Staying Organized

Business By agconner Updated 18 Sep 2013 , 4:31am by AZCouture

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agconner Posted 12 Sep 2013 , 12:23am
post #1 of 8

AHi everyone, Just looking for some tips, I started my business in April and things are going great! So great staying organized can become overwhelming at times. I have the cake boss software and I love it. My real issue is emails and contracts. I keep all emails until one week after the order is delivered, but now I am booking 2014 weddings and I am thinking how in the world I am going to have all these emails straight for over a year. As far as paper contracts I just file them under the month, but I feel there must be a better system. Any ideas are great appreciated. Thanks

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elliespartycake Posted 12 Sep 2013 , 10:56pm
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I have a spiral notebook where I jot all appointments, requests, etc. As soon as someone books a wedding (pays deposit, etc) then I put all of their info, photos, sketches and a copy of the contract in a file folder labeled with the name and due date. I have a special file near my work area where I keep these folders. As far as emails, I print out those that are relevant to the cake design, delivery, etc and place those in the file folder.  On my computer I create a file for all wedding contracts and move all email correspondence to that folder. Also...I don't create a new email each time I correspond with particular client. I hit "reply" in the most recent email. That way all emails for a particular client are connected together and I don't have to search around for correspondence.

 

Hope this is helpful.

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AZCouture Posted 12 Sep 2013 , 11:28pm
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I setup a file folder as a subfolder to my inbox, with the date and name of each order to come. For example, under INBOX, there are all the upcoming projects I have in order of date. "10-04-13 Johnson", and so on and so on. I keep every bit of correspondece regarding the order in the respective folders, and move everything to another folder called CLOSED, where they remain forever. All emails regarding an order, whether fulfilled or never went past the request stage, in there, just because I like to be able to search or names or something else if I ever need to in the future.

 

All orders get a contract as well, which I keep in a spiral calendar book, again in order by date. I file those away once they've been delivered. I keep everything. EVERYTHING. 

 

If I get a phone call, or make one, I compose a quick email to myself, and file it away in the folder for who it is as well. I like to keep detailed records of all orders, even if it was just a phone call, because it may have a detail I would forget otherwise.

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Cakecat135 Posted 12 Sep 2013 , 11:46pm
post #4 of 8

AHi, I know that staying organised can be hard, but what I like to do is make inboxes in my email for special emails so I don't lose them. And as for the papers, I would keep the month system, but also add smaller dividers in the larger sections to keep specific orders grouped together. Hope that helped a little.

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costumeczar Posted 14 Sep 2013 , 1:28am
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I keep a file box with every contract in its own folder by date. I print out emails and put them in there because I'm better with hard copies than with having to search on the computer for things.

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agconner Posted 17 Sep 2013 , 9:40pm
post #6 of 8

AThanks everyone!

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FrostedMoon Posted 17 Sep 2013 , 10:40pm
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Ditto the emails going in to files and keeping EVERYTHING!  If I have a phone conversation, I basically summarize what we discussed and put it in an email, then ask the client to confirm those details.  I want it all in writing!  The only thing I would add is google calendar.  I put all of my cake orders on google calendar so I can see what is due when, and I can access it on my laptop or from my phone if necessary.

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AZCouture Posted 18 Sep 2013 , 4:31am
post #8 of 8

AGoogle calendar, yep, that too!

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