Six-Week Start-Up. Rhonda Abrams

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      So, set up both physical files—to hold all that tangible stuff, including receipts—and digital files on your computer to hold all that intangible stuff: your notes, contact info, price comparisons, and so on.

      Get in the habit—right from Week One—of putting the stuff you gather (tangible or intangible) in the appropriate file as you go along. If you wait until later (“I’ll put this stuff away this weekend”), those piles of paper will just get larger and larger and larger...

      In addition, I’d recommend getting a good-size box (like a large plastic storage tub) to keep all your bulkier items (such as samples, large brochures, research studies) in one place and easily retrievable.

Create digital records

      In addition to all the physical staff you’re going to accumulate, you’re going to pile up information even faster.

      Although you can start by keeping track of information such as what you paid for office supplies in a notebook, pretty soon you’re going to find it hard to quickly find and retrieve critical information. The answer: Put it in electronic form so it can be easily searched for and found when you need it.

      Since it’s likely that you’ll do a lot of online research—regarding competition, pricing, sources, and so on—you’ll discover it’s much easier to keep track of this data if you’ve got a system set up right on your computer.

      One way to do this is to utilize the “folder” organizational structure used by most office automation software products. Start right away by setting up computer folders and files as you gather information. For example, you can create a folder called “Suppliers” and inside that folder put all documents— whether word processing, spreadsheets, PDFs, or other types of files—containing the data about suppliers that you unearth during your research.

       Start It Free

      Storing your information in a free online, cloud-based application like Dropbox (www.dropbox.com) or Box (www.box.com) makes all of that information you collect accessible 24/7 from any computer or mobile device that has Internet access. Later, when your business grows, you can upgrade to a paid account for more storage space.

Set up a contact management system

      People who do not seem particularly important during the early stages of your business may be very useful at a later date. It’s a horrible feeling to realize a few months down the road that you met the perfect supplier or distributor, or the person who could introduce you to the right investor, but you’ve lost the little slip of paper with their name, phone number, and email address.

      Moreover, you’ll want to start building your database of potential customers, referral sources, and friends so you can later invite them to your “Grand Opening” and send them your email newsletters (Week Six). Believe me, when it comes time to start your marketing program, you’ll be glad you have an easy way to identify and contact people you want to communicate with.

      So, right from Week One, establish a system for retaining and retrieving individuals’ contact information. The best way to do this is with a “contact management” or “customer relationship management” (CRM) software program.

      Contact management is so important that big corporations spend hundreds of thousands—even millions—of dollars on huge, powerful CRM systems. You don’t have to. You can get by with a much simpler contact management application.

      A contact management program can be as simple as an electronic “address book” such as one included as part of an email program, like Microsoft Outlook. As a start, that’s a good way to make sure you don’t lose important contact information.

      However, you’ll probably quickly outgrow the contact capabilities included in email programs and will want to get a dedicated contact management software application.

      Two of the benefits of cloud-based CRM programs for new entrepreneurs are that you pay as you go and that these applications can grow with you. So when you just start out and only have a short list of contacts, you can subscribe to a plan that suits your needs and your budget. Later, after you’ve grown, you simply upgrade to a larger plan—without interrupting your access to one of your company’s most valuable assets: your contacts. Two popular cloud-based CRM applications to choose from are Salesforce CRM and SugarCRM.

       Start It Free

      Take a look at free CRM solutions from Insightly (insightly.com), Zoho (zoho.com/crm), and Apptivo (apptivo.com).

      At the very least, set up a file on your computer for contact information. Don’t just let business cards stack up.

Keep track of your company’s vital statistics

      Throughout the life of your business, there’s certain information you’re going to be asked over and over again, such as your Tax ID number and your date of incorporation. You’ll save a lot of time and aggravation later if you start recording all important dates, numbers, and data relating to your company right from the start.

      Get in the habit of writing down—in one place—all of your company’s “vital statistics.” Otherwise, you’ll find it’s annoying to have to dig through files to find the same information repeatedly.

      You’ll find a worksheet to keep track of all the vital statistics about your business in Week Three on page 93.

Keep track of expenses

      In Week Five, you’ll deal with money matters, but don’t wait until then to start keeping track of the money you spend. After all, many of your expenses may be tax deductible, and you’ll want to save every penny you can when you’re first opening up shop.

      You can choose to wait until Week Five to ask your accountant for a recommendation of a bookkeeping software program, but at the very least, start right now to keep track of each and every expenditure you make.

       Start It Free

      Look online for free expense trackers like mint.com and expensify. com.

      week 2

       WEEK 1: LAY THE FOUNDATION

       WEEK 2: GET THE INFORMATION YOU NEED

       WEEK 3: CUT THROUGH RED TAPE

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