Small Business Gets Tech Savvy: Nearly 30% plan to implement SaaS solutions in 2010

Todd Thibodeaux
IndustryWeek
February 12, 2010

The Help Is Free, and It’s a Click Away

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/09/business/smallbusiness/09toolkit.html?_r=2&ref=smallbusiness

Paul B. Brown
New York Times
December 9, 2009

A great article full of valuable links to additional resources. I’ve often said that the problem isn’t that there’s no information available out there, it is simply that there is too much information to be able to accurately and quickly track it all down. This article summarizes a lot of valuable resources to help narrow down your search.

And always, if you simply need some help or don’t want to have to do this all yourself, just give us a call and Insight be happy to help.

A handful of years ago, I went to work for a long-time friend of mine and as we were hashing out the details such as pay, vacation and working situations, he said to me, “This will be new for me, as I am not normally friends with the people that work for me.”  And as our working relationship developed, I made sure that whenever possible we kept the office environment “professional,” even as we enjoyed vacations and spending time together outside the office.

What was odd for me was that I couldn’t think of a time, then or now, when I worked anywhere that I wasn’t friends with my co-workers or the people working directly for me.  And not surprisingly, a recent article/survey points to this as a factor in workplace stress:  http://www.hreonline.com/HRE/story.jsp?storyId=309307271&topic=Main

As the article points out, having friends or friendly relationships with the people around you in the office gives you the ability to bounce ideas off of each other in a non-threatening environment and to feel connected to others when things are at their most challenging. I would add to this that I believe that these friendships also enable co-workers to be more candid about their true opinions on work topics, as you can take the “personal attack” potential out of the equation and provide a more fertile ground for true collaboration.

Where it gets tricky is when you are friends with those that report directly to you, and you are responsible for making sure that their job performance is excellent and that you are displaying impartiality when it comes time to providing employee reviews and determining promotion opportunities.

One of my partners, Ash, once told a mutual friend and co-worker of ours who had recently joined the company, “Ron is a great guy and a great friend.  But just know that business is business, and if you screw up, he will call you out on it and you shouldn’t count on your friendship to save you. But, he’ll probably buy you a beer when it is all over.”  A very accurate assessment. Much like I want to see those around me thrive and succeed, and will go out of my way to help make that happen, I also expect that those around me will want to see me succeed and do everything that they can to make me successful. If you have these symbiotic relationships, built on mutual respect and friendship, then you are bound to be more successful than trying to go at it alone.

In the end, I try to surround myself with people that have a similar work ethic and a similar desire to succeed professionally in both my personal and professional lives, so it stands to reason that overlap will exist and I welcome it.

Tips for Negotiating With a Potential Landlord

http://www.openforum.com/idea-hub/topics/managing/article/tips-for-negotiating-with-a-potential-landlord-thursday-bram

Thursday Bram
American Express OPEN Forum
February 10, 2010

Perhaps the biggest points to note in Bram’s tips for negotiating space are that there are many ways to negotiate that have nothing to do with price but can still provide you with value, and to have an attorney (or an experienced commercial broker) assist you with the negotiations and review of the lease agreement. Going it alone can, at best, leave some money on the table and at its worst, obligate you to expensive provisions on the back end of the lease that you don’t realize at the time of signing. Consult the experts. Always.

DENVER, CO (February 15, 2010) – Insight Professional Services announces the roll-out of its affordable full-service accounting solution for small businesses. From virtual accounting models to accounting professionals who work in your office, Insight reduces costs and provides meaningful results. By combining CFO-level expertise and oversight, standardized procedures and reporting with trained accountants and bookkeepers, Insight’s clients receive big-company benefits at small-company prices.

Insight’s virtual accounting system with a personal touch reduces costs for business owners, while providing electronic document storage for anytime access to records and eliminating paper clutter. By utilizing enterprise-level systems on a secure state-of-the-art data center to store financial data and source documents, clients gain 24/7 accessibility and reliability. Using standard processes and reporting systems to spread costs across a large number of small businesses, Insight offers truly affordable, yet effective, solutions for business owners.

“Many business owners know the importance of timely and accurate billing, collections and record-keeping but don’t feel as though they can afford the resources to get it done right,” said Ron Olsen, President of Insight. “If it doesn’t take much time and they do it themselves, then there is an inexpensive alternative. And if it does take a lot of time or it isn’t getting done, then it takes away from a business’s ability to generate revenue and grow, or worse, makes collecting for the work already completed more costly or impossible,” continued Olsen.

For those businesses that require regular on-site accounting, Insight deploys a dedicated on-site professional who provides hands-on assistance that many business owners appreciate. Using the same standard procedures and targeted reporting capabilities developed for the virtual accounting model, Insight minimizes costs while providing maximum service. “Some clients feel more secure with someone working in their office at the same time every week. It gives them a regular point of contact and allows them to set an efficient schedule that works best for their time,” commented Olsen.

Insight is proud to announce the official launch of its accounting services, as part of a complete back office support system for small businesses. From financial operations such as time and expense tracking, billing, collections and full-charge bookkeeping, to reliable virtual office solutions that minimize capital investment and offer greater accessibility, Insight takes the worry out of managing a business.

About Insight Professional Services, LLC

Founded in April 2009, Insight Professional Services provides small business owners and consultants with a full suite of professional services and technology tools to streamline their back office operations, allowing owners to focus more time on generating revenues and growing their businesses. With more than 50 years of professional experience helping businesses increase their effectiveness and reduce their overall costs, the Insight team assembled a robust set of virtual solutions for managing the financial and technical operations of their clients. By combining the best solutions available from proven leaders in the small business space, with a powerful and reliable IT infrastructure in a state-of-the-art data center and time-tested operational practices, Insight provides an affordable offering unmatched in the marketplace. Insight is privately owned and operated. For more information visit http://www.InsightProfessionalServices.com.

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Turning purchase orders into cash

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/31/business/smallbusiness/31order.html?pagewanted=1&ref=smallbusiness

Andrew Martin
New York Times
January 30, 2010

With so much talk about the credit squeeze on small businesses, this article (albeit long) is an interesting insight into a financing vehicle not normally considered, but potentially very valuable. Purchase order financing is available on a “per transaction” basis for companies that secure large purchase orders but do not have the near-term capital to fund the build or acquisition of the goods necessary to satisfy the purchase order. Many companies have been in this boat before (I’ve worked with a few) where they have access to a profitable transaction but not the cash necessary to make it all happen. These purchase order financing groups, while relatively expensive, can help cover these short-term financing needs, where traditional banks dare not tread.

As I read this article from Gladys Edmunds in USA Today, I thought about my own observations about small businesses and how they can become more successful, and to think about well-funded businesses with great ideas and technology that never went anywhere.

In her article, Edmunds points to the need for a written business plan, and I agree. Anyone who has ever ridden a motorcycle will remember that when you were first learning, the biggest lesson taught is that you steer where you look. I learned this valuable lesson courtesy of a sand embankment on a canyon road heading to Mammoth one year, and I thank my lucky stars that it wasn’t the ravine that caught my eye instead. By writing out what your goals are, the direction that you are taking, you are charting a course.  It doesn’t have to be written in stone…in fact it absolutely shouldn’t be. But it should be well thought out and give you some clear goals and milestones on which to evaluate your performance.

A further point made by Edmunds is that businesses are built upon small successes. They should be celebrated, as well as evaluated, to see how those successes can be repeated. Having been a part of venture-backed, well-funded companies, one of the big differences I have noticed between success and failure is the ability to achieve milestones, however small, within a reasonable timeline. It shows progress and an ability to execute, which is what business owners and boards of directors should be looking for.

I think that for some period of time (let’s call it the 90s), entrepreneurs forgot just how businesses have grown for centuries. Organic, sequential growth based upon a proven product, service or delivery mechanism is how small businesses became large businesses. In today’s economy, it may become easier to grow into sales nationally and internationally with Internet sales and distribution channels, but that is still predicated on having a salable product and the support infrastructure to handle that growth. Test it small, work out the kinks, achieve some success and then build on it from there. It is a system that works.

When you put your plan together, it is important to not only include big-picture, long-term goals both personally and professionally (with real timelines attached), but to include more granular series of steps that you believe will be required to achieve those goals. Not only will this provide you with something to measure your success against and a road map on how to get there, it will force you to sit down and think about your business strategically and pull yourself out of the day-to-day operations for a bit. And we could all use more of that.

You’re Bleeding Money

http://www.womenentrepreneur.com/2010/01/youre-bleeding-money.html

Sherre DeMao
Women Entrepreneur
January 27, 2010

DeMao addresses the use of your time as a business owner in this very insightful article.  Her first point about spending your time doing non-revenue generating activities is precisely why we started Insight - it is not just about what something costs you, it is about the opportunity cost of not spending your valuable time generating new business.  Accounting, payroll, technology, administration – this back office b.s. is just the type of thing you should let others do so you can focus on running your business.

Additional points made by DeMao involve using your time outside of the office wisely. Whether it’s industry associations or charitable groups, identify a limited number of strategic groups and become involved with them.  How can you invest your time in eight different groups effectively, while still running your business and still actively developing new business?  The answer is that you can’t.

Take the Long View When Negotiating With Your Vendors

http://www.openforum.com/idea-hub/topics/money/article/take-the-long-view-when-negotiating-with-your-vendors-thursday-bram

Thursday Bram
American Express OPEN Forum
January 29, 2010

An insightful piece about vendor management and maintaining relationships with the people that are helping you to grow your business by providing you with access to materials and services. At the core, you want to make sure that you have a mutually beneficial relationship with your vendors, one in which you get a good price and they make a little bit of profit, to ensure that they stay in business and want to continue to work with you. I’ve watched too many short-sighted business owners try to beat up vendors for every last dollar, only to later discover that they don’t get the attention that they want, that short-cuts were taken or that they have been “fired” by the vendor because they can no longer afford to do business with them. Pay on-time (or early to get cash discounts) when you can and be honest with vendors and work out payment arrangements when you can’t. They are your business partners, whether you like it or not, so keeping them in the dark will only injure those relationships long term.

Financially Preparing Small Business Owners for 2010

http://www.openforum.com/idea-hub/topics/money/article/financially-preparing-small-business-owners-for-2010-susan-l-reid

Susan L Reid
American Express OPEN Forum
January 27, 2010

Although signs are pointing to a recovery from a year that most people would love to forget, there remain short-term issues to deal with and small business owners could use a hand navigating these waters. Reid advocates three things for 2010:  Hire a business coach, focus on what will generate near-term revenue and look for ways to reinvent your business.  2009 might have eliminated your major competitors or opened up a gaping hole in the marketplace that simply was not there in previous year, and you might just be the one to take advantage if you act now.