WinWeb

Back-Up Myths Debunked

January 31, 2010

Keeping current backups is vital for your business. Without it, you could easily lose critical data and cause serious problems that may result in a loss of revenue. Many people take unnecessary risks with the safety of their information.

The most common false assumption people often make is that they don’t need to back-up because they have a relatively new computer or laptop. Although new hardware is statistically less likely to fail, hard drives are notoriously unpredictable and could potentially fail at any time. A slight electrical spike or dropping a laptop can also be enough to lose all of your data.

Some people rely on USB flash memory sticks to save their work. These are good because they are far more robust than traditional hard drives as they don’t have any moving parts inside to dislodge. However, these also have drawbacks. Flash memory has a limited lifespan and the data it contains can only be overwritten a certain number of times before it will eventually fail just like a solid state drive. The other problem with USB sticks is that because of their small size they are extremely easy to lose. A common fate for many drives is a trip to the washing machine via the pockets of your laundry!

Another frequent excuse for not keeping back-ups is the mistaken belief that it is too difficult. It requires very little effort on your part, especially if you choose to back-up to the ‘cloud’ like WinWeb customers do. All it involves is uploading the latest version of your files to your OnlineOffice console as soon as you finish working on it. You then have a permanent copy of that file that you can instantly access from anywhere in the world.

Try backing up your data, and OnlineOffice’s other fantastic features free for 30 days at www.winweb.com

Improve Your Cashflow Management

January 30, 2010

Cashflow is often described as being the lifeblood of small businesses. Without careful management of cashflow a business can quickly get into financial trouble. A lack of cash can be hard to remedy, especially if the business needs to purchase supplies before it can make further sales. Without additional investment or a bank overdraft to help out the business, it will often lead to disaster.

However, there are number of small things you can do to avoid this situation occurring. The most important of these is receiving payment from customers as soon as possible, because until you have the money in the company account it is useless to your business. It is advisable to offer small incentives for swift payment to encourage customers to pay their invoices as soon as possible.

You should also be trying to do the exact opposite when it comes to paying company bills. Take advantage of a 30 or 60 day due date and use that time to set aside enough money to pay for it. With careful cashflow management you can make far more efficient use of your money.

Another important thing to remember is that your inventory is not cash until is sold. You may think that you will save a few pennies by ordering in large quantities, but if it cannot be sold then it is essentially just dead weight for your business that you may end up selling at a discount.

It is also advisable to make use of a Cashflow management tool like the one within OnlineOffice in order to make the process far simpler; it is fully integrated into the Accounting module and will give you much greater control over your business finances.

Try WinWeb’s cashflow management tool free for 30 days, just by visiting www.winweb.com !

Small Business and Climate Change

January 29, 2010

Climate change is probably the most important issue of our time and it affects the entire population of the planet. Despite this, small business owners often have very little time to consider ways in which to reduce their carbon output or to help the environment, even though the majority of them would like to be participating in some way.

At WinWeb, we believe that small business owners can do their part by making an effort to purchase products and services that are environmentally friendly. We constantly invest in and deploy technology that helps to reduce our carbon footprint. Therefore, our subscribers can already consider their business more environmentally friendly than the majority of their competitors.

Another way in which we keep OnlineOffice carbon neutral is our practice of planting trees every time we have to deploy another server to deal with increased demand. Our software also now allows thousands of small business start-ups to run their business directly from the kitchen table – no need for them to travel to an office and cause more pollution. Our software has no packaging or physical manuals and doesn’t require shipping. Because it runs inside a browser, you don’t need to purchase a brand new computer to run it. We try to appeal to small business owners that want to save the environment as well as saving their money and time.

See how easy it is to save your business time whilst doing your bit to help the planet, by trying WinWeb’s OnlineOffice free for 30 days!

Small Business and Value Proposition: What Are Your Customers Buying From You?

January 28, 2010

Have you ever considered that the answers to the following questions might be different: What are you selling? Vs. What are your customers buying from you?

As small business owners, we are passionate about our business and tend to obsess over our products and services. We’re always tweaking something. On command we’re able to give a full run-down of all the products/services we offer.

However, I recently heard someone make a distinction between “what I sell” and “what customers are buying from me” and I thought it was a really valuable point. For example, WinWeb’s product is small business services and online software. But what our customers are buying is the ease of setting up their business and the freedom to access their operations, no matter their location, with the click of a button. In other words, we take the operational hassle away from our small business customers so they can focus on growing their business. This is called Value Proposition. It’s the added value that customers are buying from us.

Understanding this distinction is valuable for how you promote and sell your business. It’s not always easy to define and may require that you ask a few of your existing customers to get a good understanding of why they keep coming back to you. Knowing your value proposition could give you a big competitive advantage as chances are your competitors are just selling products.

To explore the way that WinWeb can help your small business just visit the WinWeb website for a 30 day free trial!

A Secure Online Software Suite from WinWeb

January 27, 2010

Some small business owners are still reluctant to embrace Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) because of fears over the security of their data. At WinWeb we understand that our clients need to know how we keep their data safe, but we can only reveal a certain amount of what steps we take to protect them before it becomes a security risk.

No security system is ever perfect, but there are a set of data protection standards required by law which we believe that we surpass by a huge margin. Our servers are located at the major internet nodes worldwide to ensure the fastest possible connection.

For 15 years, the global backbone of WinWeb physical security has been provided by Telehouse Europe (http://www.telehouse.net/). The servers are housed in a fully air-conditioned and cleaned environment, coupled with an automatic fire prevention, detection and extinguishing system. We also have servers in a completely separate second secure location that continuously back up all your data, ensuring that even in the very worst case scenario any potential data loss would only last for a matter of hours. Servers are monitored around the clock for any abnormal activity by our trained staff.

Our customers also have the option of exporting their own data as a backup if they wish. Even the most cautious business owner can see that security should not be a barrier to using our online software suite.

Try a range of WinWeb’s services free for 30 days, just by visiting the website.

A Not-So-Private Small Business Diary

January 26, 2010

One of the most important things when running a small business, especially as your business begins to expand and your number of employees grows, is being organised and co-ordinated with your co-workers. But, how is this possible when you and your colleagues work in separate areas or even in separate countries?

As a small business owner outsourcing work plays an integral part in reducing your personal workload and increasing productivity. However, communication and liaising is just as important to keep your business running smoothly and making sure all of the people within your business are on the same page. In order to schedule conference calls or meetings between your team an online calendar is absolutely vital.

By using WinWeb’s online calendar you, and the colleagues within your small business, can all synchronise diaries and schedules in order to allow more flexible working thus enabling you to use your time efficiently and effectively. Planning meetings has never been easier as you can automatically send out invitations for attendance to your colleagues that, when accepted, instantly updates their WinWeb online calendar.

Public events allow everyone within the small business to see what their colleagues are doing; which is particularly useful when trying to plan holidays and work out how your company can best plan its time effectively.

Your small business can try WinWeb’s Online Calendar, along with OnlineOffice’s other fantastic features, absolutely free for 30 days.

Focus on Your Small Business Goals

January 25, 2010

The ‘Goals’ page is a useful place to store a written record of what you are trying to achieve. Here you can write a Mission Statement and 5 of your most important business goals. Reading this page occasionally will provide a ‘reality check’ for you or your employees and force you to evaluate your recent business performance.

There is also a page with a ‘SWOT Analysis’. This colourful diagram is a commonly used tool in business theory that helps to clarify the internal strengths and weaknesses of your small business. It also allows you to identify the external opportunities and threats that could have an impact on your company in the near future.

The most significant element of the Planning module is the Cashflow Tool. This will help you plan your business finances based on the banking payments and receipts that you have already entered into the Accounting module – another great benefit of having a fully integrated office software suite.

Try WinWeb’s vast range of business services free for 30 days at www.winweb.com

Is Small The New Big?

January 24, 2010

Big has always seemed better. Big ideas create big change and big exposure and in the end (hopefully) big revenues. However, I read an article recently about a new trend, which I extol wholeheartedly: the biggest idea might be learning to think small.

It seems logical. The ideas that are most likely to come to life are the ones where you are able to create an actionable list of steps that you can accomplish within a reasonable timeframe.

For example, I read recently of a Junk Removal company based in North America. With only 3% brand awareness they knew they had a huge opportunity to grow (despite the economy!). However even if they were able to pull together a multi-million dollar marketing campaign they knew they could not make an impact across their entire service area of 200 million people.

Instead they adopted the strategy “Own the Neighbourhood”. They focused their sales and marketing efforts on the neighbourhoods where they already did well, thereby leveraging word of mouth, lawn signage and the like among their existing customer base to generate more business. Simple. Manageable. Executable.

For easy to use software to enable you to implement your simple, executable and manageable plans for your small business visit the WinWeb website.

The Importance of Networking for Small Businesses

January 23, 2010

The importance of networking must not be underestimated when you are starting your small business and this holds true whether you are opening a restaurant or an online shop. But what is networking?

Entrepreneurs often hear, and even use, the term ‘networking’ but in order to network effectively it is important to understand the principles of networking and that it isn’t just a case of merely having a chat will the right person; what you say, how you say it, and how you follow up the conversation are all vital.

Networking, in the traditional term, is attending an event or presentation on a matter relevant to your business where influential or like-minded people will be present. So, you are at an event where there are people who are all interested in small business, but where do you go from there?

Top five networking tips:

• Make sure you do your homework- be knowledgeable about your industry and those attending the event.

• Exude confidence in both yourself and your business, without seeming arrogant!

• Memorise a 60-second marketing pitch for your company. Try and be able to explain what you do in a few sentences, making it engaging and interesting. Sell yourself!

• Give your business card to everyone you speak to, and ask for theirs. Be sure to ask what other people do, too.

• Send an email to the people who you felt could help you, preferably within a week of the event, being sure to say how much you enjoyed meeting them.

Most of all enjoy it, be passionate about your business and have fun!

The Benefits Of Web-Based Email For Small Businesses

January 22, 2010

Webmail allows you to view your e-mail messages inside your web browser from anywhere that you are able to get an internet connection. You can also reply to these messages, meaning that you are no longer cut off from your business contacts even when travelling.

OnlineOffice has a Messages module which delivers all of these benefits to our customers as part of their subscription fee and includes an account hosted on the WinWeb servers. They also have the added benefit of being able to add multiple e-mail accounts and switching quickly between them to check mail.

Users of the mail function in OnlineOffice are also able to sort messages into folders for the sake of convenience. It is also possible to automatically add a personalised signature to all outgoing e-mail so that your messages will be instantly recognisable when your customers receive them.

The Messages module is also fully integrated with other sections of OnlineOffice such as the Contacts module, making it quick and easy to send mail.

Give our Web-Based email services a try, along with all the other fantastic features of OnlineOffice, free for 30 days at www.winweb.com