Organizing a business is one of the biggest keys to success. It is possible to start a business with no plan in place, and even to keep it running for a while that way. Sooner or later, though, the weight of disorganization brings your business crashing down.
Starting your business out on the right foot, or taking the steps to bring order from chaos, will lead to streamlined operations, reduced errors, and greater opportunities for your business. In this blog, we’ll take a look at how to organize a business for success.
What is business organization?
Business organization means having systems in place to handle each aspect of your business. There is a standard procedure for each different process, a place to record each transaction, and a place to physically or digitally store each file.
An organized business is also ready to handle different external responsibilities. There is a plan set up for filing and paying payroll, sales, and income taxes. All due dates for taxes, loan payments, and other financial obligations are organized and observed.
Finally, it means having robust customer service procedures in place.
What does all this mean? First, it means having a good bookkeeping system in place. Second, it means having high quality back office support to maintain all the other things for you.
How should I organize my business?
Business organization is not just one single thing you do. Each part of your business will have its own organization, and each one will be organized in the way that makes sense for you and your team.
Legal organization
f you are launching a new business, or are expanding to a new level, you may want to consider your legal organization. Different legal and tax organization structures give you different options for your business. There are several different types of business structures for California businesses.
- Sole proprietorship: your business income is part of your personal income. There is no legal separation between your business and the rest of your life.
- LLC: Business income still flows to your personal income for taxation. The business is a separate taxable entity from you as an individual.
- C corporation: The business is a separate entity from you as an individual. It can own property and take on debt outside of you. The corporation pays its own income tax on its earnings, and then you as the owner also pay personal income tax on your salary from the corporation.
- S corporation: A variation of C corporations for small businesses. S corporations have tax benefits for federal corporate income tax, but not for California income tax.
To decide which legal structure is best for your business, consult with a business formation or tax expert.
Operations organization
In this day and age, your business organization will be your tech stack – your group of software tools that work together to help you keep your business running. This stack will be different depending on the size of your business – will you use free tools, or do you need high-powered, high-capacity software?
To start, look at your daily activities. What takes the most time? Where does your “flow” get blocked? How much time do you spend looking for things that you lost? Are bills being paid on time? Is your customer support adequate? If you have employees, do they know where to find everything they need and how to do each key task? The answers to these questions will give you some good starting points to begin your business organization project.
If you haven’t launched your business yet, think about what you would like. Begin as you would like to continue. How would you like to organize your inventory? How are you going to keep your expenses? How will you deal with customer information and billing? At Bluebird Partners we recommend (and can help you) organize your business for success with QuickBooks Online.
Software tools for business organization
There are endless tools available for business owners to organize and automate their businesses. You can use them separately, but the ideal is to use programs that can integrate with each other across different facets of your business. Here are just a few to consider.
- ClickUp: project organization software. ClickUp allows you to work with a team to show to-do lists, workflow templates, and schedules. Everyone knows what needs to happen next and who is responsible.
- Gusto: payroll software. If you have employees, payroll software streamlines the payroll process. Whether you DIY it or outsource payroll, you need a system in place to handle each employee’s pay, benefits, and taxes.
- QuickBooks Online: Cloud-based accounting software. Bookkeeping is one of the first things a business owner needs to organize for success. If you use outsourced bookkeeping services with an outside firm, they will also be able to assist you with Quickbooks setup.
How to organize receipts and expenses
How to organize receipts
Quickbooks is one of the best ways to organize customer receipts. Invoices can be created within the Quickbooks program, making it easy to see exactly when the customer was billed and when the invoice was paid.
How to organize expenses
Expenses can be a little trickier to organize. Not only do you have to record every expense paid, they also have to be organized by type: rent, utilities, software, office supplies. Again, Quickbooks is a good way to do this. You can either use the preset categories to organize your expenses, or set up c
How to organize inventory
Having an organized inventory is one of the biggest keys to success as a product based business. It enables you to price your products accurately, track your cash flow successfully, and track what products are bringing you the highest margins.
- Label everything. Barcodes make inventory management easy, especially when combined with inventory management software.
- Store like things, or things often bought together, close together.
- Keep enough extra room in your warehouse or storage space for growth
How to clean up a disorganized business
You may be thinking, “This is all well and good for someone with a clean slate. My business is in such a mess, I don’t know where to start! How do I organize my business for success?”
There’s no denying that it’s more difficult to clean up a mess than to start over fresh. But with quality tools, and some expert support, it can be done.
- First, make a list of each area of your business that needs help.
- Bookkeeping? Inventory? Expenses?
- Make a plan to create systems for each area. Bluebird Partners can assist with business consulting and backlogs of bookkeeping to bring everything up to date.
- Once everything is organized, make a plan to keep each new system running well. If you have employees in your business who need to understand these new systems, create templates and workflows to show the correct procedures.
Templates are examples of the work that needs to be done. You can also create templates for standard emails or other communications. This helps ensure that employees and teammates are using the correct language and procedures for each situation.
Workflows are checklists for different parts of your business. Here are some places you could implement workflows.
- How to keep inventory organized
- How to organize expenses and receipts
- How to resolve customer satisfaction issues
- How to open in the morning and close at night
10 Top tips to organize your business
- Label everything.
- Keep bookkeeping current. Budget for future expenses.
- Use a project management software or other team communication tool.
- Maintain a paper or digital filing system for all documents.
- Use a standard naming convention for digital files.
- Keep your passwords organized and safe.
- Choose the appropriate legal and tax structure for your business. If your business has outgrown one structure, work with a business consultant to find the best one.
- Maintain a calendar of future expenses for bill and payment due dates.
- Plan for growth. Choose a system that can grow with you, so you don’t have to switch to another one later.
- Minimize visual clutter around your workspace.
How Bluebird Partners can help you
Bluebird Partners is the ultimate support system for your business. We can help you with Quickbooks setup or cleanup, online accounting services, business formation and registration, and a full range of administrative support and consultation services. We ease your business struggles: it’s in the name. Contact us today.
