A family member has started his own business and asked me if I would like to handle all his paperwork / “office”work. Besides keeping track of finances and clients, what other work goes into this kind of job.
A family member has started his own business and asked me if I would like to handle all his paperwork / “office”work. Besides keeping track of finances and clients, what other work goes into this kind of job.
February 7th, 2010 at 10:51 pm
Hi Chicana Mama:
CallmeMom has a point. Always get a defined list of duties before agreeing to help out. Set an hourly rate for your services and don’t be afraid to ask for competitive wage. Sometimes family members think that because you’re working at home, that your time doesn’t have to be paid. WRONG. They’d be paying for it outside, and you’re time is just as valuable.
I ran a business from home for 4 years before my children went to school. No one ever knew I didn’t have an outside office, always got a call-back within the business day and always got their product on time. It requires alot of discipline on your part, to stay focused on the business during your designated hours and keep that schedule each week. Clients will appreciate your dedication and the professionalism will shine through.
Set limits as to the number of hours you’ll work, and what days. To many entrepreneurs without administrative experience, the perception of “working at home” means that you just laze around all day waiting for them to give you work. Make sure he realizes that you have a household to run, your own errands and appointments and things to take care of, and that you’re not available at the drop of a hat to run off somewhere to pick something up because of his disorganization or lack of planning.
Make sure he provides you with a computer, the necessary bookkeeping software to do the job, an extra phone line (that HE pays for), fax, answering machine, e-mail account, office supplies, postage and bank information.
Set specific times when you will be available to handle his business calls and contacts (say, from 10:00 to 2:00, 2 days a week). Make sure his voice mail message states that these are the “Office” hours, so that vendors, clients and any one else understands that the business is organized and effective.
Initially, the start-up will require a couple of hours a week. Sit down with him and ask him what his business plan is, how he is planning for growth and then you can decide at what point, you’ll hand off the work to a full-time person if you don’t want to assume that role yourself when the time comes.
Start-ups are so exciting! Good luck with this new enterprise.
February 8th, 2010 at 3:46 am
Hmmm…it really all depends on the type of business he has. My dh has a deli, and I ended up with a bookkeeping job PLUS.
If he bills the clients there’s A/R (accounts receivables), most businesses have expenses A/P (accounts payables). Then there’s business licences and TAXES. If he has employees,
then there’s payroll and it’s monthly and quarterly taxes. If there’s sales involved, there’s monthly or quarterly sales taxes. It’s really difficult to keep up with the monthly stuff as the month goes by in a flash!!
Keeping track of clients? Perhaps that involves being on the phone or answering or getting back to clients.
Other things I can think of…running to the post office and other errands.
Personally, I would have him clarify WHAT exactly you are suppose to do, because “paperwork/office work” sometimes gets other things mixed in the duties. Never ASSUME anything, always get clarification so there are no communication errors. Being that it is a family member, things can be tougher to work through, if there is a problem.