Something needed to change.

I started looking at the trends and the different ways I approached my business, and that’s when I noticed it.

There was so much more enjoyment for the creative clients in my business than I did for the non-creative-based clients.

I thought to myself, what was the harm in niching down? I’d heard so much about it from fellow business owners and business coaches that it was time for me to try it for myself.

Healthy cash flow is essential for covering operating costs and funding growth.

Conduct a review of cash inflows and outflows to understand your cash flow cycle.

Does your inflow exceed your outflow, or vice versa? When you can accurately answer that question, you’ll begin to understand more clearly how it ebbs and flows and how you can anticipate both to your benefit and sense of security.

Emails and messages are great for communicating with team members, but not everything can be explained over text; sometimes you need to call.

Having weekly calls means that there is a specific dedicated time to follow up with tasks, troubleshoot live, or explain more abstract concepts that could be harder to understand just with reading a message.

Have you heard the saying “everything is content”?

A chilling statement when you think about it, but I think it’s being used incorrectly.

When it comes to your business, everything can be content, or more accurately, inspire content.

But it’s tricky, because many business owners are still wondering, “HOW?”

Running a business in the summer means wearing a few extra hats, maybe a sunhat, but definitely the “who’s covering while I’m out?” hat. 

Here are five practical ways to keep your books running smoothly while still making time for long weekends and iced coffee breaks.

Are you feeling…flustered? Palms sweaty? 

If that’s how you’re feeling about your business’s bookkeeping, it’s time for a change!

And it doesn’t have to be an intensive process; most times, simple changes are all that are needed to take your bookkeeping from back-of-mind to peace-of-mind.

So, here are three key ways you can improve your bookkeeping (and your sanity):

As small business owners, our most common connection (especially for those without a brick-and-mortar store) is through our screens, with customers, clients, and ultimately, our community.

While you should be engaging with your clients and customers, you should also be reaching out and interacting with your fellow entrepreneurs and business owners. 

We’ve all been shown how unchecked corporate greed can create an unbearable, toxic environment, exploiting workers and resources with little care about not just their customers, but anything that they deem “not worth their time or money”.

This is why for us, becoming a B Corp Certified Business was about joining a community taking a stance and committing to changing how business is done, that preserves respect, empathy, and sustainability in all aspects.

Are you secure?

Not in an emotional security way (that’s between you and your therapist), but when it comes to your cybersecurity!

If you want to keep your company’s data protected, you need to assess your cybersecurity habits, as a worker and overall as a company.

Make security a priority in your culture through these key tips:

Companies that value power and the all-mighty dollar above human decency are exactly what DEI exposes in a deeply flawed capitalist system.

These companies expose themselves as late adopters of a society, of a humanity, built on mutual respect, because their own greed and prejudices blind them.

So, we at Signal wanted to make something very clear.

We move forward, not backwards.

Your reputation is more than just how your clients and prospective clients see you, it’s also how potential employees and team members see you.

Your reputation as a business encompasses your reputation as an employer, arguably one of the most crucial parts of owning and running a business. 

Do you know what your reputation as an employer is? If you read that question and are sitting there with furrowed brows or a good ol’ “confusion face”, you need to find out.

I’ve compiled a list of some of the most common questions I’ve been asked in my 60-minute Ask a Bookkeeper Clarity Sessions, to help close the knowledge gap, and hopefully answer some of your questions in the process!

Unless your business is tax filing, you most likely dread tax season!

Every late winter-early spring, it’s a mad dash of numbers, papers, and triple-checking everything!

But filing taxes doesn't have to be daunting, contrary to popular opinion.

Here are some helpful tips to make the process a bit more enjoyable:

What is the true cost of doing business?

We know what it costs us to produce and sell our products and services, but there’s another piece of the puzzle that business owners need to consider. Arguably, it should’ve been considered long ago during industrialization but there’s no time like the present.

The real question then becomes, “What does my business cost the planet?”

And then the follow-up question is “How do I go from costing the planet to helping the planet?”

Here are a few simple yet effective ways you can practice sustainability in your business and reduce your carbon footprint:

The times are changing, and our economy is too, more than we’d like.

Simple things like groceries are now becoming unaffordable, which is a “need” spend, not a want.

So what happens to our businesses during these ebbs and flows? Well, for one, we get creative.

And then, we re-evaluate.

There are a few things to review that are low-effort but make a massive impact on our businesses, and I’ve put together a short list of the essentials.

I’ve put together a list of some of the core dates to keep track of for the 2025 Tax Year.

Here are the dates you should mark on your calendar for 2025:

Before you log off for 2024, there are a few things you should check are completed!

The end-of-year means review, review, review (and prepare)!

Specifically, what are you meant to review and prepare? From one business owner to another, take a sigh of relief because I’ve put together the big ones.

There are a lot of things to remember come year-end. One of the most important to remember is to give back this year.

As a business owner, there are so many different ways you can utilise your business to give back to your community, and I’ve come up with some key ways you can do that!

There’s always give and take when it comes to assessing the direction of your business, and I want to help you get the full picture to help guide you through your entrepreneurial journey!

Now, let’s discuss why you would not incorporate your business:

The most important factor to consider is whether incorporating your business will provide you with the most tax and legal benefits for your situation.

Generally, incorporating a business can provide certain legal protections and tax advantages such as limited personal liability, greater access to capital, etc.