Why separating home and work purchases is ideal: 5 common myths explained

As personal and business lives start to intervene, many small business owners have found that it can be tricky to manage the balance. There is no reason why you shouldn separate your purchases into two compartments; one for work and one for personal.

It has been observed that some small business owners often use their personal Amazon.in accounts to buy for both, home and work. The advantages of having a separate Amazon Business account are numerous. Let’s look at five of the most common myths that small business owners have about their purchasing behaviour and see how creating a wall between your work and personal shopping can prove to be more helpful.

Myth #1: “Why create a separate account when I get everything for my business on Amazon.in?"

While Amazon.in is built for personal shopping, Amazon Business is created exclusively for business needs. This means that you can customise your Amazon Business account to suit your business needs and you get access to relevant products necessary for your business from thousands of sellers.

Whether you are a large enterprise or a small business, Amazon Business provides you with a full suite of exclusive business deals. You can save big on products as they have business exclusive deals that are available only on Amazon Business. Since you are a business and would ideally purchase in bulk for work, Amazon Business offers Quantity Discounts on eligible items. To avail Quantity Discount, select the box that appears above 'Add to Cart' button in the right-hand side of the product detail page. 

Myth #2: “I can save time by buying for my personal and my business needs from one account.”

You might be goaded into thinking that it saves time to add your kids' stationery items to your cart when stocking up on office supplies for your business. The fact is that you’re actually making your job harder by mixing your business purchases and your personal shopping. It becomes more complicated to track your business expenses, invoices and taxes separately from your personal purchases. More so, you also miss out on money-saving opportunities that can help you run your business better.

Creating a separate Amazon Business account to manage your business purchasing can help you in multiple ways:

1.  Amazon.in gives you personalised recommendations based on your purchasing habits. Reordering products from your order history, searching, navigating, all becomes easier and helps you save time on your personal shopping. But when you make purchases for work on Amazon Business, you’ll find recommendations more suited for your business needs with recommendations and tools to expedite re-ordering that will save your time. You can also save more with discounts on multi-unit purchases.

2.  With an Amazon Business account, you get access to Amazon Business Analytics that helps you track orders and create custom reports based on your business needs, thus saving time in compiling reports.  You can use this data to identify your purchasing patterns and find ways to buy more efficiently. Amazon Business Analytics also gives you a clear picture of your expenses and you'll be ready with reports during tax filing. You can also save up to 28% on your business purchases by claiming GST input tax credit.

Myth #3: “Since I’m the only authorised person buying for my business, switching back and forth between personal and business accounts will create more confusion.”

Switching between your Amazon.in and your Amazon Business account is a breeze. You don’t need to log in and out to switch accounts. Just position your cursor on the 'Accounts and Lists' tab to access the drop down menu and tap on “Switch Accounts.”

Amazon Business has adopted the key benefits of Amazon.in and added extra features tailored to business requirements to help conduct business buying more efficiently.  As your business grows, you can add more team members to your Amazon Business account and even select their roles. In this way, you'll be able to delegate responsibilities to your team members and keep an eye on the purchases. 

Myth #4: “My business involves travelling, and so I need to make purchases even on the go.”

The Amazon mobile app supports both personal as well as business accounts. You can switch seamlessly between accounts on any device, including your home desktop, business laptop, mobile phone or tablet. You can purchase for your business requirements on the go, whenever you want. 

The mobile app has all the features of the Amazon Business website, and so you can manage your team’s purchasing when you’re travelling. You can even approve or reject the purchases made by your team members with just a few taps.

Myth #5: "I love Amazon Prime and its numerous benefits. There is no such model for Amazon Business.”

Amazon Business is your one-stop destination for all your business needs that has India's largest selection of products with GST. Not only that, you can also enjoy the benefits of Prime with your business account. You can also opt for Prime for your business account and enjoy free and fast delivery on lakhs of eligible orders

Having an Amazon Business account is the best way to separate your business expenses from your personal ones. An Amazon Business account gives you one place to manage your business purchases and ensure that business funds are separate from personal. This will help you in conducting your business smoothly.

Amazon Business has become a one-stop shop for Sachin Naik of Riva Beach Resort at Goa. He says "My main focus now is on offering our customers a delightful experience every time. If Riva has managed to do that, it is because of the incredible support that we get from Amazon Business." Other businessmen like Viswanathan Ramakrishnan of Magic Crate, is all praise for Amazon Business when he says "Amazon Business has helped us drive up our productivity by 30-40%."

For some, buying on Amazon Business has saved money while for others it has been enhanced productivity, but for some like Naresh Garg, owner of Interface Digital Solutions, it is a combination of both, "Since the time Amazon Business was introduced to me, it saves 25-30% of our time to search for the best technology product at a best price" he says happily.

Register for a free Amazon Business account and learn how it can do wonders for your small business.