This week, let’s focus on the present.  We’re doing a bit of introspection and working on ourselves.

When I’m embarking on a new project or a new set of goals, it’s best for me to start fresh.  And, I love this time of year for doing those ‘housekeeping’ sorts of things.  Because we’ll be doing some future-thinking next week, it’s time to ‘clean house’.  It’s time to get ready and prepare yourself and your business for success.  Here are some things to consider:

How organized is your office? 

What do you need to do to get your workspace in tip-top shape?

What are some activities that you waste time on?  What are your bad habits?

What is the best use of your time?  What are your good habits?

When are the times you are most productive?

What are the work activities you enjoy most?  Which are the ones you least enjoy?

What motivates you?  What inspires you?

How can you use that motivation and inspiration to keep moving you forward?

Please join us next week as we do some goal-setting and planning for 2012!

A holiday deal for you…

Throughout these 3 weeks, we’ll be offering $100 off The Simple Plan Exclusive which is our one-to-one partnership with small business owners to help build a business plan.  Simply visit The Simple Plan website to learn more about The Exclusive and enter the discount code “2012” when you enroll.  This offer is only good through December 30^th and space is limited to first-come-first-served.

Here are steps on collecting payment from non-paying customers:

1 – Make sure all payments are collected PRIOR to the wedding.

If you offer a day-of-the-wedding service, your contract and invoicing needs to indicate final payment BEFORE the event.  The day of the event can be a little chaotic for a bride to be whipping out her checkbook.  And, after the event… well… you’re certainly not a priority anymore as the couple heads off for their  honeymoon in Fiji.  It will become increasingly challenging to collect on invoices after the event has occurred.

If you sell a product, you need to consider how much of your work is at risk in producing that product.  For example, if you sell custom stationery you will most likely be unable to re-sell any client’s canceled orders.  (In my stationery business, I require 50% deposit at contract signing and 50% when production begins.  Once production has begun, the client owns all of that inventory and work we’ve put into it.  I don’t start any work on a job until I’ve received 100% payment.)

Make sure to time payments received with how much work you have put into servicing the wedding.  For example if you are wedding planner, you want to time the invoices with the work you are doing.  If you have only invoiced them for 25% of the fee and have done 75% of the work and they cancel their event, you may have a hard time collecting that 50%.  (See  #4 and #5.)

2 – Remind, remind, remind.

As I mentioned yesterday, the squeaky wheel gets the grease.  If the client has $1000 in their bank account, they’re going to make the check out to the wedding pro that is most insistent on collecting it.  Out of sight, out of mind.  Trust me, the more on top you are of getting paid, the less often you’ll face any problems.

If I’m expecting payment from a client, I have a ’3 strikes, you’re out’ policy.  After sending the initial invoice, I’ll send 3 reminders.  Each reminder has a due date.  If the client misses the due date, we need to have a deeper discussion.

3 – Learn what the problem is and work with the client.

If the client has missed all my reminders, I get that client on the phone.  I’m very sympathetic to people’s problems and I want to learn what is preventing them from paying me.  This sympathy goes a long way.  Ultimately, I want the client to pay me.  So I need to work with them.

If the client is having financial problems, some times it is simple enough to resolve by setting up a payment plan.  Maybe the $1000 bill was too hard for them to swallow in one lump sum.  But, a $200/month payment over 5 months may be a little more manageable.  If I can learn what the problem is with non-payment, then I can work to offer the client some solutions.

4 – If there is no response and the client owes you money…

If the client owes you money, you need to make some tough choices:

• If you are servicing them on the day of the wedding, will you not show?  If they haven’t paid you to render day-of services, this is a very real consideration.  Naturally, you need to let them know that if they haven’t paid you by the wedding, you won’t be showing up.
• If you do show and they have not yet paid you, you need to be at peace with the fact that you may never see that payment.  I’ve heard of too many situations where a wedding pro felt bad not showing up to service the non-paying client’s wedding.  This is business.  You HAVE to get paid for it.  And, if you still service the non-payment client, know that you may be kissing your income on this wedding goodbye.
• If they owe you money for services you already rendered or for a product they purchased, how will you pursue payment?

5 – If this leads to arbitration…

If the client owes you money, you can seek payment by taking them to court. Before going this long painful route, you’ll want to send the client a demand letter.  (Check out Nolo’s guide for writing a demand letter.)  The demand letter essentially tells the client, in the nicest way possible, to “pay up or we’re going to court”.  Most people will want to avoid this, so it’s a fair way to warn someone about the steps you’re willing to take if they don’t pay you.

And, if this doesn’t work, you can seek legal action.  Depending on the county where your business is established, you’ll have a threshold for seeking judgement in small claims court.  For example, in Miami-Dade county, claims of $5000 or less must be pursued in small claims court.  You’ll want to investigate this for your own county.  You’ll also need to decide if this is something you want to put your energy and time into pursuing.  Smaller amounts are generally not worth the time and the expense.

Has this ever happened to you?  What did you do? Share with us by posting a comment below.

Invoicing Tools

You want to keep invoicing as simple as possible.  There are some great invoicing tools which enable you to request payment from a customer in a few simple clicks.  Clients are able to submit payment quickly.  Here are my favorites:

Curdbee

I like curdbee (www.curdbee.com) because it’s not only simple, it’s inexpensive. Essentially curdbee is just a prettier way to send a paypal or google checkout invoice.  (I’m not a fan of those platform’s interfaces.)  You create an invoice with you customer’s name, email address, add a line item services and amount, and send.  Voila!  The client gets an http link that they then open up to view your invoice.  They are given payment options on paypal or google checkout.  (If the client wants to pay by check, you can also give them your mailing address to snail-mail a check.)  The trial is free and then the first plan starts at $5/month.

Curdbee is ONLY an invoicing system.  This is not accounting software and doesn’t integrate with any accounting software.  You’ll still need to input your invoices and payments received into your accounting software.  Revisit our Accounting 101 for bookkeeping tips.

Freshbooks

I like Freshbooks (www.freshbooks.com) because it integrates with 37signals’ Basecamp and Mailchimp.  It offers similar functionality to Curdbee, but has some great add-ons such as time-tracking and expense tracking.  Payments are also collected via paypal or Google checkout.  Paid Freshbook accounts begins at $19.95/month with a free 30-day trial.

Freshbooks has expanded its service to include bookkeeping (accounting software).  I haven’t dug into the bookkeeping features, but I think the bookkeeping features are quite limited and you are probably better off using a more tried-and-true software like Quickbooks.  (I don’t know about you but I’m hesitant to begin systemizing all of my bookkeeping using a system that doesn’t have much history.  Recreating accounting records is a nightmare.)

Quickbooks

Quickbooks (www.quickbooks.intuit.com) allows you to do all of your accounting (bookkeeping) and invoicing in ONE place.  There is no need to invoice a client using one tool and then having to input your invoices using something else.  The latest versions of Quickbooks allow you to create estimates, break up payments, send recurring invoices, and receive payment through Paypal.  Quickbooks also has it’s own credit card processing service.

Other Credit Card Processors

I have intentionally left out the traditional credit card merchant processing.  I think the fees tend to be astronomical for a small business.  I also don’t think it’s the most user-friendly payment form for many of wedding clients, unless they are physically in your office.  (So often I am emailing a client their invoices.)  If you do find that your clients want to pay by credit card in person, then talk to your business bank about their credit card processing options.  You can also check out Square (www.squareup.com).  I love how Square allows you to accept payment from anyone anywhere using your iPhone or iPad.  Again, make sure to read the fine print on the fees here.

Systemizing Your Collections

Streamline your payment process.  If you break up your fees into 3 payments for clients, look into an invoicing tool that let’s you set up recurring invoices.  If you want to have more control over sending invoices manually, create an invoicing and payment schedule whereby you are reminded to invoice clients.  (I put these reminders on my Google calendar.)  Always give your clients a due date and follow up if you haven’t received payment.

I learned something a long time ago in a previous sales job…  My friend was the collections clerk for the company.  She called clients with outstanding payments every other day.  When money is tight for someone, the person that gets paid first is the one that sends out the reminders and the due dates.  Squeaky wheel gets the grease.  YOU need to be ON TOP of GETTING PAID because it’s not always going to be the client’s priority to pay you.

What do you think?  What do you use to make it easy to invoice and collect payment from clients?  Share your tips in a comment below.

Work-Life balance is a myth. 

People who appear to be good at balancing their work and their personal lives are REALLY good at prioritizing.  Prioritizing is knowing what’s urgent and/or important at any given moment.  It is choosing to do one thing and choosing NOT to do another thing. This means that you sometimes choose work over your life and other times you choose life over your work.  These choices are all intentional.  And, when someone has good “work-life balance” it’s because they are good at making these choices.

Read the rest of the article here…

Image: Creative Commons

As I sit to write this post, I find myself checking my phone, reading my twitter feed, listening for email to arrive.  I’m having an impossible time paying attention to this post.  Does this happen to you?

In the book Geography of Bliss author Eric Weiner travels to 10 foreign countries in the quest for “the happiest place on earth”.  When he visits Bhutan he is greeted by his guide and becomes uncomfortable with the very focused and intentional handshake he is given.  The guide, takes Weiner’s hand into both his hands and looks directly at him with a focused “Nice to meet you”.  He pauses, holding Weiner’s hands in his.  This intense focus makes Weiner feel anxious.

What he comes to realize is that this is how everyone is in Bhutan.  The Bhutanese people are paying attention to everyone and everything around them.  They experience life, not just walk through it.

Are you paying attention?

Weiner’s experience made me think of how we live our lives full of distraction.  We talk a lot about focusing on things.  Focusing isn’t the same as paying attention.  We focus on something with our eyes.  But paying attention requires our energy.  Paying attention requires that our spirit be involved with what we are experiencing.

How often do you attend a conference and reply to email instead of paying attention to the education in front of you?
How often do you check your phone instead of paying attention to your child?
How often are you on vacation and thinking of the work at home instead of paying attention to the beautiful sunset right in front of you?
How often does your mind wander to the wedding you’re working this weekend instead of paying attention to the sweet couple in their first consult, right in front of you?

I am guilty of all these things.

Weiner resolves that the Bhutanese people live happy harmonious lives because they are so aware of the life they are living.  They are experiencing life.  They are paying attention.

From hereon forward, I aim to pay better attention to what I am doing and the people in my life in every given moment.  How about you?

Creating a system for each position

Today, we are going to create systems or processes for these positions.  A system (or process) is the step-by-step approach for accomplishing a particular responsibility.  Each position on your org chart will have a set of responsibilities.  Each one of these responsibilities will have a process or system.

I like to make my systems into checklists.  This is something I learned from one of my favorite books, The E-Myth Revisited.  In the book author Michael Gerber talks about “systemizing” your business.  This may sound robotic to you.  (I remember thinking that my business would lose its soul if I made everything standardized and systematic.  McDonald’s came to mind.)  But, in reality, systemizing your business ensures:

• that you’ll give the client a consistent experience.
• can hire and train additional personnel.
• efficiency.  When you can work through a list of procedures, you don’t have to recreate the wheel ever time you sit down to work on a project.

How to create a system or process

We covered this a few months ago in a series we did on Client Management.  You will want to revisit the post on documenting systems here.  Here are some of the tips I shared:

• Start at the very beginning: what is the very first thing you do in this specific process?  (In my example of assembly, the assembler is responsible for ensuring that they have all inventory and supplies in place.)
• Then walk through ever single step of that specific process and identify a task.
• Do not worry about other processes.  Focus solely on ONE process.
• Don’t over-explain or over-document.  You want to give enough detail where anyone following will be able to do it.  But don’t over-complicate things.
• Keep your checklist to a page if you can.  It’s nearly impossible (nor is it fun) when you have to go thru a checklist that is 8 pages long.  If it’s getting too long you may have to split the process into some additional separate processes.

You’ll also want to check out some of the management tools (including software) that I love for keeping my systems organized.

Have you created systems or processes for your business?  How did you do it?

On a less serious note… I found this procrastination flow chart.  Just think… you can even systemize your “Procrastination Process”!

Image: Creative Commons

PICK the 5 MOST IMPORTANT and URGENT ITEMS that MUST get done TODAY.

That’s it!

JUST 5.

Here’s the deal…

When we get crazy busy, we build lists that are often full of important things.  At one time, we may have made a list with 10 very important things that needed to happen urgently.  But, over time, we start adding and adding to this list.  We’ve added things that are less important and less urgent – but nonetheless should happen.  Soon enough our lists become a crazy of hundreds of tasks: urgent, non-urgent, important, non-important, reminders, wishes, hopes, and random  thoughts.  It makes it nearly impossible to work from such a huge list – especially when we are very busy and possibly burned out.

On days when my list is humongous and overwhelming to the point where I can’t seem to tackle everything… I do this:

1. I read through every item on the list and star the important ones that absolutely MUST happen before the end of the day.
2. I re-write those ~5 items onto a NEW clean sheet.  (Sometimes the list is made of 3 tasks, sometimes it has 7.  The trick is to keep the list to a few manageable tasks.)
3. I keep the huge list of other tasks for the next day where I can refer back to it and start the process over, looking for the most important and most urgent tasks again.
4. Throughout the day, if any new tasks come up I ask myself: “does this NEED to happen today?”  If not, I add it to my long list.
5. I keep the long list outta site so it doesn’t weigh on me.  I only work from the list of 5 items on my clean sheet of paper.

Working from a list of 5 items is pretty magical.  It frees you up from the weight of so many obligations – even if just symbolically.  And, it gives you a sense of accomplishment to be able to complete everything on your shorter list.

Have you ever tried this?  Has it helped you out?

Image: Creative Commons License

This week we are discussing how much time you are putting into your wedding jobs.  On Tuesday, we discussed the importance of tracking your time and on Wednesday, I shared my favorite tools for tracking your time.  What happens when you discover that you are spending too much time on the average client and not earning enough? This is the scary conundrum that many wedding pros find themselves in when they actually start to look at their labor hours.

For example, if you charge $2000 and you work 300 hours, this is less than $7 per hour.  Wow.  Not fun.  (We haven’t even taken into consideration your costs and expenses!)  Not only are you being underpaid, but also you can’t possibly consider hiring someone to do this work.  Assuming it takes them the same amount of time to do the work (if not more time) you’ll never be able to get away with paying them so little.  This is where scalability comes into play in your business model.  Your business is NOT scalable.

If your hourly rate is too low:

Cut Your Time

Set a benchmark for what your jobs should entail in labor hours.  Let’s play with a hypothetical scenario.  You feel it would be fair to have a wage rate of $25/hour.  (This comes out to annual income of ~$52,000 for a full-time 40 hour/week “regular” job.)  Given the example above where your price on this job is $2000 the targeted hours would be 80 hours on this job.  80 hours becomes your benchmark.

Now, realistically, it’s probably impossible to cut the time you spend from 300 hours to 80 hours.  That’s a pretty drastic change.  But, let’s play with this reality.  How do you cut the time you are spending on a job?  Here are some recommendations:

• Cut out some services that you offer
  I see all sorts of ridiculous things being included in some wedding packages.  I’m talking about premium services such as managing RSVPs, if you are wedding planner.  This should be an add-on.  Take a look at what’s included in these 300 hours.  What should NOT be a part of this job?
• Streamline your systems
  Much of us waste time because we don’t have good systems in place.  We duplicate work.  We spin our wheels.  We make mistakes.  This is when it pays to have a good client management process in place.
• Manage expectations
  I see a lot of wedding pros who bend at the mercy of their client.  Client is king, yet there is nothing wrong with setting expectations.  Not doing so leads to 100s of emails at all hours of the day and night – and a bulk of excess time that is spent on a bridezilla or two.  Make sure to read our post that details 10 ways your client is managing you.
  

Raise Your Prices

What if you raised your prices by 20%? It’s incredible how small of an impact this makes on your prices; a change that your clients will hardly notice.  But the impact on your finances is pretty solid.  Most of us are under-priced in this industry and could use a boost.  Find a reasonable sweet spot for you and your business.  A 20% increase in the example given would be a price change from $2000 to $2400.  This isn’t momentous.  Now if you were to raise your prices to $7500 (which would be the result of assigning your hourly rate of $25/hour to 300 hours) then it may be a little risky.  It’s possible to make this jump to $7500… you just need to make sure that your services, reputation, experience, target market, and branding represent this new price.

Outsource

It is possible that you are spending more time on a process that could be outsourced.  For example, some photographers and videographers outsource their editing process.  They find that something that may take them 100 hours can be done by a post-processing service company.  The post-processing company has systems in place to streamline this process.  This is not an option for everyone.  You’ll have to do the math and figure out if outsourcing enables you to shave some time for a comparable cost.

So which one is the best for you? Chances are that you’ll make a combination of cutting your hours and raising your prices.  You sorta HAVE to if the time you spend on a wedding job doesn’t match up to your income.

What are your thoughts?  Have you had this experience?

timetrackerapp.com

Yesterday we discussed the importance of tracking the time you spend on each wedding job.  By tracking your time, you’ll be able to determine if:

• you are charging enough for your product or service
• you are spending too much time in certain areas that don’t bring you enough income
• how to price your product or service
• how to estimate and plan your time on future jobs

Today, I want to share my favorite tools for tracking time.  Let’s be real here: I don’t expect you to track every minute of your day. (If you do, that’s great!  I just can’t keep up with it.)  But, choose a few “random samples” and see how much time you spend on your projects.  A system is only as good as you use it.  Make sure you choose a tool that ensures you’ll use it!

Tools for Tracking Time:

Toggl

Toggl is a fabulous online tool which allows you to literally update your time with a quick click.  I love the iPhone/iPod app for this also.  You can also incorporate the “team module” which allows your team to track their time too.  I love the charts and graphs Toggl offers.  It really helps to see the visual cues for where your time is going.

Basecamp Time Tracking

I love the time tracking feature on Basecamp.  (We discussed Basecamp for client and project management a few months ago.)  This is a great tool because you are linking the time you spend to a specific project.  It can also be used with team members on multiple projects.  You can export the data to Excel and create all sorts of cool analytics.

TimeTracker

This is a cool little app called TimeTracker that is available for iPhone or iPod.  If you are attached to your phone, then this little app will ensure that you are logging your time.  It’s always within reach and you don’t have to open up a spreadsheet or jot notes on paper.

Excel

No recommendation for tracking anything would be complete without a nod to good ol’ Excel.  I love Excel because it’s easy and functional and you can add up details quickly.  Just create a tracking spreadsheet with the date and hours spent across the top columns.  List clients’ names down the first column. And voila!  You’re set!  You can also print this out and share with employees to track their time.  (By the way, you should have your employees filling out time sheets.  If you get audited, the IRS will want to see this.)

Here’s an easy-peasy tracking sheet for you: Sage Wedding Pros – Time Tracker.  (FREE!)

Quickbooks

Within Quickbooks’ Payroll module, there is a great tool for tracking time and linking it to your employees’ wages.  If you pay yourself thru an equity draw (most sole proprietors and LLCs do) then you won’t want to have this linked to actual payroll and checks.  But, you can still use the tool to see where your time is going.  This is best used if you already used the payroll function to pay hourly employees.

Good ol’ pen & paper

Why complicate things?  Grab a post-it and pen and start making notes!

Do you have any good tools for tracking time?  Please share!

Image: Creative Commons License

One of the mistakes we make as business owners is thinking that we have time on our side.  Many of us embraced entrepreneurialism because we wanted to manage our own time and have flexible schedules.  But what happens is that we let time get away.  And, we don’t always see time as the commodity that it is.

Time IS Money

This is an expression that is used over and over again, yet we don’t always live it.  We can be wasteful.  Because time is on our side, we often spend more time on a project than we should.  Or, we don’t even know where time goes.

The greatest offense in the spending of time is not tracking our time in relation to our work.

How much time does it REALLY take to do a wedding job?

Do you know how much it takes to plan an event if you are a wedding coordinator?  Do you know how much time it takes to shoot and edit an event if you are wedding photographer?  Do you know how much time it takes to design, print, and assemble wedding invites if you are an invitation designer?

In other words: do you know the cost of your labor?

We spend this all too freely without knowing exactly what our projects actually cost us.  If you were to place a value on your time, what would it cost?  If you were to replace yourself from the wedding job, what would it cost to replace you?

Tracking Time

I encourage wedding professionals to track their time on a “test basis”.  In a nutshell: choose one wedding and track your time.  If you offer a few different services or products (most of us do) take a “test” sample on 2-3 jobs.  Track your time for the entire job.  By tracking your time, you’ll be able to determine if:

• you are charging enough for your product or service
• you are spending too much time in certain areas that don’t bring you enough income
• how to price your product or service
• how to estimate and plan your time on future jobs

Come back tomorrow and I’ll share a few tools for tracking your time.