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Extra Features and Video Online FloristsReview.com R E A D O N L I N E 69 Also, make sure you don't allow personal emails to be included in your work email. It creates ineffi ciency. You don't want your employees checking their personal emails during work hours, and you shouldn't be doing so, either. 18. Register as an LLC Consider registering your fl oral business as an LLC—a "limited liability company"—making it a separate taxable entity. For about $1,000 or less to register your company as an LLC, you will be able to protect your personal assets from any legal diffi culties and vice versa. Accidents can occur—from your delivery truck hitting another vehicle or a fl ower display toppling and cracking someone in the head—and the LLC designation will protect you, personally, from being sued and the damages incurred. Instead, your business will take the hit, but you, the individual, will be spared 19. Keep Your Business and Personal Accounts Separate Hopefully this is something you have been doing from day one because you should never be taking resources from your business to pay for your personal expenses. Conversely, never allow a customer to pay with a check made out to you personally. Why? Because when it comes to our friends at the IRS, you and your fl oral business are considered to be separate entities and, thus, must have separate fi nancials. You do want to avoid an audit, don't you? 20. Get Accounting Software e least fun part of owning a fl ower business is all of the nonfl ower stuff . Case in point: business fi nancials. However, to ensure those red roses are keeping you in the black, consider investing in accounting software. Keeping track of your fi nancials utilizing an accounting software program will be more effi cient and will more than make up for the length of time and money spent in an accountant's offi ce. Regardless of whether you are 100 percent digital or employ paper receipts, it is important to maintain all business receipts and to record them. For security, scan them, photograph them with your phone or place them into a special accordion folder. Also, record your daily intake fi nancials into your accounting software program often. Conventional wisdom says to do these tasks daily, and that often requires setting a specifi c time aside each day to do this—a time that you always adhere to, such as the fi rst hour of each morning. 21. Get an Accountant, As Well Just because you took our advice in the previous tip and are using some spiff y accounting software, it doesn't mean you should completely ignore accountants. You should ensure that you have an accountant on standby just in case you need to talk in person about any issues you might encounter and to perform your tax fi lings on your behalf. You will use the accounting software only to keep track of your records; you should still obtain the services of an expert in income taxes. 22. Pay Your Tax Bill on Time Failure to keep up on your scheduled tax payments will burden you with fi nes on top of what you owe. Paying your taxes on time will allow you to keep on track with your 2022 goal of fl oral domination or, at the very least, having a successful fl oral retail business. For all you fl ower business owners, don't panic. ere's no need to tackle all 22 of these managerial tips at once. To make the process less daunting, take baby steps. Pick one, and make it part of your routine. en add another and another, until all of those you choose to implement are checked off your to-do list. Oh yeah—a 23rd way to improve the way you manage your fl oral business: Make a to-do list. But maybe start with this one fi rst.

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