Are You Keeping a Business Calendar?

by Kori Rodley Irons | More from this Blogger

Keeping a calendar may seem like Business Basics 101--but I'm surprised how many people DON'T keep a date book or calendar for their businesses--family activities and holidays, yes, but their home business activities...no. This morning I'd like to advocate for keeping a separate calendar JUST to track your business activities, as well as an overall family calendar for your household events and schedules.

There is more than one good reason for keeping a business calendar--of course, for starters, it will help keep you organized and keep track of your appointments and deadlines. BUT, in addition to the obvious, keeping a calendar where you track how many hours you work, and on what projects, as well as meetings, marketing work, errands, etc. will give you a valid record of your business operations. And, this can help you when it comes to tax planning, scheduling, and even making a long term plan for growing your business. The more complete your calendar, the more accurate and useful it will be as a tool or record of your actual business operations.

You don't have to have a fancy calendar--an ordinary wall or desk calendar will do. Even the ones that are given out free at your hardware store work absolutely fine for tracking your business operations. Of course, if you'd like to have a handy date book or palm pilot that you can carry wherever you go (as long as you don't lose it!) then that is fine too. I track how many hours a day I work and on which projects, in addition to my meetings, phone calls, "to-do" list, errands, business purchases, etc. I'm not someone who's organized enough to keep detailed computer logs, so a calendar works well for me. As I've mentioned before, you can even write your business mileage right on your calendar as well.

Even if you are just getting started with your home business and don't think you have a lot of activities and projects to track--having and keeping a business calendar is a good habit to get into.

See Also: How Are You Keeping Your Records?, Keeping a Message and Communication Log, and The Basics of Tracking Mileage

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