Running a small business is pricey compared to what social media teaches you. Even as a service based company, I still have serious overhead to run my company on a yearly. A plethora of the information I am sharing below are tax write offs you can utilize when filling your taxes. If you, have not called your accountant to file your taxes please make sure to add that to your schedule. I tend to call my accountant the first week of the year and schedule my appointment for around March. In addition to that, we meet at the start of the year to talk fisical goals, taxes and more. Just as it’s important to have a relationship with your business banker, you need one with a CPA or accountant in your city.
First, I want to share a list of twenty plus items that need to be in your companies fiscal budget for 2017. Too many times, people say something came out of nowhere and that is because they did not budget for it. I tell my clients all the time to create line items for everything possible. It’s better to be informed and ready for anything than caught off guard.
- Hosting
- Website
- Template
- Accounting Software
- Payment Gateways
- Emails
- Domains
- Business Coaching
- Graphic Design
- Social Media Marketing
- Local Marketing
- Membership fees
- Product
- Conferences
- Clothes
- Taxes
- Gas
- Freelance Fees
- Car Maintence
- Supplies
- Shipping
- Programs such as; Grammarly, Canva For Work or Tailwind
- Continued Education such as; ebooks, eCourses or Conference
- Tools: laptop, printer, desk, cell phone and more
This is a nice list of things that you will invest into for 2017 and for the rest of the time having a small business. Some things on this list such as; your laptop or attending a conference can be extremely pricey and not a every year thing. Funny story, one year I was having a meeting at a Tech company and my super old macbook pro died on me. A couple years ago, I would panicked on how to replace this laptop. Instead, I went to the nearest Best Buy and bought my current Macbook Air. It’s important to have a savings account, but to have money in the bank for everything that might happen.
Costly Investment
One of the biggest my small business makes every year goes into hosting, domains and emails. One of the most costly mistakes people make is purchasing their domain at the same place as their hosting. They recieved this amazing .99 cent deal for the first year and now paying $15 per year to renew it. If you’re hosting company goes under so does your domain company. There are a plethora of hosting companies you can sign up for, but I will suggest you making the an informed decision. My companies website hosting has been with Go Daddy since 2009. As much as, I loathe their customer service at times they are very effenctic and my websites run smoothly. I have heard horror stories regarding Blue Host, yes they are cheap, but the reason so many bloggers push them is the money they make. I think one blogger I know of makes $10,000 off affilate links with them a month, but doesnt use the company. If someone is pushing a product, but not utilizing it themselves stay away from it.
Marketing and Advertising
Should have a really good portion of your company investment each month. Too many small business owners are fine utilizing free platforms to push their business, but not enlisting the advertising or marketing aspect of those platforms. Instagram advertising is still on the fence for some, but I know people who have invested serious cash flow into facebook ads to break the six figure revenue stream. In addition to that, putting serious cash flow into email marketing is another thing you need to do. I personally, utilzing the free verison of Mailchimp, but you still need to invest in layout, graphics, design and education of it.
Money Management
As, I stated on my Youtube video last year regarding leaving BofA for Chase, I am not going to be loyal to companies who are not loyal to me. One of the biggest investments I make often is knowing the companies I am using for my business. There were several companies I had for payment gateways, bookkeeping and accounting that were causing my business more problems than helping. Take the time to make sure you’re not eating the fees on company who are not helping your business. I currently utilze a simple bookkeeping tool that is less than $70 yearly, I per se do not need cloud software that is $300 yearly. Some small business need all the stuff those company offer, however since I invoice from Chase Quick Pay that cuts needing an invoice system.
Micellanous Items
Most people do not think about the expenses of the clothes you wear to meetings, gas in your car, car maintence and things of that nature. Those are items you need to be accountable to also with your small business. You take your car to pick up supplies, drive to meetings, travel to conferences and more. The maintence of your car should be part of your fiscal plan for the year. Add things such as your oil change, tires, tune up, brakes and even monthly car washes.
Know that your complete business 2017 fiscal plan is for a yearly overview, all these expenses will not just pop up at once on a Monday. For instance, my hosting, domain, email and a couple other programs are due between December and Feburary so they are line items for that month. I know when that month comes I will have a higher expenses than I normally do.
