Ch 5. of the Comprehensive Guide for Growing Your Business: Review, Review, Review

Review your financial reports for the year before and make sure that your bookkeeping is organized for the year ahead.

Financial Reports and Statements come into play when you least expect it. It’s important to stay on top of your reports because investors, creditors, and banks look at these to analyze a company’s performance and overall standing. It’s a good rule of thumb to review your statements to ensure accuracy and thoroughness.

Stay organized! We’re still early on in the year and starting off on the right foot can make this your easiest year of bookkeeping yet. Here are some tips we’d thought might help:

• Get a separate bank and credit card accounts for personal and business.
• Dedicate a small amount of your time per week to organize your finances.
• Ditch the paper & declutter- the IRS accepts electronic copies of your receipts.
• Store it in the cloud - you can’t do a quick word search through your physical folder of files!
• Sign up for Quickbooks Online to keep your finances organized and ready for taxes.
• Don’t know what you’re doing? Simply, ask for help from a professional.

I’m Behind on Bookkeeping

Is, “I can’t even right now,” your first reaction when you hear, “bookkeeping?” It’s a heavy chore, we get it. If you’re at a loss of where to even start when you need a Profit & Loss Statement, hire a local bookkeeper for a few hundred dollars per month. They can help keep you organized and prepared for taxes. You can also outsource your bookkeeping to a company like Bench.co who provide bookkeeping experts you can depend on.

Staying on top of paperwork is one of the many keys to success when owning your own business. Double checking, or even triple checking your numbers and financial reports safeguards you and your business from future mishaps when those reports have to come into play again. If you have any suggestions or ideas on what works for you when dealing with reports and statements - we’d love to hear them! Feel free to drop us a line in the Contacts section.

Business Handlr Spotlight: Mrs. Owl's Tutors

Meet Vanessa. She's our Business Spotlight of the week and one of the many, new business owners that just on-boarded her business onto Handlr. Vanessa operates a tutoring business in North County San Diego, and we are so excited to watch her business grow with us. We asked her a couple questions about her journey of starting her business and what inspires her to keep growing.

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Q. How did you start your business?

A. I started my business by saying “Yes” to opportunities. I was a newly credentialed substitute teacher struggling to get a job in a poor job market for San Diego teachers. I had begun tutoring to supplement my income and made the big decision to stop substitute teaching and focus on tutoring. After 3 years, my schedule was packed and I was still getting new student requests so I decided to start Mrs. Owl’s Tutors and bring on like-minded tutors to help me out. Three years later, we continue to grow and I now have a part time office manager and part time office assistant! We have over 50 students now!

Q. What was your biggest struggle in the process?

A. My biggest struggle in the process was and still is balancing the number of tutors and the number of students. At this point I am constantly looking for qualified new tutors to keep up with the student requests. 

Q. What’s one product/business tool you can’t live without?

A. One thing I can’t live without is my office space. I joined a co-working space that is only for female entrepreneurs and business owners, called Hera Hub. It’s an amazing community of strong, intelligent, brave women who support each other. 

Q. What’s your favorite inspirational quote?

A. My favorite inspirational quote for my business is: We “bring an attitude of acceptance and interest.” from Care of the Soul by Thomas Moore. My favorite inspirational quote for myself is: “A heart is not judged by how much you love; but by how much you are loved by others” 
  — L. Frank Baum,  The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

Q. Which historical person do you most look up to?

A. My historical person that I most look up to is Maya Angelou. She is a strong woman who isn’t afraid of being honest. Her words are beautiful and deep reaching. She is the Phenomenal Woman.

Q. If you could be an animal, what would you be and why?

A. If I could be an animal, I would be a tiger. I know, don’t I want to be an owl? That’s my business animal! Frankly, I just would want to be an animal that is at the top of the food chain, I don’t relish the idea of being eaten by a predator.

Q. What does your typical weekday look like?

A. My typical weekday looks like a whirlwind. I am a Stay At Home Mom/ Small Business Owner. I have a 3 month old, Lucas, who (so far) allows me to cram a few hours of work in. So, my day tends to be spent bouncing between taking care of Lucas and taking care of my business. It’s too exhausting to get into specifics. 

Q. How many hours do you spend on marketing, sales, scheduling, employee/contractor management, customer communication, accounting, business development, other?

A. Hours spent on different tasks per week are:

• Marketing – 1-2 hours, word of mouth works best, but we do have a Facebook page, a Yelp page, and a website (www.mrsowlstutors.com).
• Scheduling – Many hours - depending on new students and changes in existing students schedules.
• Tutor Management – 4 hours – I help tutors when they need support, offer materials for them to borrow, and deal with any issues that come up.
• Customer Communication – 3 hours – I check in with new families after their first session, talk with parents about any questions or concerns and take care of any payment questions.
• Accounting – 3 hours – we cross check tutoring sessions to try to avoid incorrect invoices, process payments, etc.
• Business Development – 3 hours

Q. What’s your favorite business hack?

A. My favorite business hack is having other people do the work!

Q. What does your morning routine look like?

A. My morning routine is: Wake up and feed Lucas, put him back to sleep, eat, work for about 2 hours, then feed Lucas again. 

Q. Where do you see your business in 5 years?

A. In five years, I hope to be offering tutoring to families all over San Diego County, if not more!

Q. If you could do anything right now, what would it be and why?

A. If I could do anything right now, I would sleep!

Q. If you could go back and change anything when you first started your business, what would it be and why?

A. I don’t have anything I would go back and change at the start of my business. Starting my own business was scary, but I did it anyway. I appreciate what I’ve learned along the way and I don’t regret those lessons. 

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Thanks Vanessa for a great interview! If you're in the North County San Diego area, book a tutoring session with Mrs. Owl's Tutors on Handlr today! For more information on Mrs. Owl's Tutors, click here.

Handlr Business Spotlight: Hypnotherapy & Wellness with Andrea Squibb

Here at Handlr Headquarters, we're all about networking and making connections between people that will serve beneficially to them. We’re turning the spotlight onto Andrea Squibb with her business practice: Hypnotherapy & Wellness. Hypnotherapy has been a powerful resource for many when it comes to overcoming stress, anxiety, specific disorders, unwanted behaviors and bad habits.

Always up for a new #neverhaveieveradventures, Elaine our Creative Director, and Britt our Founder, both tried personal hypnotherapy sessions with Andrea. Britt described it as one of the most relaxing activities that she has ever tried:

“I was under a lot of pressure with deadlines and couldn’t tap into my creative self, so I told Andrea how I wanted to let go of stressful, negative thoughts. I thought that I was going to be really out of it and that she would make me do strange things, but instead it was much more like guided meditation. It was amazing how Andrea’s calming voice could guide your mind towards visualizing peaceful and self-empowering images. Afterwards I felt light as a feather and was ready to tackle everything.”

We’ve interviewed Andrea to get the low down on how she got started with her business, her tribulations in the process, and what her hopes and dreams are for the future.

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Q: What do you specialize in?

A: I am a Certified Hypnotherapist. I specialize in helping people with anxiety, fears, phobias, insomnia, emotional eating, confidence building and sports performance. I have also helped many people lose weight and quit smoking. In addition, I provide group guided imagery journeys to local corporations and facilities for stress reduction and relaxation purposes.

Q: How long have you been in business?

A: I opened my practice in early 2010.

Q: What areas are you currently servicing and hoping to service in the future?

A: I have offices in Santa Monica and Woodland Hills and also conduct sessions over the phone or internet as needed to clients across the globe.

Q: What makes you different from the competition?

A: I have extensive training and client hours compared to many of my competitors. My sessions are always individually tailored to my client's needs. I also provide individualized recordings for use between sessions. I have a diverse background which allows me to relate to many different types of people. As a singer/songwriter, who also has experience in voice-over work, my clients benefit from my vocal skills, creativity and compassion.

Q: What is your biggest headache when it comes to growing your business?

A: My biggest headache is finding time and worthwhile avenues to market my business to new clients. Luckily many of my client's send referrals but I often get caught up working hard for my current clients and guided imagery groups and run short on time to market my services to clients who have yet to find me. I get bombarded by companies trying to lure me into marketing with them but often find it is not an effective use of funds.

Q:  What is it about Handlr that caught your attention?

A: I was drawn to the personalized attention and customer service I received from the people at Handlr. I also liked the clean, sleek look of the app and site.

Q:  Where do you see your business in 5 years?

A: I can see more people using the online platform in the future for counseling services or stress reduction which will be wonderful for my business. I can also imagine a world where insurance companies begin to allocate funds toward Hypnotherapy as they have done over time with Chiropractic and Acupuncture Services especially for smoking cessation, weight loss or exam anxiety. Helping people in need receive these services seems like a win-win for everyone in my mind.

Live in LA? Book Andrea on Handlr or for more information on Hypnotherapy & Wellness, visit: http://www.hypnotherapyandwellness.com.