Tip 1: Decide what you want.

If you’re upgrading from a manual system or switching from a bookkeeping service, there must be a reason. Decide what you want from a bookkeeping system and you’re more likely to get what you need. The best system should save you money.

Tip 2: Free might work.

A free system might work. Microsoft offers a free version that’s limited, but may be good enough. Usually if you have any employees a free system isn’t for you. But if you don’t have employees, consider the Microsoft free option.

Tip 3: Simple will work.

Buy more system than you need and you’ll pay hidden costs. Learning any system and using it is part of the continuing cost of software. An overly complex system will cost you as long as you try to use it. Simple is good if that’s what you need.

Tip 4: Software in a box.

Look at the major accounting software suppliers like QuickBooks and Peachtree. They sell software in huge volumes and there are thousands of users who have gone before you. No need to be a pioneer.

Tip 5: Easy upgrades.

Cheap software may be a dead end. If you ever need to upgrade, is there an upgrade version or do you get to start all over with a new software vendor? Maybe you can’t even easily transfer your records to the new software. Oh my!

Tip 6: Online for less stress.

Online software may be an option. Especially for payroll, you can forget about keeping up with endless regulation changes and just let the software people worry about that. Lots of bookkeeping automation is available really cheap with online accounting software.

Tip 7: Who can you call?

What happens when you have problems? Who can you call? Software has been known to just lock up and there you are. So know who can help you if you get in trouble, because trouble will come with any software.

The right small business book keeping software makes running a business easier and less stressful. The problem in choosing the best software is you have so many choices. Think through what your real needs are before you buy anything. Pick overly complex software and you’ll pay too high a price in learning and using the programs. But on the other hand, buy too little system and you may find yourself stuck and forced to learn a whole new system. The good news is that you have several options from major companies that are already used by thousands. You can easily buy a proven product that will do the job.

You may say, now wait a minute where is this heading? Over 30 years of self-employment and working with hundreds of self-employed individuals I can assure you that most successful small businesses and the ones that experience small business growth have one thing in common. The first step to business success is that they are built around the founder or owner.

At first you may think this is a selfish approach. But, if you look at the original definition of selfishness, it is about self-preservation. I think you would agree that building a business that preserves and enhances you is a huge plus. After all, without you, where is the business?

Now, this doesn’t mean that the business is all about you. It means that you either deliver and exceptional product or service for your customers but with an organization, routine or performance strategy that enhances you. After all, if you are not at your best, where will your business be?

For the entrepreneur successful in his business, the first step is to have something he or she is passionate about. The second step is to be able to build the business around who they are. Let’s take three attributes that all people have to different degrees. They are create, execute and finalize.

Most people are good at one or two of these. Know what you are good at and build your business around your strengths. For example, maybe you are strong at creating and finalizing the process. Yet, the execute part, which is in the middle, is not where you really enjoy spending your time. If you are spending most of your time in this area you and your business will be at peril. In the beginning you will probably have to do all three.

Yet, if you continue to do all three you and your business will not experience the small business growth you desire. Take a look at yourself. If executing is the least enjoyable aspect, either create systems to insure that the execution takes place or have someone help you with it. If it continues to be a challenge you can look at hiring a small business coach or reading a small business book or small business ebook.

To grow small business and to have a successful performance strategy you must be in alignment with who you are. Pursue your passion and build your small business growth plan around your strengths. When you do you will get off the treadmill of deadening uniformity and be moving to the success you desire.

Being a vehement protester when it comes to this kind of deception, an online business expert and an excellent e-author came out with ‘The Online Business Handbook’, one of the best business books the market has to offer.

The author of The Online Business Handbook is a very successful online entrepreneur who wants to share his tried and tested approaches with online business enthusiasts. He does not claim to be Alladin and he doesn’t claim that his business book should be seen as Alladin’s lamp or as a path to money, name and fame overnight.

Inspired by Thomas Alva Edison’s statement ‘genius is 99 % perspiration and 1 % inspiration’, this online book on internet business does not make any false promises to quick money.  Just like Edison, the author opines that even if one fails 10,000 times, one should never give up and look upon every failure as a stepping-stone to success.

He believes that success comes with applying intelligence in the proper way, at the proper time.  Being written by a follower of the genuine path to success, one can safely assume that The Online Business Handbook, unlike the other online books, is a treasure house of tried and tested ways of becoming successful as an online entrepreneur.

A bonus that one can expect with The Online Business Handbook is that, unlike many electronic books online that charge exorbitant prices, it comes absolutely free. One just needs to subscribe to Alan Johnson’s newsletter at The Rating Blog. The information in this book is complemented by The Rating Blog, which is amongst the best blogs offering online money making advice to the cyber community today.

It is advised that after reading this business handbook, one should follow The Rating Blog for additional and up to date information. The Rating Blog is enriched with features that are of utmost importance to an online entrepreneur. One can subscribe to the RSS feed and then follow the author’s newsletter.

It has been observed that, compared to all of the free online books offering online business tips, The Online Business Handbook shows you how to attain success in a realistic and step-by-step manner. One needs to absorb the contents of this very useful business book online and follow it to the letter to attain success.

People who have followed the instructions of this book are seen to be extremely successful in online business ventures. Unlike many of the authors of other free books online, the person behind The Rating Blog displays affiliate links and that, according to him, is a part of his common sense, down-to-earth and cards-on-the-table approach to making money online.

However, there is a learning curve using QuickBooks to its full capacity. Also, you want to spend their time doing what’s most important business and that’s taking care of your customers. So if you can budget this, you will see that there are benefits outsourcing your book keeping. While I recommend that you perform the invoicing yourself, I recommend outsourcing to a book keeper for the other accounting tasks if your business budget allows.

Here are three very good reasons why you should consider outsourcing to a book keeper.

First of all it saves you time and energy. Depending on the size of your business, it could save you a few hours a week. Could you imagine having a few extra hours a week? So here’s how they save you time.

Most book keepers instruct you to keep all of your receipts and they post them for you when you send to them. While you want to view reports of your finances, you want to have the book keeper do the leg work by posting payments, receivables and organize and categorize your business according to the accounting software they use.

Most book keepers ask you to submit your materials monthly, bi monthly or quarterly. It depends on your business and the volume of transactions you have. Most work with QuickBooks and categorize all of your transactions in the software itself.

The second reason is you can focus on being the best at your trade and helping your customers. Remember you are offering a service and you need to be better than your competition. So why spend time on something that doesn’t make your business better?

For example, you know every detail of the product and service you provide to your clients. You’re considered a professional and are expected to know the latest trends in you industry. You can expect the same from the book keeper and you don’t have to learn every detail of their trade.

Finally, the book keeper is able to provide information to your CPA to file taxes or they can help you file your taxes.

If you are using Quick Books you are provided with many robust reports to help you file you taxes. The book keeper will be able to provide assistance and advisement.

Whether you use a CPA, your book keeper or yourself to file your businesses taxes the bookkeeper builds and provides the financial snapshot of your business. The bookkeeper then becomes a valuable resource to your business.

When you are always pressed for time to get your projects completed, it may be best to out source your businesses book keeping needs to save you valuable time.

Businesses such as housekeeping, gardening, internet retail sales, consulting services, daycare, handyman, or similar service industries may require little or no money to start-up yet have potential to grow into very prosperous companies. For example, Molly Maid Housecleaning Service is a multi-million dollar company with services expanding across the country. Molly Maid was started by cleaning just one home.

A new business is something like a spider. It has a core (the body); the primary starting point, then it grows legs. The legs are extensions of the core. Each leg represents another important part of the body. For instance, a gardening service starts by simply mowing grass. The legs may grow to include fertilizing, falling trees, landscaping or decorative brickwork. As new legs grow, so does the business. Starting with just the core is an inexpensive way to start-up a business and test its potential.

Taking loans to start a business is risky. Bank or SBA (Small Business Association) loans generally require collateral which sometimes means mortgaging your home. If the business fails, your home is gone.

Personal loans can cause control issues and stress between lender and recipient. When a person invests their hard earned cash into “your” business, whether they state so upfront or not, eventually they will want to have a say-so in the operation of the business. While financial partnerships can be one method of reducing personal business start-up expense, partnerships rarely work out.

Credit cards are by far the worst and most risky way to finance your business start-up and/or operation. Credit cards generally have the highest interest accumulation of any type of loan and take the longest to pay off. If the business fails, the credit card debt may remain for years many years to follow.

The amount you’ll need to finance your business start-up clearly depends on the type of business you’re interested in starting. Once you’ve decided on the business you would like to start, write out your business plan and research the industry to see if 1) there is a need for this type of business, 2) you will not be flooding the market, 3) there are potential profits. Then determine if you have enough available funds to finance your start-up and operation. Since most new businesses take 1-2 years to show any profit, don’t forget to include personal expenses while your new business is operating.

Businesses opening without a huge financial debt show a much greater chance for success. If you have a business idea, you need to keep it in proportion to the amount of money you have to pursue it. Instead of building a $400,000 franchise store, you might need to look at buying a $15,000 coffee cart that you can drive around to local events. There’s always a way to work out your idea without exceeding your means.

Learn more about starting a business at http://www.booksbydenbow.weebly.com/business-books.html

The book is about how to turn a good company or business into one that produces sustained great results.

Your home based business might be doing pretty good, but are you just satisfied with just being good, or do you have the desire to move your home business into the rarified air of greatness?

If I was still a Corporate Weenie, I would have made this book mandatory to my management team.

I am certain that in Corporate America this book has been a topic of furious debate along mahogany row, as the leadership tries to determine whether the books rather controversial viewpoints should be applied to a company that from most indicators is doing very well both from a leadership and financial standpoint. The book would describe this company as simply a good company, not necessarily a great one.

How about your business? You might not even think you have a “good” business. Well, in that case, you might be able to pass the good stage and go directly to greatness as you apply the principles in Jim Collins’ book.

The book suggests that there are common denominators that are associated with his definition of “great” companies. In the absence of these common denominators, a company might be really good in all measurable aspects, but never ascend to the books definition of greatness.

The author and his outstanding research team conducted exhaustive, academically sound research in establishing its criteria for greatness. A very strict criterion that resulted in a somewhat surprising and selective group of companies that met the incredibly strict criteria. You would be very surprised I think by the companies that made the list, and those who did not.

As I continue to read this impressive novel I thought about the home based business marketplace and my own personal entrepreneurial efforts with Tiger Trade, LLC. I thought of some of the ideas the book promoted and how I could apply them to my business endeavors and transition from just being a good home based business, to a great one.

Here is a list of the ideas and concepts gleaned from the book that I have decided to pursue to take my businesses to the next level…a level of greatness.

· Be a Level 5 Leader- The companies that went from good to great did not have the personally dynamic, gregarious leadership you might expect to find. Firms that went from good to great all contained leadership who had a leadership style of personal humility and the professional will to do whatever was required to develop a great company, even if it impacted them financially. It’s not about you; it’s about the business.

· First Who, then What- Good to great leaders did not develop great companies by creating a new dramatic vision or strategy. What they did was to get the right people onboard and the wrong people off-loaded. They flipped the script on the mantra that “People are your most important asset.” That is wrong. The right people are your most important asset. Surround yourself with the right people.

· Confront the Brutal Facts (Yet never lose faith)- Every good to great company embraced what is called the Stockdale Paradox. This paradox was derived from the former prisoner of war Admiral Stockdale. The idea suggests that you must maintain unwavering faith that you can prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties, AND at the same time have the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be. Do this in your life and your business in order to be great.

· Use the Hedgehog Concept- Refuse to just be competent. Transcend the curse of just being competent, even if it is your core business area. Find out what you can possibly be the best at, and then over time pursue that, even at the expense of curtailing something you might have done for years, but can never be the best at. Only what you can be the best at can be the core of a great business.

· A Culture of Discipline- In my business we will just not be disciplined, but our business will have a culture of discipline. When you combine a culture of discipline, with an ethic of entrepreneurship, you get the magical alchemy of great performance.

· Technology Accelerators- Do not rely on technology to ignite a transformation in the business, but use carefully selected technologies with the understanding that it will not be the primary cause of the businesses greatness or decline.

· The Flywheel and the Doom Loop- There is no single defining action or grand event that transforms a company from good to great. There must be a combination of numerous activities over time. The process is like pushing a flywheel in one direction, turn upon turn, building momentum, until a point of breakthrough and beyond.

These are some incredible ideas on how to transition your good home based business into a great home based business. A business that will be sustained for many years to come. A great home based business that will continue to be an asset for you and your children, and even your children’s children. The Bible says that a “good man” leaves a heritage for his children’s children. That is long term success and opportunities that greatness rewards.

Get Jim Collins book. Read it over and over until the principles in the book become believable to you. Understand it, then confidently implement the principles in the book not only in your business, but also in your life.

Warm regards,

Kenny Anderson

Let’s say you have a cash flow problem. There are solutions either you know to implement or you can get the information. Yet, somehow the problem persists. Maybe the first step is to get some education on the various aspects of cash flow. You can read some small business books or a small business ebook.

Yet, after you spend a great deal of time learning about the problem you still have the bigger questions. What area do I attack first? Is it the receivables? Is it the pricing? You get the idea. When you are the sole filter for the information you are receiving and prioritizing what to do first. Since you are uncertain, even though you have your information, you do not take action. The problem remains.

One of the things I have seen repeatedly over the years is that small businesses fail, not because of lack of information but because of lack of action. More often than not, when faced with a problem or challenge, the majority of small businesses opt for self-help. The sad truth is that an expert or someone with an outside perspective is needed to help implement the solutions. The result when small business relies on self-help is like do it yourself heart surgery. It is not very successful.

One thing most small businesses lack is a board of directors. A board of directors for a corporation provides accountability for the CEO and management team. They provide an outside perspective and encourages and sometimes force the people who are in charge to get out of their own way when things need to be changed.

Yet, who forces or encourages the owner of a small business to get out of his own way when things need to be changed. Typically, there is no one. The owner or founder is truly his own consultant. He is the doctor for the problems that occur in his business. Successful business, whether large or small, is about getting out of your own way.

When the small business owners understand that the first investment they should make to have a better business is in themselves then they are more willing to look at having a business advisor, business coaching, small business coaching or business mentoring.

When you understand that one of the most important steps to business success is relying on the help of others then you will greatly increase the probability of having the business and life you desire.