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Setting Home Business Goals for 2010: Ask these Questions First

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Soccer Net and Sky
Image by Billie Hara via Flickr

Everyone sets goals this time of year. And that includes home business owners. We are all interested in setting goals to provide some sort of guidance in the coming year. And it is also a good time to reflect on how things went this year. As you look toward 2010, it is a good idea to stop a minute and consider this past year. Freelance Folder offers five questions you should ask yourself before you start setting your home business goals for next year:

1. Are you doing what you want to be doing?

2. Which projects did you most struggle with? Why?

3. Did you lose customers? Why?

4. Did you gain customers? Why?

5. Are you comfortable with your typical workload?

When I began asking myself these questions, it really opened my eyes to how things have been going and what I might want to accomplish for next year. As a result, I’ve been holding off on my home business goals for 2010. But I think I’m about ready to make them.

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Home Business Tax Deduction: Mortgage Payments

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Home Office - My Desk
Image by fensterbme via Flickr

It’s time to start working out your home business tax deduction options, and one of those is a portion of your mortgage payments. When you have a home office, you can deduct a portion of your mortgage payment.

Here’s how you do it:

1. Check to see how many square feet your home has.

2. Figure out how many square feet your home office has. If you have a whole room for your home office, then use that. If your home office is only a 5 foot x 4 foot area, figure that up.

3. Divide the square feet of your home office by the total square feet of your home.

4. Multiply that number by your mortgage payment.

This will give you an idea of how much you can take as a tax deduction for your home office. Here is an example:

1. My home is 1750 square feet.

2. My home office takes up 6 feet by 4 feet in one room of my home, or 24 square feet.

3. 24/1750 = .014

4. .014 x $1,350 (my mortgage payment) = $18.90

That’s really not much. But if I had a whole room dedicated to my home office, I’d be looking at pretty close to $80, which might be enough to push me down a little bit. And some people believe that every little bit matters.

And, of course, you can also take the percentage of your utility bills. For instance, if I paid $1,200 a year in utilities, I can take another deduction of $16.80 (.014 x 1,200), for that portion of my utilities. This also works if you are renting.

But you have to use the home office space strictly for your home business. This is why I don’t get to count the entire room; I use part of the room for storage. However, you should speak with a tax professional before doing anything, just to make sure that everything is as it should be.

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Merry Christmas from WorkShak!

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Today is Christmas Eve, and if you’re like me, you’re operating on a shorter schedule. But the home business rarely gets a day off! So you’re probably hurry to finish a few things up so that you don’t have to do anything tomorrow. I know I am!

Hopefully, you have received the gift of a successful home business this year — or at least one that is on the road to success.

Merry Christmas!

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Taking a Deduction for Home Business Internet Use

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As the end of the year approaches, it’s time to start thinking about home business tax deductions. And one of the things you can deduct is your home business Internet use.

For many people who work from home, the Internet is a lifeline. However, it costs money to get a fast, reliable Internet connection. The good news is that you can deduct some of your expenses. Many people don’t want to get a separate Internet service for the home office, and that is okay. You can actually deduct a portion of your Internet costs.

Figure up how much you use each month for Internet, and then take a percentage of that. For example, 85% of the Internet usage in my home is for my business. We pay about $28.81 for Internet, what with access fees and equipment rental. So, I multiply .85 by $28.81 and end up with $24.49. For 12 months, that’s $293.88 that is eligible for deduction. This amount should be added up with other home business expenses. It should be part of the P&L statement you have if you are a business, or added on Schedule C if you are a sole proprietorship.

And, of course, since I am not a tax professional, it is a good idea to double check things with a tax professional or with the IRS.

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Home Business: It’s Tax Deduction Time

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Mass State Library Tax Forms
Image by herzogbr via Flickr

Hopefully, you are taking a few minutes to look beyond the holiday (and the possible breakdown) to tax time. Now is a good time to organize some of your home business information and documentation — if you haven’t been all year. Just do a little bit at a time so that you don’t feel overwhelmed. Some things to think about include the following tax deduction possibilities:

* Home office supplies

* Computer

* Business travel expenses

* Car or truck

* Trade subscriptions

* Cell phone use

* Child care

You can also take a deduction for your Internet use and part of your mortgage — the part that encompasses your home office. Tomorrow and early next week, we will take a look at how to take the tax deductions for your Internet use and your mortgage use.

If you are unsure about whether you can take a deduction (you should be using deducted expenses for business purposes only), you can contact the IRS or consult a tax professional.

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I’d Have a Breakdown, But I Don’t Have The Time

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swearing in cartoon
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Sometimes we all feel overwhelmed by the amount of work we have to do as home business owners. And, during the holidays, this can be even more challenging. There are family functions to attend, and kids are home from school. And domestic partners might have time off. All of this can combine to create a situation in which you just don’t seem to have a lot of time to accomplish what you’d like. Hell, sometimes it’s difficult to get done what you need to do.

I know. I’m the verge of a breakdown myself. I’d like to go curl up in a fetal position somewhere and just completely lose it for about an hour. But I don’t have the time. Everything is spiraling out of control, and, quite frankly, I’ve been up late a lot with company and I was completely unconscious for two hours longer than usual this morning. Which means that I didn’t enjoy it because I wasn’t aware of the problem until I woke up and saw the clock. At which point I leaped out of bed thinking horrible swear words inside my head.

So I’ve though of some fatal mistakes that I made in the lead up to this week:

* Foolishly agreeing to a long-term freelancing project two weeks ago, even though I knew I’d have company.

* Trying to do everything. I mean, I cleaned the house. I should have just left it.

* Not doing enough extra when I had the time. Poor preparation.

I did a little preparation, but not nearly enough. However, I have started telling people that I am unavailable for anything new until after the new year. Because I just can’t handle it. But I’m thinking that tonight, tomorrow and Wednesday are going to be busy and long.

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Freelancing: Do Your Clients Value Your Time?

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The Gift album cover

Yesterday was an interesting day for me. I have a client who has a very small regular order, and he is one of my oldest clients, so re-negotiations have been few and far between. But this client also expects quite a lot from me, asking for more and more, even though he is my smallest client. After I got off a 30 minute phone call with someone he wanted me to interview for a longer piece that we didn’t negotiate beyond the usual monthly quota, I asked myself: What am I doing? Does this guy even value my time, or value my work as a professional?

It struck me that those that pay the least often expect the most from you.

Then, a couple hours later, I received an Amazon gift code for a rather substantial sum in my email inbox. This was from a different client (for whom I do a different sort of work) — one of my biggest. These guys have a lot of regular, good-paying work for me. And they sent me a very nice Christmas bonus on top of everything. This company truly values me and my time and wants to establish a very positive working relationship with me.

It made me wonder if I should raise my rate for the other guy. Would he value me more if he had pay more for my services? Or would he dump me? After yesterday, I’m not sure that I would mind.

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Are You Optimistic About Your Personal Economy in 2010?

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Country Financial
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Many people who make money from home are looking toward 2010 and working out how they feel about their prospects. This makes for an interesting look forward. The COUNTRY Financial Security Index measures how people feel about the economy and tracks trends about financial security. It’s pretty evenly split in terms of what people feel about financial prospects for 2010, reports COUNTRY:

As 2009 draws to a close, Americans are almost evenly divided on their future financial predictions for 2010, according to a survey conducted in connection with this month’s COUNTRY Financial Security Index®. Twenty-nine percent say things will be better, 28 percent say things will be worse and 32 percent think the status quo will prevail.

It’s an interesting look at the general attitudes in the country. I, personally, think that mine will stay pretty close to the same. The recession didn’t have much of an effect on my freelance home business, and I doubt things will change much for me.

Where do you fit in? Are you hopeful for a better year in your personal economy?

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