121 Business Blog

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Posted by admin on Feb 14, 2012 in Blog | 0 comments

Suzy Payne Rabb
Sage Peachtree Certified Consultant
Sage Solution Provider
Your Live, Online Guide to Sage Peachtree Success
512.892.8990

7 Ways to Build More Profit Into Your Small Business

Posted by admin on Feb 13, 2012 in 121 Peachtree Tips, Blog, Email Marketing, Getting Started, Marketing, Search Engines, SEO, Small Business, Social Media, Starting A Business, Startup, Websites | 0 comments

From “7 Ways to Build More Profit Into Your Small Business” by Joan Nowak and Manta.com

As you prepare your business for success in the coming year, will you focus your time and resources on sales growth? While it’s important, it’s often not enough. For sustainable growth and profit with a lot more control, spread your efforts around – creating small improvements in ALL areas of your business. It’s the formula for a business that is simple, fun and profitable!

So where do you start? Here’s the formula I recommend.

Planning. You don’t need a 50 page business plan. But you do need some clear, measurable goals with specific ‘actions’ you need to take to achieve them. Written goals and a simple action plan provide you with focus and clarity. So take the time to write down what you WANT (results or outcomes) and what you need to DO (actions) to make it happen.

Products/Services. When was the last time you actually thought about the products or services you offer? It’s more than just ‘what price should I charge’. Which ones are most profitable, which produce the most sales? Do your products and services still meet the needs of your target customers or do they need a facelift? Technology, competition and your customer needs change over time – make sure your products and services keep up!

Promotion. Sales don’t just happen. So what are you doing to attract new customers and keep existing ones coming back and referring others? Most owners associate promotion with marketing for new customers – and invest few (if any) resources on current customers. Big mistake. Make sure your plans also include tactics to turn your current customers into raving fans – who spend more, buy more often and refer other quality people to your business.

Processes. Streamlining and standardizing procedures make daily operations easier, efficient and more effective, whether you are there or not. They are also a key to increased profitability. As you plan for the coming year, make systematizing your business more of a priority. Start with just a few. Focus on those that save you time, increase sales, or fix problems that consistently erode profit.

People. No business operates successfully in a vacuum – we all need help from others. While we often associate people with employees, building a strong network of contractors, vendors and alliance partners for your business is equally important. Your needs will vary based on your business – but most small businesses have an opportunity to improve in this area. Have a method for hiring or developing new relationships with people who are committed to your customers and the success of your business.

Personal Development. As you grow and improve, so will your business. We are all familiar with the phrase, knowledge is power, but it also translates to earnings or income. And it doesn’t require a lot of time or money – just a commitment to learning and building skills and knowledge. Here’s a few things to consider:

•Invest 15 minutes a day reading and you will read about 12 books a year.
•Turn drive time into learning with audio books.
•Attend interactive workshops or webinars to improve knowledge gaps or simply get new ideas.
•Meet with and build relationships with other successful business owners so you can share information and learn.
•Work with a mentor or business coach who can help you find hidden opportunities, provide shortcuts to results and accountability to get more done.

Profit. You don’t need to be an accountant or financial guru, but you do need to track and understand the numbers that drive your business – beyond just sales. Here’s a few others to consider: average sale per customer or transaction, number of leads, revenue per employee, average accounts receivable, gross profit margins, customer retention rates and net profit. Monitor them and focus on activities that help to improve them – especially gross profit margins and net profit. If you keep them at the center of what you do, your small business will continue to serve your needs and the needs of your people and customers.

Remember, little improvements in ALL these areas will put more profit on the bottom line and in your wallet. So take the hybrid approach: bring together all the key elements that drive success – and you too will have a business that is simple, fun and profitable.

More from “7 Ways to Build More Profit Into Your Small Business” and Manta.com

Suzy Payne Rabb
Sage Peachtree Certified Consultant
Sage Solution Provider
Your Live, Online Guide to Sage Peachtree Success
512.892.8990

21 Shoestring Marketing Secrets That All Small Business Owners Need to Know

Posted by admin on Feb 5, 2012 in 121 Peachtree Tips, Blog, Getting Started, Internet, Marketing, Search Engines, SEO, Small Business, Starting A Business, Startup, Websites | 0 comments

From “21 Shoestring Marketing Secrets That All Small Business Owners Need to Know” by Jessica Swanson and Manta.com

Unfortunately, many small business owners believe in the motto, “it takes money to make money” in the world of small business. The good news is that nothing could be further from the truth.

There are twenty-one shoestring marketing secrets that will provide you with the right frame of mind so that you can begin the process of building a thriving small business without spending a dime on marketing.

1. Low-cost. In today’s internet and social media age, there are now more low-cost marketing options than ever before. Not only is it possible, but absolutely doable to substantially grow your small business on a shoestring budget.

2. Commitment. If your marketing is going to eventually take hold, then you need to make a strong commitment to see it through until it sticks. Don’t give up in the early stages.

3. Patience. The fruits of your marketing labors don’t happen overnight. You need to plant your marketing seeds and tend to them regularly before your marketing garden blooms.

4. Branding. Your clients and customers need to have a clear picture in their minds as to who you are and how your product or service can solve their most pressing problems

5. Consistency. Marketing is much like breathing. It’s the life of your small business and should be a regular part of your daily business activities.

6. Domination. If you want to explode your small business profits, then you must dominate a small part of your market. You need to become the “go-to” person in your particular niche.

7. Customer-focused. Your primary job is to clearly identify the problems that your prospects face and offer them the obvious solutions.

8. Identify your target market. It’s crucial that you know exactly who needs your product or service. Mass marketing doesn’t work in today’s business environment. Not only does it force you to water down your marketing message to please the masses, but it’s much too expensive for the shoestring marketer.

9. Elicits confidence and trust. Create experiences and situations that boost the level of confidence from your prospects. At the end of the day, people buy from those whom they like and trust.

10. Massive visibility. Since your prospects are exposed to over 4,000 ads every single day, you need to ensure that your small business is utilizing as many marketing platforms as possible. Your prospects should come across you in as many places as possible.

11. Repetition. Research suggests that prospects need to encounter your small business between seven and twelve times before they are ready to purchase. So, put yourself in front of your target market over and over again.

12. Ease of use. If your sales process, marketing materials or any other part of your business is too complicated, your customers will become confused. Confused customers simply don’t buy.

13. The WOW Factor. What are you doing to get noticed? How are you different than your competition? The fastest way to small business failure is to blend in with the crowd.

14. Quality. If your product and/or services aren’t top quality, then you won’t get repeat business. Your long-term success depends on satisfied customers who spread the word about your business and purchase from you repeatedly.

15. Education. Position yourself as an expert and educate your prospects as to why your small business can offer them the remedy to their most pressing pain points.

16. Relationships. Create real relationships with your prospects and customers. Answer their questions, solve their problems and help them if they’re stuck. Your prospects want to know that there’s a real person in front of your small business.

17. Increasing the lifetime value of customers. Over 20% of your existing customers will purchase from you again (since they already know and trust you), so create additional ways for them to make purchases.

18. Automation. We’re living in a fast-tracked society that doesn’t work using old-fashioned marketing methods. So, embrace automation tools such as landing pages, email autoresponders, shopping carts, customer management software, etc.

19. Tracking your results. It’s essential to your overall survival that you have a clear understanding what works and what doesn’t work when it comes to your marketing. Use link tracking software to track your ROI (even if your only investment is your time).

20. Flexibility. Things change quickly and you must be willing to adapt. When the next “great” marketing platform emerges, be willing to jump on board and embrace it with excitement. If you are a flexible marketer, you’re always miles ahead of your competition.

21. Everything that you do. Marketing isn’t just about your advertising campaigns. Every single interaction that you have with your prospects promotes your small business. So, be careful how you answer the phone, respond to your emails and treat your customers because all of it makes an instant and lasting impression on them.

So, there you have it, twenty-one Shoestring Marketing strategies that will literally transform your small business from “just getting by” to “flourishing.” And, the best part of all is that you can do it all on a shoestring marketing budget.

More from “21 Shoestring Marketing Secrets That All Small Business Owners Need to Know” and Manta.com

Suzy Payne Rabb
Sage Peachtree Certified Consultant
Sage Solution Provider
Your Live, Online Guide to Sage Peachtree Success
512.892.8990

How to Set Up a Customer Past Due Report

Posted by admin on Feb 5, 2012 in 121 Peachtree Tips, Blog | 0 comments

  How can I set up a Customer Past Due Report?

QUESTION:  When I’m working on customer past dues, collections, I want a short, concise report that lists only ”over 90 days” past due invoices.  How can I get a report of just the past due invoices?

Several versions ago, an additional filter was added to the standard Aged Receivables Report. This filter allows you to set up a report that presents only those unpaid invoices under a given aging category.

Here are the steps to set up a Customer Past Due Report > 90 Days.

Select the Standard Aged Receivables Report
Set up a Filter on “Aging Category” and Select “Over 90 days”
Change the Report Name to “Customer Past Due Report-> 90 Days”
Save the New Report
 

Select the Standard Aged Receivables Report.  Get into your Peachtree company and select Reports / Accounts Receivable from the main menu at the top of the screen.

 
Select Aged Receivables from the report menu.

Set up a Filter on “Aging Category” and Select “Over 90 days”. 

Select Options from the report tool bar. 

Select Aging Category from the filter options.

Select Over 90 days from the aging options and hit OK. 

Report will be displayed.

Change the Report Name to “Customer Past Due Report-> 90 Days”.

Select Fonts from the tool bar at the top of the report window.

Change Title 1 Report Label from Aged Receivables to Customer Past Due Report > 90 Days, then hit OK.

The report will be redisplayed with the new report name.

Save the New Report.

Select Save from the tool bar at the top of the report window.

At Report Name, enter Customer Past Due > 90 Days and Save.

New report should appear at or near the top of the Accounts Receivable Report Menu.

Contact me if you need help setting up custom reports in Sage Peachtree or if you have a question or a tip to share.  I also offer a free consultation for new clients.

Suzy Payne Rabb
Sage Peachtree Certified Consultant
Sage Solution Provider
Your Live, Online Guide to Sage Peachtree Success
512.892.8990

Your Business Attitude is a Choice. I Choose Optimism.

Posted by admin on Feb 2, 2012 in Blog, Getting Started, Inspiration, Marketing, Small Business, Starting A Business, Startup | 0 comments

From: “Your Business Attitude is a Choice” by Harvey Mackay

Optimists outperform pessimists on the job by as much as 50 percent. Which do you choose to be?

When you wake up every day you have two choices. You can either be positive or negative; an optimist or a pessimist. I choose to be an optimist. It’s all a matter of perspective.

You can whine because you have so much work or be grateful that you are your own boss and in control of your own destiny. You can complain about your lack of an IT department, or be excited about learning the tech you need to know. You can grumble about your unengaged employees or do everything in your power to make them succeed. You get the idea.

More from: “Your Business Attitude is a Choice” by Harvey Mackay

Suzy Payne Rabb
Sage Peachtree Certified Consultant
Sage Solution Provider
Your Live, Online Guide To Peachtree Success
512.892.8990
 

How to Delete a Peachtree Company

Posted by admin on Jan 19, 2012 in 121 Peachtree Tips, Blog, Peachtree Accounting, Peachtree Consultant, Peachtree Premium, Peachtree Pro, Peachtree Quantum, Peachtree Training, Sage 50 | 0 comments

  How can I delete a Peachtree company?

 
Follow these steps to delete a Sage Peachtree company.

Find Location of Peachtree Company Folder
Use Windows to Find and Select Company Folder
Delete Company Folder
Verify Company was Deleted

Find Location of Company.  One easy way to find the location of the Peachtree company folder is to start Peachtree and open the company you wish to delete.

Once Peachtree is loaded and you are in the desired company, select Maintain / Company Information from the main menu at the top of the screen.

 
See Directory.

Be careful to note exact directory location. The last group of characters (in this example, “BCS”) represent the company folder name. There may be company folders with very similar names.

Exit Peachtree.

 
Use Windows to Locate and Select Company Folder.  You can start with “My Computer” and use Windows to find and select the company folder. 

Delete the Company Folder.  After you find and select the noted company folder, right click your mouse for menu of options.

Select Delete.

Are you sure…. 

Be very sure you have selected the correct company folder. If so,

Select Yes.

 
Verify Company was Deleted.  Start Peachtree again.  Once Peachtree is up, select File / Open Company. This action takes you to a list of Peachtree companies in Peachtree’s datapath.

Company name should no longer be listed.

Contact me if you need help deleting, archiving companies or with a general cleanup of your Sage Peachtree company directories.

Suzy Payne Rabb
Sage Peachtree Certified Consultant
Sage Solution Provider
Passionate about Small Business

What’s Standing in Your Way?

Posted by admin on Jan 18, 2012 in Blog, Marketing, Peachtree Consultant, Peachtree Training, Social Media, Starting A Business | 0 comments

What’s standing in your way? What would help you start and ship and create something of value?

Access to ideas is easier than ever before. You can see over the shoulders of the great leaders in every industry, instantly and for free.

Access to tools is easier too. Every digital tool in the world is easily available, often for free.

Access to markets? The internet brings every market segment into clear view and lowers the cost of reaching it.

Access to capital? It’s never been easier to find funding for an idea that’s enabled by the efficiencies the web creates.

Alas, the only access that’s harder than ever is access to the part of your brain that’s willing to take advantage of all of this. Precisely because it’s easier and faster than ever before, it’s easy to be afraid to reach out, to connect and to commit. No one can help you with that but you.

More from: “Access to Access” and Seth Godin’s Blog

Suzy Payne Rabb
Sage Peachtree Certified Consultant
Sage Solution Provider
Passionate about Small Business

What is the Sage Peachtree Internal Accounting Review?

Posted by admin on Dec 5, 2011 in Blog, End of Month, End of Year, Peachtree Accounting, Peachtree Consultant, Peachtree Premium, Peachtree Pro, Peachtree Quantum, Peachtree Training, Sage 50, Sage Peachtree 2012 | 0 comments

The Internal Accounting Review is a tool that allows you to run an internal audit on your Sage Peachtree company data. It looks for common transaction mistakes and potentially fraudulent activity by running a series of up to 15 checks against your company data. If transactions are found, they are listed under the appropriate Internal Accounting Review check name for your review. You then have the opportunity to take the appropriate action on each transaction.

These checks represent common transaction mistakes and/or conditions that might be revealed in an external audit. While this review is not exhaustive, it is intended to help you identify, investigate, and if necessary, correct issues that may be problems. Here’s what we look for:

 1. Purchases or bills that don’t credit an accounts payable account
 2. Sales or invoices that don’t debit an accounts receivable account
 3. Payments or checks that don’t credit a cash account
 4. Receipts or money received that doesn’t debit a cash account
 5. Transactions that debit and credit the same general ledger account
 6. Possible duplicate transactions of the same type
 7. Vendor invoices or bills from prior periods that have not been received
 8. Transactions entered in the future
 9. Transactions posted to inactive records
10. Un-reconciled cash accounts
11. Inventory items that default to duplicate general ledger accounts
12. Out of sequence checks
13. Accounts receivable accounts that are out of balance with the aged receivables report
14. Accounts payable accounts that are out of balance with the aged payables report
15. Possible duplicate paychecks for an employee within a pay period

From: “What is the Internal Accounting Review?” at Peachtree.com

Suzy Payne Rabb
Sage Peachtree Certified Consultant
Sage Solution Provider
Passionate about Small Business

Build a Killer Website

Posted by admin on Nov 30, 2011 in Blog, Getting Started, Google, Internet, LinkedIn, Marketing, Peachtree Consultant, Search Engines, SEO, Small Business, Social Media, Starting A Business, Startup, Technology, Websites | 0 comments

If you do it right, your website can be the best marketing tool you have.  Ilya Pozin, founder of the Web design firm Ciplex, on how not to screw it up.

Important Dos

Set smart goals.  And make sure they’re measurable. Here are a few great ones a Web designer wants to hear: increase conversion rates, increase sales, generate more leads, reduce overhead, and improve brand awareness.

Plan on becoming an SEO wizard.  Sure, you’re going to want help from the pros and eventually you might even need your own in-house SEO expert, but search engine optimization is something you need to know about too. It has one of the highest ROIs in marketing. Plus, do it right and SEO can literally put your marketing on autopilot, allowing you to focus on improving the quality of your business, instead of figuring out how to bring in customers to your site. Start reading SEOmoz and stay up to date with SEO changes by reading sites like searchengineland.com.

Use open source tools. You could go with a proprietary content management system (CMS) but that means you’re typically stuck with one company and paying hefty license fees to boot. Do yourself a favor and go with an open-source system—I like WordPress and Magento—that any developer can access.

Think about your mobile strategy simultaneously. Research the percentage of your visitors that are likely to use mobile devices to access your site. If it’s high, you may want to consider building a separate mobile version of your site, or even an app. If it’s relatively low, just make sure your website works on smart phones, but don’t invest into a mobile version.

Steal from your competitors. Before you build your site, check out your competitors and write down the things they do well. If you like the look and feel of another site, there’s no reason not to start with something you like and then make it your own.

Develop your content. The biggest slow-down in the Web design process is content. If you’re going to sell products on your site, get product photos and product descriptions ready. If you sell services, you’ll need a description of each service. Get as much of your content together before you start building your site—it will save you weeks. And while you’re at it…

Write with calls to action in mind. Good calls to action allow visitors to quickly decide what they want to do next. Having a big sale? Don’t just write a banner that says “50% off all products.” Write one that says “50% off all products, CLICK HERE to view them.”

Always answer the question “why?”.  Have you ever walked up to someone you’ve never met, handed them a business card, and walked away without saying a word? Likely not. If you want people to do something on your website, such as sign up for your newsletter, don’t just put up a box that says “enter email” or even “sign up for newsletter”—you’ll get a very weak conversion rate. Tell them why they should do it: “Sign up for our newsletter to receive weekly specials.” Same thing goes for Twitter and Facebook logos. Just putting them up isn’t smart. Tell people why they should follow you on Twitter or friend you on Facebook. What will they get out of it?

Trust your Web designer. I tend to see the worst end results with customers who come in with a “I know what I want, just do what I tell you” attitude. You hired an expert because they know more than you, right? Let them do what they do best and they’re more likely to meet and often exceed your goals.

More From:  Build a Killer Website: 19 Dos and Don’ts and Inc.com

Suzy Payne Rabb
Sage Peachtree Certified Consultant
Sage Solution Provider
Passionate about Small Business

Happy Thanksgiving to You!

Posted by admin on Nov 18, 2011 in Blog, Peachtree Consultant, Peachtree Training | 0 comments

 We hope you have a very warm and cozy Thanksgiving filled with family, friends and fun!

Please note our office will be closed from November 21 through November 24.

Suzy Rabb
Sage Peachtree Certified Consultant
Sage Solution Provider
Passionate about Small Business

Send email to suzy@121-business.com
Website: www.121-business.com
Join my professional network at Linkedin and follow me on Twitter.