Sloppy and handwritten invoices are receipts from small business are my pet peeve. This includes invoices type in Microsoft Word (sorry, I know you worked hard on it.) It reflects poorly on the business and makes accurate bookkeeping a challenge. 

I wanted to share a few tips to improve your invoicing and getting paid! 

1. You are never too small to send invoices electronically.  There are so many easy tools from PayPal to Wave to QuickBooks Online that provide this feature at a low cost.  They also allow you to send estimates, proposals and invoices from your mobile device.  My lawn guy bills me by PayPal invoice and I never see him. He does my yard sends the bill and rolls to the next customer. When I get the notification in my PayPal app or email, I just click and pay.  
2. You must create a detailed yet organized product/services list.  This will ensure that invoices are clear for the customer to understand.  If you sell apples, you should...

The savvy entrepreneur is one whose business and relationships are evidenced by a wake of consistent improvement. In their authenticity, they make people better while making their business and bank account better.  I have worked with many entrepreneurs with horrible people skills. They leave a trail of negative words and hurtful actions directed towards employees, partners, and even customers. It is possible to run a business this way; but, not without consequences or impact on the enterprise in the long run.

Dr. Henry Cloud, author of Integrity: The Courage to Meet the Demands of Reality, calls the trail that follows every leader as her or her “wake.” A wake is the disturbed water downstream of boat or other object moving through water which is caused by the flow of the fluid around the body. Dr Cloud compares the level of turbulence that a leader leaves behind to wake of a cruise ship or swimming duck.

Dr. Cloud states:  “The wake is the results we...

In August 2017, Congresswoman Maxine Waters made a statement during a congressional hearing that ignited a fire in me! During an exchange with the Secretary of the U.S. Treasury, Steven Mnuchin, Congresswoman Waters was irritated that her questions were not being answer during her limited time allotted to her.  Every time Secretary Mnuchin tried to equivocate or give accolades instead of answer the question; the Auntie Maxine responded with the proclamation of “Reclaiming My Time!”

During the same period of time I’d also been reading a book entitled, “Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office:101 Unconscious Mistakes Women Make That Sabotage Their Careers  by Dr. Lois Frankel.  This books describe the many ways that we as women act like like mothers, sisters, friends and even maids within workplace without even realizing it.  I am guilty of several of the habits listed to include being direct about what I want.

So why should we...