Episode 1
Planning-
a-get a goal based on your needs and wants--not sure what to list for your wants? Talk to your family and they will surely give you some ideas. Not sure what to list for needs? Look at last two years of expenses and average them. housing + lodging+ food+ utils+ insurance+
b-be sure to write it down. I strongly suggest using an excel spread sheet, but paper and pencil is fine also
c-Consider breaking your annual goal into smaller quarterly goals, book idea the twelve week year. Advantages are that you do not get lost in the distant ending of the year from now. You can also adjust as you go.
The 12 Week Yearby Brian P. Moran (Author), Michael Lennington (Author)
d-know your expenses, your financial needs, MLS dues, Realtor Dues, key fees, advertising expenses. I am sorry to say, but this is called budgeting. Ugly word that no one likes. But if nothing else look at your last 2 years of taxes and especially at your Schedule C. Take the average of those expenses and plan your budget for the next year.
Execution
a-if you have reasonable goals and expectations your goal should be achievable in modest routine steps through out the year. You should have monthly goals (1/12 of annual or 1/3 of quarterly)
b-And those tasks and expenses can be divided into weekly and even daily tasks. USE GOOGLE Calendar for tracking your due dates for business expenses (color code them to schedule C) All advertising might be red, dues could be green, etc.
c-separate spending into personal and business. Though not required, it makes tracking much simpler at tax time and any time you want to analyhttps://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040sc.pdfze either personal or business. I suggest a separate business credit card, checking and savings account.
d.-plan expenses ahead, document them, and be able to prove the expenses are justifiable business expenses. Know your schedule C categories. See attached and also the link to IRS instructions. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040sc.pdf
Strategy
a-If you commit to tracking, you can work a strategy into place. Track results to watch expenses, using an app or a simple spreadsheet. Old school? No prob, just use a notepad.
Apps are BizXpenseTracker, Shoeboxed, Expensify, Foreceipt
b-tracking will allow you to identify what works and what is not working so you can fine tune, reallocate, and improve. Look for patterns, make connections, fix what needs fixing and dump the rest. Do not obsess over small abnormalities, especially if you know the root cause (ie. lost your phone and had to replace it for a big expense) that is not likely to occur again soon. Pay more attention to the routine day to day, month by month patterns.
c-cancel old subscriptions to websites, clubs, services you do not use or that were not helping. Call and negotiate terms on existing ones you want to keep, look for c
Published on 6 years ago
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