Log Book Timesheet Blog

Being your own boss is a great feeling. But there is one thing missing. There is nobody to tell you what to do. How can that be a drawback? If you are on your own running a business you have to be responsible for no less than 3 distinct roles: the entrepreneur, the engineer and the accountant.

The entrepreneur is the visionary. The one who dreams big plans. The one who has the ability to see beyond our mental horizon. The one who can sense what people really want as opposed to what they complain about.

The engineer is the one who delivers the goods. The one who disappears in his cave to emerge two weeks later in an eureka moment shouting: "It works!" the geek who fumbles until it runs. The nerd who never sees failure as failure but as a learning experience.

The accountant is the conservative type. He has to tone down the other two above. He is risk-adverse and resists change and innovation. His pride is a good cash flow and a nice steady increase in profits. His idea of the future? Superannuation. His favourite past-time? Cutting costs.

You can see from the outset that those 3 characters are on a collision course because their motivations are so different. That could be the reason why small business partnerships fail. Now consider the implications if as a one man band those 3 roles are concentrated on the one and same person!

It is an impossible task to rotate wearing those 3 hats until you have some strong personal discipline and use some reporting tools to keep you on course. Speaking of which, I might as well give you a plug on two relevant web-based applications to help you out.

Goal Setter is your online coach to document and monitor your goals. How do you know whether you are getting there if you lack a yardstick to measure your progress?

Wise Accounts is your online bookkeeper to check that recurring bills are being paid and that your cash flow forecast is pointing up rather than down...

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