Tag Archives: records

Recycling Old Record Albums

I have tons of old vinyl albums, but hesitate to get rid of them. Yes, the quality is crummy after spending countless hours listening to them as a teen in my bedroom. But, there is love in those albums! So, what do I do with them? To see some really artistic uses of albums, check out the Crooked Brains blog. I, however, am not that creative. If you have been to a music store lately, you may have noticed some companies have turned old albums into cool things such as bowls and coasters. Can you do that at home? Yes, … Continue reading →

Creating Categories as a Way of Tracking Your Work

In a home business, one work day can blur and blend into the next. Even if you consider yourself someone who is organized and who keeps decent records, you may find that you do not always track exactly what you are doing during the day very well. Borrowing from a technique used in some “traditional” businesses and corporations, you might consider creating categories for different projects and work and assigning your time and hours to those categories. If I were to categorize my home business efforts, there would probably only be a few: writing work, development and queries, organization, bookkeeping, … Continue reading →

Don’t Lose Your Most Promising Ideas

Brainstorming is a good thing for a small business owner, but you may have discovered already that your best ideas do not always come at the most convenient times. Sure, it would be great if you were sitting at your desk or at least had a pen and paper handy when those fantastic ideas descend upon you but that is not always the case. How can you be sure not to lose those most promising ideas and take advantage of a sharp mind and strong problem-solving? There are some obvious ideas for keeping track of those grand ideas: recording them, … Continue reading →

The Positive Uses of a “Blacklist”

I know that the word “blacklist” has such a negative connotation—so negative, in fact, that I am hesitant to use it. In my business and my other work, I tend to refer to these folks as “trouble-makers” but I have discovered that there can be positive reasons for keeping track of these individuals… Now, before everyone jumps all over me, I am not talking about publishing a list on your web site or serious judgment here, but what I am talking about is keeping track of those individuals who might pose problems for your business operations—slow pays, those who make … Continue reading →

Backing Up Computer Records

It used to be a common worry for people as to what might happen if the computer “broke down.” Many of us were trained to back up our computer records on floppy disks and keep them in safe places. More and more, I think we generally feel more complacent and are less likely to consistently back things up and worry that all could be lost even though computers still crash and information can be impossible to retrieve. I do think, however, that for a home business it can still be a good idea. If you keep your financial records on … Continue reading →

Is It Still Important to Keep a Paper Trail?

I still occasionally hear people refer to keeping a “paper trail” of an agreement or project or correspondence. I have written before about the “paperless” office movement, and it seems like deciding whether or not to keep a paper trail of things in our home businesses is definitely related. Is it still important? And what is the best way to keep a paper trail of customers/clients or other business issues? I confess that I really don’t have a lot of hard paper files anymore. This might sound strange for someone who makes a big chunk of her living writing, but … Continue reading →

Let Schools and Others Know When Things Change

The reality of the single parent home is that we become quite adept at adjusting to changes There may be moves or school changes, our custody arrangements may change over time, our families may expand or contract as the months and years pass. We may be so busy dealing with the day-to-day realities of caring for our family that we forget to let schools, day care leaders, and others who need to know aware of how things have changed for our child. I have written before about how our custody arrangement has morphed over the years. Additionally, both my children’s … Continue reading →

Expect to Start All Over Every School Year

I couldn’t think of exactly how to title this blog–what I want to write about is how for a single parent, we often have to start all over each school year (even if our child doesn’t change schools) with making sure that the school sends records to both parents, that our child’s teacher understands the family situation, and advocating for and explaining our single family status. This doesn’t have to be stressful or anxiety-provoking (although it sometimes is), but we do have to be diligent and prepared to dig in and make sure the school gets it right. I find … Continue reading →

Hiring a Bookkeeper or Accountant for Your Business

Yes, we are used to wearing a lot of hats in our home businesses and we are used to doing a lot of jobs and tasks that we might not be particularly “suited” for. BUT, just because we can do something, does not necessarily mean that we should. There may come a time when hiring a bookkeeper or an accountant might be in the best interest of your home business. If you are starting to make more money than you can reasonably manage, or if you have a business that is becoming increasingly complicated financially—it may be time to hire … Continue reading →

Updating Contracts

We have talked before here in the home business blog about the importance of using contracts in our home businesses. Even though you may be getting used to drawing up contracts when you begin a business relationship or project, it is also important to make sure that you update those contracts periodically to make sure they still apply. There are natural places and times when it becomes obviously necessary to update a contract. If a contract expires (many will be for a specific period of time or for the duration of a specific project), or if details change in the … Continue reading →