Organizing For Entrepreneurs :: Finding Success Begins With Finding Your Stuff

A lot of my clients are small business owners either in a home office or outside location.  Each time I work with one of them, I kept noticing they were having pretty much the same issues over and over again.  And I found myself saying the same solutions over and over again – simply tweaking it for their particular needs.  But mostly it’s paper, business cards from networking, client information, email management, filing, etc.

So I decided to take all of this fabulous information and combine it into a three hour seminar.  I’m going to teach entrepreneurs the basics of managing all of the stuff that comes with being a business owner.

This class is designed for someone who is great at what they do but does not have the organizing principles needed to keep track of their stuff.  This may mean YOU!

The class is called “Organizing For Entrepreneurs” and is designed to give you the skills you need to help save you time and money as you go about your day.  It is being held on Friday, March 26th, 2010 from 8:30-11:30 at CoLab Nashville, and is only $95.  This also includes a 1/2 hour follow up phone consultation.  It’s a great deal – especially since I’m limiting it to 15 people so you can get some individualized attention along with this super important information.

Ask yourself how much time you waste every day looking for things you need or being frustrated with piles of papers or office supplies.  And then ask yourself how much your time is worth.

Register now as space is limited! *Please keep in mind that the class is located in Nashville, TN.

Also, check out Knight Stivender’s blog post about this event “Organizer helps entrepreneurs save time”!

time saving post from The Organizing Mama (aka Stacey Crew)!

Stacey Crew, The Mommy & Me expert on organizing.com, did a nice blog post this morning on Mrs. Organized’s blog about time saving tricks for Moms. I am quoted as well, so I thought I’d repost with a link here on my blog:

Time-Saving Tips for Mommies

Even though I’m good at what I do, I have so much respect for other organizers, and I love reading their blog posts. Sometimes I’m validated, sometimes surprised, and sometimes educated. Can’t ask for more than that. I hope I do the same.

less is more . . . and breathing is good

I work with a lot of clients who have trouble remembering things, or misplace their stuff. I always tell them that it is pretty normal to do this – even us

It's just like when I purged my daughter's room and got rid of over half of her toys and furniture. She ended up playing with her things way more than she ever did, and played in HER room instead of strewing things around the house. It's the same with me. We've moved into our smaller house (less than 1100 square feet); I've pared down my closet, my cupboards, my files, my staging supplies; I've reduced commitments and really give thought to what I wanted to do instead of what I thought I should do. I mean, is life as we know it going to end if we don't go to the school spirit night at CiCi's pizza? or if I choose not to volunteer for a committee or scrub the tub whether it needs it or not? While it is good to do some charity work or help out at the schools, I've realized that I don't have to be the one who has to do everything.

And I feel that I can breathe.

I don’t feel like shopping much, because, honestly, I have no place to put anything. Everything that is around me is something that I either love, or use. And it’s awfully nice when those two things combine. I know I’ve written about this before but I’ve been thinking about this a lot. Our economy having this downturn is not a good thing for many people but our family, at least, has used it as a way to re-evaluate our lives and what we want out of things. We’d started this downsizing of our life well before the economy and real estate market tanked – and now I’m glad that we did. Check out my closet – I just don’t feel like adding anything to it

So it’s not that hard for me to put my hands on the things I need because there’s not that much space in which to look, nor is there much for me to look for. It’s not that hard to keep track of my commitments because there aren’t that many extraneous ones – and the ones I have are all on my calendar.

Sometimes I find this awkward when working with a client because who wants to hear that they’ve got too much stuff to do or things around them? Some people are open to it but many are resistant because change is hard. That’s not to say my way is the only way, by any means. But I’ve always wondered about people who say, I wish I could . . . . And then never do anything about it.

To Facebook or Not To Facebook . . . That Is The Question.

I’ve been invited to join Facebook about a dozen times over the last few weeks. “Friend” me, they say. Some actually are friends, some are business acquaintances, some relatives. I keep wondering – do I give myself a “face” or not.

At this point, I”m thinking not. My friend, Angela, keeps asking why not so I really had to think, well why not. Can’t be that hard – seems like everyone is on it. Then I started thinking, well, there’s one more thing I have to keep up with and do I really want to.

I’ve got Active Rain for real estate stuff, Linked In for business stuff, and my own blog for my company stuff. I’ve got everyone I need to talk to on my Outlook, photos go to Snapfish, and I can send out business announcements through Constant Contact. I just don’t think I want to have one more site I have to keep tabs on. Plus, do I really want my pictures and whereabouts out there and have to divulge my personal thoughts where they will be on display, permanently? I know, I can make them private or only for a select few. But then, what’s the point? I can communicate with those “select few” when I want to – it’s part of being a friend so I’d better make the effort or I won’t have any friends. And do I really want people from my past stalking me, as has happened recently to a good friend of mine. A guy from high school keeps trying to “friend” her and no matter how many times she ignores him – he just doesn’t get the hint. More stress than I need, I’m thinking.

I may change my mind but for now I think I don’t need one more thing going on that I have to maintain. Unless anyone can convince me it’s SO worthwhile, I think I’ll pass for now.

project folders save the day

Anyone that I’ve ever worked with in their office knows that I love project folders. I’ve had many clients say “well, I don’t have any projects”. Oh yes, you do. Everyone has projects – you just call them by a different name. It can be an event you are helping with like a charity auction or school fundraiser; it can be a luncheon or kids birthday party; it can be getting your taxes together; it can be remodeling your bathroom. Whatever. It’s a project. So the best way to keep all of the papers together that inevitably end up scattered around is to corral them in a project folder.

My favorite one is by Pendaflex. These are called Pilesmart Quickview Jackets. They come 6 in a package in 3 colors per package. The best thing about these is that you can color coordinate your projects, and label them at the bottom. The whole body of the jacket is clear so you can see what is inside. I usually get them at Staples (Office Depot isn’t carrying them anymore for some reason).

I’m working on some organizing seminars and some staging seminars. I’ve got a folder for each, in yellow. All of my classes and teaching stuff goes in yellow.

Client projects go in blue, office things like monthly bookkeeping goes in red. And so on. These are the folders I keep on my desk and can stuff them in my bag when I go out to a meeting or a coffee shop to do some “thinking”. Everything I need is together in the folder. Not to be confused with papers you are finished with and need to be filed in a file drawer. These are completely different. These papers are ACTIVE. Things you are working on and are in progress – things you need to get your paws on quickly.

The main thing I tell my clients is to label a project folder, and put everything in it. Then when you are ready to work on that “project”, it’s all there.

It doesn’t have to be these folders – they just work for me. The most important part is that you can find what you need when you need it.