Small Office, Home Office Information

A lot of small businesses these days have remote workers … people that you’re never going to see in the office but who still need to work closely when they’re collaborating on a project.

Right now we have staff in Adelaide, Melbourne and here in Hervey Bay working on a project and soon we may have to pull in one or two of our writers in the United States as well. Fortunately for me Toni’s co-ordinating that job and no two people are currently working on exactly the same part of the project.

When the writers become involved this new and interesting tool from Textflow may be something that we’ll be looking at. If your small business is distributed like ours and depends on remote workers then you might have a use for this tool too.

Textflow allows parallel word processing and if you’re not quite sure what that means then visit the site and watch the video presentation because it explains it much better than I can.

And just let me say that we have absolutely no connection with the developers of this software and we haven’t even used it yet … we just think that it looks interesting and you may find it useful.

Well I’m writing the draft for this post in something I never thought I would use … an online word processor. I have to admit that for a long time I’ve had some reservations about online software and I’ve written about those reservations here. Now though, because we’ve split our office between town and home Toni and I sometimes need to work on the same document from both offices. By having the document available online we don’t have to keep on emailing it to each other.

So here I am using Peepel … a full suite of office programmes that you’ll find at Peepel.com. Peepel is an Australian company and the programme is still in beta but you can sign up for a free account without an invitation. Perhaps it’s something that your small business could use to overcome the same challenges that Toni and I face in our work almost every day.

I’ll see how it goes over the next couple of weeks and let you know.

by Stuart Livesey

The cost of doing business for a small business - even a home office type business - is incredible and if you’re just at the point of setting one up meeting those costs can be a hurdle that’s hard to climb over. At times like that it’s great to be able to find something you need that comes at zero cost. Freebies attract consumers like bees to a honeypot and small business people are no different.

Computer software that you might need to run your small business can be a major hit to your financial resources. Here in Australia the cost of a suite of programmes like Microsoft Office can run up to around $900 and that can seem like a lot of money to spend when someone like Google offers a similar suite of products for free.

But are those products really free? If you read the terms of service for that particular Google application you might actually find that you’re giving Google something you weren’t expecting - something like:

“By submitting, posting or displaying Content on or through Google services which are intended to be available to the members of the public, you grant Google a worldwide, nonexclusive, royalty-free license to reproduce, adapt, modify, publish and distribute such content on Google services for the purpose of displaying, distributing and promoting Google services.”

You can read more about the cost of Google’s ‘free’ application here

Well the weekend turned out to be pretty much the way I expected it to be. We both spent a lot of time working but we also achieved a huge amount too and one day this coming week we’ll take a break … but it won’t be today.

Today is one of those days where I have so much to do that I’ve made a list and I’ll be working my way through it to ensure I get everything done.

Lists really are an invaluable productivity tool because they can definitely keep you focused on what you have to achieve especially if your goals are going to be spread across a whole range of projects. Obviously some days you may only have one goal to achieve in your small business but other days, when there’s a heap of things you need to get done a simple list scribbled down on a scrap of paper can be worth more to you than the highest tech gadget in your office.

Have fun today - I know that I’m going to.

by Stuart Livesey

While some small business people may only work with one computer there are some who work with one in the office and one at home while others - like Toni and me - work between three. That means that keeping track of Internet bookmarks can be a real pain - and moving them across to a new computer can be even more of a hassle.

However, if you use Firefox the problem is solved with Foxmark. It will synchronise your bookmarks across all your computers and keep a master copy online so all you have to do is download it if you want to change to a new computer.

You can pick up Foxmark here

A hat tip to Webby Online for the link.

by Stuart Livesey

One of the big attractions for me in entering into a home based small business was the fact that I could stop living by the clock. My work day in and day out had been governed by the clock for 30 years and to be free of it was a dream come true. Suddenly I was my own master.

But just lately as the amount of business that Toni’s small business attracts has continued to grow I find myself going back to the clock to cope with the workload. These days I find myself assigning blocks of time to the tasks in front of me each morning.

Somehow that clock that I once disliked so much has now become a valuable tool.

Does that mean that somehow I’ve failed?

by Stuart Livesey

It might look like a toy but it really is an incredible tool for small business

Yep it’s a jigsaw puzzle and Toni gave it to me for Christmas. It’s been at least 25 years since I did a jigsaw puzzle and I have to say I am having a blast. I’ve been working on it every day since December 26 and, as you can see, it’s really coming together but it hasn’t been easy.

Ok, so why is a jigsaw puzzle a tool for small business?

It’s a tool for small business because it teaches you to look at problems from every conceivable angle. In the puzzle I’m doing some pieces went together with no problem at all … but I looked at other pieces for days before I realised that I was looking at them from the wrong angle.

Turn a piece upside down and suddenly you begin to see where it fits in the big picture. Assemble a few of the pieces and suddenly you see the even bigger picture. And it goes on teaching you those lessons.

As you can see I’m getting close to finishing the puzzle and the closer I get to the end the harder it’s becoming. I have to spend more time searching for the right pieces, I have to spend more time thinking about which way the pieces are going and I have to spend more time thinking about what I’m seeing in the puzzle and on the pieces.

Perhaps you think this whole deal about a jigsaw puzzle is a little simplistic but I challenge you to buy one and try it for yourself. You will be surprised at how something as simple as a jigsaw puzzle can change the way you look at the challenges you face in your small business.

A thousand piece jigsaw puzzle is only going to set you back about $20.00 and you will be surprised at the positive impact it can have on your business.

by Stuart Livesey

If your small business runs an e-commerce site online then this is for you

If you are running your business online then every click - every hit - on your site has a value. If you want to know what’s a click worth to you then follow the link to find a handy tool that might be useful for your small business.

Thanks to Seth’s Blog for the link

Skype is perhaps the best known provider of free Internet based phone calls - a service that I use. Skype has also given users the ability to call ordinary landline and mobile numbers from the computer but there has always been a charge for the cost of those calls.

However, in challenge to their competitors, Skype has now announced that all US and Canadian based Skype users can now make calls to landline and mobile numbers within North America for free until the end of the year.

Here is a excerpt taken from a press release that hit my inbox today. I’m not sure that this idea is going to work for everyone - in fact I’m not sure that it is going to work for very many people at all but anything that challenges you to think is worth looking at.

One thing I definitely don’t agree with is something that Joe says in his introduction (and I elected not to post the introduction) and that is:

Forget about blogs. They’re so 2004.

Nice hype Joe but blogs are not a thing of the past and that line almost made me hit the delete button before I finished reading the rest of your message.

Working in his small home office over the garage, Joe Chapuis knows the next big thing is upon us. Internet video has arrived, and it presents the opportunity of a lifetime - especially for the little guy.

For less than $2,000, Joe Chapuis has built a mini-studio at home where where he produces his new video newsletter for entrepreneurs and small business owners, The HotBizz Report His topics include ecommerce, internet marketing and inspirational success stories.

“It’s amazing. Just a few years ago, this would have been nearly impossible,” he says. “Now, anyone with a decent camera and the right software can brodcast digital-quality video to millions of people around the world.”

Using a $650 digital camcorder, and several low-budget software programs for video production and editing, Chapuis produces two 3-4 minute video shows each week. His only other overhead cost is for web hosting. “I’ve got a dedicated server that runs me $99 month,” he adds, “But I’ll probably have to upgrade to a more expensive package to handle the increased bandwidth usage as my audience grows.”

However, the fact that anyone can now create their own home-grown video show for global distribution doesn’t mean that every production is going to find a sizable audience. “The number of vloggers is growing daily,” he says. “People aren’t going to waste precious time watching your show just because it’s there.” He adds, “The content has to be good if you want to stand out from the crowd and make a name for yourself.”