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Entries 59 Total

Cloud Based Accounting Software

Jun 18, ’11 3:14 PM
Author Stefan Töpfer (Editor) Categories Accounting Software

Accounting is most certainly not the the most favorite entrepreneurial occupation – rightly so. Let’s face it accounting is all about the past, at a time when we all need to look to the future to navigate these perilous financial times.

But, accounting software will help us to manage the past, improve our cash-flow and make better informed decisions for the future. The problem is that most accounting software products are just about accounting and not about managing your businesses finances with a forward looking emphases.

What are the accounting software features you will need to manage your business better for the future? Here are some to look out for:

■ Cloud Computing – will help you to manage your work-time better, automate data back-up, allow access from anywhere & anytime and allow you to collaborate easily with others.

■ Cash-Flow Integration – taking control of your cash-flow is vital for your businesses survival, a automatic 30 day cash-flow forecast will keep you on track.

■ CRM Integration – How much credit are you going to give your client? If you have no client history, you are stabbing in the dark and put your business at risk.

■ Sales Integration – selling online or off-line, both needs to be connected to your accounting software, this will save you time & money, while keeping you up-to-date. An invoicing function is not enough to provide you with what you need.

■ Software Integration – many vendors will talk about APIs, to connect to other software vendors for some or all of the above software modules. Don’t be fooled, your data is being shared and distributed to different vendors, the API is going to fail and you the customer will be suffering – always look for an integrated solution, ie. everything from one vendor.

These are just some of the considerations you need to keep in mind when choosing you next accounting software.

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Just Don’t Quit!

Jun 17, ’11 6:24 PM
Author Stefan Töpfer (Editor) Categories Business Psychology

I ran one of the largest ISPs in the 90′s and it was not always easy (the understatement of my life), we were growing so fast, that we never had any money, our cash-flow was catastrophic, always.

During those years my CFO and I had a saying, “It’s going to be another interesting day!” – meaning, we did not know if we’d still be in business by the end of that day, literally.

I spoke the other day to a group of people about these times and at the end someone asked me, “How do you survive those years of extreme growth, decline, change and/or financial upheaval?”

That is a very good question and I’m sure many of you, running your businesses, are in the same position now and then – so here is my highly unscientific, but in my opinion the only correct answer:

Just don’t quit!

Share your comments with me and my other readers on my Facebook Page.

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When Passion Turns To Greed…

Jun 10, ’11 6:37 AM
Author Stefan Töpfer (Editor) Categories Business Psychology

Business has one goal, to make money – that is the only reason anyone will start a business. There may be differences in terms of how much money and what the money is being used for, ie. social enterprise.

“

GREED, like the love of comfort, is a kind of fear.
~ Cyril Connolly

Sometimes you encounter people who take all this to a new level, they get greedy, very greedy. That is the point when doing business becomes very unpleasant and the best thing to do is to walk away.

You need to walk away because you’re going to get hurt, greedy people have no social conscience left, all they are interested in is themselves, only themselves. This is extremely destructive, sooner or later most people will know, business suffers and people get hurt.

There is no need to get upset, just notice the trend, cut your loses and walk away. Greedy people can’t help themselves and they will have all kinds of excuses, remember the old godfather quote: “It’s not personal, it’s only business!”

Today, any business is personal, because only personal business is successful.

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Small Business Support For An Enterprising Nation

Jun 9, ’11 2:07 PM
Author Stefan Töpfer (Editor) Categories Small Business Support

In the UK 500,000 new businesses start every year, these businesses are of vital importance to the British economy, the nation of enterprise.

Supporting small business, in their entrepreneurial endeavors has to come high on anyone’s agenda. The UK, as an enterprising nation, small business support is the best way to reduce the five year mortality rate of 57% among small businesses and a must if the economy is to fully recover.

Luckily, there are a raft of small business support organizations who have dedicated their work to exactly this goal. The following info graphic is about organizations which offer the best small business support in the UK, with a little reminder why small business support is so vital for the UK (click on the image to enlarge):

Small Business Support For A Nation of Enterprise

Small Business Support for a Nation of Enterprise.

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Top 5 Tips for Tackling Workplace Lethargy

May 16, ’11 7:00 AM
Author Stefan Töpfer (Editor) Categories Business Checklists, Small Business / SOHO

The weekly top 5 tips post is always full of helpful hints and advice for small, home and micro business owners.

1. Planning your eating carefully throughout the day is important. Don’t skip breakfast before work as it will put you at a disadvantage for the rest of the day.

2. The types of food that you eat will also play a major part in your productivity for the day. Try to eat small amounts of protein at regular intervals and minimise your sugar and carbohydrate intake.

3. Avoid making the common mistake of letting your blood sugar levels plummet after lunch. It can help to swap your large evening meal to lunchtime.

4. Increasing your overall activity will give your health a massive boost. Try to workout 2-3 times a week as this will raise natural oxygen levels, allowing you to function better and think more clearly.

5. Try to get eight hours sleep. Your body and mind needs to recharge after a day of hard work or it will not function at full potential the next day.

If you have additional tips, please share them in the comments section below.

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Small Business Sales Performance – Q1/2011

May 4, ’11 11:02 AM
Author Stefan Töpfer (Editor) Categories Development, Online Sales, SOHO/SMB/SME/Micro, Sales, Small Business / SOHO, Start-Up, be successful

The Open University just published their Quarterly Survey of Small Business in Britain and I want to share one graph with you here.

As you can see micro and small business are suffering in this economic climate more than the mid-size and large businesses – why do you think that is? This graph has been haunting me for days and for me it comes down to the same old issues I keep on ranting about, in one word: FOCUS.

SME Sales Performance by Size

With business focus there is no way a larger business can out-perform a well run small business in terms of customer care, customer loyalty and business efficiency.

Bigger business is better at analyzing business performance and optimizing processes, these tools are available to small business for free – why are they not being used?

Focusing on the competitive advantages of being a small business, with lower over-heads, better customer service, faster reaction times and so on and on, should become second nature. Not following every rabbit-hole (distraction) is essential to business success too. Do a SWOT analysis and focus on what you are good at.

In my mind there is no way that large business can out-perform small business on a size adjusted basis – let’s get to it and let’s change this graph!

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Top 10 Home Business & Small Office Reads of 2009/09/16

Sep 16, ’09 7:00 AM
Author Stefan Töpfer (Editor) Categories Home Business, Personal Business, SME News Round-up

small business blog top 10 tweetsThere are so many great home & small business blogs out there to give you inspiration and new ideas. Here are my top 10 reads for today – as usual you will find these and more good reads also on my twitter feed. I would encourage you to go and have a look at these blogs as they will give you a different perspective on some of the same issues I have covered on my blog.

These are just some of my daily tweets. Follow me on twitter for all of my updates.  – ST.

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WinWeb.com – Business Blog: Running a small business from home

Sep 12, ’09 10:05 PM
Author Stefan Töpfer (Editor) Categories Home Business, How to ..., WinWeb, bootstrap

Running your business from home has many advantages over renting an office or workspace. Today’s online technology allows you to run a professional business without the overheads, another way to continue the bootstrapping mentality.

The points below will give you another brief overview of the many benefits of running your business from home and how to benefit from them.

Find out how @ winweb.com

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100 Self-Employed and Small Business Start-Up Tips From WinWeb.

Sep 10, ’09 4:28 PM
Author Stefan Töpfer (Editor) Categories Home Business, Self-employed, Small Business / SOHO, Start-Up, start-up in business

winweb_business_start_up.jpg

Starting a small business from an office or home is a great way to earn some extra money or make into your full-time occupation.

As we all know there are many things to consider and the take into consideration. WinWeb has compiled a great list of 100 tips to help you to check out your business idea. Have a read and find out how well you are prepared.

100 Small Business Start-Up Tips @ WinWeb Business Blog.

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WinWeb Business Blog: 100 Business Bootstrapping Tips.

Sep 9, ’09 4:14 PM
Author Stefan Töpfer (Editor) Categories Home Business, Small Business / SOHO, bootstrap

no-money-bootstrap.jpg

Over on our WinWeb Business Blog we just released a list of 100 Small Business Bootstrapping Truths. If you find running your small or home business hard and you are looking for ways to save some money, then you should go and have a look.

Spending money is easy, but will not always get you where you want to go. Bootstrapping will help you to get there without spending money, remember:

“Bootstrapper don’t spend money, they make money!”

These and 99 more bootstrapping tips @ WinWeb Business Blog.

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