Transform Your Small Business: 10 Innovative Organizational Strategies for This Year

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Hey, want to make your business more productive? Get organized! Don’t worry if you’re not a natural at it, now’s the perfect time to tidy up your workspace and get your business in order. Here are 10 tips to help you do just that and start the new year on the right foot.

1. Clean Up Your Office: Clutter can be a real stressor. We often hoard stuff thinking it’s all important. But with the new year, it’s time to let go of the old, irrelevant, or duplicated stuff. Recycle those broken electronics, delete old voice messages, and donate what you don’t need. Keep only the essentials and anything you’ve used in the past year. A clean workspace means less time wasted on searching through junk.

2. Sort Out Your Paper Files: Did you know the average person wastes over 4 hours a week searching for papers? Shred outdated or irrelevant documents. If you’re worried about needing old notes, scan them and toss the paper files to make more room.

3. Say Goodbye to Paper Receipts: The IRS accepts electronic copies of receipts, so why keep all those tiny paper slips? Use a receipt management scanner or app and make sure it lets you export data to your expense reporting/accounting app.

4. Embrace the Cloud: Start using cloud-based tools to share and save documents. Google Drive, Dropbox, and Box are some examples. This not only cleans up your personal storage but also saves time when collaborating with others.

5. Manage Your Inbox: If your email inbox is overflowing, it’s time for a cleanup. Archive emails you no longer need to respond to and unsubscribe from newsletters or subscriptions you no longer read. Create specific folders for non-essential emails so they don’t interrupt your daily flow.

6. Find the Right Note-Taking Tool: As a small business owner, it’s crucial to have a solution for jotting down tasks or inspirations when they strike. Whether it’s pen and paper, voice recording on your smartphone, or an app like Evernote, find a solution that fits your lifestyle.

7. Update Your Social Media Profiles: Your social media profiles can also become cluttered and outdated. Drop any accounts that are no longer in use and weed out any followers who are inactive or aren’t following you back.

8. Consult a Tax Advisor: Don’t wait until tax season to start thinking about taxes. Meet with a CPA or tax advisor early in the year. If your business is still a sole proprietorship, consider protecting your personal assets and gaining other benefits through a formal business structure like an LLC or corporation.

9. Take Control of Your Books: If you haven’t updated your invoicing, payment processing, expense recording, and project tracking processes lately, there might be an app out there that can make these tasks easier and more efficient. Check out your app store for tools like FreshBooks, Mint, Kashoo, and InDinero.

10. Tie Up Legal Loose Ends: Now’s the perfect time to take care of any legal matters you’ve been putting off. Did you file a DBA for your business name? Did you get a Tax ID number? Are all your licenses and local permits in order? Did you make any changes to your corporation and LLC that still need to be filed with the state?

So, what other tips do you have for getting your business organized this year?