Helping Small Businesses Control Cashflow

Throughout January we have seen businesses gathering momentum, and taking the view that they want to 'just get on with it' regardless of headlines that show there is still some uncertainty in the economy.  One recurring factor we have seen is the desire to control cashflow in the business, prudent practice in the best of times and even more so at the moment.

In this issue we look at a few of the cash flow and efficiency benefits of using Online50.

Avoid Getting Left Behind

There is significant interest in the Online50 service as more and more businesses become aware of the significant cashflow (and operational) benefits of using hosted software.  Despite the headlines, November 2011 saw record use of the Online50 service as more customers chose to adopt our flexible service.  Normally January is a quiet month for Online50 in terms of users joining the service, but January 2012 saw record numbers of users joining the Online50 service.

Businesses moving to hosted software range from building contractors to design agencies and from online retailers to bookkeepers and just about everything else in between.  Make sure you don't get left behind.

If you want to take advantage of the business benefts of using hosted software an the Cloud, give the Online50 team a call today.

In This Issue:

Outsourcing Powered By Online50

With software available over the Internet, Online50 makes it possible to work in different and often more cost effective ways.  Below are a few ways innovative businesses have found to make the technology work for them.

Partial Outsourcing To Offsite Accountant

A local college wanted to retain responsibility for the collection and chasing of fees, but preferred all the rest of the financial processing to be done by their offsite accountant.  The college did the aspects of the work they wanted to and outsourced the rest to their accountant.

Accountant Support For A New Finance Department

A services business was expanding rapidly and needed to employ a bookkeeper for the first time.  They had been warned that it would be expensive if the bookkeeper made excessive mistakes that the accountant would have correct before completing the period end.  Their accountant was able to monitor the work being done and provide Sage and financial support as the new person learned the role.

Bookkeeper Offsite

A property developer who hates dealing with the financial paperwork employed a company providing bookkeeping services from their office.  Weekly he sends all his paperwork to them by courier.  They capture the information and file the paperwork and annually archive it as part of the service.  Although they alert him to anything of any consequence when needed, they meet together once each month so he can review his financial position and ensure he is on track.  For the most part he forgets about his financial position for the rest of the month and focusses on what he is good at, but at any time he can login to the Online50 hsoted system, and access real time up to the minute reports.

Bookkeeping By Work From Home Mum

An accountant was looking for a way to increase his capacity.  He came up with the idea of employing work from home mums with bookkeeping experience.  The mums loved that they could work from home and manage their work around their other responsibilities.  The accountant was able to expand the capacity of his bookkeeping business without taking on bigger offices or additional equipment.

How Could Hosted Software Help You?

The hosted software paradigm allows users in different locations to access the same software and sata from different locations at the same time.  How you choose to use hosted software, and the benefits it will bring your business, are up to you — the possibilities are limited only by the limits of your imagination.  If you have a problem why call us — perhaps we can suggest an option that could help.

Why Buy When You Can Rent?

Why spend a lot of capital on server capacity, software licenses and extra IT support?  With the total cost of ownership lower than most onsite alternatives, more andmore customers are considering hosted software as an option.

Preserve Cash

When you want to control your cash carefully, why pay for something upfront and write it off over time when you could rent what you need on a monthly basis with little or no tie in?  Computer software and hardware is most often depreciated over 3 years.  You pay upfront and claim a proportion back each year.  From a cashflow perspective this doesn't make sense for many businesses.  Once used the money is gone.

Online50 makes software available online on rental terms.  More importantly it does away with the need for additional server capacity and reduces the IT support requirements.  Hosted software provides fantastic value especially when considering the total cost of ownership.

Reduce Waste

The CEO of a small charity had two decisions to make and was struggling.  He currently had a small team but anticipated rapid growth subject to a number of new contracts.  He had to get software licenses, but should he get just what he needed now or should he buy the expected number and benefit from the bulk discount?

He also had to consider the servers, should he get a server that would be adequate for the current team or one that could cope with the larger team?  It would be expensive to have to upgrade the server within 6 months of purchase if he found it was not coping.  However if all the contracts didn't come through it would be so much more than they would need.

When he discovered Online50 and realised he could pay only for the number of licenses needed on a month by month basis he was happy.  When he realised he wouldn't need to get a server at all he was very happy.  When he called us three months later to report that his IT support costs had plummeted it is fair to say he was rather excited!  

As he said to one of our staff: "Why waste cash?"

DIY Installs, Updates and IT Support - Who Can Be Bothered?

It is frustrating how a little IT problem can lose you a day of work as you try to resolve it.  Funny how it always seems to happen right when there is a deadline looming.  If you are lucky enough to have an IT person or team, getting your issue to the top of that person's pile of things to do can also be challenging.

With Online50 our engineers sort out all the technical details to run the system, allowing you to concentrate on running your business.  It is part of our service.  Installation, updates, upgrades, system backups and all the other aspects that keep you working and keep your data safe.

Virtual File Server - Reason 2 To Choose Online50

Data: The Growing Business Problem

As every business grows and starts to take on staff, it encounters the issue of controlling data.  Most businesses start up without any way of sharing files and folders.  As the number of staff grows the problem of knowing who has the most up to date copy of a file, such as the final proposal for a client or the latest letterhead, becomes bigger.  Each new member of staff makes it more of a problem.

Is An In-House Server The Answer?

Business owners are told by IT companies that the only way to resolve this problem is by having a server and adopting a sensible system of electronic organisation for their files.  That way everyone will have access to the same files and folders. 

The problem is that servers cost a lot of money upfront and on an ongoing basis.  An IT support company we know charges £10,000 to setup the server and £500 per month to maintain and manage it if you have under 10 staff members.

For businesses that do not have the skills to setup and support a server themselves, Online50 provides a cost effective alternative.

Online50 Virtual File Server

As part of the service, all users will have what we call the 'H: Drive'.  This is a central location accessible to all of your Online50 users that you can use to store any files you need.  It is fully secured and backed up like everything else at Online50.  The only charge is for storage.  All files can be fully accessed by hosted software on the Online50 system, and easily copied to your local systems if you need to access the file offline.

Another great reason to move to Online50!