Do I need a bookkeeper? Well, for me at this moment in time, I personally do not, why? Because as I am employed full time and have no other income that I need to account for. But; once upon a time my situation was different. Before I worked where I work now, I like about 5.7 million other people every year made the decision that starting my own business was my next step.
I know from experience that starting a business from scratch is not easy, from the practicalities of where do I run my business from? What business bank account should I get or do I even need a business bank account? To, should I be a Limited business? How do I register as a Limited business? And where is my registered address going to be? There is so much to work out, it can be overwhelming for some and possibly ignored by others.
Like many other new business owners I found my feet, made a list and worked my way through all of the things I thought I needed to get my business up and running. I decided I wanted to have a limited business to make sure I kept business and private lives separate. I found three local accountants, did some research and had appointments with them all before deciding which one was best for me, this is important, it is likely that you are going to have a very long relationship with them. I used the accountants address as my registered address because I wanted to keep my business and private life separate, then registered with Companies House… everything was coming together well.
My business got off the ground, we gained clients (the most important part) and the business grew nicely but let’s face it, running a business is a learning curve, we all know (or think we know) what we are good at, taking that to running a business doing it is quite different. There are so many things you find out that you need to be doing, and because you are a micro, small or start-up business we all try to keep costs down to a minimum. Like many other start-up’s and small business owners, I did most if the admin and back office stuff (I am going to call it stuff because well, I am great at what I am great at, it doesn’t make me great at ‘stuff’) myself because that is what I thought was the most cost effective option. – We all like to save money right?
Anyway; my business was growing well and we had our happy clients but after a number of years, I made the decision that I didn’t want to work for myself any longer and one of the main reasons was that I had found myself spending most of my time doing jobs that I didn’t actually want to do, jobs that were not part of what I wanted to do as ‘my’ business. I am pleased to say that my company is still growing nicely and in safe hands with a family member as Managing Director but, I am pleased I stepped away to spend more of my time focussed on doing the jobs that I love.
As part of my current ‘Job’, I work with lots of small and medium sized businesses and have also worked with Rosemary Bookkeeping; as someone that has had a small business, I realise how valuable their services would have been to me as a business owner. I knew I needed an accountant, as was a priority but I did not understand how beneficial it would have been to have someone doing my bookkeeping for me. It never occurred to me that outsourcing some of the admin and day to day ‘stuff’ would have been such a huge benefit to me as a business owner, I just thought I was doing the most cost effective things. If I had known, I would have spent less time doing my bookkeeping and more time on what I love and maybe, just maybe I would have chosen to stay in my business?
The Bookkeeping isn’t the only service that as small business owners we find ourselves tied up doing, there are lots of other things too. Is it time to evaluate how effective and efficient your time is? Would your time be better spent doing something else, like talking to customers, selling your services, creating a bit of artwork or doing whatever it is that you are great. Why not consider outsourcing the rest of it to someone great at it?
So; Do I really need a Bookkeeper? No, I am still employed full time and have no other income that I need to account for, what about you?
What to see how a Rosemary Bookkeeper can help? Have a look here
