small business

Here’s How We Help Our Clients Manage Their Creative Businesses /  by Paco de Leon

A Christmas Carol tells the story of Ebenezer Scrooge’s redemption. Our main character, Scrooge, starts as a cranky old man who hoards his wealth, treats his employees like garbage, and bums people out with his bad vibes and lack of generosity. Throughout the story, we bear witness to Scrooge’s transformation. He is visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and what is yet to come. These spirit guides help Scrooge slowly gain clarity on who he has been and wants to become.

Through these visions, Scrooge recognizes the error of his ways, and by the end, old Ebenezer finds the willingness to change. If you haven’t read Charles Dickens's novella, I’m sure you’ve seen some version of it. Some old 90’s sitcoms have used this same framework to help the hero of a story emerge on the other side a better, more aware version of themselves.

Weirdly, the work we do at Hell Yeah Bookkeeping is a bit like this story. Thankfully, our clients aren’t cranky old misers. Instead, they tend to be insightful, creative business owners. And they need our help to become better, more aware captains of their company. In perfect conditions, we take our clients through a similar, but less dire, Scoorge-like journey where the ghost of business-past, business-present, and business-future all help our heroes have clarity and inspire a change to be better business owners.

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What My Clients Taught Me About Pricing and Building a Sustainable Business /  by Paco de Leon

Here are all the lessons I’ve learned from all the business owners with whom I’ve had the pleasure of working. They helped me build my sustainable business first by being paying customers, but I’ve also had the unique viewpoint of watching them grow their businesses from the inside out. Watching and playing a tiny, supporting role in other people’s success has been really fun.

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What Is In Store For 2024? My Predictions and Outlook On Creative Businesses In the New Year /  by Paco de Leon

Here are my predictions for what’s in store in 2024 and what that means for creative businesses. They’re a result of reflecting on the last year, observing larger trends and chatting with folks across various creative industries, from creators who make money on social media to to small business owners, artists, and folks in the podcasting industry. A lot of this may be anecdotal, but some of these patterns are worth paying attention to. Let’s dig in.

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What Playing in a Band Taught Me About Making Money /  by Paco de Leon

I spent most of my young adulthood and late teenage years playing in bands with my friends. But it all started with a simple question.

One day, a classmate who eventually became one of my best friends casually asked, “Do you want to start a band?” Surprised and intrigued, I asked her what instrument she played. She said something about taking piano lessons as a kid.

“Well, do you want to learn how to play the bass?” I thought about the cheap, $ 40, midnight blue electric bass guitar I begged my dad to buy earlier that year from a stranger selling it on Craigslist. “I have one you could use.”

“Yes,” she said with the kind of confidence reserved for youth, “Definitely,” 

I took the bass to school the next day. As I handed it to my friend, not realizing how this little action would seal our fates and friendship for decades, we agreed to have our first practice later that week on the last day of our junior year of high school.

We’ve played together for years. On and off. And in different projects. We still tinker around to this day. Throughout all the years playing together, we learned our instruments, made lots of mistakes, and even more memories – like the great tequila embargo of 2014.

As the years accumulated, I wondered how playing hundreds of shows and writing countless songs would fit into the bigger picture of my life. Starting a band is a lot like starting a business. 

Even though my constitution will always require playing and making music for the sake of silly art and self-expression, I also learned many invaluable business lessons along the way. Here they are in no particular order.

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How Much Does It Cost Your Business to Earn Each Dollar? /  by Paco de Leon

Do you know how much it costs your business to earn each dollar it makes? Unlike traditional employees, when you're a self-employed service provider, every dollar you earn has a cost beyond your time and energy. How much do you need to pay for employee payroll, taxes, operating costs like marketing and insurance, profit, and personal pay?

Even if you’re a one-person freelance practice, understanding how much it costs you to earn each dollar in your company is a valuable shift in perspective that can help you build a sustainable, efficient business.

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Here's What Tax Season Looks Like with Hell Yeah, Bookkeeping /  by Paco de Leon

What makes tax season so stressful for most small business owners and freelancers? I think it can be chalked up to a few things. First, if you haven’t kept up with your bookkeeping, then you’re facing a year’s worth of accounting homework with a fast-approaching due date. If you don’t know how much you’ve made, you can’t know how much you’ll owe in taxes - you’re flying blind and that’s scary.

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How to Pay Yourself From Your S Corp: What is a Reasonable Salary? /  by Paco de Leon

So you’ve discovered that tax saving wonder known as the S Corp. You’re ready to start kicking the tires by learning what this “Reasonable Salary” thing is all about. Let’s discuss what it means, why it matters, and the best way to find yours.

A reasonable salary for an S Corporation's shareholder-employee is the part of their compensation that must be treated as employee wages. The IRS requires you to be paid an appropriate wage for the services you provide your corporation because provides needed funding for Social Security and Medicare. It’s best to work with an experienced tax professional to set your optimal reasonable salary, but this article will be a great primer to get acquainted with what a reasonable salary is.

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Six Things I've Learned In Six Years of Business /  by Paco de Leon

Here are six things I've learned since deciding to start a business six years ago. A lot has changed since then. One glaring change is that I don't even offer the service I originally offered. And as of late, I mostly feel like I'm a writer, but maybe that's the season my business and I are in or the fact that I've spent the last six months writing a book.

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Sell Value, Not Time. How to Think About Your Prices /  by Paco de Leon

Here's what I've learned about pricing over the years of running my own business and being the kind of person who thinks an awful lot about money.Sell value, not time.When you can sell the value you are creating for your customers; you can charge a lot more than if you could charge on time alone. Should an expert cobbler who has 45 years of shoe-repair experience charge less because he can fix your shoes faster and better than a rookie? Hell no. What is the value of continuing to use that pair of shoes you bought for $299 and plan to keep for the rest of your life?

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