Holly, regarding software, I strongly recommend using hosted applications (Software-as-a-Service or SaaS) wherever possible. It will greatly reduce your setup costs and maintenance issues going forward. Typically these services can also easily grow with you as you add a few employees. Here are a few specific software ideas:
- *Email & Calendar - Get Google Apps for email for your custom domain. It's free (you won't need the paid version) and you also get shared calendar, basic document and spreadsheet functionality. If you don't already have your own custom domain (e.g. www.MyCompany.com) then get that first (GoDaddy <http://www.godaddy.com/>, etc.).* - *Backup* - Get Mozy <http://mozy.com/> and a MozyHome (unlimited) account. It's only $4.95/month per computer and can backup everything (documents, images, photos, music, etc.). Don't take a chance on losing all of your data should something happen to your computer or your home office. You can also get a large external hard drive and use it for Time Machine backups (built into Mac OS X). Together, Mozy and Time Machine provide a good level of on-site and off-site backups. But if you're only getting one of these, signup with Mozy. - *Bug Tracking* - FogBugz <http://www.fogcreek.com/FogBugz/>: there are cheaper solutions out there but this one works well, especially with multiple people/employees. - *Versioning* - I use Subversion in my office and it works well. There's also a new hosted versioning system from the makers of FogBugz called Kiln but I haven't tried it out. - *Accounting* - There are alternatives but QuickBooks is the standard. It's confusing if you're not experienced or an accountant. You'll probably want a QuickBooks consultant/accountant to help you get setup properly and then help you a couple times per year as needed (before tax season, etc.). - *Time Tracking* - I'm biased since my company makes ClickTime<http://www.clicktime.com/>. Our solution is good, especially as you add a couple employees. Here's a blog post that has some other helpful tips too: http://www.mann.com/blog/index.php/2010/02/getting-businesses-to-snap-out-of-it/ ~ Dave On Sat, May 22, 2010 at 9:26 PM, Holly Fortenberry < [email protected]> wrote: > Hi folks, > > I've been a web hobbyist since 1997 and have finally decided to bite the > bullet and start a 1-woman web shop. I plan on staying small, perhaps never > growing larger than 5 employees. Over the years, I've designed on pc's and > macs (I stuck with the mac), I've used at least 10 different editors and > ended up mostly hand-coding or using Coda or Dreamweaver. I am passionate > about web standards and progressive enhancement. I am also really getting > into database work and am looking forward to building small business sites > for the folks in my moderately-size town. > > So, for those of you who have been where I am now, do you have any > suggestions on the best Mac hardware to buy? My laptop won't cut it > anymore. I'd like a tower but perhaps that's overkill when you can get > those little boxes more cheaply. > Then I wonder how to handle separating the development from production > environments. That is one of my biggest concerns. What software do you > recommend for that? > > And, what about versioning, billing and accounting software? I'm thinking > about going with Quickbooks but using Billings to track my time. Any > thoughts about that? > > Finally, any other advice you want to give would be welcome. I'll take > advice on any aspect of this. > > Thanks! > Holly > > -- > Our Web site: http://www.RefreshAustin.org/ > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Refresh Austin" group. > > [ Posting ] > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > Job-related postings should follow http://tr.im/refreshaustinjobspolicy > We do not accept job posts from recruiters. > > [ Unsubscribe ] > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]<refresh-austin%[email protected]> > > [ More Info ] > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/Refresh-Austin > -- Our Web site: http://www.RefreshAustin.org/ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Refresh Austin" group. [ Posting ] To post to this group, send email to [email protected] Job-related postings should follow http://tr.im/refreshaustinjobspolicy We do not accept job posts from recruiters. [ Unsubscribe ] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] [ More Info ] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Refresh-Austin
