by Joyce M. Washington, CPA
Now I’m sure that title created an interesting visual…let me get to what I’m talking about. How it happened and played out was almost like watching a movie… a constant, continuous confirmation that I’m doing what is right for me and right for my business.
Last week I did a post about selecting a target market (Hit The BullsEye), then I read a blog post/article about Charging More Than The Other Guy, then I had a conversation with a “virtual co-worker” that circled around both of those things. In brief, we were talking about a third party, a friend of hers, that is a bit all over the place when it comes to their side hustle. Let me tell you what I mean – said third party is a Jill of All Trades. She is a “fundraiser”, “event planner”, “marketing consultant”, “graphic designer”, “sales consultant”… and that’s just the the stuff that I remember.
Now I don’t profess to be a marketing expert… but I’ve been in business long enough and I’ve read enough articles, blogs, and books to know that people don’t take you seriously when you are all over the place. When you are all over the place, you don’t get (consistent) business or referral business because the person who would have referred business to you doesn’t know what the heck you do… nor are they convinced that you do any one thing well enough to warrant them sticking their neck out on the line to provide you with the referral. And when you’re all over the place, you can only charge “novice” prices. If you’re charging novice prices… well, you can figure out the rest.
By the end of the conversation with my virtual co-worker, we had both turned the spotlight off of the third party and began to focus on ourselves. *scratching head* So that got me to thinking, is my business all over the place? Am I presenting a “Jill of All Trades/Master of None” persona when it comes to my service offers?
I’m sure I’m not the only one in the blogasphere who’s had a business related identity crisis. Have you had a similar issue? How did you handle it? Help me out here! Tell me all about it…
by Joyce M. Washington, CPA
What exactly IS cloud computing? As I understand it and in it’s simplest terms, it’s remote software hosting. If you’ve created and stored a document or presentation using Google Docs, then you’ve been exposed to a version of “the cloud”.
Why is this important? As a SME (small/medium enterprise), why should you care? Well, to be honest – it kinda levels the playing field, making it so that the small guys can play with the big boys – at least when it comes to IT. By using remote software hosting/utilizing the cloud, SME’s can do things they couldn’t afford to do before – such as – allowing their employees & contractors to telecommute.
Allowing and encouraging telecommuting is just the beginning of the snowball effect that the cloud can bring. Telecommuting can lead to not only outsourcing your IT functions but now that your staff (employees & contractors) spend less time in the office, they can share space… if they share space, you need less space. Instead of providing 1 desk/1 office space per person, you may be able to cut back to 1 desk/1office space for every TWO or THREE staff members (referred to as “office hoteling”). So in addition to saving on the capital expenditures on IT… converting those to operating costs, you can also save on the overhead costs of office space, computers, telephones, etc. How big the snowball gets is up to you.
Enough about the other benefits…back to the cloud itself. Here are some IT benefits to The Cloud…
- Reduced Costs – instead of buying all the hardware/software yourself, you pay a provider incrementally (monthly, quarterly, yearly) – therefore lowering the “cost of entry”
- State of the Art Hardware/Off-Site Backup
- Increased Mobility – staff is no longer tied to the office or their desks
- Greater Flexibility & Security – SME businesses don’t necessarily have the most secure internal infrastructures when it comes to IT; with the use of the Cloud, these same businesses can reach and exceed compliance & industry security standards
- Automation & Shift IT Focus – Using the Cloud, the SME no longer has to focus on server updates, maintenance, backup issues or software updates.
Are you ready for The Cloud? The choice is yours… but I’m ready to take the leap. And I taking my clients with me … even if I have to drag them there, kicking and screaming!
by Joyce M. Washington, CPA
Let’s face it, it’s a fast-paced world and you have to explore alternatives to keep up. In this environment, you can’t afford to be left behind because you are chained to your desk by desktop software applications…Intuit, the makers of Quickbooks, answered the call (sort of) with the web-based version of it’s popular accounting software – Quickbooks Online.
Having web-based products are good for the mobile roadwarrior but bad when you don’t get all the features that you need…
If the online version of Quickbooks doesn’t provide you with all the features that you need, here are a few alternatives that may work for you.
In addition to those alternatives, you may want to look into Quickbooks Hosting – where the desktop version is hosted as a virtual desktop (cloud computing). Recently, Intuit has endorsed a few providers who, in addition to providing you with hosting, can also “rent” licenses. To my knowledge, there are five service providers on the “approved” list*… they are:
Disclaimer – this is not meant to be an all inclusive list nor is it meant to be a review or endorsement or any product or service over another. Do your research – find out what works best for you. Good luck! ~Joyce
*List and additional information can be found here.
**Image: Stefano Valle / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
by Joyce M. Washington, CPA
As a small business owner, it’s hard to know where to turn when it comes to payment processing. You want to make it convenient for your customers/clients while being easy for you to manage. As both a small business owner & accountant, I probably come in contact with more alternatives than the ‘average’ smbo. Here are a few that I have encountered, a few I’m sure you have heard of and a few that will be new to you.
Depending on the number of transactions and where you are in the startup process some alternatives may be better than others. Check the websites for their current fees and service offerings.
First tier: You invoice your client (or set up payment buttons) and the client initiates the payment. You are never in posession of their account or credit card information. If you’ve used Paypal as a customer, you’ve used this tier of payment processing.
- paypal – https://www.paypal.com
- intuit payment network – https://paymentnetwork.intuit.com/PaymentNetwork/
- paymeplz – http://www.paymeplz.com/
Second tier: You set up a shopping cart or a checkout interface for the client. The client goes to your website, shops/makes their choice and initiates the payment. Like the first tier, you are never in possession of their bank account or credit card information.
google checkout (editor’s note: google checkout is no longer available, effective Dec 2013)- fastspring – http://www.fastspring.com/
Third tier: You set up a merchant account with the provider of your choice for processing. Unlike the other two tiers, you can initiate payments with the permission of your client, therefore, you have more control over your cashflow & it’s timing… but with control comes responsibility (like making sure you keep your client’s account information safe).
Disclaimer: I am not endorsing one alternative over another and this is not meant to be an all-inclusive list. I’m just putting it out in the atmosphere as a starting point to let you know that there are indeed alternatives – do your research, get out there/try them and figure out what works best for you and your business.
If you’re reading this and you’ve had a good (or bad) experience with any of these alternatives or you have an alternative that’s not listed…feel free to post a comment!
Good luck – much success!!
~Joyce
**Image: Andy Newson / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
by Joyce M. Washington, CPA
It’s been quite awhile since I have posted anything, to be exact, it’s been eight (8) months! Honestly, I seriously considered letting the blog go & closing it down. I thought about discontinuing it because I just couldn’t wrap my head around the benefits to keeping it. I wasn’t seeing any return on the time and the effort I had been dedicating to researching, writing and posting content. Besides that, most of time, I felt like I was talking to myself. But I’ve seen the proverbial light. I look at the blog, as well as blogging in general, differently.
Like many of you, as a small business owner, I wear many hats so instead of writing a blog exclusively about my area of expertise (accounting & tax matters), I’ve decided to add general stuff people ask me about being a small business owner – like how I got started and how I “did it”. My hope is that the things that I find interesting and helpful…will be interesting and helpful to you as well.
Well… guess it’s back to business. Let the blog party begin!
