26.5.10

Small Business, Small Steps: Getting to the good stuff

books

I ran into a friend this week while I was out and about in Toronto. She is an accountant / artist and managed the books for a dance company I worked for a few years ago. Of course, after we caught up, I had to launch into my many small business questions and soak up any and all free advice she was offering. After a few minutes of her telling me the biggest money wasting mistakes that most small businesses make - namely, setting up their new business like a giant corporation and registering for things they really don't need, I realized that I had been gearing myself up to do just that. In reality, my business can be operated on a much smaller scale while still being on the up and up in the eyes of the government. I can pretty much just keep operating as I have been, filing receipts, keeping track of expenses, having a separate bank account for English Muffin money (doesn't have to be a "business account" either), and life should be grand.

I was so happy to run into my friend because it put my mind at ease about a lot of business-y items that were big question marks to me. I feel like the next few weeks can really be dedicated to expanding and developing the English Muffin product line and I can finally get to the good stuff.

Have a great Thursday,
Bess

8 comments:

  1. I recently had a similar realization. While I think it's good to think big/ahead, if you get too caught up in trying to be bigger than you are, you can end up going backwards.

    I'd love to hear more of what she said.

    Adele

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  2. Lovely! Thanks for this Bess. There's so much out there as far as "TO DOs" before going out on your own. While some are essential I think the #1 thought should be "Does it fit me?". This post is just along the lines of something I've been thinking about for a while. thanks!

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  3. Very interesting! I'd love to hear more too! A lot of the info I find tends to be American as well so I always dismiss it and just hope I'm not missing something or doing the wrong thing.

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  4. @Erin: I just sent Adele an email expanding on what my friend was saying. I didn't want to go into details too specifically, only because although I trust my friend, I would hate for her advice to be wrong and then screw up someone's business. So disclaimer done, here's pretty much what I just sent to Adele:

    "Basically, she said that registering a business name is not even required if all the money flows to you directly, ie, people don't make cheques out to English Muffin, but to Bess Callard. I guess registering a name is good though, so that no one else can use it. As for GST, you don't need to register for that either until you're making over $30,000 per quarter. I realized that when it comes to taxes I can fill out a statement of business just like I did when I was working as a self-employed dancer. All design stuff, not just English Muffin sales will go into that for tax purposes. In terms of a bank account I was worried because those fees are so high, but so long as the money all goes to you directly you can have any old account with your name on it."

    Hope that helps!
    xx bess

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  5. What kind of ideas did she have ?

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  7. Thanks so much Bess! It's a relief that it's that simple. Do you recommend a separate personal bank account?

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  8. @ Erin: no problem :) Yes, I think a personal bank account should do the trick, so long as the name on the bank account matches the name your customers are sending their money to, it should work out.

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