Michael Emilio

Tax season has come and gone. Every spring we barrel our way through huge stacks of tax-related papers and random financial record messpiles. While we’re frantically looking for that one statement we can’t seem to find we plead to the heavens, “Just let me find that paper - I promise I’ll do better next year!”

One week before tax time is NOT the time to organize your paperwork. You should start way sooner - like now, for instance?

Now that I’m talking to you about getting organized with your tax paperwork, the first thought that might rush into your head is, “I gotta get me some containers, folders, files, and binders!” You might even get these in a variety of wild colors including neon green and hot pink - among others.

You set these crazy amounts of organizational equipment on the floor. Now what? Where do you go from here? Now you have to organize the organizational equipment and you go even crazier than before! What’s the solution?

How to Clean Up a Huge Organizational Mess

Well, there’s a solution. There’s small companies that have sprung up recently to help out with this growing financial organizational problem. These companies help instruct people on how to get the best storage products and how to use them correctly.

The way these companies run their business is buy producing specialty organization items that have instructions on how to use them correctly. They then support the use of their products by writing in their company blogs, sending out instructional newsletters, and running organizational intensive workshops that immerse students in organizing their finances in the right way. If you think about it, whether you’re a tax veteran or a college kid in your dorm that’s just getting started, it’s important to always improve your organizational skills.

“By making products more user-friendly and offering consumers compelling reasons to use their products, businesses can set themselves apart from the competition,” says Parkland Group founder and president Larry Goddard. Parkland Group is a Cleveland-based business consulting firm helping businesses succeed and grow.

Get Your Life Buttoned Up

Buttoned Up is a startup company that was founded with the confused user in mind. The founders, Alicia Rockmore, 42, and Sara Welch, 36, started the 11-employee Ann Arbor, Michigan company four years ago because they themselves needed the service they now provide but there’s wasn’t anything like that out there at the time. The Buttoned Up co-founders say that they used to spend tons of money at stores like Target, Wal-Mart, and the Container Store and when they got home with all these organizational products they had no idea what to do next.

It’s rare for someone to instinctively know what specific items to put in specific containers or what important documents and files to put into your filing cabinet or organizer.

“They needed a road map to give them the tools to actually do it,” says Rockmore.

The Buttoned Up Product Line

The company currently has more than 20 organizational products and can be found in nationwide retailers. One of the hottest ones right now is the Life.doc, which is a bright red binder where you can put your emergency, insurance, and other important documents in one spot. When you open the $29.95 binder, the first thing you see is the “Welcome Letter” that talks about the Buttoned Up philosophy of focusing on the most important 20% of organizational tasks - it’s an organizational remake of the 80/20 Pareto Principle, which is that 80% of consequences stem from 20% of the causes. It also includes forms to fill out that include emergency, financial, and insurance information. The entire binder is covered in transparent plastic and is labeled colorfully with details on how to use it correctly.

“This way, consumers can see and understand the product before buying,” says Rockmore.

Other Buttoned Up products include Valuables.doc, Do&Delegate.list, and the Moving.kit.

The two women also have a newspaper column, a company GetButtonedUp.com blog, and an e-mail newsletter with advice and tips. They talk about tax tips, organizing computer passwords, making to-do lists, and why organizing is important for your entire lifestyle. They feel that this content “deepens the relationships we have with consumers, which leads them to our products… or from one product to another,” says Rockmore. They have also just released a book titled Everything (almost) In Its Place: Control Chaos, Conquer Clutter, and Get Organized the Buttoned Up Way.

Other organizational startups include See Jane Work, which sells organizational products online and through their California store and The Paper Princess, which sells stationary, bookplates, and calendars.