Yeah! Are we all excited that tax season is over? I know that there are people in the world that really enjoy working with numbers, but I am definitely not one of them! As a small business owner, though, I have to keep track of numbers, and luckily Cheryl and I can divy up this not-my-favorite-part-of-business area. So, to add a post to our "mom-prenuers" category, I thought I'd go over how we cover this side of the business. This is also for you wanna-be shop owners, that think it would be fun to find junk and sell it somewhere! There are soooo many sides to small business ownership!
After our occasional sale weekend, Cheryl takes a big envelope home full of tags. She separates them all out and finds out how much each of our contributor's sold and how much we sold. She then sends checks out to all of them, and then we decide if we can pay ourselves! Cheryl is the main book-keeper, and keeps track of all of our bills. Thank goodness! She and Mr. Fix-it know that I should not be a part of that! She is also the go-to person for most "business" related conversations: insurance, credit card machines, ordering supplies, etc. She was a business major; I was only a business minor, and dropped out after I almost flunked basic economics. This is one of the God-ordained reasons why our partnership works!!
Once Cheryl gets done with her end of the tags, they get sent my way. I am the keeper of the inventory. This way, we are both always in touch with what is selling. I would much rather spend my screen time blogging, but excel spreadsheets, and pie charts can be kind of fun, when you've done a lot of work acquiring and fixing up all those finds! I begin my part by dividing all the tags into 20 different categories. I love using my Grandma's "Hall" custard cups, all arranged on a vintage metal tray. I use handwritten shipping tags with the category names.
In order to relax and tell myself I need to sit for awhile, I do usually burn one of Barb's lovely candles.
If any of you have done the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University program, you'll understand that I am definitely the "free spirit". Seventeen minutes is the time frame that I can spend on anything numbers related! Luckily, typeing in all the fun items we've sold at the store, is like walking down memory lane!
Mr. Fix-it is our I.T. guru and has set up the customized spreadsheets, and even made pie charts!
We are so thankful that he knows how to do this type of technology! He just showed me how to black out all those secret numbers with a paintbrush! Hmmm...I may use that again sometime!
The numbers that need to be dealt with in small business are never-ending. Even when all the statements for taxes have been turned in, there is still mileage to be kept track of, receipts from stores where we purchased materials, and sales tax to be paid! Cheryl and I have been doing this together for a looong time, and have developed a system that works with both our giftings. I wouldn't recommend partnership to many people, because there are so many places where disagreements could arise. But somehow, Cheryl and I have grown up in this business together, and have a lot of trust for each other, and can give one another a lot of grace, when needed! We like to think it was a match made in heaven!
