In the previous post we jotted down a list of expenses to start you off. Below, Neil, Leslie, Stefan, Jay and Cat talk about the practicalities of the money side of business.

Neil’s into numbers

During my office era, we had our accountant do everything. We focused on the business of design. Our accountant focused on crunching numbers. When we set the business up, one of the first things we did was start a relationship with a bank and set up a separate business account.

Today, I’m a one-man show and do my bookkeeping with QuickBooks Pro. It’s easy and I can generate all sorts of reports, do my invoicing, time sheets and such. Come tax time, I run out the general ledger, profit and loss statements, etc and my accountant takes it from there.

Neil (nt) Tortorella | Marketing Manager
Tortorella Design | The Marketing Mind | Creative Latitude | BoDo Team | Marketing Minute

Stefan’s into services

When I looked at the fact that the time I spend doing my own payroll amounts to quite a bit of non-billable hours, the choice for me was really pretty simple. Since we are a smaller firm, payroll services are really inexpensive and they’ll even take care of sending the taxes.

However, we do have an accountant that handles our year end tax preparation and will help with reconciling the account as well as any taxes associated with business income. Other than that, I still manage my own payables and receivables using Quickbooks.

Stefan Bean | President/Creative Director
Pulse Creative Partners, Inc. | BoDo Author | Bean’s Biz

Leslie recommends accountants

I have separate accounts and I do my own bookkeeping, but I have a background in it. I use QuickBooks and I recommend it to others. I also recommend getting a good accountant. They can save you loads of money–much more than they cost. If a creative simply will not follow this advice, I recommend TurboTax for tax preparation (it integrates well with QB and is relatively easy to use).

Also, I firmly believe that a creative should spend as much of her/his time doing what s/he does best, not screwing around with stuff they aren’t so good at, with the intention of saving money. An accountant and a bookkeeper are great tools to help a creative be creative and not get bogged down with stuff s/he doesn’t do well.

Leslie Burns-Dell’Acqua | Creative/Marketing Consultant & Coach
Burns Auto Parts–Consultants | Burns Auto Parts blog | Podcast | Book

Jay minds her own business

Putting time aside to get through the administration tasks is vital for every business owner. Even if you hire staff to take the drudgery off your hands, you have to know how your profitability and cash flow are going at any time.

I use MYOB for my accounts: It has all the features I need and my accountant imports the end of year file straight into their software. At least once a fortnight, I make sure my accounts are up to date and everything in my red tray (the repository of all my paperwork) is processed and filed away.

My diary has all the important dates: payment and document lodgment dates clearly marked with leadup reminders for those that need me to do some preparation.

Jeanette (jay) Wickham | Systems Manager
FastCoconut.com | NO!SPEC | BoDo Team | Ask jay

Then there’s a Cat in a box

I started out with a box.
When the box was full,
it was time to get a new box,
a bigger box,
or handle the accounts.

Kidding.

I’m pretty bad at money management. Luckily, along with my “if you don’t have it don’t spend it” policy, I have a “if you don’t have the mindset, hire someone who can” philosophy.

When I got to the point where the stress of keeping up with designing, clients, staff, marketing, accounts, etc., was overwhelming, I knew I had to do something creative. I paid to have an employee trained on MYOB. Problem solved. Mostly.

Catherine (cat) Morley | Project Manager
Creative Latitude | NO!SPEC | Katz-i | FastCoconut.com | BoDo team

The recap of the Starting Out and Setting Up Series is on Friday. YEAH! It’s over! [dancing a jig here] Apologies. We’ll stop screwing around and get on with an introduction to the second Ask jay, where she also deals with the money issue.

Until then,
The BoDo Team
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On Monday we had Where’s the Money, Honey? And we’re betting you thought that was that on the subject. Problem is, dealing with money in business never ends. There’s budgets, taxes, and, did we say taxes?

Determining how much it will take

How do you know how much money you’ll need to start up? Easy. Draft a budget. Okay … maybe not so easy, but you’ve got to start somewhere. Fire up your spreadsheet software of choice and start crunching numbers. It might not be a pleasant chore, but it’s a necessary one.

Start by making yet another list

• Target salary (be realistic)
• Rent, or house payment (or percentage)
• Auto expenses (include petrol and upkeep)
• Furniture payment or rental
• Accounting fees
• Insurance
• Legal fees
• Taxes
• Loan payments
• Bank charges
• Computer payments
• Software and upgrades
• Dues and subscriptions
• Reference books
• Internet charges
• Marketing expenses
• Office supplies
• Postage
• Telephone
• Utilities
• Travel

Digital spreadsheets enable you to play with numbers. They also force you to take a realistic view of your situation.

It’s a good idea to draft pro-forma (projected) budgets for three and five years. In that mix goes projected revenue and additional expenses.

If you are not confident in your abilities when it comes to business accounting, one way to improve is by taking a short course at your local college, government funded business start-up group, or Chamber of Commerce. If you learn best on your own, check out what’s available at your local bookstore, or at an online bookstore such as amazon.com.

The Internet has hundreds of online courses on offer. Some free, some for a small fee. Although we don’t have the time now, we’ll get into those at a later time. Promise.

Next up, the BoDo team, visiting authors and guests will share how they’ve handled the money aspects of running a design business.

Until then,
The BoDo Team
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We’ve just presented a list of equipment and supplies needed for a new start-up. Below you’ll read how dinosaurs and younger were equipped.

Neil’s equipped

I stated my business before the computer age. As such, equipment needs were significantly different. I started out with a drafting table, my trusty T-square, some triangles, an X-Acto knife and some layout pads. In those days, it didn’t cost nearly as much to start out as it does today. The office area had the usual stuff – desks, phones, paper clips, etc.

Once we got into the outside office, we needed some more stuff. We bought our first computer, a Radio Shack deal, and a printer. We also bought a really neat new thing that had just hit the market … a fax machine. (How old am I?) I bought it because we needed to get a proposal out quickly to a client in another state and we didn’t even have time to overnight it. By the way, we got the gig and it more than paid for the fax machine.

As for leasing, borrowing and begging, I did set up a $15,000 line of credit that we used occasionally to cover overhead when cash flow went slow. We also leased a car and had an American Express account for the business. We did a lot of travel back then and AMX helped us keep all those expenses under control.

A few years into the business (second office era) we bought another computer. It was a PC with something like Windows 1.0 on it. We also bought a postscript printer. The cost? Just a bit over ten grand for the lot. We used it for project management, typesetting (PageMaker 1.0), typing copy to go to the type house … and playing silly games. We were even online via CompuServe (pre-AOL). We used that to make travel reservations and communicate with the type house.

Neil (nt) Tortorella | Marketing Manager
Tortorella Design | The Marketing Mind | Creative Latitude | BoDo Team | Marketing Minute

Leslie’s steady

For my business, I didn’t need anything more than a computer, the Internet, and a printer, so equipment wasn’t a significant issue. For many creative, though, equipment is a huge hurdle. Take photographers–a decent digital system will easily run them tens of thousands of dollars. And they need constant updating. Again, I suggest planning your projected equipment costs then finding good sources for funding (business loans or savings). If you are a minority (including a female) and/or if you are willing to open your office in certain areas, you can get significant assistance financially (in the USA).

Leslie Burns-Dell’Acqua | Creative/Marketing Consultant & Coach
Burns Auto Parts–Consultants | Burns Auto Parts blog | Podcast | Book

Jay’s into tools

Cliche alert! ‘It’s important to have the right tool for the right job.’ Fortunately, because of the length of time in the business, we’ve managed to accrue all the office requisites needed to perform efficiently. Photocopiers, faxes, scanners, printers, computers (pcs and macs), filing cabinets are all at hand. Reserve supplies of consumables (such as paper, inks etc) are maintained for that last minute presentation.

It’s important to stay current with software, but not necessarily the latest versions. We stay aware of new and emergent software that can enhance our productivity. We test ‘evaluation’ versions and keep abreast of reviews.

Since jay’s often out of her office or in someone else’s, portability is the key: Her diary, mobile (cell) phone and laptop go everywhere. The laptop can connect to the Internet via a cable network, wireless or phone line and even acts as a fax machine at times.

Jeanette (jay) Wickham | Systems Manager
FastCoconut.com | NO!SPEC | BoDo Team | Ask jay

Cat’s not

As previously mentioned, I came into the business by sliding in on a client’s whim. For equipment, I had the computer but not much else. During the first couple of months (when I needed to print or scan), I made arrangements with the local university.

After each project (but only after being paid), I’d add more of what was needed. A scanner here, a printer there, faster computers, external hard drives, modems (when Brunei finally got Internet).

When buying large purchases, that’s one rule I’ve made and stuck to. If the money is not physically there, it doesn’t happen.

Catherine (cat) Morley | Project Manager
Creative Latitude | NO!SPEC | Katz-i | FastCoconut.com | BoDo team

Next up, Who’s (ac)Counting Now? That’s right. We’re back to serious considerations. The conversation of money. Ok, not money. But what you need to do, in part, that has to do with money.

Until then,
The BoDo Team
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While you’re sorting out location, you’ll also need equipment and office supplies – computers, software, etc., right down to post-it-notes.

Make a list of what you believe you’ll need, marking off those in the splurge category. You can (hopefully) splurge later. In addition to a computer and software (which you already have, right?), below are more items to consider. Note: a given, it will depend on your specialty - Web, graphic design, illustration or a mix. Choose your elixir.

The new business wish list

• Office furniture (desks, computer chairs, filing cabinets, etc.)
• General office supplies (pens, pencils, paper clips, etc.)
• Presentation materials (boards, spray mount, etc.)
• Printer paper and ink/toner (have extras)
• Decent collection of fonts and photo CD’s
• Spare parts (keyboards, mouse, cables)
• Phone with separate business account
• Or office mobile / cell phone
• Internet connection
• Printer, scanner, digital camera
• Various sketch pads
• Reference books
• Trade publication subscriptions
• Pantone and/or other ink books
• A method to back up your files
• CDs/DVDs & labels
• Portfolio case
• Briefcase

If your office is located away from home, you’ll possibly need day-to-day items like a coffee maker and/or tea kettle, microwave, paper towels, etc.

All through this series we’ve followed main posts with BoDo Experiences. This will be no different. Coming up next we’ll be Neil, Leslie and Cat. All sharing their equipment experiences.

Until then,
The BoDo Team
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There’s nothing like hindsight when it comes to costly decision making. Better than nothing, is getting advice from those in the know. Choosing where to locate your business can be an expensive or minor financial glitch. Take your pick.

In the mother post of Location, Location, Location we had a list of pros and cons. Now we’ll see how these designers have located themselves.

Abhijit’s happy at home

Working at home is great, you can save a lot of time and effort by skipping travel. You can really boost your productivity by building your own environment. However, it also comes with its cons, the biggest being that, the line between work and home can get blur easily and at a point disappear. Not being able to meet people physically also takes its toll. That is why to stay motivated and focused I maintain discipline and a process. Having said that, working at home also teaches you a lot of things since you end up doing more than just your work. I am quite ‘at home’ when working at home!

Abhijit Nadgouda | Freelance Software Professional
iface Consulting

Leslie’s dedicated

I do not recommend working from home for most creatives. Creatives (generally speaking) have a hard enough time separating themselves from their work. When you add working from home into the mix, you usually end up with the creative working too many hours and being unproductive with her/his time. However, often it is the only option financially for many. If you must work from home, you need to have a space that is exclusively dedicated to your office. The kids don’t get to use the computer there (get a separate one for the home use), for example. Then you need to select your standard working hours and go to work during those hours (and only during those hours, except for the rare crunch-mode). Work is work, not-work is not working.

Sharing can be great option. It lowers the cost for the creatives sharing the space and it can mean sharing clients. For example, if you do web design, share with a print designer.

Me, I have a dedicated home office–a separate room, with a door. When I go to work, I go to work. I get up, get dressed (don’t work in your PJs!), and go to work. But, it is easier (mentally) for me to do that than it is for many creatives.

Leslie Burns-Dell’Acqua | Creative/Marketing Consultant & Coach
Burns Auto Parts–Consultants | Burns Auto Parts blog | Podcast | Book

Neil’s located

Once the business was underway, we set up an office area in the basement of our townhouse. It was totally separate from the rest of the house. As a matter of practice, we met with clients on their turf, not ours. Occasionally, a client would swing by and we’d meet in our living room. Clients never saw the office area.

After we took on our first employees – two project managers/sales people – it was time to spread our wings and move out of the townhouse. As luck would have it, one of our clients was a retail real estate company. We did a barter deal for office space. It was a raw space, so we were able to custom design the interior. That lasted two years and we needed more space. We moved to another office building, closer to home and stayed there for a few years. After a downturn in the economy, lots of stress and blood pressure that was through the roof, we decided to bring the business back into the house. It was a good move and I’ve worked from home every since. You can’t beat the two-second commute.

Neil (nt) Tortorella | Marketing Manager
Tortorella Design | The Marketing Mind | Creative Latitude | BoDo Team | Marketing Minute

Jay’s domainly SOHO

Having sampled working in hired space, shared and our own offices, I prefer to work from home. It saves travel time and I can work totally flexible hours. Once I’ve started something, I hate being interrupted, so I have the luxury of turning off outside contact if I choose. My SOHO is my domain.

Usually my clients contact me by phone, email or ICQ and I like to visit new clients in their offices: It gives me an idea of how they operate, they have all their present materials on hand and I can put faces to names when calling.

Since they have lots of work for me on a regular basis, I also have my own desk in one client’s office. They like me there and I am happy to oblige, provided I come and go to my own schedule and my portable office (laptop, mobile phone, etc) comes with me. That way, I am still available to my other clients and can work on my own projects, if I have a spare moment.

Jeanette (jay) Wickham | Systems Manager
FastCoconut.com | NO!SPEC | BoDo Team | Ask jay

Cat’s online

I started out working at a home office and was fairly happy with the situation. Well, except for the times when a client would call, coinciding with my son flushing a loud toilet (and being a kid, he’d leave the door open). Or when a client would be shown in unannounced and I’d still be in pj’s.

My financial manager was building an office in Bandar (‘town’ in Malay) and made a serious offer to share space and staff. The office was beautifully done, centrally located, but as it turns out it, not my cuppa.

This, coupled with a second attempt at working out of an office convinced me I’m better suited at working on my own. In the silence, or not, of my own choosing.

As I moved out of print and into web and running Creative Latitude, I rarely met up with clients. Even if they were in the same country. From personal experience, at times too much time is wasted on meetings, most unnecessarily long. Forget getting the spiel together. First you have the personal preparation, then the drive over, the waiting, the meeting, the small talk in the meeting, the constant interruptions, the small talk after the meeting, and the drive back. Again, not my cuppa.

By xing out on-site meetings, I’ve saved not only myself hours of time, but for my clients as well. Skype and Airport R Us.

Catherine (cat) Morley | Project Manager
Creative Latitude | NO!SPEC | Katz-i | FastCoconut.com | BoDo team

Our next post in the Starting Out and Setting Up Series will cover equipment needed to fill in your office. Whether you’ve chosen to work at home, or out.

Until then,
The BoDo Team
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So far in the Starting Out and Setting Up Series we’ve had discussions on money, experience, clients, personalities, and being ready. Next up is the equally important issue of location. Where will you work? Out of your home office? Or at an official, dedicated office?

The pros and cons of off-site office space and working at home

Should you work from home or rent/buy an office? This question inevitably crosses the mind of most designers going off on their own. And it’s a tricky one. Some assume that working from home will make them appear less than professional. Others love the idea of working in their jammies until late in the afternoon.

Where you work is certainly a personal choice (at times led by finances). We’ve put together a number of pros and cons for you to mull over.

Working at home – the pros

• Rent, utilities, furnishings, etc., are at a minimum
• As are work attire, daily travel and lunchtime expenses
• For those with small children, childcare costs are reduced
• Home office deduction potential
• Totally flexible working hours
• The 2-second commute
• Easy to set up

Working at home – the cons

• Travelling to clients eats up your billable day
• Distractions – personal phone calls, tv, kids, etc.
• As you’re always available, it’s assumed you are not really “working”
• “Less than professional” is on some minds (read: “clients”)
• Loss of privacy if you work with a team
• The work is always there, with you

Outside office – the pros

• A (potentially) more professional image
• Less personal-related distractions
• You can leave work at work
• A more customized space

Outside office – the cons

• Lease commitment
• A continuing expense
• Possible redecorating expenses at start up
• For those with small children, childcare expenses increase
• Potential accessibly problems (some offices don’t have 24-hour access)
• Travel time to and from the office

Writer, visiting author ME “Liz” Straus says:

I don’t know anyone who started their business with an office outside their home. It’s a nice ideal, but everyone I know has opted to use that possible cost — in rent, commute, and energy — to invest in equipment and time toward getting their business off the ground.

Here in my home office, I have the ideal commute from my bedroom, to the kitchen, to my computer. I never worry about things being in one location when I’m in another, because there is no “other location” to worry about. The tax benefits of an office in my home also help out — we have specific space in our living room clearly defined by a rice-paper screen marking off my office. That also means I get the view of the harbor out our window at sunrise. I could never afford an office with that.

Of course, the downside of starting our on your own is the temptation to be all about work. It’s a natural thing, because we don’t know when, or if, the next job will come. Working at home only makes that “work all of the time” temptation worse, because everything is always within reach. We hear it, silently nagging, saying “you could be working on me.”

Educating friends and family, who truly don’t understand our working style and our working needs can also be a problem. After getting it wrong the first time I worked at home, my husband, young son, and I agreed on some guidelines about how my home office crossed into their lives. For example, my son who was a child then, wasn’t allowed to answer the business telephone.

If you make the choice to work from the place where you live, think through your work needs and the needs of the people you live with. Talk with them about your office hours and be sure to have hours when the office is locked up and closed. The people who love will appreciate that and support you in venture if you take some time to let them know that you haven’t left them completely.

And remember, it’s supposed to be fun.

Bottom line, think things through (yes, it’s lecture time). For those coming new into a business, to get an outside office for the sake of having an outside office can be a great cash sucker. It’s best to be doubly sure before you sign.

Coming next, in the experience half of Location, Location, Location, we’ll hear from Abhijit, Leslie, Neil and Cat.

Until then,
The BoDo Team
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Our earlier post lectured on the subject of money. Boring, right? Apologies for that. Handling money is just one of many non design skills needed as business owners.

Continuing along the same subject, Chris, Stefan, Leslie and Neil reach back into their pasts. Back to when they were start-ups. Back where they planned, budgeted, scraped by and made it through to today.

Chris’s money management

How we managed our money:
We first looked at my spouse’s finances and determined whether or not we could even survive on her income alone. After much consideration and crunching of the numbers, we realized we could make it, but life was going to change. Previously, we worked Gonink part-time and essentially had 3 incomes in the house. It wasn’t anything to say “Want to buy this?” and the answer was a resounding “Sure!” As soon as I quit my full-time job, it (purchases) became more of what’s necessary and what is not.

Our plan and budget:
Personal finances were first and foremost and the first thing we did was payoff anything we could. Things such as paying off my truck, personal credit cards, small home loans, etc. By doing so, we gave ourselves more “wiggle room” when it came to buying things for the business before we officially opened our doors. Because let’s face it, when you’re first starting out, your personal finances are going to help supplement your business and you don’t need any extra payments lying around while you’re trying to get the business going.

We looked at several different loan options for our business and we found that a personal loan would work better for us than a business loan. We then would budget x-amount of dollars for equipment purchases, software and stationary stuff like folders, pens, pencils, etc. Once the business opened and some money started coming in, we did our best to focus at least 25% on marketing. This was for advertisements in newspapers, flyers and even extra signage outside of our business. But there is an interesting money factor in any business that I never even considered when I was laying out our business plan and budget. When you look at any business, think of all the ‘invisible’ things you need to buy just to sustain a “life” at work. Things like toilet paper, cleaning supplies, kitchen utensils and other things become after thoughts and even though it seems menial, they are part of running a business.

Chris Tomlinson | Communication Designer
Gonik Design & Print | Gonik Blog

Stefan’s Money

My situation was very fortunate. I was able to take over a company that already had a steady stream of income and a healthy client base. However, I didn’t jump in without some back up plan. So, using my family’s long business relationship with the bank, I was able to secure a pretty substantial small business line of credit. Even my banker was still surprised that at my age I have been able to have some pretty great opportunities fall into my lap. Like I said, I like to exploit opportunities any time I can.

Stefan Bean | President/Creative Director
Pulse Creative Partners, Inc. | BoDo Author | Bean’s Biz

Leslie’s money

Absolutely, I budgeted. And I had several months’ worth of expenses (living and work) saved up. It is much better to be prepared and in my case it was essential as I was single and had no fallback position (except to get a job). That being said, there are lots of resources for start-up funds in the USA. SCORE.org has seminars (very cheap) on financing a business and you’ll meet the very people who can help you at these events.

As for managing living & working expenses, I started from day one with separate accounts, credit cards, and data files. I use Quicken for my home accounts and QuickBooks for my business ones. It is vital to keep your accounts separate. For example, in the USA you can deduct credit card interest as a business expense, but ONLY if it is a credit card you use exclusively for business.

I recommend that, unless you have a strong background and ability in bookkeeping, you get an accountant when you launch your business. It’s a very real (and deductible) business expense…and one which will save you lots more than you’ll spend.

Leslie Burns-Dell’Acqua | Creative/Marketing Consultant & Coach
Burns Auto Parts–Consultants | Burns Auto Parts blog | Podcast | Book

Neil has no money, honey

I did put together a formal business plan and budget, but didn’t really have adequate capital. I ended up funding the start-up with what I made from freelancing. A wing, a prayer and 50 bucks. After a bit, we were generating enough revenue to put some money aside for “start-up” capital … sort of after the start-up.

I was fortunate to have a wife who was a crackerjack sales person. When we were [formally] putting the business together, she handled the sales and client contact during the day while I worked my day job. My salary was enough to cover our living expenses. We did cut out some things like vacations, dining out and such until we had put some money aside to keep us afloat after we went full-time.

Neil (nt) Tortorella | Marketing Manager
Tortorella Design | The Marketing Mind | Creative Latitude | BoDo Team | Marketing Minute

Later in the life of BoDo (no, not now, not in this series), we’ll bring in an expert to write about small business book keeping. Someone who will share their expertise. And make it fun. Well, maybe not the fun part.

Next in the BoDo Niblets: Starting Out and Setting Up Series we’ll discuss the pros and cons of working out or in.

Until then,
The BoDo Team
cat - nt - jay

What a way to start off the week, right? With the depressing subject of money. Or rather, the possible lack of it.

Do you have enough money set aside?

Here’s a bad idea - quit your in-house design job, hang out your shingle, hold your breath and hope for the best.

A number of designers do this every year. Unfortunately, due to bad financial planning, some are forced back in-house, or need to take non design jobs in the interim.

When you go into business, it’s important to have a positive attitude. But it needs to be a realistic one. If you believe clients will be banging down your door without much effort on your part, you’re in for a rude awakening. Odds are, instead of working solid on client projects, you’ll be spending a lot of time on marketing, promotion and sales. Unless you have marketing and sales staff, taking time away from the creative part is a gotta at any stage of business. But it’s doubly important at the start. It’s not unusual to spend 50% or more of your time reeling in a big fish. Sometimes any fish.

So, how are you going to keep a roof over your head in the meantime? That’s where start up capital comes into play. Float and flow money. It’s money put aside to float you until the cash starts flowing.

How much is enough? For most shops, you’ll need a minimum of three months to keep you going. Six months is better, a year’s worth is great, two is ideal.

Consider your expenses. You’ll have the basics – your personal overheads such as rent or a mortgage, utilities, food, car payments, gas, etc. If you have an outside office, you’ll also have rent, additional utilities, extra computer items, ISP fees, office supplies, etc., right down to coffee and toilet paper. Yes, it gets expensive quick.

Okay, so you know you’ll need money. Where’s it coming from?

Here’s a few options

• Get a loan from your bank
• Personal savings (your best bet)
• Obtain a line of credit (apply before you quit your job)
• Get a loan from relatives (make sure you have a written agreement)
• Take on a partner or investor (again, have it in writing)
• Freelance while working your day job

There are other sources, but these are the most common.

A surefire way to go out of business is by not having enough start up capital, and/or buying everything in sight. So once you do have capital, learn to be frugal. Buy only what’s necessary, when it’s necessary. Draft a budget and live by it. Yeah, it’s tough.

Coming up next is how a few of us designers dealt with the tedious subject of money.

Until then,
The BoDo Team
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