I know, I know, I haven’t published a post in a really long time. People have reached out to me to make sure I am okay and sent messages asking about My Little Blue Kayak. I have been pretty busy and simply haven’t felt like writing. I had plenty of time at the lake this summer and plenty of time in my kayak. Mostly, I have been busy doing yard work.
In January of this year, I officially started my business, but didn’t really get into the swing of things until the middle of March. I have been really busy and so far I am loving it. Unofficially, I have been doing yard work on the side for a few years so it was easy to launch Nor’s Chores and declare myself open for business. In addition to doing yard work, I have done some elder care, cleaning and organizing. The acual work is fine and I like how I spend my days. The bookwork on the other hand is a different story.
I have found the learning curve on everything to be challenging. Nothing has been impossible but everthing seems foreign to me and I am constantly having to go through the awkward learning stage. I am using a free accounting program to keep track of my income and expenses. It is called “Wave” and it is fairly straight forward but I am not a numbers person. I gloss over whenever I even look at a chart or graph. In the past, I never really had to worry about keeping my accounts up to date. I would simply get paid, deposit it into my personal account and spend it on my needs.
Now I keep create a monthly invoice for each customer, collect sales tax, deposit the payment into my business account, and log it in the accounting program. At the end of the month, I reconcile my account with some help from my sister (#7) , and transfer money to my personal account. Quarterly I file sales tax and self employment taxes. None of this is terribly hard, but I am still learning so everything seems like a struggle and takes longer than it should. Thanks to my sister, I haven’t thrown in the towel and I am slowly getting the hang of everything.
I write a lot about getting outside of one’s comfort zone and I have definetly takent my own advice! Owning my own business is freeing. I create my schedule, I can be as busy or slow as I want to be. I say “Yes” or “No” to new business and I handle all customer issues, service issues, equipment issues etc. I love the flexibility this venture has given me and the skills I am gaining will prove priceless in the future.
For the last eight months, I have been all business, but now I am ready for some fun. My honey and I head to Philly tomorrow and then I pack up to go to Florida to see Mother Fran for an extended stay. So, I aplogize for not writing and hope to get back on track now that things have slowed down for the winter months.
I am all business in my kayak!
Lake Girl