one other small idea- you might look at Freshbooks for hour tracking / billing. I like it a little bit better than many of the others due to the API that they have- in case you need to do any custom reports / etc for your clients.
best of luck on your business. Kevin On Tue, May 25, 2010 at 10:39 PM, Holly Fortenberry < [email protected]> wrote: > ClickTime sounds intriguing. I'll look into that. And, I think I'll use > QB too, I've used it some at work so it shouldn't be TOO hard to pick up, > especially with an accountants help, like you said. > > And, thank you ALL so much for the excellent advice. You've helped me > quite a bit. I'm getting excited to begin making the purchases and get set > up...it's been a long time coming. > > Cheers, > Holly > > > David Brockman wrote: > > 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 > > -- > 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 > -- Kevin Koym [email protected] +1.512.553.5696 @kkoym http://techranchaustin.com Accelerating Tech Entrepreneur Success -- 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
