Wow, all the stuff!

Guest post written by my buddy Aldo Mays

I really had no idea all the things that went into opening your own business before I opened one of my own. For example, I had no idea how much effort went into creating a business website until I contacted with a designer… Thank goodness she knew what she was doing! Additionally, I had no idea who to call about our credit card merchant services or about credit card processing, so that took some research as well. All of the tax implications and bookkeeping regulations that come with being a business owner are really complicated, so I hired a part-time accountant to help me manage all the numerical details. I feel like I'm finally wrapp! ing my head around how difficult it is to manage a business, when all along I thought I would spend most of my time thinking of product innovations and customer service! That stuff is definitely important, but nowhere near as crucial as the day-to-day services and vendor relationships that really impacts how the business is run. I'm so glad I have so much help!