1.      Home Office Suite: For many home computer users, the $279 Microsoft Office software is overkill. As a free yet powerful alternative try OpenOffice.org from Sun Microsystems. You can download for free, and it comes with word processing, spreadsheet, a draw program, database program and presentation software.

2.      Share Large Files Easily:  Sending large computer files can be a pain and an expense if you jam your email software or pay for special devices and services to help out. Dropbox is a better way – a private file sharing solution that’s free and easy.  Use it to privately share your files and collaborate in real time by web, email and mobile.

3.      Free Invoicing for Freelancers:  BillingBoss.com is a free online invoicing tool designed for small business owners and freelancers to create, send and track invoices. It’s easy to use and you can create your first invoice within minutes of signing up.  If you’ve been getting by with spreadsheets, or use complicated accounting software only for its invoicing tool, BillingBoss might be for you. Unlike some free services, there’s no limit on the number of invoices you can create or send with Billing Boss. You can also set it up so customers can pay you online through Billing Boss. There’s also comfort in knowing this service is run by one of the world’s leading business software companies, and that your information is encrypted and securely stored.

4.      A Virtual Office Online:  Microsoft Office Live (http://officelive.com) is a free password-protected online workspace where you can store and share files and access your work from anywhere, even from other computers.  Its companion site Office Live Small Business is a terrific, affordable place to build a professional-looking online presence, and get a free website and marketing help as well.

5.      Customize Your Own Free Software and Tools Package: Google Pack (http://pack.google.com) is new from the global search giant. It lets you customize and download you own set of free software and web tools that includes everything you need to work more effectively both online and off.  Dozens of  choices – all free – include:

• Email, calendar and document creation applications.
• Anti-virus and spyware protection.
• Photo editing and sharing tools.
• Skype for making free voice and video calls via the Internet.
• Adobe Reader to view, print and search PDF files.
• Google Talk to connect with friends via instant messaging (IM) or free voice calls.
• A media player that lets you play and organize your music and videos.

6.      Manage Customers for your Small Business:  FreeCRM.com is a great tool for small business contact and lead tracking, sales and contact management, sales forecasting, customer service and business management.  The free version is self-service, allows unlimited users and provides up to 10 MB of storage. If your customer base is not particularly large, it can be a quick and easy way to automate your sales, do a better job of tracking leads and even manage email and call campaigns.

7.      Free Bookkeeping:  Wave is a free online accounting application for small business.  Wave cuts the time-wasting parts of bookkeeping and accounting. No more manual entry. No more confusing steps. By using smarter tools and new technology, Wave is reinventing the way small businesses stay on top of their financial information.

Copyright © 2000-2011 BizBest® Media Corp.  All Rights Reserved.

Here’s BizBest’s roundup of six key players (in no particular order):

RapidBuyr is a business-to-business (B2B) deal of the day site that offers daily deals — both local and national— for small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs).  The site provides access to deep discounts (30-70%) on products and services such as computers, software, peripherals, web development & design, IT outsourcing, marketing, local services, office furniture and equipment, travel and business events. The site was launched by a group of entrepreneurs formerly with firms such as Amazon.com, Microsoft, CNET, Dow Jones and Ziff Davis. One thing that sets RapidBuyr apart is its exclusive relationship with American City Business Journals. ACBJ is the largest publisher of metropolitan business newsweeklies in the United States, and has over 40 city and regional business journals nationwide. This strategic partnership gives RapidBuyr an edge over other B2B deal sites, and allows them to reach nearly 8 million monthly visitors to 40 regional business journal websites.

BizDeals calls itself a “social eCommerce” site offering deals on products and services that help small business owners generate brand awareness and drive growth. Its weekly deals deliver savings on products and services in the categories of Business Essentials, Business Growth, and Rewards & Recognition.  From marketing services and computer products, to travel deals and entertainment, these categories include key areas where savings can do business owners the most good.  One example:  PR Newswire, a BizDeals launch sponsor, offers discounts on its enhanced PR Toolkit, an online public relations resource tailored to small business and entrepreneurs. 

Chicago-based Bizy helps small business owners buy a wide array of products and services at deep discounts, including office equipment and supplies, IT network equipment, software and hardware, mobile communications devices, shipping, payroll services, legal and accounting services, travel, car rental, banking, credit cards, insurance and more. It works like this:

• Sign up to receive an email when there is a new and interesting Bizy deal, or look for invites from friends, colleagues, ads or the website.
• When you see an offer you like, you can click the big “buy now” button.
• Some deals only work if a minimum number of businesses buy.
• Within 24 hours you’ll receive a purchase confirmation.  Print it and take it with you to the supplier or quote the reference number featured in the email to redeem your offer.

BizSaves bargains on behalf of business owners for deals on products and services that small companies and startups need most, with discounts reaching 50% or more. Sign up at the website to receive email notices of new deals weekly.

GroupPrice “Daily Deals for Your Business” brings small biz owners discount deals on services, software and supplies, including access to top end features on the software and services many small firms can’t get because they don’t meet minimum volume requirements. GroupPrice aims to take the hassle and stress out of getting a good deal. A couple of clicks and you’re done.

Meanwhile, MarketSharing hopes to position itself as a “premium B2B deals provider for exceptional business products and services.”  Initial deals are in New York only, but the site plans to expand to other major U.S. cities quickly.  Their first three daily deals include discounts on SeamlessWeb food delivery, BlogWorld and New Media Expo passes and TeamWorx team building events.

MarketSharing aims to offer businesses high quality, deeply discounted (50-80%) daily group deals on a wide range of products and. With an emphasis on brick and mortar to support local businesses, MarketSharing focuses on curating the best local products and service deals for businesses.  ”Our vision is to provide deals that foster the discovery of new experiences for businesses, creating a happier, healthier, and more well rounded work environment,” says John Amato, MarketSharing’s CEO.

Copyright © 2000-2011 BizBest® Media Corp.  All Rights Reserved.

These easy-to-use applications offer dozens of ways to leverage the web to work efficiently and get ahead of the competition.  Here are 10 ways that small business owners are using Google Apps for key tasks every day using Google’s template galleries for such tasks as invoicing, conducting customer surveys, managing employees, building a budget, writing a business plan or creating a website.

The first six tasks use the Google Docs template gallery; the other four use website templates from Google Sites.

1. Design your business letterhead:  Create a professional looking template for your outgoing letters and share it with others in the company. Print letters directly from your browser.
2. Build a business budget: Easily build budgeting spreadsheet that you can edit from anywhere throughout the year – no matter where your spending takes you.
3. Create professional looking invoices: Save time by creating invoices in a spreadsheet – totals are automatically calculated, and you can share them with co-workers to ensure accuracy and speedy payments.
4. Survey your customers: Get feedback from customers and visitors about your product or service with a form. Easily analyze and graph the data.
5. Write a business plan: Put your vision down in a doc. Share it with family, investors, banks, and others to get input and spread your ideas.
6. Manage your projects:  Give others in your company insight into key milestones, completion dates, and other project details.
7. Build your own company intranet: Build an internal website (intranet) where employees can access company news, employee training information, company policies, holiday schedules, and more.
8. Track all of your projects: Centralize project information in one place. Display a team profile and key dates, and embed project docs and spreadsheets directly in the site.
9. Take your team online: Build a team site with team rosters, schedule team meetings, and track progress of action items all in one place.
10. Create an in-house community:  Build a community by creating employee profile pages where your employees can post their goals, internal resume, and internal blog.

Also check out some of Google’s new resources, including product videos and other templates at www.google.com/apps/smb.

Copyright © 2000-2011 BizBest® Media Corp.  All Rights Reserved.

BizDeals calls itself a “social eCommerce” site offering deals on products and services that help small business owners generate brand awareness and drive growth. Its weekly deals deliver savings on products and services in the categories of Business Essentials, Business Growth, and Rewards & Recognition.  From marketing services and computer products, to travel deals and entertainment, these categories include key areas where savings can do business owners the most good.  One example:  PR Newswire, a BizDeals launch sponsor, offers discounts on its enhanced PR Toolkit, an online public relations resource tailored to small business and entrepreneurs. 

Chicago-based Bizy helps small business owners buy a wide array of products and services at deep discounts, including office equipment and supplies, IT network equipment, software and hardware, mobile communications devices, shipping, payroll services, legal and accounting services, travel, car rental, banking, credit cards, insurance and more. It works like this:

1. Sign up to receive an email when there is a new and interesting Bizy deal, or look for invites from friends, colleagues, ads or the website.
2. When you see an offer you like, you can click the big “buy now” button.
3. Some deals only work if a minimum number of businesses buy.
4. Within 24 hours you’ll receive a purchase confirmation.  Print it and take it with you to the supplier or quote the reference number featured in the email to redeem your offer.

BizSaves bargains on behalf of business owners for deals on products and services that small companies and startups need most, with discounts reaching 50% or more. Sign up at the website to receive email notices of new deals weekly.

Meanwhile, MarketSharing hopes to position itself as a “premium B2B deals provider for exceptional business products and services.”  Initial deals are in New York only, but the site plans to expand to other major U.S. cities quickly.  Their first three daily deals include discounts on SeamlessWeb food delivery, BlogWorld and New Media Expo passes and TeamWorx team building events.

MarketSharing aims to offer businesses high quality, deeply discounted (50-80%) daily group deals on a wide range of products and. With an emphasis on brick and mortar to support local businesses, MarketSharing focuses on curating the best local products and service deals for businesses.  ”Our vision is to provide deals that foster the discovery of new experiences for businesses, creating a happier, healthier, and more well rounded work environment,” says John Amato, MarketSharing’s CEO.

Copyright © 2000-2011 BizBest® Media Corp.  All Rights Reserved.

Sam’s Club

Like its corporate parent, Sam’s Club specializes in super low prices – in this case, geared to products and services that small, local and main street businesses need and use the most.  A regular Business membership is $35/year.  Business Plus ($100/year) gets you extra savings on top of the regular low prices.  Here is BizBest’s list of the top 10 most useful small business benefits of a Sam’s Club membership:

1. The handy “Shop by Business” feature on the Sam’s Club website is a quick and easy way to find things for your type of small business or specific need.  Shop by Business categories include restaurant supplies, office furniture, janitorial & cleaning, vending & concession, technology (projectors, computers, software, copiers), specialty business (salons, barber shops, construction and repair, retail and convenience stores), auto and tires, hotels and child card.
2. Early Shopping Hours: Sam’s Club offers early shopping hours for small business owners from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. during the week.
3. Merchant credit card processing:  This program offers rates as low as 1.49% plus 20 cents per transaction, and no application fees.  In addition, you get a free Sam’s Club Plus Membership for the term of your contract (worth $100 yearly). 
4. Click ‘n’ Pull and Fax ‘n’ Pull:  Sam shops for you.  Submit your online or faxed order before 5 p.m. and your items are ready for pickup at your local club the next day.
5. Tech Experts:  Free, member-exclusive help for any camera/camcorder or computer you buy at Sam’s Club.
6. Delivery and assembly: Tech Experts will also assemble, deliver and install Sam’s Club items, starting at $59.
7. SBA small business loans:  Need working capital for your small business?  This program offers loans of $5,000-$25,000 to small businesses and startups.  Sam’s Club membership gets you a 20% discount on loan fees (a $100 value); low affordable interest rates with simple easy terms; and no collateral required.
8. Check printing:  Sam’s Club offers a full line of computer and manual checks for business, as well as business kits and check writing accessories.  
9. Extra savings and cash back: Combine a Business Plus Membership with a Sam’s Club® Discover and earn up to 2 percent cash back on a variety of purchases. Average savings are more than $500 for Business Members.
10. eValues paperless coupons provide personalized savings on hundreds of items including office supplies. The eValue benefit is included in both the Advantage and Business versions of the Sam’s Club Plus membership. Sam’s Club estimates Plus Members save an additional $200 per year with eValues.

Copyright © 2000-2011 BizBest® Media Corp.  All Rights Reserved.

LTT replaces hand written timesheets and helps decentralized (mobile) employees punch in their time using a standard phone or any internet enabled device.  It’s a fast and smart way to track employee or contractor time for job costing as well as payroll.  Types of businesses and organizations using Labor Time Tracker vary widely, from farms in Iowa to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).  

Labor Time Tracker is a great “time clock” for field labor and other employees in industries such as healthcare, construction, government, janitorial and security guards services. What’s more, the system is in both English and Spanish.

Features of this low-cost system rival those of more expensive time and attendance solutions and software used by big companies. It was built for the web from the ground up, so it’s super fast. Ogther features include these:

• Unique in/out board lets you know where employees are and when they will return
• Can be used for 1 to 10,000 employees
• Can accommodate multiple locations
• Offers multiple access levels and security features
• Auto-adjusts for daylight time
• Supports all US and international time zones
• Employees and supervisors can digitally sign and approve timecards and export to accouinting or payroll
• Notice posting lets you send messages to individual employees or entire groups
• Allows punch-in from any computer, or via cell or land line phone
• Rounds punches to nearest minute, 10^th or quarter hour
• Prevents workers from punching outside schedule
• Automatically deducts lunch minutes from a timecard and/or adds payable break minutes to timecard
• Accommodates multiple in/out punches daily
• See a complete list here

The cost is $4.95 per employee, per month.  And since it’s cloud based, there are no setup fees, license fees, training fees, support fees or contracts.  A free trial is available at the website.

Copyright © 2000-2011 BizBest® Media Corp.  All Rights Reserved.

Office@Hand is a complete phone system for up to 100 users that you can buy, setup and activate instantly – no hardware or tech skills needed.  It’s a high-powered PBX system based entirely in “the cloud” (meaning you access it online) that works with your existing mobile and land lines and takes seconds to add, delete or change employee or department extensions, modify the auto-receptionist company greetings, change call routing and answering rules or update business hours.  The Office@Hand application (app) is a free download from the Apple App Store or AT&T AppCenter, and service is $14 to $16 per month, depending on number of users.

Office@Hand lets you perform minor phone system miracles and do things you never thought possible from a system you can run from your smart phone, such as transferring live calls between mobile and land lines, voicemail and fax forwarding via email, and advanced call routing rules and logs.

Check out this short Office@Hand video for an overview of how it works.

Copyright © 2000-2011 BizBest Media Corp.  All Rights Reserved. 

Advice on negotiating the price of a new truck falls into this category.  Here are three “surprises” that might turn some of the things you’ve heard in the past on their head:

Surprise #1:  Offering to pay cash will NOT get you a better deal.

Most biz owners are conditioned to believe they can squeeze out a better deal on almost anything by offering to pay in full, immediately.  That might be true for most things, but when it comes to buying a new truck, it could be a big mistake.  According to Jonathan Rivers, of the website BillShrink, what dealers don’t tell you is that they often receive fat bonuses for arranging financing.

Thanks to those kinds of behind-the-scenes incentives, dealers have dumped the old adage “cash is king” and developed a new saying:  “cash is trash.”  Says Rivers, “You are more likely to negotiate a lower selling price by financing (and enabling the dealer to collect his bonus) than by paying for the vehicle outright.”

Surprise #2:  The “dealer invoice” price might NOT be the dealer’s real cost.

Common wisdom says that truck buyers should check the “dealer invoice” price for any vehicle they are considering.  The invoice price is what the dealer paid the manufacturer for the vehicle (including all options).  By contrast, the manufacturer’s suggest retail price (MSRP) is the “sticker” price that includes dealer markup.

But for most vehicle makes, the published invoice price is not the true dealer cost because of something called “dealer holdback.” Holdback is a portion of the sale price, typically 2-3 percent of either the invoice price or MSRP, that the manufacturer returns to a dealer, usually on a quarterly basis as a way to boost the dealer’s cash flow.

Surprise #3:  You are not always destined to pay all “delivery” charges.

One of the “other” costs of buying a new business vehicle is the so-called “destination charge.”   This is a non-negotiable fee set by the manufacturer that covers the cost of shipping the vehicle to the dealership.  It’s a fixed number, regardless of whether the dealer is 10 miles or 10,000 miles away from the factory.

But here’s the surprise. While this may also be called a “delivery charge,” under no circumstances should you pay a destination charge AND a separate delivery charge that a dealer tacks on.  One charge is required; the other is just padding and you should ask that to be erased.

Copyright © 2000-2011 BizBest Media Corp.  All Rights Reserved. 

Although Yammer is as easy to use as consumer products like Facebook or Twitter, its platform is built from the ground up specifically for business.  Yammer lets users communicate, collaborate and share more easily and efficiently than with other systems. It reduces the need for meetings, increases communications and connects remote workers. Each network is private, and a valid company email address is required to join.

Key Features:

• Enterprise Micro-blogging – Start a conversation, read posts, and actively collaborate with your coworkers in real-time.
• Direct Messaging – Create a private dialog with one or multiple co-workers.
• Files, Links, and Images – Upload and share documents with co-workers, groups, or your entire company.
• Groups – Create and join private or public groups and collaborate in small teams within your network.
• Communities – Create communities for working with partners who are outside of your network.
• Profiles – Upload a picture and fill in your expertise, past work experience and contact information to become discoverable across your organization.
• Company Directory – Use Yammer to connect with employees in other departments.
• Knowledge Base – Each conversation is archived and fully searchable so you can find what you need from your company’s knowledge base.
• Administrative Tools – Keep your Yammer network running smoothly with a suite of admin features built to increase control.
• Security – Message privately and securely in the cloud. Your security is Yammer’s top priority.
• Topics – Tag content and messages in your network to make content easy to organize and discover.
• Applications – Install third-party applications into Yammer to increase the functionality of your network.  Polls – Tap the wisdom of crowds by quickly and easily creating a poll and asking co-workers to identify the best option. See real-time updates as the votes come in. Events — Invite co-workers to company or group events and track responses. Download events into Microsoft Outlook or Google calendar. Links – Share URLs with co-workers in a form that displays web content such as videos and images inline.
• Mobile – Connect to your network anywhere, any time. Download free iPhone, BlackBerry, Android and Windows Mobile applications.

Several third-party developers are integrating their applications with Yammer, including:

• Crocodoc for Document Mark Up and Review — Collaboratively highlight and comment on PDFs, Word documents, images and other files that are attached to Yammer messages.
• Zendesk for Customer Support — Attach a Zendesk ticket or knowledge base article to a Yammer message so that all key stakeholders can collaborate and resolve trouble tickets quickly.

Yammer also has these applications in development:

• Box.net for Enterprise Content Management — Share files from Box.net’s leading cloud content management solution in Yammer messages.
• Expensify for Online Expense Report Management — Notify the appropriate people when an expense report requires action.
• Lithium for Social Customer Relationship Management (SCRM) — Enable employees to share and discuss feedback from brand influencer and customer conversations that take place in Lithium’s leading customer community solutions.

Yammer is headquartered in San Francisco and is well-funded by top tier investors including Charles River Ventures, Founders Fund, Emergence Capital, SV Angel’s Ron Conway and Goldcrest Investments.

Copyright © 2000-2011 BizBest Media Corp.  All Rights Reserved. 

Here are 10 ways to make your business more valuable to potential buyers:

1.   Don’t let it be just you.  “Too many businesses suffer from the all-controlling owner who not only knows how to do everything but also insists on being part of everything,” notes Martinka. Don’t become a bottleneck.  Prospective buyers can be scared off if the shoes they have to fill appear too big.

2.   Avoid excessive customer concentration. Buyers dislike seeing a small number of key customers accounting for the bulk of sales. Work to diversify your customer base. You should also know that if you have a highly concentrated customer list when your business sells, you may be asked to include a so-called “erosion clause” in the deal that lowers the price if a top customer leaves.

3.   Keep financial statements and tax returns in line. It’s vital to have good accounting systems and financial safeguards in place, and keep accurate records and statements. Try to avoid adjustments or add-backs.

4.   Don’t be too dependent on a key employee. “A small company I know of recently had severe problems when their top salesperson left and took most of their accounts,” says Martinka. The problem can also arise with a technical expert, machine operator or indispensable office manager.

5.   Negotiate the right kind of lease. You might think a month-to-month lease is great because it offers flexibility. But buyers and banks think more about how expensive it is to move a business. In fact, for other than professional type businesses, banks are reluctant to lend for longer than the term of a lease, including options.  No lease can mean no sale.

6.   Keep your tech up to date. Use the expertise you have in your industry to get technology up-to-speed, show increased efficiencies (and profits) and sell for a higher price.

7.   Avoid any “off the books” cash. “There isn’t a CPA around who will let a business buyer pay a price based on unreported cash,” says Martinka.

8.   Grow your revenues. This one’s rather obvious, but true.  A business doing $1 in sales won’t sell for the same multiple of profits as a similar business doing $10 million. There are simply more risk factors associated with a smaller business. A minor hiccup to a larger firm can be a major disruption to a smaller one.

9.   Keep business and personal matters separate. Many small business owners have received lower prices or haven’t been able to sell a business at all because they’ve co-mingled their personal and business finances.  Sure, it’s sometimes easier to pay for things out of your own pocket, or have your business cover expenses that are really personal in nature in order to get the tax write-off. But, the bottom line, says Martinka, is that banks and buyers want to see profits. “Show a lot of profit, pay some tax and it will come back to you in multiples when it comes time to sell,” he says.

10. Make it a business, not a 24/7 commitment. Maybe you’re willing to work all the time, but most buyers aren’t. They may not have the same passion for your product or service; instead they have business skills to leverage what you’ve done.  Hire employees and learn to delegate.

Copyright © 2000-2011 BizBest Media Corp.  All Rights Reserved.