Business Discussions

Hello everyone, Tim here again. For those of you who aren't familiar with me, I am a Residential and Commercial Paint Contractor in the Midwest. For any type of construction or home improvement industry contractor one of the most tideous jobs is simply filling out the paperwork for an estimate. Sure talking about what a project might entail is simple but then the contractor faces having to put all of that into written format in order to submit to the client. Wait there is more! Once that estimate is filled out and submitted upon acceptance you then will have to follow up with an invoice. Yes more paperwork! In the "old school" way of doing things this process would require you to visit a local office supply store. Purchase an estimate and an invoice tablet with carbon copying features and manually write by hand your estimates. Contractors would constantly find themselves writing the same phrases and terminology over and over again. Which is one of the many reasons that this part o

  You’ve been burning the candle as a small business owner at both ends for weeks, months, maybe even years now. However long you’ve been dedicating days, nights and weekends to building and growing your business, you deserve a vacation. Question is, how do you give yourself a much-needed break without undermining all your tireless efforts by putting your business on hold?   We’ve got four tips to help you kick back and relax while things at work stay right on track.   1. Plan ahead for being OOO (out of office). If you’re still scrambling en route to the airport to fill orders, communicate with employees, finish a project or pay bills, you’re going to have a hard time disconnecting mentally and emotionally while you’re on vacation. Instead, think ahead – way ahead, if necessary -- both about what needs to happen and who, specifically, will make it happen in your absence. Advance planning will help you relax, unwind and recharge – and isn’t that the whole point of a vac

  Entrepreneurs notoriously are an independent lot. Most of us relish the autonomy of making our own decisions about virtually every aspect of business. Yet we all know that working for ourselves doesn’t actually mean working alone. Far from it. In fact, small business owners need to build strong, trust-based relationships with countless people who each play a different – and, often, critical – role in helping their business grow and thrive.   To find out more about the value and benefit of shifting from “me” thinking to “we” thinking in business, we turned to seasoned client-agency “relationship” experts Diggi Thomson and Gene Tiernan. Together, Diggi and Gene (QB Community username @TheDotConnector) run The Dot Connectors, a company that guides client and agency marketing/creative teams work together to live up to the promise of their combined ambition, talent and experience. As a result, those client-agency teams produce better, more creative and more effective results. H

In an age when we’re redefining the very concept of money, tell us: What’s the biggest business “shift” you’ve made when it comes to getting paid?  I accept cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum or Litecoin I use a “mobile wallet” system like ApplePay, AndroidPay or SamsungPay I have an automated credit card reader (like GoPayment, Square, Clover Go) It’s cash or check only in my business Something else! If you’ve made a shift to a new payment systems, was it easy or difficult? How have your customers and clients responded? What tips can you share about changing the way you accept payment?  

... is 'Visioneering' by Andy Stanley. It all starts with cultivating, seeding, and growing vision! ( link here -> https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/10209267-sj-barakony <- to my virtual bookshelf. Any Q's about any of the books, please ask at anytime. )

Chris Rhodes has run his own construction company in Santa Rosa, CA, for more than 30 years. In October 2017, wildfires tore through Santa Rosa, destroying 5,000 homes. Chris lost both his home and his business, and more than half a dozen houses Chris had built over the years were burned to the ground. “An integral part of my career simply evaporated,” says Chris. “Losing all those homes I identified with so much was almost as tough as losing my own.” As part of a 2018’s Small Business Week celebration, the QuickBooks team wanted to help Chris rebuild his business so he could continue the important work of helping others in the community rebuild their lives. Watch the video below to see how Chris reacts as the huge surprise unfolds … Find out how Chris stays optimistic in the face of unimaginable tragedy: Small Business Week: Chris Rhodes Lost Everything to a Wildfire – Except His Desire to Get Back to Work

Name: Diggi Thomson and Gene Tiernan Business: The Dot Connectors Founded: 2008, expanded in 2017 Location: Stamford, CT Diggi Thomson spent 15 successful years at corporate giant Unilever, working in both Europe and North American on leading brands including Axe deodorant. But in 2008, after some deep introspection, Diggi decided he was ready to strike out on his own. For nearly a decade, he single-handedly built and ran every aspect of his marketing and branding company. Eventually, however, he faced a challenge many entrepreneurs can relate to: Diggi wanted to grow The Dot Connectors, but he knew he couldn’t realize his vision alone. He decided it was time to bring in a business partner with a skill set that would complement his own. Cue Gene Tiernan, an experienced agency-side brand leader who was ready to make a professional change. The Dot Connectors was primed to make a big shift – into high gear. Diggi, tell us about your “aha” moment about doubling the size of your company fr

      Thanks to Ringo Starr, we all know we’ll get by with a little help from our friends. People who work for themselves know in order to “get by” (and more!), they need help from certain key, essential friends – also known as employees.     Hiring your first employee is a big deal for lots of reasons. QuickBooks Community member Fobitty puts it this way:   “I'm running a small business by myself. I need to hire some help so I have time to expand. I've talked to a few prospects, but it's clear I have no idea what makes a good employee. In your experience, what should I be looking for in a long-term part-time employee? Personality traits? Experience?   “I don't have time to get this wrong.”   This single quote highlights the complexity of officially expanding your team (thanks, Fobitty!). First, your decision is likely driven by an anticipated or actual uptick in sales. That bump in scale, however, almost always means you’ve now g

    Once upon a time the word “disrupt” meant to cause problems or to destroy a process. But in today’s competitive, fast-moving, tech-driven world, “disrupt” means to innovate -- and innovating is shorthand for winning. These days, disruption is a business goal, an industry ambition -- in short, it’s all the rage. A key part of successful disruption? Keeping up with the never-ending rollout of new technologies.   Consider, for example, automation technology. Automation is disrupting old, slow and inefficient approaches to getting things done and helping business owners save money, reach more customers and streamline repetitive processes.   The great news is that small business owners are particularly well poised to take advantage of new technologies because they can adapt more quickly to change than large corporations.   Who’s afraid of the big bad robot?   Let’s first disrupt the myth that small business owners or the self-employed are resistant to cha

As a small business consultant, it is not uncommon for me to schedule new client meeting on their home turf. While these onsite visits can be very beneficial for evaluating the company's current processes, it often made it very difficult to conduct a proper presentation.  A few years back when Parkway decided to focus our service offerings around QuickBooks Online, my business partner Mike Snelson and I felt it was important to use technology to sell technology. With a vision in mind, we created new beautiful presentations that told the story about Parkway as well as explained our service offerings that could be demonstrated from our iPad or our laptops, or so we thought. Fast forward to our first chance to conduct our new high-tech presentation, we thought we had thought of everything, laptop, power cable, mobile hotspot for internet, and our VGA cable to connect to their TV. What we did not consider was how long the VGA cable would need to be.  Needless-to-say, our not

Plenty of entrepreneurs have seasonal (and, hopefully, predictable) highs and lows throughout every business year. For example, if you own a construction, lawncare or landscaping business or you run a beachside restaurant, an ice cream shop or a summer camp for kids, the warm summer months are typically your busiest. When the weather cools down, so, too, does your revenue stream. We want to know: How do you strategize and adjust for the shifting seasons in your business? How do you plan ahead – in terms of finances, employees, inventory and more – both for your busiest and your slowest sales cycles? Thanks for sharing your insights in the comments below. We’re excited to learn from your experience! Want to weigh in but not yet a QB Community member? Click HERE to sign up in a flash!

Do you remember the last time you took a vacation? If you can’t, maybe it’s because just thinking about how you’ll keep your business running when you’re OOO (out of office) is overwhelming.   That being said, the only thing worse than not taking a vacation is taking one but feeling stressed about work and distracted the whole time. With this in mind, we want to know:   How do *you* take a stress-free vacation? What tips can you share about putting people and/or processes in place so you can focus on the important business of resting, relaxing and recharging?   We can’t wait to hear your strategies for successfully kickin’ back. And you can read this article for more tips about taking a truly relaxing vacay.   Not yet a QB Community member? No problem. Just click HERE to sign up in a flash. Then browse around and weigh in on questions like this one!

From woodworking to winemaking, hair salons to Heidi's salsa, QB Community has been celebrating National Small Business Week (April 30-May 4, 2018) by highlighting amazing small business owners from a wide variety of sectors.** Here they are rocking it, in case you missed them.   Alan Verma and His Five Jinky’s Cafes Celebrate 20 Years Originally from India, Alan started out in the hospitality industry there before moving on to managing kitchens in London. A move to California with his wife brought him the opportunity to operate a fast food franchise for nine years before opening his first Jinky’s Cafe in Los Angeles. Fast forward through 20 years of hard work, and Alan is now the owner of five Jinky’s Cafes throughout the LA area.    Brenda Maldonado Builds Business and Community at Bohemia Hair Studio Not long after opening her salon, Brenda was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Buoyed by the support of her family, friends and her dedic

Hi! I want to ask some advice for my future website. I know that if I will hire a developer I will pay $2000 for my site. So I decide to try do it by myself. So, I want to ask is it a good idea to use ready-made templates, for example from https://www.templatemonster.com/? I found great reviews for their products, and price of template is around $70-100..I think I will use WP, and I like this theme https://www.templatemonster.com/wordpress-themes/53000.html..Thanks!

In just a few short years we've seen major shifts in how we market our products (hello, social media), purchase goods and services (one word: smartpay), and comparison shop (bookstore shoppers checking Amazon on your phones, we see you!). All this month we'll be exploring the many ways that technology has changed the landscape for business owners and consumers alike. What shifts have you experienced in your own business? Swipe to chip? More customization? Paper to cloud? How are you meeting these shifts head-on?   Want to weigh in but not yet a QB Community member? Click HERE to sign up in a flash!

   

I just became a ProAdvisor & opened a company for bookkeeping.  I think we will charge set fees, instead of hourly.  But I don't know where to begin.  Can anyone give me examples of what your pricing is?  Here's some basic client needs to tag a price on, or whatever info you have would be greatly appreciated!! - Simple individual tax prep - Teaching a client QBO - Monthly bookkeeping for a small business - Quarterly tax prep for a small business - Past years bookkeeping clean-up (3 years?), set up bank rules for future, & autopay bills I've done so much research on this, & can't get a grasp on where to start.  Please help!!  Thank you, Amber(I've taken many accounting classes, but I'm NOT a CPA)

  Name: Chris Rhodes Business: Chris Rhodes Construction   Milestone: Still in business after losing nearly everything in a wildfire Location: Santa Rose, CA Launched: 1986 Chris Rhodes has run his own construction company in Santa Rosa, CA for more than 30 years. A respected small business owner and community member, Chris remodeled existing houses and built new homes, including his own, all over the area. But in October 2017, wildfires tore through Santa Rosa, completely destroying entire suburban neighborhoods. Chris and his wife, Liz, fled for their lives. When the smoke finally began to clear and the embers cooled, Chris learned he’d lost his home -- and seven others he’d built nearby were gone, too. “An integral part of my career simply evaporated,” recalls Chris. “Losing all those homes I identified with so much was almost as tough as losing my own.” Chris’ personal and professional devastation was nearly unimaginable. But today, he and his crew are busy helping other

Share your favorite mnemonic device! 

Name: Diane Weiss Business: Board member and glass artist at Bay Area Glass Institute (BAGI) Milestone: Despite losing its lease in a scorching hot housing market, BAGI is still in business! Location: San Jose, CA Launched: 1996 Diane Weiss is an Intuit executive by day. By night (well, at least for a few evenings a week), she’s an active member of the Bay Area Glass Institute (BAGI). For Diane, “active” means more than just practicing her mesmerizing art of blowing glass. It also means teaming up with other dedicated BAGI members to keep the only glass-arts “hot shop” in the area open for business. That’s been particularly challenging since the institute lost its lease two years ago after 15 years in the same spot in downtown San Jose. But Diane and her fellow glass artisans were determined to help the center survive and even thrive after this tough break. Thanks to a financing loan from Intuit and some serious fundraising efforts by the BAGI team, the institute now has secured a new

  Name: Heidi Withers (left) & Nikki Dougherty (right) Business: Heidi’s Salsa (Luko Foods LLC) Milestone: Seven yearsLocation: Los Angeles, CA Founded: 2011 Heidi Withers grew up in Los Angeles as part of a large, extended Mexican family with a passion for food, fun and entertaining. When she won a salsa contest using her family recipe in 2009, she was encouraged to launch her own business making and selling her salsas. Today, Heidi and her longtime friend and business partner Nikki have been making “The Freshest Salsa in a Jar” for seven years. They’ve gone from selling their homemade goods at farmers’ markets to selling their three salsas in over 1000 stores nationwide. QuickBooks celebrates Heidi! In honor of Small Business Week, QuickBooks wanted to lend a hand driving new customers to stores that sell Heidi’s delicious salsa. By providing new engaging social and digital content so more people than ever will be able to dip into Heidi’s treasured family recipe. Heidi

  Name: Sarah AlexanderBusiness: East Pine Milestone: One Year Location: Los Angeles, CALaunched: 2017 Sarah Alexander is celebrating one full year as the owner of her handcrafted planter business, East Pine. While still holding down her day job as a product manager for a social media collaboration platform, she sells her made-with-love products on Etsy. Impressively, Sarah’s venture has grown from making gifts for friends into running a full-blown business that is now taking over her Los Angeles home. Sarah’s passion is fueled by her happy customers, and she’s looking ahead to further expansion so she can bring even more of her modern wood creations into the world. QuickBooks celebrates Sarah! In honor of Small Business Week, QuickBooks created a “shoppable carousel” for Sarah’s growing Instagram account. This beautiful, engaging, interactive showcase of Sarah’s planters will help boost the visibility of her products – and highlight the love she puts into every piece. East Pine

  Spring is traditionally a time of renewal and reinvention. What's your one-word theme for driving your business this month?

Name: ​Karen “Ms. Karen” Dycaico Business: ​Dance Magic Milestone: One year Located:​ Palo Alto, CA Founded: ​2017 Karen Dycaico once co-owned one of the most successful dance studios in the San Francisco Bay Area. After leaving for personal reasons, Karen spent the next 20 years working for other people. Now she’s celebrating the one-year anniversary both of her studio, Dance Magic, and her return to working for herself. For Karen, owning and running Dance Magic has created an exciting opportunity to expand her business beyond the mirrored walls of the studio and bring her passion for dance to local preschools and children’s centers. QuickBooks celebrates Karen! In honor of Small Business Week, QuickBooks wanted to bring attention to Karen's ballet studio through local posters and print ads. The team also equipped Karen with everything she needs to share her well-known puppet shows digitally, from a new tripod to an opening animation sequence. In short, QuickBooks helped make Danc

Name: Geoff & Chantelle Mace Business: Calerrain Wine Milestone: Second year in business, 15 years dreaming about it! Location: Gilroy, CA Launched: September 2016 Geoff and Chantelle Mace have long shared a passion for wine and for exploring California’s wine country. As a young married couple, they loved to buy a new or unknown wine from their local grocery store, try it and then visit the winery that produced it. Traveling up and down the coast to sip and better understand their favorite beverage inspired Geoff and Chantelle to set a lofty goal for themselves: One day, they vowed, they’d own and operate their own winery. The dream, says Geoff, was 15 years in the making – which makes achieving it even sweeter. Today, as owners of Calerrain Wine, Geoff and Chantelle are building a sustainable family-run business and producing wines they hope are “intriguing and delightful” and perfect for sharing with family and friends. We say, cheers! Calerrain Wine is a featured vendor at In