In its simplest definition, "branding" is becoming the business that you want to become.

This means a business succeeds in creating a perception about its products or services through its message and the experience people have with that company. The goal is to build trust and loyalty. Based on this brand experience, the customer wants to buy from the company again and again.

People want to be part of what they feel good about. When it is time to choose a restaurant, law firm, hospital, plumber, watch, or car, some element of a particular seller's brand influences the buyer's decision. Customer loyalty is the result of successful branding.

Now more than ever small businesses need successful branding. Based on a set of objectives (or brand strategy) a company's brand message is created. A company's brand is earned. It is the collection of many experiences and associations and can take years to establish. It can also be destroyed in a day.

A company's brand identity is created. The identity (logo) is the critical first visual impression, the frosting on the cake, the tip of the spear, the feel that people see. A vital step toward establishing your brand is first giving your business a professional brand identity. Properly and consistently implemented, the logo is the common thread, or anchor, that unifies all of a company's visual marketing.

The identity is the face of a business. As stated, visual branding is when a company's identity aligns with its brand objectives. Professional visual branding is the successful alignment of a company's brand objectives with its desired graphic personality.

Brand Objective + Identity = Visual Brand

In this context, when I refer to a logo or a corporate or brand identity, I am referring to the visual brand of a business. A short-sighted approach is to get a logo fast & cheap. A long-term solution is a thoroughly researched and carefully designed name, logo and sub-line that reflects and directs the brand objectives of a business. Your logo is how people will identify and remember (or forget) your business.

Especially for smaller businesses, when done properly, a successful visual brand provides a remarkable advantage in the marketplace.

Contact Identity Graphic Design and mention this article for a no cost consultation. Whether starting a new business, launching a new product, or needing to upgrade your company's presence, Identity Graphic Design can give you the remarkable advantage of a dynamic visual brand.

The remarkable advantage is the perfect impression created without saying a word. It's instant credibility, in the blink of an eye.

Make the investment into your business that will yield returns for years to come.

Visit http://www.TheRemarkableAdvantage.com to learn more.

In 1993, Bill founded Identity Graphic Design, specializing in branding for business with company & product naming, slogan development, corporate identity design, creative campaigns and full-scope design implementation into print and web.

Bill also enjoys teaching the next creative generation as an adjunct professor of graphic design at Lawrence Technological University in Southfield, Michigan.

In his spare time, Bill is a practical joker, true family man, and is always up for a game of Risk.

You can contact Bill by phone: 586.558.9795 or email: Bill@IdentityGraphicDesign.com.

By Bill Kleist

It might sound apparent, but in operating a business, it's vital to recognize how the enterprise earns a profit. A company demands a good financial model plus a great profit model. A business sells merchandise or services and earns a certain sum of margin on each and every unit sold. The quantity of pieces sold will be the gross sales of the reports period. The enterprise deducts the amount of fixed costs for that interval, which gives them the actual operating earnings before interest costs and tax.

The primary functions of accountancy in a business enterprise are numerous but can be summarised into 4 distinct segments. The first would be to assist in the thorough recording of the goods and services for sale by a business enterprise. The second is to help in the systematic recording of the sums expended in earning the product sales described earlier. Thirdly accountants reports documents the amounts owed by a business at virtually any given point and fourthly it helps to keep a record of the resources owned by a company.

It is important to not mix up net profit with cash flow. Profit is equal to sales revenue minus business expenses. A number of corporate owners make the error of thinking that revenue equals cash inflow and also that the business expenditure is considered the same as cash outflow. The fact is that, this is incorrect. A company proprietor should never believe that sales revenue is equal to cash inflow and that expenses equate to cash outflows. Failing to make this essential accounting differentiation may end up with the wrong figures being utilized in decision making.

When it comes to documenting business income, cash or a different asset is increased. Typically the asset trade debtors or accounts receivable is increased in recording earnings data for product sales done on credit. Cash will only be increased after cash is received for credit sales or cash sales. Various expenses are generally recorded by decreasing an asset besides cash. As an example, expense of products put up for sale is recorded with a reduction to the stocks asset and wear and tear expense is recorded with a decrease to the book value of fixed assets. Furthermore, some costs tend to be recorded with an increase in the accounts payable liability or an increase within the accrued costs.

One another feature provided by accounting is cost management. Its generally forgotten basically because a whole lot of organizations don't consider this particular functionality significant enough to carry it out. Cost management as an accountancy feature provides critical benefits, like comprehending the revenue dynamics plus the fiscal shape of the business. Furthermore, it can help for preparing for alterations in the approaching accounting periods. Accountants' Cost management forces a company manager to concentrate on the components which need to be improved upon to increase revenue. A well thought out profit and loss accounts gives you the necessary structure for budgeting profit. It's often a very good strategy to look ahead to the coming year. If nothing else, at least put the figures within your profit report for sales volume, sales prices, product expenditure as well as other costs to see the way your predicted earnings looks for the coming accounting year.

Accounting isn't just about number crunching and tax bill. The practice of accounting helps a business organisation run in so many distinctive way and it is essential for the success of any business enterprise.

The writer works as a practising accountants in London and has been working for several years within the field of accountancy and taxation. If you want to find out further on the subject of his tax accountants, pay a visit to his business site where you can find an extensive listing of products and services on offer.

By Chris Le Roy


When many small business owners start out thinking about building a small business, they are often mislead into believing that the only document that they need to succeed is a Business Plan. In fact this plan is only one of seven documents every small business should have if they ever expect to survive let alone succeed.

Let me explain ...

Doc 1. Business Plan

The Business plan, which is what most accountants, lawyers and business coaches will say is the only document that you need is the first document you must complete. I certainly do disagree totally that this is the only document you need, because the actual roll of this document is to summarize the other six mandatory documents that you must have.

The size of your Business Plan document will vary depending on the size of your business that you are either buying or building. Your business plan should contain details on how your business will be run, how you will finance the business, what sort of profit you will make, how you will advertise and market your business, what your exit strategy will be from your business, what form you business will take, where it will be located etc.

If you are going to be buying a Business rather than starting up a new one from scratch, always ask the previous owner to see their business plan. This will give you a good insight into the inner workings of the business and how it got to where it is. One thing to note though, always make sure that regardless of whether you are buying an existing business or building your own, that you create your own business plan so you have a clear understanding of where you are going with this business.

Doc 2. Business Model

A Business Model is usually built using tools like Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Access. The model allows you to apply various scenarios to your business model to see what sort of outcome will occur. This is a fantastic tool for running scenarios and seeing what the outcome would be if certain conditions might occur, like your truck broke down or what would happen to your profit if a certain piece of machinery broke down for a period of time.

The Business Model is also very useful when dealing with organizations like banks or finance institutions. If your business model can show what impacts various factors might have on your business and that you can still survive, then the banks and finance institutions are more likely to give you the money you need.

Doc 3. Marketing Plan

The Marketing Plan document sets out how you are going to market your business. It includes information on the brochures you are going to use, the types of adverts you may use, the frequency of the campaign, the medium you will be using and so forth. The marketing plan provides an in depth look at how you will be marketing your business. Your marketing plan should represent 12 months of operations, that is, you should have developed all of your marketing strategies so that they flow on and build on each previous marketing campaign over a 12 month period.

Doc 4. Operations Plan

Your operations plan is designed to define exactly how your business is to be run. The operations plan should include how to do every task in your organization, checklists on what needs to be done every day, week, month and year. Essentially the Operations Plan defines how your business actually works.

The key advantage of your operations plan is that if at any time you lose a staff member, you can use the operations plan to teach your new staff members the tasks that they need to complete each day.

Doc 5. Sales Plan

The Sales Plan outlines how sales will be undertaken on a day to day basis. How you will be selling your products and services, who your target markets are, your approach techniques to new clients, any clients that you need to contact on a day-to-day basis and what your contact processes are. More so it should define what step-by-step process you follow to convert a prospect into a customer.

The Sales Plan should use flow charts and should also include any letters or marketing material that should be used for a particular sales process.

Doc 6. HR Plan

The HR Plan, sets out the Human Resource structure of your organization. It should include information such as position descriptions, who each person reports to, who they are responsible for, what tasks they are responsible for and any special duties they might have to do during the year.

The HR Plan should also have information in it such as Job Advertisement Templates, approved Position Descriptions and templates, Hourly Rates, Acceptable Work Practices and so forth. The HR Plan sets down how your staff must engage at work and what you define as being acceptable workplace behaviors in your workplace.

Doc 7. Style Manual

The Organizations Style manual sets out how you are going to present yourself to your customers. The style manual includes information on your logos, your business cards, the colors your business will use for its logos, banner layouts, how to place newspaper adverts and what colors must be used, what fonts must be used in Letters or Faxes. The style manual will also set out what information will go onto your business cards, where the logo will sit and what information must be contained.

The Organizations Style manual sets out how you are going to present yourself to the public and what standards you will use. If you have never seen a Style Manual before simply go to any large corporation's website and type in 'Style Manual' and you will generally find one available for review.

After 10 years in small business and a number of small businesses under my belt, the one thing I have learned is that if you do not have these 7 Plans and Documents done prior to creating or building your business, then they will never get done. The simple fact is that small business is incredibly demanding on the small business owner and once the business is up and going, it is highly unusual the owner will ever get the time to go back and create them. Without each and every one of these documents your business will lack focus on what you want to achieve and that is why 70% of all small businesses around the world fail in the first 12 months.

To finish off, I would like to take a moment to summarize the seven documents all small business owners should have before contemplating a small business...

1. Business Plan
2. Business Model
3. Marketing Plan
4. Operations Plan
5. Sales Plan
6. HR Plan
7. Style Manual

By Salim Omar


Have you ever wondered what the difference is between a business that consistently grows and another that struggles just to make ends meet? Or why a business that was started in a basement of a home can outperform some of the best-run “big” companies in sales and profits?

Two businesses, operating in the same marketing arena and selling the same products or services, can have extraordinarily different results. How can one business continually grow and prosper, while the other struggles? How can one business owner run a highly successful business while still spending a good portion of his or her time away from the business on trips and vacations with the family, and another owner work day and night only to see his business fail?

Such questions have always intrigued me. In my quest to answer them, I sought input from successful business owners. I became a student of business. I read every business book I could get my hands on. I enrolled in seminars and courses across the country. I listened to audio and videotapes of some of the greatest minds in business.

What I learned has been truly transformational. In this article, I will impart to you some of what I have learned. For the most part, there is no such thing as a successful or unsuccessful business; there are successful or unsuccessful people, entrepreneurs who run businesses. Becoming a successful entrepreneur requires a certain self-image, a certain mindset. I like to refer to this mindset as the

“5 Habits of Highly Successful Small Business Owners.”

Here they are:

Habit #1: Have a clear vision of their business, and commit their vision to paper

“A man to carry on a successful business must have imagination. He must see things as in a vision, a dream of the whole thing.”

Charles M Schwab, American stockbroker

The chances of your small business’ success improve substantially if you have a clear vision of what you want your business to look like, and what you want it to accomplish for you in the future. Your vision is your dream for the future of your business and it should delineate the path you will take to turn that dream into reality. You need a crystal-clear vision, one that you can communicate clearly, with vitality and a strong sense of commitment. Everyone involved in your business must comprehend your vision and, even more important, must believe in its success as much as you do.

Setting direction and guiding the business toward reaching your vision will make it successful. Vision is the owner’s business philosophy. It’s his “double vision” – his ability to keep the business’ long-term dream in mind while micro-managing the business on a day-to-day, hour-by-hour basis.

Successful entrepreneurs commit their vision to paper. In all my years in business, I have found that not doing so is the single most fatal error a business owner can make. There’s a direct correlation between having a well-thought-out, written vision statement and the success of your business.

Your vision should be a written statement of what your business will be when it is complete. It is a detailed picture of the future – what your business will look like, act like, smell like, feel like, and how it will perform when it is fully developed. Some of the things your written vision statement should include are: (1) the line of business you are in, (2) your company size, (3) the markets it will serve – demographics and psychographics, (4) the number of employees you will have, (5) the number of locations that you will operate from, and (6) what competitive advantages will differentiate your business from your competitors’.

Habit #2: Put the proper systems in place

You need systems to be able to deliver a product or service in a predicable and consistent way. All successful businesses have a “how we do it here” manual, also referred to as a “policy and procedures” manual. Standardize your procedures so that everyone knows what they are and how to do them. These procedures involve production systems for your products or services, systems to deliver those products or services, systems to track new customers or clients, systems to help you keep up with your finances, systems to hire and train new employees, and the list goes on.

Look at the systems that operate within the McDonald’s chain. A McDonald’s in the Bronx operates exactly the same way as a McDonald’s in Palm Beach. It runs just as predictably and profitably in either place. Why? Because there is absolutely no area in which procedures are not specifically spelled out through documented systems. Every procedure is outlined so clearly that anyone can be put into the system and taught to function at an extremely efficient level in a very short time.

Documented systems can make a difference to your own time, as a business owner. Without such systems in place, everything depends on you. If something happened to you, even for a short period, the entire business would be thrown into chaos. With properly documented systems of management and organization, a key employee (even you!) could leave suddenly, and the business would not suffer. You could replace the employee with minimal disruption. As new problems come up, you can adjust the systems you have in place to accommodate the needed changes.

If you set up the right systems from the start, they help run the business. You can be free to spend your time however you wish: more personal time for yourself, more time for your family, your community, and more time to enjoy a richer, more balanced life.

Habit #3: Know what they don’t know and then quickly get the help to fill the void

Most small business owners don’t realize that having an occupation or skill does not necessarily equate to building a successful business around it. It takes different skills to build a business. Let me give you an example. A personal friend of mine, John Chang worked as an engineer for 12 years before he started his own engineering firm. He was considered to be one of the best engineers in his firm before he went on to start his own engineering company. But John had never run a business before, and he did not have the knowledge and skill to operate his new company successfully, despite his engineering expertise. There is a lesson to be learned. The sooner you, the business owner, develop entrepreneurial skills, the sooner you will turn your expertise into business success!

You will need a number of different skills; financial, marketing, management, and customer fulfillment skills are among those required if you want your business to run like a finely tuned machine.

Can you imagine an athlete training for the Olympic competition without a coach? Of course not! Nor can you develop these skills without qualified help. A business coach will help you think in a new way, show you how to stay on track with your plans, and ultimately achieve your vision.

Habit #4: Have a mindset of preeminence

Preeminent (adj.): excelling others, outstanding.

The business owner has to have the mindset to view his business as a product – not the product or service he is producing, but his whole business as the product. It’s an entirely new way of thinking, and as soon as such thinking is adopted in any business, the business begins to make massive leaps forward.

As the business owner, you have to learn how you can give your customers or clients the best possible experience; to enable others to see your business as a trusted, valued, respected, and expert advisor. This mindset can be applied to any type of business. You have the responsibility and the obligation to provide guidance and direction to your customers, and to give them the best short-term and long-term outcome.

Many times, I have seen business owners make one simple, but momentous, mistake. Instead of “falling in love” with their customers, they fall in love with the size of the company, growth of the company, number of employees, or the market share. The way to greatness today is to transfer your ultimate passion away from products and services, and toward people! By doing so you will begin to look at your business as a whole, and any interaction that the customers have with any parts of your business, as part of an overall experience. If you as the business owner are focused on making it the best, most rewarding, most fulfilling, most enjoyable experience for the customer or client, you will dominate everyone else in your business sector.

A strategy of preeminence – of excelling – along with the approach of looking at your business as a whole, is truly transforming. If this is the only idea from these 5 habits that you take to heart and adapt and implement, you will see a significant improvement in your business.

Habit #5: Work on their business, not just in it

The successful small business owner understands the real value and reward that is derived from working on the business rather then just working in the business. She understands that working on the business means viewing her business as a whole. She sees her business made up of various parts that integrate seamlessly to function as a whole.

Working on, instead of “in” the business is strategic work. It is the way businesses transform themselves from vision into reality. It requires asking strategic questions and then doing everything to find answers to those questions.

Smart entrepreneurs do the necessary strategic work, and regularly ask the following questions:

What is my market share?

Who is my ideal customer?

Where is my industry headed?

Who are my competitors?

What are my competitive advantages?

What are other successful businesses in my industry doing?

How do they market their product or service?

What are other successful businesses outside my industry doing?

What is the “experience” my customers are having with my business?

What is the “experience” customers are having at my competitor’s place of business?

“Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.” --Albert Einstein

If you're looking for ideas for easy start home businesses, then this article is for you. The opportunities to have an easily started home business are more abundant than you've ever dreamed.

In fact, if you own a computer, you already have a multitude of home businesses available right there. Other easy start home businesses you can operate on your computer are in the affiliate and multiple level marketing arenas. Start-up costs, here too, are minimal, and most of them come with training and support to make them good prospects for easy start home businesses.

Another area you might look for easy start home businesses is in the services area. Do you love to work outdoors, making your lawn beautiful? Do you love dogs? Then you might consider easy start home businesses such as lawn care services, pet sitting services, or personal errands services. None of these opportunities cost a great deal to get going and can be started part-time, while you keep your day job.

All you have to do once you've chosen your easy home business idea is to have a few flyers printed up, anywhere from 50-200, and place them in strategic places around your local areas.
Contact local businesses and offer your services. You can also place ads in your local newspaper announcing your new business.

And there are few businesses that would turn down the chance to have a free, trial run of your services. This is a great way to show your stuff and seal the deal. Crafts and hobbies are also good things to think about when searching for easy start home businesses. Demand for handcrafted items is at an all-time high-and at premium prices.

So turn your quilts, your sailboats in bottles, your dollhouses, your embroidery, your taxidermy, anything you love to make into dollars. These are also especially easy home start businesses because you likely already have some items to sell and the supplies you need to make more.

Local flea markets and consignment shops are good places to begin selling your items. Upscale shops are another great place to sell your work. If you have office skills and a computer, then you truly have an easy start home business you could start tonight! Outsourcing is the latest trend for corporations and small businesses. Virtual assistants, typists, medical transcriptionists, office managers, researchers and many other types of office jobs are all in huge demand, and all by telecommute.

Just go online and you'll find more easy start home business opportunities in this area than you can shake a stick at, as the old saying goes. You should never sign up to provide a service with anyone who charges you for the opportunity, though. There are, however, job and outsourcing sites that charge a subscription fee. These sites post high-quality projects and allow people bid on them. These services are highly reliable and well worth the subscription investment-and all easy start home businesses. If you're in doubt, however, check with the Better Business Bureau. Better safe than sorry!

Best Home Based Businesses to Build Your Fortune With!
Type in best home based businesses on any search engine today, and you'll get thousands of hits. That's an indication of just how many opportunities there are for home businesses these days, but which ones really deserve to be in the category of best home businesses?
For starters, the top ten home business opportunities picked by Entrepreneur magazine's Business Startups Online are listed below:
• Internet Consultant
• Personal Organizer
• Network Marketer
• Mystery Shopper
• Career Coach
• Adventure Tour Guide
• Home caregiver for elders
• Specialty Catalog Merchant
• Medical Biller
• Craftsperson

Other businesses that you'll find as top rated home businesses and that may even be in the top 100 home business opportunity category are:
• Research surveys
• Online proofreading
• Typing services
• Internet research
• Web surfing
• Multi Level Marketing (MLM's)
• Affiliate programs of all kinds
• Internet marketing
• Online auctions
• Email reading
• Pay-per-click Business

These are just a few of the many businesses that you'll find listed on best home business opportunity lists. What's my goal in wanting a home business?
Am I looking for the best home based businesses that only require part-time work, or would I prefer a full-time home business opportunity?
Do I want to turn my hobby into a home business?
Would one of the best home businesses requiring sales be right for me?

The purpose of these questions is to get you thinking about what you really want from a top rated home business. The best home internet business opportunity for web surfing or pay-per-click may sound great, but if you like being around other people much of the time, then you aren't going to be happy stuck in front of a computer screen all day.

You'd probably be better off in a home business that offers you the chance to be out and about with people. Having a realistic view of yourself and your abilities is vital as you make a decision about the best home business opportunity for you.

Also, be aware that many of the so-called best home businesses are are scams. The recent spike in people wanting to start home based businesses is the reason behind the increased scamming. These supposed best home based businesses may not be entirely illegal, but they are over-promising on the financial results you'll get.

Well, Dad was right. You won't get rich overnight unless you win the lottery or inherit a large estate. Many of the investments required for the top home rated businesses are as low $29.95 to sign up-that's because marketing research has shown that the "sweet spot" for the amount of money people are willing to hand over is between $25 and $50.

So keep your cynical dad around when exploring the businesses on any top home business list.
And always make certain you have a contact person's name, a land address, a land line phone number that's active, and a valid email address for any company you want to sign up with for a home business of your own. Also, check with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and the Small Business Administration (SBA) before you make an investment. And if you do run into a scam, report it immediately.

The truth is the best home businesses are the ones people truly enjoy doing. Having a passion for what you're doing helps immensely when obstacles rise during the running of any home business-and they will. Loving what you do also helps you keep your focus and determination to succeed where they need to be-on creating the top rated home business of your own. Your best home business idea just might make it into the number one slot on the top 10 home business list someday.

Top 3 Ways to Maximize Your Small Business Server Consulting Profits
Over the past 7 years, Microsoft Small Business Server (SBS) has gained traction as a widely-respected Small Business Server networking suite.
As a result, many small business computer consultants, systems integrators, and value-added resellers have jumped on-board the Microsoft Small Business Server bandwagon.
However, before you go ahead and bet YOUR company on Microsoft Small Business Server, consider the following three Small Business Server Business Tips... so you can maximize your Small Business Server consulting profits.
(1) Most small businesses in your area have never heard of Microsoft Small Business Server.
Although there may be hundreds, if not thousands, of small businesses in your area that would be excellent candidates for Microsoft Small Business Server, don't make the ultra-common mistake of assuming that the typical non-technical small business owner even knows what Microsoft Small Business Server is.

(2) Sell your small business prospects on YOUR company first.
The real money in Small Business Server is NOT in reselling the Microsoft Small Business Server software. The real money comes from selling the RELATIONSHIP with the small business. Remember, no small business owner is going to wake up in the middle of the night, in a cold sweat, craving Small Business Server. However, small business owners DO constantly lose sleep over what will happen to their companies if their computer systems fail them. Little known fact: the first version of Microsoft Small Business Server, planned in 1996 and released in 1997, was code-named "SAM"... because Microsoft's goal was for Small Business Server to completely bypass their reseller channel and be sold at "Sam's Club" warehouse clubs.

So the product team had the mandate to make the Small Business Server product SO simple that a non-technical small business end user could buy Small Business Server at the warehouse club and have the Small Business Server suite running in their office that same day.

Shortly after the first-version shipped, Microsoft realized that the most cost-effective way to reach small businesses with Small Business Server was through their reseller channel. And since then, Small Business Server resources have flowed toward the channel.

However, even today, you can often find 5-user versions of Microsoft Small Business Server in retail stores.
Which brings us back to points one and two: Small business owners aren't actively shopping for a “Small Business Server”. So instead of "selling" Small Business Server per se, you're much better off selling a small business on YOUR company, BEFORE you sell Microsoft Small Business Server.

Small Business Software Shopping Tips
Choosing the right small business software for your home-based internet business can be a confusing undertaking to say the least. The challenge in choosing small business software is striking a balance between what you have to have and what you can afford. There are many small business software packages that have a number of features included, even though you may not use all of them. The first step in shopping for small business software is to distinguish between what you need now, what you want, and what you might need in the future. Never start buying small business software until these two steps are done. Otherwise, you are likely to buy some of those things you want, rather than the things you definitely need, and then you'll end up with a busted budget and you won't have the small business software that is crucial to running your business.

At a minimum, most businesses need a recordkeeping system, a word processor and an email program. Other small business software packages you may or may not need include spreadsheet programs, database programs, web design and graphic design programs, time management programs, and desktop publishing programs.

Some small business software packages, like Microsoft® Office products for instance, have several basic programs that are most commonly used by small businesses packaged in one small business software package. Before you spend a dime on small business software, familiarize yourself with the types of software that are available and their features as well as their benefits. Research is vital when choosing small business software for your company.

Here is a quick overview of the very basic, commonly used small business software:
Word Processors
Word processing capabilities are something that just about every business needs from its small business software. Word processors are primarily used for preparing written communication such as letters and reports. Word processing software can also be used to prepare information products and web copy for your internet based business.
Some word processing programs don't have these features, so that is something to watch for when reviewing small business software that will be used for preparing business communications.

Email Programs
Many of the small business software packages that include email programs. A basic email program is usually included with computer operating systems. Some of the more advanced email packages include time-saving organizational features that are great for small businesses. While a basic email program may be sufficient, some of the more advanced email programs can sure save a lot of time and aggravation.

Recordkeeping Programs
For most businesses, recordkeeping is accomplished through the use of small business software programs designed for accounting or bookkeeping, although recordkeeping can be accomplished using database or spreadsheet programs. A comprehensive recordkeeping package will have modules for tracking sales and expenses as well as paying bills and managing accounts receivable.

If you have employees, you need payroll processing capabilities and if you carry inventory, you need inventory control features. Some bookkeeping programs integrate with reports from online sources like eBay® or Elance®, so if you are working with such marketplaces it may be wise to see what types of recordkeeping programs arecapable of uploading their reports. This capability will save you lots of data input time.

There are many other types of small business software that you may find useful. For instance, if you are going to be designing your own websites, you will need an HTML editor and website design software. The trick to getting the small business software that you need is to determine exactly what you are going to do, then evaluate small business software packages and explore the numerous capabilities of each. Compare the features, benefits and prices, and select the small business software that best meets
your needs within your budget.