Social media marketing is all the rage but what good is it if you aren’t converting these followers and likers to buyers?
I speak with Sheena White who is a social media marketing pro for small businesses and we delve into ways to manage a social media marketing campaign without using all your time and with the goal of adding to your sales and profits and not just feeding your ego! Continue reading
Whether you are looking for your first winning idea to start your entrepreneurial journey or you are working on expanding your current business, ideas are the base that everything else builds on. Therefore, having lots of ideas to pick from and coming up with really solid ones is going to be a huge asset.
This is where Richard is a pro- his proven systems come up with 12X more ideas that are 3-4 times more likely to succeed than what comes out of traditional brainstorming. And he tells us exactly how to do it in this episode! Continue reading
Inspiring story with a guy who turned his skill and passion for the game of baseball into a business selling premium hand crafted baseball bats. He literally starts from cutting down the tree and selecting the wood to turning the bats and doing all the marketing and sales.
Mark has a great story and is a true entrepreneur next door type that I really enjoyed chatting with and hearing how he plans to grow his business even further. Continue reading
Tiffany and I had a great discussion about what it takes to fund a business and what the options are that entrepreneurs can tap into.
She is an expert in the area and works with business owners to source capital for their ventures. I chimed in with my own thoughts on the matter, which I also got into in even more detail in episode 25 where I laid out my thoughts on how and where you should get funds to start.
Check them both out and learn what can work for you! Continue reading
Prior to my current role in software implementation, I worked as a bookkeeper while getting a degree in Accounting. After graduation, I really had a passion for cost accounting and wanted to work with businesses to help get their inventory and processes under control. Now, I work with many small to mid-sized businesses to implement inventory management software to enhance their day-to-day operations. Having both knowledge and background in accounting and inventory management software gives me a uniquely integrated way of viewing business operations.
What are common methods of tracking inventory?
Different businesses may use different systems to manage their inventory including: pen and paper, Excel spreadsheets, QuickBooks® software, and inventory management software.
Pen and paper, as well as spreadsheets, are considered manual methods of tracking inventory. This is because the user(s) must update any changes to inventory levels — such as added inventory from purchases or sold items — by hand.
QuickBooks software and inventory management software are automated methods of tracking inventory. By using a software system, inventory is updated by the software to reflect any changes to inventory levels including any changes from purchases and sales.
To learn more about inventory systems, check out this article that discusses the different types of inventory systems.
What is QuickBooks software?
QuickBooks is a small to mid-sized business accounting software that also dabbles in inventory.
It is easy to learn and use, so it’s great for small to mid-sized businesses that may not have an accountant on staff to keep track of finances. It’s still a valuable program to have for a business with an accountant on staff because of its useful features such as financial reporting and tax calculations.
QuickBooks also has inventory management capabilities. However, since its main focus is on financial management and reporting, it’s not as functional as inventory management software, which is specifically equipped for inventory management.
What is inventory management software?
Inventory management software is a software package that allows you to not only transact all of your inventory processes but it also allows you to keep track of all transactions. All inventory data is in one place (the software system database) and also linked to what those processes were for, as well as the customers and vendors associated with each purchase or sale.
You’ll have the complete history for your product, which goes through a general ledger as it would for cost accounting, using cost of goods sold and inventory asset accounts. It’s mostly based on accrual accounting, not cash accounting, because of tracking accrued liabilities.
What is the difference between QuickBooks and inventory management software?
There are a lot of differences, but to be simplistic about it, QuickBooks doesn’t have the internal controls that inventory management software does, nor does it have the full functionality offered by inventory management software. This means more complex features and functionality such as lot and serial number control, landed cost, and inventory valuation and costing (just to name a few) are better suited for inventory management software.
For instance, Acctivate inventory management software has all available cost methods. With Acctivate, you also have the choice between each item on how you track it. Users can choose to track lot or serial numbered items with Actual cost, other items with Average cost, and the remaining items with FIFO, LIFO, or Standard cost. It all depends on what makes sense for your business. Additionally, any change in Acctivate is prospective, not retrospective, so it will not affect any past transactions. This is not the case in programs like QuickBooks.
Here’s the good news: you are able to utilize both the power of QuickBooks and inventory management software. That’s because some inventory management software integrate directly with QuickBooks, meaning that QuickBooks and the inventory management software systems essentially “talk” to each other by synchronizing data and information from one program to another.
For instance, when you post a transaction in Acctivate, the financial records are sent to and saved in QuickBooks. Then, when it’s tax season and/or it’s time for an accountant to review your finances, all the financial information from your inventory, purchasing, and sales history is ready in QuickBooks. So you can have the best of both worlds — financial management with QuickBooks and inventory control with inventory management software.
You can learn more about QuickBooks and inventory management software integration here.
Who is the right fit for inventory management software?
Inventory management software can benefit any and all businesses, and is an affordable investment for small to mid-sized businesses. Inventory management software is a vital investment for businesses because of the importance of keeping inventory values and records organized, as well as the time, money, and effort saved with the features available.
Some examples of businesses that would benefit the most from using inventory management software include wholesale, manufacturing, and distribution businesses. However, any business wanting to run a tight ship with finances and their supply chain, as well as those wanting to integrate and keep track of omnichannel inventory (such as in-store and web store inventory) are also great candidates for inventory management software.
About the Author: Lauren Stine is the Manager of Implementation for Acctivate Inventory Management Software. Armed with a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting, Stine’s extensive knowledge and background allow her to finely blend accounting expertise with technical skills and support. She has been working directly with customers to train them on Acctivate Inventory Management Software since 2012.
For more information, articles, and resources on inventory management, check out Acctivate’s blog or contact a specialist at 817-870-1311.
Aaron Janx was a sales pro from his earliest days and that ability has lead him to become a successful entrepreneur.
Any time you are in business you need to be selling, whether it’s customers, vendors, employees, investors, lenders or just your selling yourself on your ability to succeed. Having the right mindset has a lot to do with it as we discuss on this episode of Entrepreneur Talk Podcast by CapForge. Continue reading
One of the most prominent definitions of ‘startup’ term was coined by Paul Graham, a programmer, entrepreneur and an essayist. While most other theoreticians tried to connect ‘startup’ word with advanced technologies or newly founded companies, he said that startup enterprises are those that are designed to grow fast. This fast company growth is in most cases (but not exclusively) fueled by advanced tech and innovative business strategies. Achieving fast and continuous growth is not always easy. It is often fettered by various unpredicted circumstances and hidden costs.
Employees
Regularly employed workers require a lot of spending. Depending on the country or state law, companies need to pay for sick leaves, vacations, health insurance, and taxes. Companies that have less than 10 workers pay the most expensive health insurance. These costs are the reason why many startups decide to outsource parts of their business or to hire freelancers to do most of the tasks.
Another very important point when it comes to human resources and office management, is that startups need talented employees, who will get the job done. In some cases they can rely on outsourcing agencies or talented freelancers, but if they want to make their company attractive to the top experts in their niche, they need to add a lot of benefits (like high 401(k) share), clean and secure work environment and even employees stock ownership programs, that include handing out company shares to most effective and agile employees.
Rent
Most startups begin their lifecycle in founder’s home or in a work hub. When business starts growing startup owners need to rent new office space. This is a very difficult period, since entrepreneurs are still not sure about their business’s potential, but they need to work and cover increasing client orders. That’s why these companies are stranded in between small and big business models, which makes them an eligible pray for money-craving property owners. At this moment company’s business is too small for taking a mortgage loan or building their own premises and too big to work from home or a work hub. This means that the money company is giving for rent is not getting them any equity, which is why entrepreneurs should decide to shift to mortgage or building their own space, as soon as possible.
Utilities
Utilities’ costs can be quite high. In most cases they are as high as the cost of leasing office space. Many companies decide to pay several utilities’ costs in a bundle, which makes them less harmful to their budgets. Phone and internet costs usually come in bundle packages.
Another great cost that concerns utilities is when something gets broken. Companies that work in service and production industry are especially sensitive to these situations and installation failures can seriously damage their customer loyalty and revenue figures. That’s why these companies need to have employees who are familiar with commercial plumbing market and services, and react immediately and fix the problem.
Tech
All new businesses need to spend money on latest gadgets. Without advanced tech they would never stay competitive in the harsh business world of today. Most tech comes with 2 year warranty, but if used for business purposes computers, phones, printers, modems and scanners usually last much shorter.
Most businesses require smartphones, computers, printers and plenty latest software packs. In addition to this they might also need scanners, modems, fax machines and many different niche-specific gadgets and production equipment. On top of all these costs companies also need to pay for maintenance of their systems and hardware, which can be quite expensive.
All these costs can drastically hurt startup businesses, which is why entrepreneurs need to include them when determining company’s budget for the next fiscal year. Although entrepreneurs should be optimists about their business growth, pessimism definitely eliminates certain risks when it comes to company expenses and finances.
Derek is a writer from Australia. He likes exchanging business and success tips with bloggers and enriching his experience in order to deliver informative articles. One of his hobbies is interior design. To fulfill his passion, he blogs regularly at Smoothdecorator.
Maggie Montiel shares her great startup story of going from selling a line of “wouldn’t sell elsewhere” clothes from the trunk of her car to building a thriving online retail active wear business seen on celebrities and models as well as thousands of everyday folks.
She shares the things she had to learn, her various ecommerce platform experiences and how she is growing for the future. As a CapForge Bookkeeping client she also shares how delegating some tasks has let her focus on what she does best- grow her business to six figure sales months in an incredibly short time! Continue reading
Starting a business takes money, even if it isn’t much depending on what you start. Of course, some kinds of businesses require lots of capital and continue to suck it down quickly as they grow.
In this episode I break down the various kinds of capital actually available and dispel some myths about the kinds that aren’t. I also give some specific advice on what I think the best path is and how much you should invest and where to get the funds to start.
I firmly believe if you follow this plan you can not only never fail but you will also learn lots and pretty quickly succeed, even if it isn’t exactly what you first envisioned. Continue reading
Arman Assadi worked his way into a dream job at Google but decided to jump into a life of serial entrepreneurship based around a passion for teaching- and has never looked back.
Despite not having a clear plan he decided that leaving was more important than staying. Since then, he’s created courses that provide passive income while he as traveled and pursued his passion for sharing knowledge and helping others discover their own core reason for being.
A very inspiring interview and another great CapForge client as well! Continue reading