entrepreneur

Why I Outsource: Tax and Accounting Edition (Throwback)

May 13, 2021 By Sarah Davidson

In honor of an extended tax season this year, I’ve chosen to throw this back to an oldie but goodie. If you aren’t yet using an accountant for your yearly business tax needs I highly encourage you to do so. Without even looking at the numbers I’m positive ours has saved me well beyond what I’ve paid her over the years, both in money and in time. Love you Steph!

Original post: April 12, 2019

Four years ago, I decided to take the plunge and hire a tax and accounting consultant. There were two main reasons for this:

I had just started Harmonious Union Events and NO idea what sort of tax things were all involved in being self-employed.
We had just purchased our first home, which felt like the jumping off point into official “adulting”, and we knew that would be just the first step of many new things we would encounter in our lives that now played a big factor into filing taxes.

This is one of the best business and personal decisions I have ever made.

(Photo included because this topic is best discussed with a drink in hand)

I know that everyone has their own approach, but as a mom, entrepreneur, and someone who at least tries to have a social life, my time is one of the most valuable things in the world to me, along with my sanity. Anything that I can do to help preserve those two things nearly always comes in at a high priority.

Here is just a short list of tax/accounting related things that a consultant can guide a small business owner through:

Filing quarterly, which you’ll want to do so you don’t have to pay a HUGE amount during your normal annual spring filling. When you’re employed by someone else, your tax owed is just taken out of your paychecks throughout the year and you don’t have to worry about it. When you’re self-employed (or get paid as a contractor, such as Uber driving, etc) you have to remember that you owe Uncle Sam around a third of every single payment that comes in.
Deductions, which ROCK! Mileage, supplies, and meals related to your business are just a few of the categories that can be deducted when going through self-employment taxes, and you’ll want to make sure that you get the absolute most out of those as you can.
What needs to be taxed and when. Personal services? No. Rentals, floral, and photography? Yes. Something that you purchased online that didn’t include tax? Make sure that’s added in somewhere. Also, this varies state to state and if you did business in another state from where you’re located you better believe that you’re filing taxes there too. HALP!
General bookkeeping. How do I need to categorize this? Did that payment come in? What receipts do I all need and what info from each? There’s people out there that actually love this stuff you guys.

(Still making sure you’re with me.. just listen to the pretty music!)

And don’t forget about your personal life! A few things we’ve gotten major help on:

All taxes related to owning a home, including what deductions are now involved in having a home office. This would also be a major tax component for you if you do Air BnB or other short term rental programs.
Babies, babies, babies. There are all sorts of fun child related tax and deductions to consider, as well as what goes into college investments, etc.
We’re involved in some business ventures that have unique tax forms at the end of the year, require us to file in multiple states, and also don’t release the tax forms until just a few weeks before April hits. Because our accountant is so organized and ready to just drop this info in as it comes, we feel absolutely no stress around this, even this year with a new baby due on April 6.

Of course there’s a cost to everything, but this is really for you to decide on what is the tipping point for you. Are things simple enough still that the time is no big deal? If so, that’s great! However, for me, I’m now freed up to do two major things:

Spend ample time with my family, my friends, and be available to manage the most important and favorite aspects of our personal lives.
When I’m not doing Number 1, growing my business in major ways, including right now devoting ample time building a social media presence, the CRM software component of my business, and my personal vendor database.

(Okay all done, time to party)

Hope this helps in your decision process – and Happy Tax Day!

If you’ve been swayed or have already considered reaching out to someone, I’d HIGHLY recommend my accountant and fellow girl boss, Stephanie Strupp, steph@strupptax.com, who works remote and is available for hire no matter your location.

Featured Image: XO Azuree

Featured HUE Event: “It’s Showtime” – A Fresh Look at Events with NACE

April 14, 2021 By Sarah Davidson

While I don’t want to jinx us by saying “We’re back!” just yet in the world of events, things have certainly been taking an optimistic turn lately here in Madison. Last week NACE Capital Area of Wisconsin hosted its first in-person event in over a year and it felt SOOO good to see the real live faces of my friendors!

Guidelines are still fairly tight here, and masks and distancing will likely still be in place for some time, so our group of creative professionals took the opportunity to be industry leaders, showcasing how events can still feel comfortable and elegant while working within public health boundaries.

Event Essentials partnered with our host venue, The Madison Concourse Hotel + Governor’s Club, to set the stage for the event. With the use of lounges, strategic dinner seating, and beautiful decor, it just didn’t feel sterile and restrictive as one might fear, even though everything was set for distancing. Conversations and merriment commenced quite easily.

Food Fight Restaurant Group and Monona Catering took the reins with an enlightening food and beverage presentation, tackling the part of events that may make people the most nervous. Sure it’s all well and good when you walk in with your mask on, but what happens when you need to eat? Lisa and Marcia offered some great suggestions from signage to packaging, to service when it comes to keeping both event guests, as well as staff working, comfortable.

And finally, what about those who are not quite ready to be in-person yet? Enter the world of hybrid events, with Celebrations Entertainment leading the charge as experts in this area. Not only did Geoffrey present on the topic, but the entire meeting was set up as a hybrid event, with a number of guests attending virtually as well. This is certainly an option that I see sticking around long into the future, post-Covid.

This event was a test run, both for those of us who planned it, as well as many of the attendees. There were moments that felt natural and then there were certainly others that were filled with some uncertainty. I believe it will continue to feel that way for a long time, but at this point, there is nowhere else to go but forward. I get emotional thinking about this opportunity that we’ve finally been given to prove ourselves, especially after sharing the state of our industry just three months ago.

Thank you to my friends Tim Fitch for photos and Paul Gero for videography. Events like these are never possible without collaboration from our vendor community and a passion for celebrating each other’s work. Can’t wait until the next one!

Thank you to Channel 3000 and The Cap Times for your coverage of our event!

Chief Strategist and Creative Director of HUE by Sarah Davidson, Sarah is a sought-after event industry consultant, planner, and strategist based in Madison, WI. Follow her work on Instagram at @huebysd.

Advice for Entrepreneurs: Seeing the Bigger Picture

March 3, 2021 By Sarah Davidson

Today, I’m just jumping right in friends!

After a full year of getting kicked around by Covid, what could possibly give me the right to say “Just relax guys! Don’t get stuck in the day-to-day! See the bigger picture!”

Well, nothing really. Except for the fact that it’s probably something many small-business owners (especially those in the hospitality industry) need to be reminded of right now. I know I did.

“The combination of hard work and smart work is efficient work.” – Robert Half

A business exists to serve you as the owner, the owner does not exist to serve the business. You should always remember this. Why did you start your business? Probably not because you loved answering emails and phone calls all day.

I didn’t just want to be a wedding planner, I wanted to be an entrepreneur. Growing up I was inspired to watch my father trailblaze his own career path instead of climbing a pre-structured ladder. I loved the idea of building a business that encompassed specifically who I was as a person, including my strengths, weaknesses, likes, and dislikes. And honestly, I wanted to take a vacation whenever I wanted!

So what are some steps you can take to separate yourself from the day-to-day, continue to love your work, and hopefully scale your business along the way? Here’s a few to start with:

Define the Vision

So what is your answer to why you started your business? When you think about your why and who you are as an owner and a person, do your current services and methods of operating your business line up?

If they don’t, that’s okay! It just means you’re now being presented with an opportunity to reevaluate. I personally started working with a business coach about a year ago, and in our time together I’ve done a lot of reflection realizing that for my first few years of my business I was just going through a lot of motions. I would just sit in front of my email each day and wait for business and tasks to come to me, then address them as they came up. I wasn’t really sure what I was supposed to do next, but figured that if I always just did a good job at whatever came my way good things would happen right?

Some good things happened, yes. I’m very proud of the work I accomplished during that time, and frankly continually proud of having the guts to just start the business. But since about a year ago, when I did actually define and write down real goals of where I want to be in the future.. Wow have things happened.

I build my weekly to do list around my goals, and I work very hard to prioritize those over day to day operations. The day to day still gets done though. It’s amazing how efficient you can be when there is a true purpose of what you’re working towards.

Think Ahead

“You’re on time if you’re five minutes early. You’re late if you’re on time.”

While I can’t say I’m in love with this Drumline quote, it’s accurate and applicable here. It’s also been in my head since the January NACE Evolve conference I attended.

As a planner it’s my job to continuously be looking forward to what’s happening next, soon, and later. If the first dance is supposed to start at 8pm and I don’t think about it until 8pm, it’s not happening on time.

So where are there opportunities in your business to be building processes and thinking ahead? Take marketing for example. Many people don’t worry about marketing until business is slow. However if they just kept up their marketing efforts when they were busy, they wouldn’t have to worry about ever being slow.

Set those goals and have touchpoints along the way to make sure your work is continuously driving those goals.

Stay the Course

Entrepreneurship is a marathon, not a sprint. If it was a sprint, we’d all be extremely bored trying to come up with new things to do, since we have no desire to go back to the day-to-day of corporate life.

If you’re still wondering how am I going to make it both personally and professionally through the pandemic, reflect back on what you’ve accomplished. It’s been nearly a year, way longer than anyone thought it would be, and you’re still here. You’re someone who cares enough about his or her business to read this blog and hopefully have some takeaways. That is the attitude that is going to take you somewhere.

Remember who you are and why you started this business. Did you do something today or this week that put you closer to those goals? Then you’re doing great.

Chief Strategist and Creative Director of HUE by Sarah Davidson, Sarah is a sought-after event industry consultant, planner, and strategist based in Madison, WI. Follow her work on Instagram at @huebysd.

Welcome To A New Era: Introducing HUE Business Coaching & Consulting

February 18, 2020 By Sarah Davidson

You all have been so supportive of this new era in my business life lately and I cannot thank you enough, but once again, thank you.

And with this post, I’m excited to introduce a service that now aides in supporting the other side of my audience, small creative business owners and vendors in the event industry! This has been a long time coming and we’re excited the day is finally here.

Introducing: Business Coaching & Consulting by HUE

The launch of our business consulting branch is the brainchild of nearly a decade of experience in the event industry, as well as the following facts about myself:

I enjoy working with vendors just as much as clients
I’m pretty good at effectively pushing creative ideas forward
I love my life as an entrepreneur, and want to share the love with others who are also following their passion

From there it was a pretty simple question. What can I offer that encapsulates it all?

So who is this service for? I’m looking for creative entrepreneurs and event based business owners who:

Have business ideas that they want to develop but need help or don’t have the time
Need help organizing their systems and processes to stay on track with business goals
Need someone to brainstorm with, bounce thoughts and ideas off of, and provide accountability on a regular basis
Have general business administrative tasks they’d like to hire someone for, but they don’t want to have employees
Are looking to break into or grow further within the wedding market

Do you fit one of these criteria? If so, take a peak for more info here.

And let’s all work together to keep moving Wisconsin Events Forward.

Featured Photo: Tim Fitch Photography

Welcome to a New Era: Introducing Our New Website

February 16, 2020 By Sarah Davidson

Friends, welcome to HUE by Sarah Davidson.

Yesterday I shared the story of our decision to launch our new brand, and the love and thought that went into it. Today, I want to tell you all about this new, beautiful website you currently have found yourself on.

Five years ago when HUE started, I asked a friend and co-worker to design my logo, and brother-in-law to build my website. I am eternally grateful for what they did to launch our presence into the world and these elements have gotten us quite far. Thank you Amy and Erik!

When the time came however for a refreshed look, I was excited to lean on some colleagues I met within the industry a few years back, with tried and true success in marketing and design within our world. This was important to me because let’s face it.. weddings can be just a BIT over the top 🙂

Enter Chad and Jodi Everts, the dream team behind Everts Marketing. Jodi and I had sat on the Board of Directors together for our local chapter of NACE where we built a friendship, and I continued to follow their work from there. I couldn’t be happier hiring these two to build my new “storefront” and first impression of our new venture to the rest of the world.

As I mentioned in the story of our new brand, two adjectives I’ve always liked are “bold” and “edgy”. I know that they might not be the first two that come to mind when you think of weddings, but that fact in itself got me excited. Throughout this process I continually leaned on asking myself “How can I look as different as possible?”. While it’s nerve wracking to share the final product, I’m ecstatic with how it turned out.

The other main thing I knew I wanted was lots of engaging, and specifically video heavy, content. As I said before, we can be a bit over the top in the wedding industry, and I feel the best representation of how we as planners can really have an effect on things is through seeing final results. And while photography is important, video just takes things to a whole new level. It conveys event mood and vibe to the watcher, along other experiential details such as voices and body language.

I met Paul Gero about a year ago, also through NACE, and we got along great right away. While he has quite an impressive resume as a photographer, he’s more recently been building his reputation as a videographer as well, and one who’s skills I wanted to take advantage of. I’ll never be able to thank him enough for following me around for 10+ hours at Joe and Steph’s wedding or working together on a marathon interview session. You can see for yourself the results sprinkled throughout this site, and I hope you’re just as happy as I am.

Aside from the overall aesthetic and design, the other major change with our new website is the addition of this very blog, and FINALLY combining it as a part of our all encompassing outward presence, and not something out separate in the infinite digital world. This is something I’ve wanted to do for years but just needed the time.

There are many practical business and SEO related reasons to have everything in one spot, but for me, it’s all about the ease of use for everyone coming to visit us here. To be able to offer our clients and potential clients a vast library of knowledge right at their fingertips for free is a service that we’re proud to provide. It also allows us a platform to share accomplishments and celebrations, as well as the beautiful work we’re honored to be a part of. We could go on and on 🙂

While you’re here, don’t forget to check out our updated “Meet Us” and “Weddings” pages to learn more on what we’re all about, as well as the newly minted “Business Coaching & Consulting”, a fresh service I’m excited to delve more into in the coming days. Big things happening all around!

So thank you once again for being here and entering into this new era with us. It’s going to be a good one.

Sincerely,

Featured Image: xo azuree