If you're in the planning and growing stages of developing your green business, you'll know how important it is to keep adequate records. As part of your role in developing your company, you'll delegate or control the ongoing record-keeping process, including financial and tax data related to the business.

There are many financial reports that you'll use on an ongoing basis, both to understand your own cash flow (money coming in versus money going out) and to demonstrate for banking, insurance, and other external purposes.

You'll also be keeping track of customer information such as contact information and notes about projects, vendors/suppliers/distributors, facilities, maintenance agreements, bank routing numbers, and passwords and PINs.

Much of this may be done online using tools like project management software, customer relationship management tools, databases, or online billing tools--- more than a few of our clients use Google Docs, PayPal, a Facebook Fans page, Twitter, Constant Contact, and Quickbooks online and call it a day!

However, you will develop a protocol, if there isn't one already, to maintain a central depository of information, so that authorized parties who want to grab the company's current "snapshot" can access and understand the overall health of the company and where it stands at any given moment.

When you're working "in the business" as much as "on the business", you realize what a tremendous task this can become: for startups, some women are doing it all --- the work, the bookkeeping, the organizing, the record-keeping, the planning, and the big-level visionary thinking. That pace is unsustainable, and if you're in that position or you see it happening at your company, I highly recommend you find partners to assist you in the process. When good people work with each other --- when you have someone like a bookkeeper, accountant, tax advisor, attorney, insurance agent, financial advisor you can trust-- you free yourself and the leadership to focus much more on building the business and making it the best it can be.

We need your ideas on how to encourage more women to take on the challenge of starting and growing a green business. It's 2009 and we have a chance to support each other. Let's work on this process together, make money, fill the world's needs, and create positive social change through our efforts to take care of the planet.

Originally published by Monica S. Flores at TheGreenGirls.com

Now that you're in business for yourself, it's time to start identifying your goals. I call these your "metrics for success". Because we all know that it's not just the money. You will define your success based on a number things, which might include ideas or experiences like:

• Being able to support causes you care about
• Being able to donate to philanthropic and charitable organizations
• Being able to share your knowledge
• Quality time with family and friends
• Creating a change in the world based on the way you run your business
• Connecting your customers with each other
• Being a real resource to people who need your assistance
• Fostering a green mindset in your community
• An increase your ability to make dreams come true, for you and for others
• Spiritual development as you empower yourself and others
• A changed world, with more positive energy, more vibrant opportunities, and more ways for more people to participate
• An increase in love, a decrease in fear

I have seen these kinds of changes happening through my own business and a large part of this is because I keep track of my metrics. Here are some samples of data that I track-- these are only relevant to me. You'll want to figure out which numbers are relevant to you:

Personal:
1) How much plastic and styrophone we use (reducing)
2) Our electrical bill (reducing)
3) Automobile use (reducing)
4) Grocery bill (replacing store-bought with garden-grown organic produce)

Business:
5) Our net worth (Assets - Liabilities)
6) Monthly gross receipts
7) How many projects we do per month
8) Number of ideas we convert into product/service offerings

Online Tracking:
9) Numbers of unique visitors to my blogs (http://www.Google.com/analytics)
10) Number of referrals to my website design business
11) Adsense sales (http://www.google.com/adsense)
12) Number of signups to my mailing list and how they are referred

I'm sure some of these may overlap your own interests or metrics. What can you do to create a system that works for you and your business? How can you reach more and more people?

Originally published by Monica S. Flores at TheGreenGirls.com