Tools for Growing your Startup

from Linked In 31 July 12 enhanced by Peter/CXO Wiz4biz 10/14

9-5 Jobs. Running a small business is by no means an easy feat. I always say that people with white-collar desk jobs in large corporations got it easy. Everything has been laid out for you; there are company manuals, standard operating procedures, a communication hierarchy & you can always ‘go to’ somebody to help you with work or resolve an issue.

The Startup ball game. However, running your own business, is a very different ball game. (ie, as the SF Giants – who have to start with new players every year) You are over-sseing all aspects of your little empire and sometimes even micro-managing it, there is payroll, business development, client servicing, checking on receivables, liabilities, etc. You are even looking around for any cracks in the structure or missing factors in the strategy.

The Stress of this Mess. It can all get very hectic and sometimes you might even have thought about age getting to you, sooner then you expected. A lot of people are skeptical of technology, because it can be very complex – Schmardt Phones, Tablets, Apps, etc. And most people think “The Cloud” is still up in the sky. Here is a little anecdote I would like to share which will tell you, how an entrepreneur friend of mine runs his own business using free, very basic internet Apps & SW.

Technology use Example. As a man of the service industry who needs to travel all across the Eastern Coast, management of his time is very important. I asked him once how he manages to cover multiple cities in a day while at the same time overseeing his daily operations at home. His reply was these two sentences:
1- Keeping Pace with the World
2- Keeping Pace with Yourself

Keeping Pace with the World, involves everything that enables him to stay connected with his clients and vendors. For example:

Gmail Offline. Is a simple option available in your Google account that will enable you to check your Emails, archive & categorize them on the go. Maybe you are in a plane or a train with no internet hotspot, you can still access your Gmail Offline, read them, delete, archive or respond. And the next time you have internet access; all the changes made earlier will be synchronized. It’s a great way to catch up on work and save time.
How? You can enable Gmail Offline by going to top right corner on your Gmail account, click on Options < Mail Settings < Labs < Gmail Offline. [ Dropbox.com, a Smart Phone, Facebook App, Evernote App, & Outlook in Premium Content ]