To grow or not to grow...

[jbcs21]

I've had my business for the last 6 years. I have a storefront that I feel like is successful and I have good word of mouth in a town of about 7,000. I'm a one man show and have no employees. I don't even have an accountant. I honestly don't know if my business is financially successful or not because I'm not good at the business financial side of it. I love doing the work and I love my customers.

My store is open 8am to 2pm so that customers know when I'm going to be here. Then after 2pm I am free to do service calls, etc. The problem I run into is that emergencies or something that I know is more important will come up and I'm stuck at the office. Or I leave at 2pm and a delivery tries to come at 2:15pm and no one is here. I feel that I'm at a point that I need to grow but I'm not sure. Doing this alone with no financial background has been challenging. Previously I worked for a company that had a book keeper and all I had to do was do the work.

My question is that I need to get my books in order and not hire a friend last minute to throw something together. Should I look at trying to take on a secretary / book keeper? Should I get a business partner or backer? I'm at a point where I'm feeling a bit blah about the whole situation and need some guidance.

 

[ChrisTech]

I wouldn't do anything unless I knew the financial situation of the business. If you're not making enough money, you may not be able to employ someone.

The first thing I would do is to get your books sorted with an accountant, and go from there....

 

[jbcs21]

That's part of my dilemma. Hire a full time accountant, or have someone come in and do the books on site and help me while they are here...

 

[gikstar]

I suspect that you haven't done proper tax filing either... it would be very hard to get a business partner or backer without proper books - in order, everyone wants to see the bottom line before investing either time or money.
I would think getting in someone who has basis computer skills and Quickbooks expertise would be the way to go. In a town of 7k I don't see you growing much unless your skills can break you into Business Managed Services. If you can manage moving into that direction, then you should begin looking for someone with the skills to handle business clients.
Our 1st employee was/is a person who ran a plumbing company front office, answering phones, scheduling and billing clients etc. He's also a computer geek like the rest of us, so now he can handle a remote session and fix a managed service client problem without escalating the call, create tickets in Connectwise, set appointments, balance our book, make sure the bills are paid on time... you know, all of the things that some owners (like yourself - as you've stated) don't want to do.

So, it's my opinion that you get someone that will do the things that you don't want to do...

 

[fencepost]

Maybe talk to some of your small business customers about who they're using for accounting services and how happy they are. You want an accountant/firm focused on small businesses if that's where you'd like to grow your business, because you may be able to get contacts through them.

You obviously don't need a full-time accountant, but you'll probably spend a fair amount of time getting first set up with someone while they make sense of and organize your business financials.

 

[jft135]

I was in a similar situation as you and made the mistake of hiring a receptionist. She was great and freed me up to do service calls during the day, but she produced nothing of her own accord. After she quit to go have kids, I hired a part time tech who can help watch the storefront, and he earns his keep with the repairs he does. I can also take a day or two off and still make money. Try and find a competent part-timer to cover the store when you can't be there.

 

[cypress]

Maybe talk to some of your small business customers about who they're using for accounting services and how happy they are. You want an accountant/firm focused on small businesses if that's where you'd like to grow your business, because you may be able to get contacts through them.

You obviously don't need a full-time accountant, but you'll probably spend a fair amount of time getting first set up with someone while they make sense of and organize your business financials.

This is true, no need to hire a full time accountant. Asking business owners who they use would be helpful, definitely some word of mouth.

 

[nlinecomputers]

You don't need a full time accountant. But you do need one to setup quickbooks for you properly and to handle your taxes once a year.

Once QB is properly setup you only need to create invoices and maintain your checkbook. QB will handle all the rest in the background and all you have to do is send over the QB file to the accountant at tax time to get you squared away.

 

[Matthew Bradley]

It doesn't cost much to have an assistant there just to cover the place while your not around. Heck, most mom & pop service businesses around my area employ this type of business model. They only need to know the basics and its just a couple of hours a day. Take care of this burden first (because its the easiest) then immediately work on getting your books in order. At the very LEAST take some time to learn Quickbooks and read through some accounting forums. Practically every question you have is answered 10 different ways. A small shop like yours should be able to run on a very basic set of accounts in Quickbooks. In a short amount of time you'll be able to see clearly where your spending your money and more importantly - how much money your actually making. It's intimidating but trust me - it's a lot easier than it looks. It's more about discipline. For the first 2 years of my business I ran it straight off of Quickbooks. No point of sale software was used since QB takes care of inventory and services. If you have any questions I'd me more than happy to help. Hiring an accountant would be ideal of course but this is something you can work towards. For the time being, get you an assistant in there and learn the ins and outs of inputting your data into Quickbooks.

 

[SmittenmittenS]

While I do not own my own computer business but work for someone else I do agree with everyone here that financials are the first thing you should figure out. If you don't need to pay yourself that is one thing but you need to make sure you can pay the employee who you get to help you. I agree with most that you don't need a full time accountant and quick-books can be something that would help you keep track of everything. On another note, the business owner I just started working for was in a similar predicament as you with needing extra help. He recently hired me as a front desk helper to be here when he was not able to be here. I do have a background in computers so he has been giving me minor installation tasks and has been working me up to getting more billable hours to help grow his business in more than one way. Just try to find the right person who can do what you need them to do and think how that person would benefit your business in the future!

 

[jbcs21]

I use RepairShopr for my business. I have QuickBooks 2010 but it was so damn complicated that I couldn't do it. With my math skills, even the wife will say to keep me away from the books. lol

Has anyone ever used Bench accounting?

 

[allstarit]

get an accountant to come in part time to look at your business. they will be able to guide you further from there.

 

[nlinecomputers]

I use RepairShopr for my business. I have QuickBooks 2010 but it was so damn complicated that I couldn't do it. With my math skills, even the wife will say to keep me away from the books. lol

Has anyone ever used Bench accounting?

If you can't handle QB then you will not be able to handle any accounting program. But if your using RepairShopr then you shouldn't need to touch QB that much. Get an accountant to setup it properly for you and get the programs linked. Then all you have to do is send your bills over to the accountant or better and cheaper a bookkeeping service and let them get the rest up to date. Then once a year to the accountant.

 

[PCBMerchy]

I have a bookkeeper come in each quarter to pay state and federal taxes. She also goes through bank and credit card statements and balances everything out in QB. It costs me about $450 a year and it's worth every penny for me. We recently started swapping out services so it only costs me an hour or two each quarter to clean out her laptop or look at her kid's desktop.

You certainly need some accounting software and a way to keep track of sales/inventory/salary that you can use on a daily basis but you shouldn't need a full-time or even part-time employee to do it. Outsourcing will save you a lot of time and headache.

I'd suggest that your first employee be a jack (or jane) of all trades. He/she should be able to watch the shop while you're out, answer phones, be able to talk intelligently about computers/IT/your business and hopefully even be able to perform easy computer fixes/remote sessions. If it were me, I'd look for a P/T before hiring a F/T. Look into a 1099 option instead of actually hiring directly, if you are able to do so legally. Again, it will save money in the short term so you can know if that person has the right skill set that you need.

Once you have that first person to relieve some of the pressure, you will have an easier time deciding what your next need is - F/T tech, store clerk, office manager, salesperson, etc.

Best of luck. I know it can be really nerve-wracking when it comes to hiring a person for the first time...