How to Make Your Venture Work for You
I worked in various forms of gig work for many years. For many women, entrepreneurship seems the only way to get that work-life balance they desperately need. During that time, I managed to escape any hefty tax audits, so I thought I'd share some tips for organizing workload, weeding out bad clients/assignments, and compiling data to determine net income. Some tips are for mobile gig entrepreneurs, but even remote workers have expenses, and everyone should learn to value their time. These are some habits you need to form.
1. Itemize the things you buy for your business, as well as the spending you do for your work (meals, clothing, cleaning/maintenance, health insurance, gas, customer appreciation, etc.)
2. Keep your receipts, of course, but tax write-offs are not the same for everyone, so ensure your categories are specific; whether you use an app, email receipts or keep paper receipts. Noting the total expenses in a notebook or spreadsheet is not always about whether you can write off the expense, but do you get enough out of the work to make it worth doing? What can you change to make it more profitable? Your accountant will decide what expenses are deductible, but you'll pay less for tax help if your notes and receipts are in order. (And I read recently that there is about to be a huge vacuum in bookkeepers and accountants. Could be a good self-employment option for those who are math-minded.)
3. Keep paper receipts in an accordion file in your vehicle or use envelopes to keep them in good shape and easy to reference. No matter how you track your receipts, consider these categories: Gas, Maintenance, Parking, Meals, Damages, Office Supplies, Software, Hardware (In Canada, hardware and software have different levels of offsetting reportable income. It's not 100% for either, and you only get to write them off at certain intervals. This can change from year to year.), Clothing/Uniform, Equipment, Professional Fees, Advertising, and Sponsorships. Beware of expenses involving any parties that are not at Arm’s Length (friends and family). These are tricky expenses to justify, so get quotes from at least three companies to verify the expense.
4. If you have a mobile business at the start of your income tracking journey, fill your gas tank to the top. Then each day, top up. This will give you a true idea of what your travel expenses are (and leverage the higher costs with filling your tank at the end of the week). This also shows you what jobs cost you the most/least and can help determine how much you use your vehicle for business vs personal.
5. Each day, spend half an hour to an hour documenting your day. Note: your expenses for the day, how many hours you spent on your business (possibly note how much time on each task/case/client) what your total mileage was (be sure to note those cases that made you travel the farthest) and how you feel about the work that was completed.
Invoice daily. As soon as you get home or at the end of your day. If invoicing is automatic, note on your calendar the total of your fees expected for your services.
6. Keep good notes about your successes and challenges. It's vital. I had a client who was a creep, essentially. He was in a senior's building that I visited for several years in my line of work. And although I told my booking service not to send me to that patient again, I didn't note it in my calendar. So, a couple of years later, I received an assignment there, and didn't remember that apartment. I had to explain my issue to everyone involved, and it became a big deal. If I had the client on a flag list, I could've avoided the scene by rejecting the assignment. If my coordinator had wanted to know why, I would have reminded them about the issue. We could've either worked on it behind the scenes or the coordinator would have had to find someone else. There wasn't anyone else, by the way, so the solution was to have a social worker present during my visit. Another patient was in the habit of smoking while I provided care, and I would cough for a half-hour after leaving, delaying my schedule. Another involved a lengthy drive through traffic congestion, making it costly despite the mileage paid. These are mild dangers of mobile work, but given this day and age, they could be worse. So, keep track of problem clients and locations and check in with your instincts.
7. Be strict with your time and schedule. Decide what your business hours are and focus on work only during that time. But when it’s time to check out, do so. Self-employed and remote workers have a hard time walking away from their businesses and all the tasks involved. There will be people/businesses that will try to take advantage of your need to succeed and capitalize on some free labour.
New entrepreneurs can use these tips as a starting point, while experienced people can use them to review, organize data, and plan. Remember to check in, weed out, compile and plan. Corporations and government bodies did it to justify pushing us into the gig-economy, and we need to do it to push back.
For artists aiming to profit, figuring out costs, time, fees, and marketing is key to setting prices and identifying profitable projects. But when passion strikes, it's hard to hone the discipline needed to balance the objectives of what brings you joy and what brings you money. Use tracking habits to allot yourself time for passion projects and income projects.
Well, rebels at heart, that's my two cents on making gig work/self-employment/small business work for you. Click the link to my Amazon author page for some beautiful and efficient planners that will help you keep tabs on your schedule and your income. https://www.amazon.com/author/jennalankanwordcrave
As always, I hope you get what you want.