There are many quotes that people take inspiration from, the one that I particularly like is:

“Don’t put off until tomorrow what can be done today”

Running a your own business can be very hectic, especially if you combine it with a full-time job. It’s very easy for the admin side of the business to be neglected in favour of making those all important sales. But putting off what could take half an hour  today until tomorrow will then become an hour when tomorrow’s work is added on to it. As you then struggle to remember what happened on day 1, the time taken to sort out all these little annoying admin tasks spirals out of control. As my mother says ‘Tomorrow never comes’.

The task which is put on the back-burner most often is the book-keeping side of things. You will know in your head how the business is going, but it’s essential to make sure that your records are updated each time a transaction occurs. It’s easy to forget that a payment needs to be made, or an invoice to be processed if you keep putting things off.

If you really hate doing the books, or would like some extra help, contact someone who enjoys being involved with the financial side of business. I recently read this article which explains the benefits to a small business of having someone to help them with their book-keeping.

Each night when you leave the office, make sure that everything is up to date. It may only take 5 minutes to do that filing, but what happens if something out of the ordinary occurs tomorrow morning? You’ll already be behind with things before you’ve started.