Setting Up Home Business Information
Setting Up Business, Calendaring, and Contact Management Records
First, you’ll want to keep an electronic copy of your business plan. Remember, as your business grows and changes, you will be updating this regularly. Review this weekly at first, as your business starts, then monthly. After the first one to two months, reviewing your business plan every three to six months is a good idea.
You’ll also want to maintain an electronic calendar. There are many excellent calendaring programs, and they are usually combined with a contact database. (Lotus makes Lotus Organizer, which might come with your IBM PC. ACT! is also a popular calendar/contact management software.) The calendar has several purposes. Primarily, double booking people is a big no-no (but you already knew that).
Equally important, however, is that your calendar will help you budget your time. If you see that you already have several “To-Do’s” on a given day, you should not schedule a lengthy meeting. Get in the habit of putting anything that needs to be done on your calendar. Don’t forget to block out time for personal commitments, such as special family outings, doctor’s appointments, and school functions.
You should also build and maintain a contact database, holding your clients’ names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and so on. Contact databases have several purposes as well. Primarily, the most important phone numbers and addresses are right where you need them - at your fingertips.
Second, you will be able to send out mass mailings directed toward a particular group - that is, rospects who never became clients; clients from this year who should receive a holiday gift; clients who also gave referrals; all contacts who are attorneys (for a mailing aimed directly at attorneys); and so on. Programs with preset fields include ACT! and Entourage. For more freedom and flexibility, try database programs, such as FileMaker Pro or Access.
You can incorporate a phone log in to your contact manager, or, if you prefer, create a spreadsheet.
Your phone log should be updated every time you pick up the phone to make or receive a call, as well as every time you receive a voicemail message.
Note that you will record the date and time of each call, its length in minutes, who you spoke to, the company, the phone number, and the message or (if you actually spoke to a live person) what you talked about. (You might not want to repeat all these details if your contact manager is up-to-date, but be sure that the person’s name and company name is covered regardless.) The numbers next to “minutes” and “hours” are the actual amount of time spent on the phone, to date. Gathering this information will help you gauge how much phone time is required for various projects.
The column heading “VMS” is a place for you to indicate the nature of the phone exchange - was the call incoming or outgoing? Were you talking to someone or leaving a message on her voicemail? This log serves several purposes. Primarily, you will have an automatic memory aid as to when you spoke to someone, what you promised or said, and what you have discussed with whom. Should you be involved in any dispute, this log will also help you document facts related to that dispute.
You also should have an electronic inventory of all of your writing, designs, marketing plans, ideas, or any other creative property. If copyright issues are involved, this work database will also serve as the information source regarding what you have licensed to whom and when. This database will vary, based on the kind of work you do.
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