Workflow Efficiency: Get the Answer to 8 Big Complaints

Workflow Efficiency: Get the Answer to 8 Big Complaints
When things get busy at work and the pressure is on,
locating and controlling key documentation is of paramount
importance to ensure efficiency and productivity ' but how
often do you find yourself coming up against any of these
eight familiar complaints?

Workflow Efficiency: The Eight Familiar Complaints

If any of these complaints are familiar to you, then a
document management solution can help:

- I employ somebody just for filing and archiving

- I can't keep up with customer service enquiries

- When somebody goes on holiday, we're lost without them

- I never seem to know where anything is

- I've had to rewrite important documents because we lost
the originals

- If we were sued, we'd spend ages finding the appropriate
documentation

- We have too many paper records for compliance purposes

- Everyone in my company seems to have their own filing
system

Workflow Efficiency: The One Simple Response

Document management is a glamorous name for keeping things
organised. Perhaps the truly paperless office might never
happen, but at least all the documents you have can be
organised properly. Consider for example - what is the true
cost of a key proposal which gets lost on somebody's
computer because they've gone on holiday and no-one can
find it? Or what is the true cost in lost time of rifling
through acres of archived documents looking for one sheet
from five years ago?

Document management is the result of several useful
technologies (printing, scanning, archival and storage)
coming together in a useful and co-ordinated way. Good
document management software has the following properties
these days:

- Easy for staff to use

- Won't break the bank, and offer a genuinely money-saving
ROI

- Can be installed in-line with your existing IT
infrastructure.

Document Management Systems: Save Time

Forget filing and photocopying (and their associated
costs). With document management tools, everything is
stored electronically on computer. Everything is named too,
so finding documents is simple - helping you improve
service to your customers and your colleagues too.

Document Management Systems: Reduce Costs

Of course good document management saves staff time. But in
practice there are so many other cost savings too. Free up
your storage space and use it for business! Reduce
administration time. Manage projects more efficiently and
reduce the margin for costly errors. Improve communication
internally, response time, and customer service. Our
document management solutions can help you achieve all
these cost savings. And you'll spend less on paper, postage
and faxing too!

Typically, a good document management system installed and
configured correctly can pay for itself in six months- time
you can wisely use to push your business forward.

Document Management in Practice

Here are some key elements to workflow and communication
improvements which stem from the use of document management
systems:

Creating documents:

Whenever a document is created, it's named according to
your own conventions (even if it's scanned or copied).
Everything's organised from the start and you'll never lose
a document again.

Everyone has an In-Tray:

Documents, pictures, e-mails, whatever... they all come in
through your in-tray, where you can categorise them, label
them, and then act on them. Send them on, collaborate with
other people, and manage versions of documents
automatically- so you'll never be stuck working on
yesterday's project.

Find and retrieve:

Before document management, you had to remember filenames.
Now, search by author, client, date, project- even just a
phrase, and you'll soon have the document you need.

Out of the office?

No problem- we can give you access to your office documents
with the same find-and-retrieve functions over the web- at
home or on the other side of the world.

Scan it in...

No need for huge paper archives. Scan it in and forget
about the paper copy. You can even scribble notes in the
margin electronically.

...e-mail or fax it out

Electronic documents are so much more flexible than paper.
With your documents in electronic form, emailing and faxing
them (and making alterations and corrections) is only a
click away.

----------------------------------------------------
Jimi St. Pierre writes for several Office Equipment
suppliers in the UK, including Principal Corporation, where
you can find out more about INVU document management
software on their comprehensive office equipment website
at: => http://www.principalcorp.co.uk/

Payroll Software Reduces The Paye Administration

Payroll Software Reduces The Paye Administration
Every employer has a legal responsibility to operate a paye
scheme for its employees with regular payslips a P60 end of
year certificate and a P45 showing details of gross pay and
income tax deducted during the employment if you leave. An
employer needs a paye system that satisfies both the
payroll requirements for each employee and the additional
paye records required by the Inland Revenue.

Calculating gross pay is not difficult as the rates and
hours are usually preset or subject to known information
such as a timesheet for example. Calculating the income tax
and national insurance can present problems to employers
inexperienced in payroll matters who are not familiar with
all the paye requirements. Payroll software automates this
income tax and nation al insurance calculations reducing
both the time and knowledge required.

Each new employee joining a business must provide the
employer with a P45 which contains specific essential
information that employer needs to start the paye system
for that employee. The P45 contains details of the employee
name and address, previous earnings and the amount of
income deducted by the previous employer. The P45 also
states the employee tax code and any special conditions
that may have been in force such as being deducted tax on a
week one or month one basis.

P45 details are required by the new employer to set up the
payroll records for each employee. Rather than filing the
P45 under a pile of papers or the back of a drawer a
payroll software solution adds discipline to this process
and permits a permanent record to be kept which can prevent
serious administration issues in the future. Documents and
notes on scraps of paper can get lost while paye details
kept on a proper payroll software package rarely do and can
be backed up as required.

The P45 does not contain details of national insurance
contributions as the new employer does not need to know
what the previous national contributions were. This is
because national insurance contributions are always
calculated on a week by week or month by month basis and so
previous deductions are not relevant while previous details
of income tax deducted are relevant because income tax is
deducted on a cumulative basis.

Having established the employee records the main work of
the paye system begins. Each pay period the employer needs
to calculate the income tax and national insurance to be
deducted. This can be done manually or the employer can
laboriously enter the employee and previous pay details
into a paye calculator to obtain the information. Payroll
software is a better choice by automating these
calculations saving time and providing accuracy.

The paye system also requires the employer to keep accurate
records of the breakdown of the calculation which are
recorded on a P11 deductions working paper. This part of
the paye administration is a burden for many small
employers and payroll software can automate this task
saving hours of work during the year.

Next the payslip which is highly important to employees and
the employer has a legal responsibility to provide one.
Designing a payslip and ensuring it meets all legal
requirements is much easier if a standard legally correct
format is adopted as part of an automated payroll software
system rather than manually running the paye system.

When an employee leaves they must be given a P45 to take to
their next employer and the paye system adopted must
provide the information to complete the P45 accurately. It
is a foregone conclusion that using payroll software to
generate this information can ease the paye burden and
provide accurate information satisfying the legal
requirements of the paye system.

At the end of the financial year the administrative burden
is increased if manual records are kept as the employer
needs to produce a P14 showing the employee deductions and
provide each employee with a P60 certificate showing the
employee gross pay and deductions. Payroll software can
automatically generate the gross pay totals and the income
tax and national insurance contributions providing the
information required.

The paye records must also produce the information for the
P35 annual employer return showing the income tax and
national insurance deducted from each employee and if an
employer is operating a manual paye system then this task
is often put aside and can lead to returns being filed late
and incurring late filing penalties. With a payroll
software solution the information is available immediately
the final pay period has passed and the figures can easily
be submitted online not only saving late penalty fines but
also gaining a tax free online bonus. Using payroll
software for the paye administration can not only save time
and reduce the paye administration burden but save the
employer money too.

----------------------------------------------------
Terry Cartwright, qualified accountant and CEO at DIY
Accounting, designs Accounting Software for small top
medium sized businesses
http://www.diyaccounting.co.uk and Paye Payroll Software
packages for up to 20 employees at
http://www.diyaccounting.co.uk/payroll.htm

How to avoid the funeral after a big breakthrough.

How to avoid the funeral after a big breakthrough.
Okay, forget all this organic growth stuff. Let's say you
hit the big time, and suddenly dozens, hundreds, even
thousands of people are flooding towards your business.

Exciting, isn't it? Sure, exciting as a funeral.

If your business isn't ready, this could be The End.

It's easy to want to hit it big. But, the truth is, rapid
expansion is the most dangerous time for any business.

Am I against you succeeding? No way. I want you to flourish
and thrive and enjoy your business. But, I don't want you
to get flooded out.

Why rapid growth is so dangerous.

When you grow, everything grows. I mean EVERYTHING. Your
income grows, and so do the number of requests for help.
Your database grows, and so do the number of number of
complaints and negative feedback. The number of orders
grow, and the number of mistakes you make grows, too.

Dealing with 1000 orders is very different than dealing
with 10. Dealing with 20 clients is very different than
dealing with 5.

A true story.

Once upon a time there was someone who was excellent at
what she did. Excellent. And, naturally, the word spread.

What's more, she accelerated her growth through really
smart marketing. As has happened to many people, she even
received so much traffic to her website that her servers
were overwhelmed at one point.

Very cool, eh?

Then things started to go south.

Instead of answering emails cheerfully within a day, it was
taking her two or three weeks to get back to people, simply
because of the volume. She had more clients than she could
handle, and they started to complain about her mistakes to
each other, to people they knew, to everyone but her.

Plus, there were hundreds of requests for services,
requests she couldn't fill, because it was just her.

And people started to drift away...

Do you see where this is going?

It IS possible to turn a situation like this around. But,
it will definitely take some real effort, and a new track
record, to get the good opinion of the marketplace back
again.

What's going on here spiritually? Well, it's kind of like
the old "hand in the cookie jar" story. You put your hand
in the cookie jar, grab a bunch of cookies, but then your
fist with all the cookies is too big for the neck of the
jar. So, you have to let go of all the cookies save one, in
order to get your hand out.

It's about trusting that you'll have what you need. When
something seems too big to be true, it probably is. My
experience is that the next right step always is something
that feels real and grounded to me.

So are big jumps never permissible? When is it okay to blow
the lid off and really 'go for it'? Is there a way to grow
rapidly, without risking your business?

Sure there is. Let's take a look.

Keys to Safe and Rapid Growth

- Systems, systems, systems.

Because you care about your business so much, plus you're
probably really creative, you've most likely resisted
implementing systems in your business, wanting to make sure
that loving care is put into every detail.

For growth, you'll want to start to identify where things
are repetitive, and where the loving care can be put into a
system that handles repetitive tasks. No, don't put any
less love and care into it. Just start to think about what
details aren't hurt when they are systematized.

The best time to do this is before you really need to. It
helps to make sure that you have the time to put love into
creating a system, instead of doing it in a panic with 100
upset customers breathing down your back.

- Practice being the boss.

You can't do everything. A one-person successful business
is a myth: every successful business requires the efforts
of more than one person. And so you need to learn how to
delegate, outsource, and hire the people to help you,
without breaking the bank.

This takes practice. Start practicing in small ways, hiring
a virtual assistant for a few hours a month, just to get
used to the idea. As you gain more experience, you'll be
able to outsource more and more. And, eventually you'll be
comfortable hiring and allowing others to help you when you
start to grow.

- You need a product.

When you have thousands of people wanting help from you,
the only sensible thing you can provide is a product. If
you're a service business, or even if you are creating
things, but doing it in an old-fashioned, loving
hand-crafted way, you'll want to start to think "scalable."

What kind of a product can you experiment with creating?
Your first one probably won't be a home run, so if you
start creating your first information products now, you'll
get the hang of what your clients really want and need.

You may never want to grow to be really big. But, even if
you want to be moderately comfortable, these three steps:
systems, hiring help, and having products, are the
foundational pieces you need in order to handle rapid
growth.

Because it can happen. And instead of a prelude to your
business' funeral, it can be the joyous celebration it
should be.

----------------------------------------------------
Mark Silver is the author of Unveiling the Heart of Your
Business: How Money, Marketing and Sales can Deepen Your
Heart, Heal the World, and Still Add to Your Bottom Line.
He has helped hundreds of small business owners around the
globe succeed in business without lousing their hearts. Get
three free chapters of the book online:
http://www.heartofbusiness.com

The Marketing Power of Testimonials

The Marketing Power of Testimonials
Offer proof to your prospects. Testimonials are one of the
most powerful and cost effective selling tools you can
implement in your arsenal of marketing. Why? Because you
are offering social proof to your prospects from their
peers attesting that your services/products actually work.
If you say you are good at what you do, it's self serving.
But, if others say you are good...it's credible.

Providing testimonials from current and prior customers of
their actual problem and the specific results from your
company enhances your company's credibility. It's not
enough to say that you solve problems - you have to show
your prospects the direct results of other people.
Testimonials offer proof that you are the real deal.

People receive a lot of information and they are often
skeptical. But, they will be more inclined to buy from you
if you show examples of their peers who have achieved
positive results. An effective testimonial is filled with
specific benefits and substantiates the claims you are
making. Whenever possible, testimonials should offer
tangible, quantified results. (ex: I lost 65 pounds, I
raised my income by 42%, I saved $300, and so on.) To show
it comes from a real person, a good testimonial includes a
first and last name, a city and state, a business name,
their industry, and a website URL.

Be sure to ask people for a photograph. You can add their
picture next to their testimonial in your office or a in
brochure. It's a great strategy for your website's
testimonial section. And, you can take your website to a
higher level of interactivity by including audio and video
for an even greater impact. If you want to include audio
testimonials on your site, I recommend Audio Acrobat for an
easy-to-use recording system.

If you are offering a new product or just starting your
business, you can contact business associates and offer
them a free session or product sample to try. In exchange,
ask them for a heartfelt testimonial. Most of the people
you contact will be delighted to do a trial run of your
offering and provide a testimonial.

On your website, your brochure, and in your presentations,
provide testimonials from current and prior customers of
their actual problem and the specific results from your
company. These third-party endorsements work to sell for
you - even when you are not around. Your testimonials also
help close the sale with prospects. Depending on your type
of business, you can even cover your walls with pictures of
happy customers. Or you can create a notebook that shows
pictures of customers with your products.

Even after you've been in business for a while, don't stop
collecting testimonials. You can use an autoresponder
service like Professional Cart Services to automatically
follow up with a customer who has purchased something from
you to ask them how they are doing. Ask them to provide a
testimonial. Incorporating a testimonial into an
advertising campaign and/or direct mail marketing is also
very effective.

You'll find that incorporating the power of social proof
into your marketing arsenal will help spread word-of-mouth
advertising. It will also help you easily close sales.
Often, a person will review your testimonials and be
prepared to buy before you've even met. The reward of
collecting testimonials is always worth the effort!

----------------------------------------------------
Wendy Maynard, your friendly Marketing Maven, publishes
REMARKABLE MARKETING, a weekly marketing ezine for business
owners, freelancers, and entrepreneurs. If you're ready to
skyrocket your sales, easily attract customers, and have
more fun, subscribe at
http://www.gomarketingmaven.com/ezine_3.html

Huge Profits In Carpet Cleaning Business

Huge Profits In Carpet Cleaning Business
Starting a carpet cleaning business can be a wonderful way
to increase your income abundantly. The industry of carpet
cleaning brings in continued profit year round in good
times and bad since it is a recession proof business. There
will always be carpet that needs to be cleaned. This type
business is quite easy to start since it requires no heavy
capital, no prier experience or education.

Carpet cleaning machines can be purchased for a couple of
thousand dollars. You can start your search on the internet
which will bring up some good results. Some machines are
way to big to fit into a car so it is easier if you have a
van, pick up or truck of some sort for these type machines.
There are newer models of carpet cleaning machines on the
market today that are smaller, but just as powerful as the
bigger machines. Since some of the newer models are smaller
they easily fit into most cars. The feedback from people
who own these powerful newer models are very good. These
machines save them money since they don't have to buy a van
to carry it around, they are light weight, and they have
new technology that makes the older bigger style machines
obsolete.

When entering the carpet cleaning industry you have a
choice to either specialize in home carpet cleaning or do
businesses either it be offices, retail or restaurants.
Usually if you go the home carpet route you can clean
during the day but when cleaning carpets of businesses it
is usually done in the evening/night hours after the
business has shut down for the day. It is really up to each
person and the hours they decide they want to work. Of
course there is no rules that you can't do both home and
business carpet cleaning since the newer machines can
handle the carpets of either a home or business.

One thing to take in consideration is that home owners
usually don't have their carpets clean more then a couple
of times per year so it might take a bigger cliental of
home owners to reach the same profit as someone cleaning
only a few offices. Office/businesses usually have their
carpets clean much more frequently since there is more foot
traffic in these places and they need to keep a nice, fresh
appearance for their customers.

Some of the good things about having your own carpet
cleaning business is you are free to make your own hours,
there is no meetings to sit through, no boss over looking
your every move, no time clock to punch, and best of all
have the free time to enjoy the money you make. It is a
business where you can easily make up to $500 a day and
$1,000's per week working only part time. Thousands of
people have achieved great wealth by owning their own
carpet cleaning business and this is because people are
willing to pay good money to have fresh clean carpets in
their home/business.

Advertising for a carpet cleaning business is really not a
big deal. As long as you provide a professional service and
do a great job for each of your clients the word will
spread like a wildfire, you will have more then enough
clients seeking you out for your services. Of course when
you are just starting out you will need to do some
advertising like send out some postcards, set up some
flyers, hand out business cards and soon you will be
receiving calls for your service. Before you know it your
bank account will be filling up with a very nice income
which will continue to grow as you get new clients.

Even though some of the newer carpet machines are light
weight, powerful and easy to work with some people just
don't like any kind of labored work. If you are someone who
just can't see them selves cleaning carpet, that's okay,
this type business can still work for you. For those who
don't want to do the labor they can simply invest in the
machine(s) etc. and hire one of two reliable, good working
people to do the actual labor. It is up to each business
owner, they can pay them a nice hourly wage or split the
profit from each job. Though it is known if you pay someone
a good wage then they will take more pride in the job which
in turn will make your business look more professional.

I just shared with you some of the benefits of starting a
carpet cleaning business. I hope this article has shined
some light on the opportunities that a carpet cleaning
business can provide you. It surely has given many people
the chance to live the good life. Just look how many new
homes and business go up each year, each of these
homes/business will have carpet that needs to be cleaned
and for this reason this makes the future of carpet
cleaning a very good one.

----------------------------------------------------
Grant Callihan resides in California and is currently self
employed. To start your search on the best carpet cleaning
business/machines visit the website. Must mention code
CL5596 when contacting company with any questions or if
joining.
http://www.drytech-systems.com