Does This Sound Familiar?

It is 1:15 early on a Thursday morning, and most of the house is dark and quiet. One room, however, still spills light out into the adjacent hallway. Sounds of rustling papers, clicking calculator keys, and an occasional heavy sigh or muttered exclamation punctuate the silence.

You know it is way too early to get up, even though the breakfast meeting with that potential client is set for 8 a.m. You try to muffle the sounds by pulling the quilt over your ears, but guilt gnaws you into weary action. Stumbling down the hall, you peer around the doorframe into the kitchen, and see your wife rubbing the back of her neck as she sorts through the untidy piles of paper scattered about on the kitchen counter. A steaming cup of coffee sits beside her open laptop, and you can see the split screen of spreadsheet and tax table. Ah. She is either preparing invoices or finishing payroll; neither of which will sweeten her mood.

You glance at the wall clock. Ugh. She has only got a few hours before she needs to get ready for her own job, not to mention prodding the kids to get ready for school.

She senses you standing in the doorway and looks up. Her rueful smile is interrupted by a yawn.

“Sorry,” she says, “didn’t mean to wake you. I’m almost done; I’ll be in shortly.” She gestures at the littered counter. “I’m going cross-eyed anyway, trying to match these receipts to the jobs, not to mention figuring out how many hours the guys worked on each project.”

She shoots you a pointed glance. “Really, is it too much to ask to mark on the receipts what job they are actually used for? I can’t read minds, you know.”

She turns back to face her computer, but you can still make out her final comment: “It’s a good thing you can’t read mine.”

You hesitate, stifle a yawn, then move to the cupboard to get your own coffee mug. Balancing the full cup, you gather a handful of papers and receipts from the counter and spread them out on the kitchen table. Retrieving a pen from the all-purpose junk drawer at the end of the counter, you sit down and pick up the first receipt. At least you can help with this.

As you share a tired smile with your wife, then bend your head to your task, you make a mental note. You have thought about it before, but the time has come: you – and your wife – need help. Your business is growing, and that’s a good thing; but juggling all the ever-expanding administrative and bookkeeping requirements to ensure the financial health of your company has become an overwhelming burden. You neither want nor need the expense and commitment of hiring an employee to manage all that office stuff.

Actually, you barely have an office; just a small, dusty room in one corner of the warehouse that has become a repository for miscellaneous parts, equipment manuals, and the ever-present coffee pot.

What you need is an experienced professional who can take over all those tasks and work  in their own space, on their own equipment, at a price you can afford – and do so with a warm attitude of service and competence that will benefit you and your clientele.

You pause, your hand hovering above the tabletop. What was that company that your best bud was talking about recently? He had turned over all the bookkeeping tasks associated with his surf shop to this company and had mentioned what a relief it was. Plus, he said the detailed reports that were being generated gave him a much clearer picture of the financial health of his enterprise.

 You look up at the clock, then over at your wife – whose head was nodding over the laptop, her fingers stilled on the keyboard. Well, you certainly couldn’t call them now – but you bent back to the task before you with renewed determination.

Tomorrow. You will make that call tomorrow. It’s time.

H2S Solutions LLC: Here*2*Serve, Here*2*Solve.