job
Curves Franchise For Women: Who Would Buy THAT?

Head on over and check it out for yourself – a great resource for all women in business, including home business owners.

HomeBizNotes.com

By Thursday Bram

Many of us choose to work from home because we want to run our own businesses, avoid the stress of the office or create a more flexible schedule. Very few of us work at home to entirely avoid people. If we aren’t careful, that’s just what we end up doing, though. But most of us have businesses that allow us to work from other places, at least part of the time.

If your business just relies on having internet access, coffee shops, libraries and even some fast food joints offer wireless internet. Most libraries also have computers you can use. Many individuals who work out of the home are actually creating groups to work together (co-working).

Some groups have grown large enough, like Independents Hall (indyhall.org) to rent office space — each person who wants to use a portion of the space pays a portion of the rent. Co-working is much more affordable than renting out an office on your own.

Even if the majority of your work requires you to be home, most businesses have certain tasks that can be done anywhere. For instance, if you need to plan out the next phase of your marketing plan or outline a new project, you may be able to do that with nothing more than a pen and a piece of paper. With those tools, you can work from the park, a restaurant — even on the road, if you want.

Thursday Bram is a freelance writer and blogger. You can read her work at One Vote Matters here at b5 media or on her personal site ThursdayBram.com.

© Image courtesy of Yvonne Russell at Grow Your Writing Business.com

HomeBizNotes.com

In my ongoing effort to tame my email overload, I’ve had a lot of success with setting up rules for my incoming emails. This tutorial for Outlook Express is a good starting point.

So the Google Alerts for home business automatically go into one folder. They never actually hit my inbox. The PayPal payment notifications when clients pay me go into another folder. Emails from a colleague I work with go to yet another folder and so on.

Emails from clients I am working with stay in the inbox, so I can check on their urgency.

© Image courtesy of Yvonne Russell at Grow Your Writing Business.com

Eliza Ferree at Baby Lune writes about two blogs with similar names – Momologue vs Mamalogues.

Mamalogues trademarked her name in 2004. A trademark is different to registering a business name.

The trademark give the owner of Mamalogues the right to use the name in the same way as Coca Cola owns the trademark to that name. If a store wanted to open up and call themselves e.g. Bloomingdales, they would find themselves with a lawsuit on their hands, as they would be infringing an original trademark.

Even a variation could be an infringement which is what is being argued in the Momologue vs Mamalogues to and fro being played out amid plenty of media and blog coverage.

While I’m not an attorney, I do know that not researching your name before you start up is crazy. I heard of one start up which paid thousands in marketing materials, business cards and the like only to find that someone else had already registered the business name they wanted to use.

It will be interesting to follow the Momologue vs Mamalogues discussion.

Do you own your business name? Are you sure?
What are your thoughts on the Mamalogues vs Momologue discussion?

© Image courtesy of Yvonne Russell at Grow Your Writing Business.com

HomeBizNotes.com

There’s something about actually writing things down, that makes it all click for me. I have lists and lists, and then some more. The lists themselves aren’t so important. It’s more the writing process itself that seems to focus me.

That’s what made me decide to buy a large whiteboard for my home office wall. It’s huge and I can’t wait to get started. After trying various online productivity tools to manage the editorial calendar I use for my freelance writing, I decided on the whiteboard.

How About You?

• How do you organize your work tasks and calendars?
• Do you use online tools or pen and paper?
• Do you like to actually write things down on paper?
• Tell us about it

Of course you can have too much paper (partly the reason for the whiteboard) and then your desk might look like this.

HomeBizNotes.com

 When I was growing up on a dairy farm, the sons and daughters learned about their parents’ work from an early age.  We became involved as soon as we could do some chores and were expected to help with the family enterprise.

When my mom began operating a small country grocery store when I was in my teens, she expected my sister and me to help her.  Families worked together, pulled together, shared joys and challenges.

If a parent works outside the home, it’s more difficult for youngsters to know what Mom and Dad do.  Thus a national day for bringing your children to work has been instituted so youngsters can learn more about their parent(s)’ work and workplace.

Home Business Parents Share With Youngsters

However, when you work at home, your children don’t need a special day to find out what Mom and Dad do.  You often can include them in your work.  Perhaps they will become business partners as they grow older, start their own home based businesses, or simply have the entrepreneurial spirit instilled.

When you’re working from home and juggling schedules with children, parents learn to be creative.  From the very beginning, when our daughter was small, she was around my work, which started with dressmaking and freelance writing.  In fact, I did the dressmaking (later evolving into quiltmaking) because I could be a stay-at-home-mom.

“Me sew,” 3-year old Beth would say.  So I’d lay fabric scraps on a TV tray for her.  She sat and pretended to sew, too.  Later she became involved in my quiltmaking and is a superb quilter and fabric artist today.  (See her Meandering Threads blog.)

My husband and his brother owned a business, and Jim often took Beth with him when he delivered machinery.  One day, when Beth was an adult, he remarked he regretted he hadn’t had more time to spend with her when she was a child.

“But, Dad,” she remarked, “you took me with you in the truck.  I thought that was so much fun.  Other kids didn’t get to do that.”

When I was a travel writer, Beth often accompanied me on assignments and took the photos.  She traveled to England as an exchange student, took notes and photos, and we wrote the stories when she returned.

So incorporating your youngsters in the day-to-day activities of your home business develops a bond, teaches them skills, and creates memories.

Share with us how you “take your children to work” at your home business!

(c)2008 Mary Emma Allen