Develop a Profitable Schedule for Your Small Business

The concept of running an at-home small business is appealing to a lot of people. It enables you to meet the needs of your family while still allowing you to earn a living. However, the execution of running small business from your home is a lot more difficult. The problem is that many people approach their home-based business as something that is just for fun, instead of approaching it like a serious business venture. One way to avoid this mistake is to develop a schedule that will keep you on task and on target for a profitable fiscal year.

Step #1 - Create a List of Responsibilities and Tasks

In a traditional business each position has a job description that details what the job entails. For example, an officer manager job description may include tasks such as answering phones, filing, bookkeeping, word processing and invoicing clients. To help you develop a schedule for your at-home small business you need to create a list of responsibilities that you and any others working for the business will need to meet. Organize this list by daily, weekly and monthly responsibilities.

Step #2 - Identify Due Dates

The next step is to take the list that you created in step #1 and to determine when each responsibility is due. For example, bills may need to be paid and mailed off by the 15^th of each month, while payroll will need to be processed by the Monday following the end of the pay period. Use a spreadsheet to help you organize all of your responsibilities by their due date. It will be helpful to organize the items first by their frequency and secondly by specific due dates.

Step #3 - Build Your Schedule

The next step is to place your items into a calendar format. This will help you to determine when you need certain items to be completed. This will also provide you with a visual guide of what has to be done and when it needs to be done by. It can be helpful to use color highlighters to indicate special items that are due, such as when you need to file tax returns or when you need to send out proposals.

Step #4 - Leave Room for Ad Hoc Items

Ad hoc simply means as needed. These items are going to be special tasks that occur on the spur of the moment. For example, you will need to add in items like new proposals to attract new customers, meetings with customers and shopping for office supplies or new computers. Highlight these items with a bright color so that you remain aware of them.