From now on, I will be blogging at our Online Communities websites. Check it out. Read the latest.
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Well, the QuickBooks Online Community now has a newslettter blog, which is easy to sign up for and if you do, you will get the latest news from Mountain View (our home offices), our other offices (the two biggest in Tucson and San Diego) and all the buzz about what is happening on the QuickBooks Online Community site. So, sign up and keep in the loop.
Most start ups don't happen using other people's money. Unless they are borrowing from family members. Our users tell us that they get their $$$ from the following places:
- refinance their home
- take out another loan
- borrow from friend or family
- take money out against their health insurance (please don't do this)
- or even sell some of their precious possessions (I had to sell my one Babe Ruth baseball card)
They have to do this because it can be a real challenge to get a loan. Most banks will not lend money until there is some sort of proven track record (ie. two or so years of financial records).
Whatever happened to supporting the good old entrepreneurial spirit of our country.
We are slowly doing more and more podcasts. Like they say, all good things take time. And we have a great way to learn what is really going on out there on the web.. and I recommend you do what we are doing. Check out the Open Culture website. Lots of great podcasts -- most of them are University related, but hey... good things are happening in our schools these days. : )
We just launched the QuickBooks Year End Center -- to help you with your taxes. it will be a guide to help you perform the most common tasks (and taxes) -- that you and your accountant (or bookkeeper) need to take care of in the next few months.
Last week, Intuit purchased Digital Insight, which provides banking services to approximately 1700 mid-sized banks. Together, both companies will serve more than 5,000 financial institutions, nearly 25 million consumers and nearly 7 million small businesses. The acquisition will combine our customer-driven innovation with Digital Insight's best-in-class distribution and application service provider model. (I am looking forward to learning from them -- especially about ASP operations).
Why the purchase? One reason is to try to sell functionality of our record-keeping software as a service through banks, letting small businesses create, send, and get paid for invoices, all online at a bank's site. With millions of QuickBooks customers, we think we have some insight inot small business' needs. We admit, though, there's always more we can learn. (Any suggestions on how to gain more insight into their needs?)
We learned from our tax return business how quickly packaged software can move to a Web service. Last year for the first time, more people used the online version of our Turbo Tax web service than the desktop version.
Like a lot of companies, especially in the small business space, we are looking at how we can leverage the web better. Today's Internet banking's customer base consists of 35 million households and is growing at a double-digit clip... and becoming more and more mainstream.
So, we are doing our research on this growing industry...doing our research about the evolving Internet banking industry..... Any advice for us? Any treands you suggest we follow? Any resources we can learn from? Any research you think we should do?
Just to piggy back on my last Post, Steve Acctivate.com added a few more things to think about, such as:
Thanks Steve
Got a call from an old friend of mine today who wants to start their own business, but told me they are a bit scared to get started. I listened for a while and then suggested that they just jump in and launch their Pet Store in Ashville, NC. Here are some things I told them:
- make sure you have a local support group of small businesses to bounce ideas off of
- make sure you cultivate a relationship with the loan officer at the bank
- make sure you start simple -- and not take on too much inventory
- make sure you keep costs down at first -- with a few magazine subscriptions, low phone bills (maybe use skype), simple internet access, etc.
- make sure to hire college students cause they have great enthusiasm and are hungry to learn the business
- make sure you find a good accountant (maybe even check out QuickBooksGroup.com to find one : )
- make sure you ask a lot of questions (a little curiosity goes a long way)
- make sure you have a business plan -- or at least some revenue goals
so what did i leave out? i am sure i could have given my friends some more tips
Recently, I was asked why I thought accountants should blog. Well, here it goes.
1. It is a great way to practice your creative writing
2. It is a great way to let potential clients know what you are thinking -- including your inner most thoughts
3. It is a lot cheaper than building a website; all it takes is a few bucks (or you can do it fro free)
4. It is very therapeutic and will make you forget our client's complaining (and their shoe boxes of receipts)
5. It is a great way to let your mom know what you are doing on a day-to-day basis
6. It is a great way to get away from (mostly) numbers for a while
7. It is a great way to stand out in the web crowd
8. It is a great way to let other blogs, web magazines, printed
magazines that you have something to say and therefore they should
consider publishing your work.
9. It is a great way of virtually tapping someone on the shoulder' and
telling them you have something to say without really bein intrusive
10. It provides an alternative finger exercise to working out on a calculator
11. It is a great way to connect with younger clients (they will know your cool (opps, I just showed my age with that word)
12. It is a good thing to do when you can't fall asleep at 2 am.
13. It is a good distraction from your real work.
SO, why do you do it?
Well, I just thought I would take this opportunity to wish you and your business partners, friends and family Happy Thanksgiving. It is hard to believe that the year is winding down. The online Community team really has enjoyed working with our customers, business partners and co-workers. So, we do have a lot to be thankful for.
Enjoy the weekend, drive safely and calculate those numbers correctly.
QuickBooksGuy
1) A good working knowledge of that particular industry/market. You don't have to know the most, but you have to know more than the basics. You can even learn an industry quickly if you have good business skills.
2) Realistic goal setting. This is probably part of the business plan, but it's important. Very few companies make tens of millions in their second year (some do, I've seen it), but a lot get buy with a good profit level that allow owners/workers to be comfortable while going to work ... without getting rich.
Above all, have fun!....
Good reminder about the fun.... it is amazing how often we forget about that.