Business Organizing Systems Can Save Hours

As my redesign and home staging business has grown over the years, it has progressed in what I view as a typical fashion - in the beginning there were just a few clients, and as time has passed that client base has increased significantly. In the beginning, I handled running my redesign business with ease - I could remember everything that I needed to do or, at most, simple to-do lists kept me organized. I had read and heard about incorporating traditional business standards and practices, but I didn't think it was necessary to implement these practices.

There is no time like the beginning of setting up your business to implement these systems, but any time is better than never. Though you may not have the need for them now, the need will surely come when your business grows. Start simple. Develop a form for gathering the information that you would like to gather every time someone calls you with an inquiry. This seems so intuitive, yet many people resist the idea. The form should include the callers name, address, home, work and cell number, and their e-mail address. And most importantly - how did they find out about you? If the form feels restrictive, take the call and take down the information, and then transfer it to your form right away.