It’s pretty difficult to get organized when you’re always pressed for time, but you CAN do it if you use some of your household stuff to organize your office space. Instead of hiring someone to help you get organized, do it yourself by following these tips.

1. Use the backs of old calendars as index cards.

Use these index cards to jot down your grocery lists, menus, phone numbers, and to-do lists.

2. Your old gym totes.

I don’t know why, but some people seem to always want to buy new bags for the gym. So, what happens to your old totes? They get stashed somewhere and never see the light. Why not use these to organize your office space? Put up a tote rack and line them up so you can shoot items you don’t need for now inside the totes. If you ever need these items again, you’ll always know where they are.

3. Cereal boxes as Magazine bins

Because you have become a compulsive Cosmo/Women’s Health Magazine collector, you need to store your magazines or at least hold them together to save space. Cereal boxes are perfect for this function. Just make sure that the boxes are clean before you use them.

4. Shoe boxes as “Misc. items” storage bins

Besides magazines, I’m sure you’re addicted to the
women’s shoes
section of the mall by now. If you don’t have much space to spare, why not use your old shoe boxes as storage bins for ‘misc. items’, or the stuff you don’t really use but want to have around sometimes (colored pens, paperweights, mementos, fancy pen holders, party favors you brought home with you, cell phone holders, etc.).

So let’s say you’ve been at it for a while. Your portfolio of successful events is bursting! You are on call for any emergency get together in your community and your number is being transmitted from one distressed housewife to another. What’s the next thing to do?

Why, invest more, of course.

There are several things to consider if you’re an in-demand party planner who cannot afford to wait for a cab by the curb when in a rush. Let’s say you only have budget for one automobile, what will it be? The sleek 2-door which screams “SUCCESS” like a banshee, or the bulky delivery van which can accommodate everything from boxes of giveaways to chafing dishes, to flowing evening gowns?

Personally, I’d pick the van. But if there’s any way at all that I could get both, I’d go for it. I have no previous knowledge of car loans, but perusing this website, loan for car, I think it’s pretty simple. It did open my mind to second hand car buying via loans, and despite my folks’ admonitions, I think a previously owned car that has a good brand and in good condition is a good alternative to buying brand new. After all, it’s just for showing off, right?

So the plan is, buy the brand new van using cash, and the second hand luxury car using a car loan. While you upgrade your business prowess using the delivery van (could be rented out to clients who need to go out of town, but are lacking in transportation means), you can come up with a monthly amount to pay off the car loan.

Handled efficiently, this automobile-for-my-party-biz plan could make you richer by the next year. You look like a success and you operate like a success. It makes sense.

Party planners, find ways and means to build capital for their business. Loans and financial help can be obtained readily, and all these could potentially help a starting entrepreneur if managed properly. Number one priority is not spending on things that don’t convert to sales. To a starting business person, saving money means not spending on things you don’t really need.

There are a lot of ways to save, particularly if you extend your financial capability using a credit card. Sometimes however, carrying a balance on your credit card could make you miss out on hundreds of dollars in potential savings.

One way to do this is to avail of 0 APR credit cards. These no fee balance transfers offers are readily available online. And, savings will build with the money you do not spend on interest. Let’s examine how much potential money can be saved with a 0 APR balance transfers. If a card’s current balance is $5000 at an annual interest rate of, say, 14%, during one year, having this balance on a high interest credit card will result in interest charges of approximately $740. An amount that could have been invested to things that will yield more cash.

Transferring the $5000 balance to a credit card that offers 0 APR balance transfers will save the $740 that we need for our business. Using this money to pay down an existing credit card debt would reduce the balance to $4260, a far lower amount than a balance of $5740. There’s a $1500 difference in your credit card balance and this would result in interest savings of $224 the year following the expiration of the 0% interest rate.

When the 0% APR balance transfer period expires, we can transfer our balance to another credit card offering a 0% APR by simply maintaining a nice credit score. Going back to the example, when the 0% period expires, the remaining balance would be $4260. At 14%, the interest expense would be $636. When there’s a 0% APR, that money could be applied to the balance and reduce the debt to $3624.

This is just a simple strategy to take advantage of a 0 balance transfer, which would not only have saved $1400 in interest, but lowered the debt by $1400. The estimation above does not consider any additional payments you can make. By paying $100 per month in addition to applying the money saved on interest during two years, credit card debt would be down to a manageable $2600. Making the same payments on a credit card that did not offer a 0% APR would have resulted in a balance of $3700 at the end of 2 years, solely due to an additional $1,100 on interest.

Smart party planners have a better longevity. Longevity in our sector means being wise regarding money systems and how they pass from one hand to another.

As party planners, we are always on the lookout for complementary businesses to complement the party organizing one. As the party planning business is the main source of income, all other businesses must revolve around it. These complementary businesses must not be liabilities to the main one, in that:

• It has to be low maintenance.
• It has to be in demand
• One must be able to excel on it too without sacrificing much of the time spent on party organization.

So, what business will satisfy all these criteria and efficiently bring in more cash to the party planner?

Catering? – Not if the party organizer has to be on the wheel all the time. This aspect of a party is the most tedious. It demands time for preparation, serving and feedback collecting. If someone in your immediate family or circle of friends wants to concentrate on this aspect, well and good, but if it has to be you, the party organizing side could suffer.

Starting a Party Supply Business

This is by far the best bet for a complementary business! Supplies aren’t perishable, and they won’t take up too much space. They can also be imported. Besides, if you’re the crafts and arts type, this business will be a breeze.

What to look out for:

1. Trends and Themes – One party theme could work now, but it may not in the future. Take note of what’s fashionable and hip in the current generation, particularly when planning for birthday parties and weddings. Remember that your job includes pointing your clients to the best and trendiest themes for their occasions, so your supplies must be up-to-par.

2. Price - Your usual supply broker can be as loyal to you as your friends, but it is not unethical to find cheaper sources for materials. Remember that the more costs you cut without sacrificing quality, the more profit you will reap.

3. Contingency Supply Source – Deliveries go awry, we all know that. Party supplies are not as sensitive to delivery mishaps as food, but taken to extremes, this could very well ruin a perfect party. Look for stores (even competitors) that sell the same supplies as you do and be friends with them. You never know when you might need a helping hand or someone to provide you with the supplies you direly need.