I find creativity comes easy, the day to day elements of running a business I don’t.
There’s a bunch of software out there that promises to help you keep track of your business.
I’ve tried a lot of it but to be honest I think all of them are limited to some degree. The best way to keep my eye on everything is really simple. I use a spreadsheet.
My spreadsheet is divided into the following key aspects of my business
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Incoming jobs, leads and quotes
Work in progress
Finalising jobs
Invoicing
Expenses
Key performance indicators
There are probably a few other things that I could put on my spreadsheet but this covers everything and if I am diligent in observing this “bible” for my business things usually run quite smoothly.
Sometime recently I stopped using it. This was because I started using accounting software and I thought this would be enough. The accounting software is great, but things started to get a little inconsistent. As soon as I reignited my spreadsheet bible… things got back on track.
I think there is something really helpful in developing your own system to keep track of it all.