Software Products That Help You Manage Your Business Day (And How To Do It On A Budget)
Computers eh? Don’t you just love them. Well possibly it might be something of a love/hate relationship but if you are a small business person or running a Home Based Franchise, or simply somebody who spends their working day by working at home probabilities are you are going to require at least one netbook if only to print out the bills at the end of the day.
A PC by itself is just a box of bits, rather a complicated one it has to be said but still just a box of bits.Somewhat cleverly assembled, but on its own just an machine. The stuff that makes it all come together is the software that your computer uses to make itself useful. At the simple level there is the Firmware. This is the hard programmed BIOS (Basic Input Output System) that gets the machine itself from the push of the ON button up to the point where it starts looking for an Operating System. This comes with the computer system itself and generally, unless you are an expert, you will just happily accept what the manufacturers have selected. By the way when this process is begun it is usually accompanied by a single beep. If there is more than one beep when the computer is starting up the BIOS Software then you are possibly in some sort of trouble and the System may not recover properly. You will then have to use the services of a computer engineer, or a new computer!
The next piece of software to start is the Operating System. This provides you with a method of storing data , a desktop environment, a Web browser, Mail client and a whole lot more! This might come with your computer in the form of an edition of Microsoft Windows. If you have bought a new computer (or even a second hand one) you probably think this has come for free, but in reality the license cost will be included as part of the purchase price of the computer. You will only really notice the licence fee if you have to upgrade your existing operating system , either because it is too old a version to run or maybe because you have purchased a new blank computer with no operating system on the hard drive.
An alternative to purchasing a copy of the latest version of Windows is to purchase an older version. You may find that the very latest version of this operating system is not justified by your business or personal needs. Windows XP Professional is a good stable alternative to Windows Vista or Windows 7. And it’s much cheaper to buy whether you go directly to Microsoft or your local PC Repair person. It’s unlikely though that going back any further with regards to Windows version’s to such products as Windows 2000 or Windows NT will help you as these are unsupported products now and a number of modern applications will simply not run on them.
The Open Software Foundation offers a radical alternative to Windows in the form of Ubuntu Linux. If you have excellent computer skills and are OK to ditch Windows altogether then this software is available from www.ubuntu.com as a download or , for a small fee, on CD’s by post. Whilst this may be a good expense reduction solution if you have a number of PC’s which need operating system upgrades It’s probably beyond the scope of a small entrepreneur working from home or a Home Based Franchise just needing a PC to keep the accounts and maybe write the occasional letter or two and for keeping on top of the email.
One place where the Open Software Foundation really comes in though is in the production of its Open Office platform which provides a viable alternative to Microsoft Office . It is available for download from download.openoffice.org/ . Compatibility with MS Office is good and you well find that it has all the facilities you need to help you keep on top of the paperwork, thus saving you the cost of purchasing any Office software.
If you have purchased a Franchise For Sale opportunity then you are probably going to find that you have to invest in some form of software package that is proprietary to the Franchise itself. This will be included within the initial cost when you signed up for the Franchise For Sale as a package. Franchises generally like to follow a system or formula and you will be expected to use their methods up to and including any software application that the Franchisor chooses to include as part of its process and whilst many Franchises require you to use third party software as well as their proprietary package , there is really no scope for making any savings here as it’s all part of the system.
There is one area where you really should not think of skimping on when it comes to software for your computers. Backing up your data is absolutely vital. It is even more necessary if you are using the computer as part of your business. Any savings you make on your software demands should take into account that you will need some form of backup procedure and you might find it helpful to have a software application to help you to keep tabs on this. The current trend is to back up your data off site to an Internet based storage location and if you have any genuinely valuable data then this is maybe the best solution. You will probably have to pay for this feature but in the long run it will likely prove to be money well spent.
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