There are lots of ways to organize your mystery shopping business, and the best way will depend on how you like to work. Some shoppers use a paper filing system or calendar, others use spreadsheets or other computer programs, and some use apps on a phone or tablet. Include mystery shopping tasks in your daily routine, so that you are checking job boards and applying for shop assignments regularly.Continue Reading
A new year is a good time for a new start, especially when it comes to running your mystery shopping business. Here are some moves you can make now to get organized and take your mystery shopper business to a new level of profitability in the coming year.
Clear out your file cabinet. Get rid of outdated shop notes, printouts of reports and guidelines, and other clutter. In general, you should keep shop notes ad report copies for at least 90 days, although some mystery shopping companies may recommend keeping them longer.
Go paperless. OK, going completely paperless is probably not realistic for most people. However, you may be able to reduce the amount of paper that flows through your office. Instead of printing copies of the reports you submit, save them to your computer as PDFs. Scan papers you would normally keep and get rid of the papers. (Before getting rid of things such as receipts, make sure that there is no chance the mystery shopping company will ask you to produce the original.)
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A new year (or any time) is a good time to organize the paperwork, computer files and workflow for your mystery shopping business. Being better organized means you spend less time seeking assignments, doing shop visits, completing reports, and calculating taxes. Most importantly, you will not risk forgetting to do shops, or waste time trying to track down your notes to answer editor questions about your reports.
Here are some tips to get—and stay—organized.
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Spring is here, and that means you may be thinking about cleaning and organizing. The freshness of spring seems to bring out a desire to get rid of the old and bring in the new. Here are some tips on spring cleaning from the Best maids in Toronto for mystery shoppers.
Get rid of old paperwork. Shop guidelines and report forms, receipts, and other paper accumulates quickly. This is a good time to discard old papers. Most companies ask that you keep shop notes and other records for at least 90 days after the shop date. To be safe, you may keep them six months.Continue Reading
Making more money is nice, whether you do it through getting more mystery shopper jobs or higher-paying assignments. However, it is possible to be more profitable without earning any more money.
How? Well, as a CPA friend of mine says, “It’s not how much you make, it’s how much you keep.” Here are some suggestions to help you keep more of what you make as a secret shopper.
Maximize tax deductions. You can deduct reasonable and necessary expenses incurred in the process of running your business. These may include:
Mystery shopping generates a lot of paper. Most of us print out shop guidelines and forms, and perhaps even copies of the reports we submit. Then there are the receipts, notes and other bits and pieces that accumulate.
What do you need to keep, and for how long? When is it safe to dispose of your mystery shop paperwork?
Most mystery shopping companies recommend that you keep all documentation from your shops for at least 90 days. Some suggest six months or longer. Some shoppers maintain files for one year or more.
Here are my recommendations to make sure you have what you need, without drowning in paper.Continue Reading