Business Discussions

Most organizations will focus on tangable and material/labor costs, however “Do You Know the Cost of Stress to Your Organization?”  

    What do silver earrings, coconut-oil candles, vintage lamps, Earl Grey soaps and beer-can amps have in common? They are just a handful of the countless products made and sold by some highly creative members of our QB Community. These determined folks have figured out how to turn a simple idea into a bona fide business venture. No one says it was easy (it wasn’t!). Yet each and every one of these entrepreneurs is committed to doing whatever it takes to run, and grow, their own business. Want to learn more about what it takes to turn your inspiration into a product – and then into a sale? Read on. For Eric Szeto, Business Is Sweet -- Just Like His Colorful, Delectable Homemade Macarons Dirk Franklin’s “Drink Daddy” Keeps Drinks in Your Glass, Not on the Grass Jose Estela Found His Groove Hand-Tooling Gorgeous Leather Goods Making Bean-to-Bar Chocolate Connects Karla McNeil-Rueda to Home Amps and Speakers Made From Beer Cans? That’s Music to Adam Wegener’s Ears Beyond Cud

         What do homemade macarons, a drink caddy, leather wallets, ethically-sourced chocolate and beer-can amps have in common? Two things. First, these are all products you’ll find for sale at the QuickBooks Connect Bazaar (November 15-17). Happy shopping, everyone! Second, all these products exist thanks to some highly creative and very determined entrepreneurs. Like so many of you in our QB Community, these folks figured out how to turn a simple idea into a bona fide business. Want to learn more about what it takes to turn your inspiration into a product? Read on! For Eric Szeto, Business Is Sweet -- Just Like His Colorful, Delectable Homemade Macarons Dirk Franklin’s “Drink Daddy” Keeps Drinks in Your Glass, Not on the Grass Jose Estela Found His Groove Hand-Tooling Gorgeous Leather Goods Making Bean-to-Bar Chocolate Connects Karla McNeil-Rueda to Home Amps and Speakers Made From Beer Cans? That’s Music to Adam Wegener’s Ears Beyond Cuddly: Sarah Lin’s

  We know managing expenses may not be your absolute favorite task of the week (or the month … or the year … ). We also know having your books in order helps you cut business costs, lower your tax bill and put more money in your pocket in the long run. In other words, carefully and regularly managing your expenses throughout the year is really, really important.   That’s why we’ve asked two accounting whizzes to help us understand how to track expenses without hassle or heartache – and save gobs of money to boot. Robert Stewart and Ryan Walsh are both self-employed accountants who specialize in helping people who work for themselves. Ready? Here we go!   Tip #1: Embrace accuracy   The single most important part of managing your expenses is knowing exactly where all your money is. Whether you manage your own expenses or rely on a professional accountant, your books should be 100% up-to-date to generate an accurate Profit and Loss (P&L) or Balance Sheet.   R

  When you work for yourself, you get to do a lot of things your way. I’m eternally grateful for this freedom, which I’ve enjoyed for most of my professional life as a writer and editor. In the spirit of thankfulness, today I’m reflecting on what “doing it my way” means to me. This morning I got up in the dark (unusually early for me), pulled on my pink fluffy bathrobe and read the paper at the kitchen table. As my caffeine buzz kicked in, my bathrobe and I commuted to work. My daily commute is 14 steps down a flight of stairs into my office/art studio. Okay, technically it’s my office/art studio/husband’s jam room/son’s bike storage unit/tool shed. It’s also my guest room, if you consider an air mattress on the floor a guest room (I do). Yeah, it’s a busy room. But here’s what I love about my office. First, it’s downstairs, which means I can physically and mentally separate myself from my work. Second, I can let things get as messy as I want. Believe me, I do. Right now, it loo

    When you sell goods or products, establishing a relationship with a trusted, reliable supplier is critically important. But it can be daunting to even find, let alone work with, a vendor who can supply packaging and printed materials or even manufacture the product itself. Fortunately, plenty of folks in this community know what it takes to navigate the sometimes-tricky world of suppliers – and how to build a long and happy relationship in the process.   1. I need a vendor. Now what?   When it comes to running your own business, nothing beats talking with other entrepreneurs to help you solve a problem. That’s certainly true when it comes to finding a supplier. Here’s how Basik Candle Co. founder Travis Troyer puts it:   “I love sharing information and ideas with other business owners. Bouncing ideas off of other ‘makers’ has been one of my biggest resources. For example, I spent months trying to find and source things like high quality, reinforced black c

Some say there's a perfect time to send out invoices so that you get paid easily and on time. For example, send them 10 days to two weeks after service. What's true for you?   Frustrated by Late Payments? Some Tips for Tracking Down Your Dollars   Share what's worked (and what hasn't) in the space below!

Hello I'm new. I've looked all over the website and cannot find a place to introduce myself. I've searched the help and support box but, I cannot find the link to introduce myself. I don't have a desktop. All I have is an Android phone. Can somebody please post the link? Thank you David

Someone once said - "Feedback is the breakfast of champions." Personally, I think that pancakes, crispy bacon and maple syrup are the breakfast of champions. However there's no doubt that giving people feedback is absolutely vital to ensure a motivated team who'll deliver results. One of the top three factors that motivate people at work is - feedback. The majority of people want to know how they're doing at work. They want to know when they're doing well and they want to know when they could be doing better. There are a small minority of people who don't want feedback at all; but let's face it; you don't want these people on your team anyway.   Okay, so I'll accept the fact that many people don't want to hear bad things about their job performance, however it depends on how they hear the bad news that'll effect their motivation at work. I'm sure that you'd want to know whether you were doing your job okay - I'm sure I would.   Like many people, I can be very sensitive to ne

  What do custom gift boxes, Earl Grey soaps, smoked seasoning, women’s athletic wear and funky hats have in common? Two things. First, these are all products you’ll find for sale at the QuickBooks Connect Bazaar (November 15-17). Happy shopping, everyone! Second, all these products exist thanks to some highly creative and very determined entrepreneurs. Like so many of you in our QB Community, these folks figured out how to turn a simple idea into a bona fide business. Want to learn more about what it takes to turn your inspiration into a product? Read on! Joanna Misunas Packs Every Sojourn Box with Love -- and Local Artisanal Delights Alana Rivera Grew Etta + Billie From a Side-Gig to a Full-time, Wholesale Success Kirk Wells Had a “Crazy” Idea for a New Business. Trust Us: It’s Smokin’! Kate Nowlan’s GRACEDBYGRIT Designs Help Empower & Protect Athletic Women Hats Off to Andrew Wickens and His Globally Inspired, Ethically-Sourced Caps    

I learned very early on that small gestures can go a long way.   When I had to work on Saturdays at an office in Japan, I spent some of my own money to bring in food - people appreciated it because otherwise there would have been nothing. At my first restaurant job, the owner always cooked us a meal personally at the end of the day and made sure we all sat down to eat together as a team. I often tried to bring my staff samples of coffee from other stores I visted on my weekends so they would get a better understanding of the industry as a whole and know I was thinking about their growth.   All small costs that had long-term impact. How about you?

  In this Ways to Grow episode, Jim, the owner of Lockjaw Garage, shares the lessons he’s learned about resilience as a small business owner.  His answer to one thing you should know before starting your own business?   “Do it," Jim says. "No matter what.”     What do you think? Just starting out? What questions do you have about how to kick-off your awesome business idea?  Share in the space below :-)  

I'm pretty excited about this - if you've been reading my blog for the past year or if you've read some of my comments and discussions in communities (like QBcommunity), you know that I've been changing the way that I'm doing business. Once you've got your small business off the ground, you want to make it better, more productive, more profitable, more powerful - but often we just keep on doing the same things over and over.   Next Friday (November 17th) I have the opportunity to share what I've learned with entrepreneurs, small business owners and freelancers in Dallas (for more details click on the Link to my Website link in my profile). There are four priorities that an excellent business needs to have -according to Horst Schulze, the former CEO of the Ritz-Carlton:1) Keep your current customers  I'll share how this -the most important priority- is also the easiest to achieve since it's the little things that matter. If you care about you

    You might know Leslie Barber as one of the fearless leaders of our QB Community. But in a previous life, she was the equally fearless leader of NutraBella and Bellybar. When Leslie and her cofounder set out to make a nutritious, delicious snack bar fortified with vitamins and minerals for pregnant women, neither anticipated how challenging it would be to find a food manufacturer who would work with them. Nor did they realize how complex it would be to successfully manage the supplier relationship.   By Leslie’s own admission, figuring out the supplier piece of her entrepreneurial puzzle was perhaps the hardest part of running her own business. Here, Leslie tells us what the experience was like, and what she learned along the way.   You needed to find a supplier. How did you start the process?   I knew it was going to be particularly difficult breaking into the food industry. If you’re not one of the leading bar companies, there aren’t a lot of options for

  If your business model involves selling a product of any kind – from homemade soaps and custom gift boxes to baked goods or an entirely original invention – you know how important it is to have a great working relationship with a reliable supplier.   After all, your dealings with the vendors who keep you stocked with packaging (think clear plastic bottles, black matte wrapping paper and gold-flecked ribbon) and raw materials (fragrance for skin care, keys for security solutions, smoked almonds for your specialty box) are really important.   Sure, you need customers to buy what you’re selling. But in order to have a product they can purchase, first you need the right supplier. (Worth noting: you may need a whole lot more from a vendor than labels and stickers. For example, if you’ve built a prototype for a product, you might be looking for everything from design services and custom tooling to manufacturing and shipping, too.)   Here, we take a look at some of the

I just started my business and it’s a bit overwhelming for me. Do you have a mentor? I know that there are specific places out there where you can get mentors for free but I find that sometimes I have a question that can be answered by a mentor, I end up talking to that mentor once and then never contacting them again.

...It feels like a small way I can give back." -- Travis Troyer, Basik Candle Co.   Read more about Travis Troyer here in this QB Community profile:   Travis Troyer Ditched His 9-5 for an Entirely Different Ball of Wax: Hand-Crafted, Luxury Candles   How do *you* give back? 

More on invoicing and how to speed up the process of getting paid can be found in these great articles:  The Mighty Invoice: How to Put this Powerful Tool to Work Make Every Invoice Work Faster and Better Than Ever Before  

"Do you consult?" the potential client asks me on the phone this morning. Of course, I do, that's part of the service I offer, but I'm thinking about helping a business figure out what kind of photography and videos they need and then working closely together with them to create the visual content. "No - can you teach me how to light my products so I can photograph them myself," says the voice on the phone.  What do you do, if someone asks you to teach them how to do the job that they would typically hire you for. And if you do how much do you charge for that?

    What do kids’ clothing, silver earrings, coconut-oil candles, vintage lamps and high-tech building blocks have in common? Two things. First, these are all products you’ll find for sale at the QuickBooks Connect Bazaar (November 15-17). Happy shopping, everyone! Second, all these products exist thanks to some highly creative and very determined entrepreneurs. Like so many of you in our QB Community, these folks figured out how to turn a simple idea into a bona fide business. Want to learn more about what it takes to turn your inspiration into a product? Read on! Carly Patterson Built an Eco-Conscious Clothing Line for Kids, One Stitch at a Time April Hall’s Handcrafted Jewelry Is Gorgeous, and Generous, By Design Travis Troyer Ditched His 9-5 for an Entirely Different Ball of Wax: Hand-Crafted, Luxury Candles Luke Hobbs Lights Up the World with His Handcrafted, Industrial-Style Vintage Lamps Joe Seymour’s Light Bulb Moment? Building Blocks That Teach Kids About Electroni

Just in case people still needed a gift idea and wanted to help our recovering economy - December is upon us!   A friend of mine (Mirit Cohen) is an awesome chef based in the Bay Area who put together this guide "How to Buy Wine From Fire-Impacted Wineries : F&B Businesses" (attached to post). It provides a plethora of information including names of affected businesses, the extent their businesses were affected by the fire, statements about the disaster, and their plans for rebuilding.    @BillJohnston asked about recovery efforts a few weeks ago (Recovering From a Disaster). Hoping this can in some small way start connecting folks directly.    As a native from the area, I'm really thankful Mirit put so much effort into this. I've been trying to buy products from the region as much as possible to help the local economy as it begins to rebuild. Now I can contribute and have something to bring my family for Thanksgiving.   Hope the best for any and

Hi my name is Steve Chase and I am just starting my bookkeeping practice. I'd like to hear from other bookkeepers on how you plan on billing your next client. Forget about the past, if I came to you today and was needing you to do my QBO bank reconciliations and show me my P&L each month how would propose your fees to me? "Growing Your Business"... is the purpose of this discussion. Lets create a healthy debate on the merits of hourly billing vs value based billing.

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    We’ve already shared some tips and strategies for super-charging your invoices to help you get paid faster, strengthen your brand presence and keep you top of mind when clients need to get a job done. Today we’re taking an even closer look at how you create, send and follow-up on every invoice. Do it right, and you’ll realize your humble invoice is, in fact, one of the most powerful tools at your disposal.   Let’s start at the very beginning (a very good place to start)   Clean, clear and consistent. Your invoices should be clearly organized and thoughtfully designed with easy-to-read fonts and colors. Your contact information and payment terms (more on this below), as well as your logo or business name should be obvious, even at a glance.   If you’re not already creating invoices using an automated template, consider switching to one, pronto. (Good news is almost every financial management platform offers a variety of templates to choose from.) The more p

Mentor? Spouse? Friend? Accountant? Yourself?