Business Management Efficiency
Sneak Peek: The Chicago Guide for Freelance Editors by Erin Brenner
There’s no one right way to run your business, only the way that works for you at any given moment. It’s all trial and error. You may apply what you learn here, as well as what you learn from other resources and freelancers, and you’ll adapt it as you go. As you define your business processes, think about what makes the most sense for you. Efficiency isn’t about what you do so much as doing it the same way every time.
Say you work exclusively on student dissertations. You have a new client for each project, which means you’ll spend a lot of time onboarding and offboarding clients. You’ll want efficient processes to do so to avoid spending more time doing those tasks than doing the actual editing.
You determine that once a student has decided to use your services, you will do the following:
Send them a contract to sign and an invoice for the deposit, and request the manuscript for editing, if you don’t already have the final version.
Enter the invoice into your tracking sheet.
Enter the project on your calendar.
Create your client folders.
Place the contract in the client’s Admin folder upon receipt.
Log the payment upon receipt.
Put the manuscript in the client folder upon receipt, and open the file to ensure it opens and appears to be the correct file.
You’ll open the client file even if you won’t edit it immediately. If there’s a problem with the file, you can contact the client immediately to resolve it. Once you complete the edit, to offboard the client, you will then complete the following:
Invoice for the balance of the fee.
Log payment upon receipt, and send the edited manuscript and a cover letter.
Send a follow-up email a few days later, thanking them for their business and asking them to complete a satisfaction survey.
Log survey results upon receipt, or mark the survey as not completed if you don’t receive a response.
Mark the project as completed.
Further, you create templates for the contract, invoice, survey, and common email messages to increase the efficiency of these processes. As you go through these processes for each client, you find more efficient ways to do some steps. Perhaps you switch to invoicing software that will automatically send late-payment reminders and record payments through gateways like PayPal. You like that, so you change your process.
Any repeated business task can become a standardized process, though not all tasks are worth the effort. Tasks that are low priority or take only a couple of minutes to do might not be worth standardizing. Those that are standardized should be recorded somewhere. Writing down your processes will help you remember how and when to do them. Editor Lori Paximadis advises recording all your business operations in a business book—a folder on your computer containing all the necessary information about your business (properly backed up, of course). If you’re a hard-copy person, you can print it out for easy reference. Paximadis notes that creating a business book can be invaluable if you have an emergency and a trusted person needs to step into your business for you; all the information they need will be in one place.
Also, create lists of business tasks that need to be done and add them to your business book. Include tasks that help keep your business running, such as invoicing, recording expenses, and archiving old files. By following a regular schedule, you can avoid using large chunks of time to catch up on them. Task lists can be created according to the frequency the tasks need to be done, such as daily or monthly. Here’s a starter list that you can add to as you develop your business:
Daily
Respond to any urgent emails.
As you work, track your time.
At the end of the day, back up today’s files (if not using an automated backup system).
At the end of the day, create a to-do list for tomorrow.
Weekly
Create a task list for the following week.
Respond to any outstanding emails.
If you bill according to project timelines, send any due invoices.
Record any payments received.
File any papers in your outbox.
Update any lists or processes that have changed this week.
Monthly
If you bill clients monthly, send your invoices.
Record your business expenses, including home office expenses.
If you’re an S corp, pay your business taxes.
Review your business strategy (see chapter 12).
Make any necessary adjustments to your business processes.
Plan for the coming month.
Quarterly
If you’re a sole proprietorship or LLC, pay your business taxes.
Catch up on any outstanding business tasks.
Review your website content for any needed changes.
Review your goals list for the previous quarter.
Plan for the coming quarter.
Yearly
Review your business from last year. How did you do?
Create goals for your business for the coming year, dividing them into quarterly and monthly tasks.
Create goals for your professional development, identifying when and how.
Plan vacation time for the coming year and block it off on your calendar.
Start organizing your tax files. Make an appointment with your tax accountant.
Review your personal and business finances, and make an appointment with your financial adviser.
Review your online biographies, directory entries, and profiles, and update as necessary.
Archive last year’s emails, e-files, and paper files.
As you build your standard business procedures, adapt your lists accordingly. Schedule time to take care of business tasks, and you’ll find it easier and more profitable to run your business.
Download this list at www.righttouchediting.com/resources/business-tools.
Reproduced with permission from The Chicago Guide for Freelance Editors: How to Take Care of Your Business, Your Clients, and Yourself from Start-Up to Sustainability by Erin Brenner, forthcoming from the University of Chicago Press in April 2024. © 2024 by Erin Brenner. All rights reserved.
Erin Brenner has been an editing professional for two decades. She founded Right Touch Editing in 2005 to offer businesses and self-publishing authors just what they need for editorial services: highly skilled editing, decades of expertise in publishing, and top-notch professionalism.