Dollars and cents

July 22, 2014

How do you handle your business banking needs?  Where do you keep the money?

(a)  In a shoebox in my studio
(b)  In my personal bank account
(c)  In a separate business bank account

(Psst:  I answered “C.”)

According to Forbes, approximately 40% of all non-employers (that’d be me – small business with no employees and business receipts of at least $1,000.00 annually), have revenues of less than $10,000 per year.  My small business falls into this category.  With revenues in this range, the cost of doing business can range from 10-20% of gross revenue.  Think about it: business license, annual corporate renewal, accounting/bookkeeping, legal, phone, office supplies, basic sewing supplies, equipment repair (routine sewing machine service is just under $100) and business liability insurance quickly add up.  My “basic cost to do business” is between $1,000-$1,500 per year, with approximately half of this being insurance.

So when my FREE business bank account announced it was going to charge $12.00/month for basic checking account services and not pay interest on the balance required to avoid the monthly fee, I started looking at alternatives.  Actually, $12.00/month isn’t that bad in light of what some other banks charge…but still.  $144 is at least 1.5% of revenue for small businesses like mine.  I looked at other local banks and my credit union. My business doesn’t need cash handling services that require a brick and mortar bank, so I looked into online banks with remote deposit.

Based on my unique needs, here’s how the options ranked after a careful analysis:

(1) Online bank
(2) Keep existing account but transfer enough funds to avoid monthly fee
(3) Entrepreneur checking at local credit union

The difference between 2 & 3 is the convenience factor.  Existing bank is 1/2 mile from my house.  Credit union branch is about 10 miles away.  Most of my sales are via PayPal or personal check.  I go to the bank 1x per month on average.

I opened an account with an online bank and will be closing down my existing account by the end of the month.  I’ll report back about my experiences with a virtual bank.

Switching gears

July 10, 2014

Summer’s now officially over for me.  I am slowly getting back into work mode by being proactive – handling some things remotely (web site updates and staff network user lists) to hopefully take some of the pressure off preplanning week.  Fact is we have a LOT of new faces who will need media/tech support this year.  We lost two weeks of summer break with the adjusted school calendar.  Let’s hope being proactive was the right choice to make by making my life a little easier come July 28th.

There are still a few items to cross off my summer to-do list.  The dining room table has been my storage area for everything I brought home for the summer. My new bookcase from Arhaus furniture arrives today. Will spend the late a.m. shelving my book collection. I am positive that hubs will be thrilled when I have FINALLY gotten all my books put away.

Our back porch project starts 7/22. They estimate almost 3 weeks from start to finish, depending on the weather and inspections. I have a feeling that my Big Green Egg is going to be a guest in my breakfast room during construction. It is way too heavy to move up and down stairs.

So, I have 2-1/2 weeks left of summer break and intend to make the most of it – finishing up two t-shirt quilts  and cutting several baby quilt kits so I can have something ready to stitch once school starts.  That’s a huge stress reliever for me!  I also tend to sell them as soon as I make them.  Switching gears also applies to the business – I am now making smaller, practical items – including 18″ doll clothes and accessories – to use up stash and sell in my Etsy shop.  We’ll see how that goes.

Keep your receipts (and pay by credit card if you think you might return something)!

July 5, 2014

Why?

It makes returning items a lot less hassle!!  

It provides proof of purchase in case you need to request warranty service!!  

It documents the original purchase price in case you decide to take advantage of a retailer’s trade-in or trade-up policy!!

EASY PEASY RETURNS:   I decided to return a machine to Wally World that I’d purchased thinking my niece might like it as a replacement for her dearly departed Hello Kitty machine. Well, Miss A. had better luck with a different machine and took that one home.  As nice as this machine sewed, I didn’t need another sewing machine.  Fortunately, I was within the 90 day return policy. I dutifully packaged up the machine and accessories (sans original packing material), grabbed the receipt and headed to Wally World.  The retailer’s policy states that you have to have the original packing material and receipt to get your money back.  Otherwise, you get a gift card.  I was pleasantly surprised (more like thrilled) when the cashier credited the amount back on my credit card.

TRADING UP:  After a year of teaching kid sewing classes, I discovered that I really only need a couple of student machines. (FYI – I have FOUR – one personal, two donated and one purchased.)  Most students BYOSM in my area.  I actually purchased one sewing machine specifically for kid classes a few months ago.  Seriously considering taking advantage of the machine dealer’s trade-in policy. Machine now sells for less than I paid for it. Having receipt will give me $30 more in trade-in credit toward the purchase of a new machine – a serger, coverstitch or embroidery machine for the business – or that big ironing press I’ve been considering to cut down on time spent prepping t-shirts for t-shirt quilts.

REPAIR:  Being able to prove that I purchased the machine from a dealer meant that my sewing machine was repaired under warranty (at no charge to me).

I keep all of my original purchase receipts for big ticket items in a special binder.  You may decide to put them in a file folder, coffee canister or teapot that sits high on a shelf.  The only thing that counts is that you are able to lay your hands on the receipt whenever you need it.  Of course, paying by credit card serves as a back-up since many retailers can look-up the receipt via UPC and your credit card number – but having the original receipt is always best.