Entrepreneurs typically fall into two groups: You’re either the sales-and-marketing-type or the brainy-investor-type.
As the sales-and-marketing-type you excel at the creative side of business, (company records be damned.)
The problem is, that from day one, you’ll be closely monitored and scrutinized by these (oftentimes quite boring) brainy-investors, or (the even more boring) bureaucrat types. Investors will want to see clean, clear financial information and plans before they invest. Regulators, banks, licensing organizations and the tax man will all want to see important records about your business formation, revenue, expenses, and more. And when you come to sell your business, your company records need to be impeccable or you could lose the deal.
I cannot stress the importance of meticulous record keeping. Start from day one. It will save you a headache in the long run. A good business plan means being prepared to spend the time to keep your company records in order.
Action: Take stock of your company record keeping systems
Take 5 minutes today to take stock of your company’s record keeping systems. Can you find important information when you need it? Where are you letting things slip? What can you do to make it easy for yourself to organise the information you need?
Join the Conversation
Have you found a great way to organise your company’s records? Share with us in the comments. Or use them to create a little bit of extra motivation and accountability to get your action task for today done. And I would love you to join me on Facebook or Twitter.Image used under Creative Commons license courtesy of Marcin Wichary
Andrew Dubinsky is a successful entrepreneur with 4 profitable start-up companies under his belt. He is the CEO of Encomia, where he developed electronic signature technology for the mortgage industry. Mr. Dubinsky has been mentioned in Time Magazine, The WSJ as well as numerous other banking/mortgage trade publications. You can catch him on Twitter @AndrewDubinsky.
Signing up with a professional records management service provider, can prove to be an invaluable resource for business critical record retention. The essential company records are held securely in an off-site location, and can be delivered back to your office or desk when ever required. A fully managed service also costs considerably less than people tend to imagine.