It\u2019s easy to feel overscheduled as a small-business owner. Your inbox is likely overflowing, your to-do list is a mile long and every task seems essential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With so much on your plate, you might put off some things that don\u2019t immediately contribute to your business\u2019s day-to-day success. But some of those things are critical for the long-term health of your business \u2014 meaning you\u2019ll have to do them at some point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a matter of minutes, you can take the following nine actions to formalize your business, shore up your cybersecurity and maintain good relationships with customers and staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. Apply for an Employer Identification Number<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n An Employer Identification Number is like a Social Security number for your business. The IRS requires EINs for some businesses, including those with employees and those filing taxes as corporations. You may also need one to open a business bank account or apply for a business loan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can apply for an EIN<\/a> on the IRS\u2019s website in a matter of minutes, as long as you know your business\u2019s legal structure and provide your address and Social Security number or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you want more formal structure and additional protection for your personal finances, consider forming a business entity like an LLC or a corporation \u2014 though that will likely take longer than an hour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For Jason Emery \u2014 head of U.S. partnerships at online insurance marketplace Simply Business \u2014 turning his consulting business into an LLC provided \u201cthat level of protection where I can go about my life not fearing that screwing up in any way is going to then put me in a position where my assets are at risk.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. Apply for a business bank account<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A business bank account is a key tool in separating your business income and expenses from your personal ones. You can open a business checking account online<\/a> by providing basic information about your business \u2014 such as your EIN \u2014 and about yourself, like your driver\u2019s license.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. Move to a password manager<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Using secure passwords is one of the easiest ways to protect your business against cyberattacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cUsing the same short password on multiple websites is a bad idea,\u201d Thomas Muth, director of consulting banking solutions at digital consulting company SoftServe, said through email. \u201cIf one site gets hacked, it can be used to log in to your account somewhere else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The easiest way to create and store unique passwords is by using a password wallet like LastPass or 1Password. These services let you store all of your passwords behind another password. Once you have an account, you can use your browser or password wallet to generate a new random password for every new account, then save it in your wallet \u2014 you don\u2019t even have to write them down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4. Get business insurance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Getting a quote and buying a policy from an online business insurance<\/a> provider can take as little as 10 minutes. Not only does insurance protect your business finances after accidents or disasters, but it\u2019s also required by many leases, contracts and vendor agreements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Getting business insurance \u201cis something that you need to do in order to really enable your business to grow, let alone to protect it,\u201d Emery says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5. Plug into local resources<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A quick online search should tell you if your region has a Small Business Development Center or SCORE chapter \u2014 both programs funded by the U.S. Small Business Administration offer free business coaching \u2014 or a business incubator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you find one, sign up for its newsletter or follow it on social media. Getting connected to local resources now will give you a place to turn when you need advice and keep you up to date on networking events, grant funding opportunities and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 6. Survey your clients<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Gathering data about your customers\u2019 preferences doesn\u2019t have to be a heavy lift. Free tools like Google Forms and SurveyMonkey make it easy to create an email survey in minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe low-tech version of [gathering customer data] is, just send out a survey to your clients,\u201d says Reed Switzer, founder and CEO of payments platform Hopscotch. \u201cSome of our vendors have done that with us \u2026 and we end up getting a better experience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 7. Back up your data<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n If a cyberattack reaches your files that are stored in the cloud, it can be difficult to recover them. Regularly saving a copy of business-critical data to an external drive can help protect you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs soon as your local environment is compromised, this could also affect your cloud data,\u201d Muth said. An offline backup \u201cwill allow you to recover much faster in case your files get attacked.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 8. Install a grammar plug-in<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Switzer uses Grammarly, a browser extension that points out grammatical errors and complicated sentences, to make sure his emails are clear and easy to read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCommunication with your team and with your clients is probably the most important thing for any small-business owner,\u201d Switzer says. \u201cAll of that really builds trust on both sides.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 9. Skim your bank statement regularly<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s easy to miss a price increase on something like your payments software<\/a> or internet bill. Reviewing your bank statement regularly can help you notice and respond to those changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMake sure that you have a really good idea of where you\u2019re spending [and] where you can cut costs,\u201d Switzer says. \u201cIf there are any sort of ancillary fees, like transaction fees, seek out services that don\u2019t have fees.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n While you\u2019re at it, if you use accounting software, make sure it\u2019s pulling in all your transactions and categorizing them correctly. The sooner you spot an error, the easier it can be to put it right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n More From NerdWallet<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Rosalie Murphy writes for NerdWallet. Email: rmurphy@nerdwallet.com.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The article 9 Essential Business Tasks That Take an Hour or Less originally appeared on NerdWallet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s easy to feel overscheduled as a small-business owner. Your inbox is likely overflowing, your to-do list is a mile long and every task seems essential. With so much on your plate, you might put off some things that don\u2019t immediately contribute to your business\u2019s day-to-day success. But some of those things are critical for […]","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":2835,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","attr_excerpt":["It\u2019s easy to feel overscheduled as a small-business owner. Your inbox is likely overflowing, your to-do list is a mile long and every task seems essential. With so much on your plate, you might put off some things that don\u2019t immediately contribute to"],"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2811","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"yoast_head":"\n