A One-Eyed Man is King

The other day I heard about the increase in new businesses being started as a result of people losing their jobs.  That got me thinking about all of the things that it takes to make a business viable, and ultimately successful.  Technology is one of those things, and like it or not, you must deal with at some level. In my experience, appropriate use of technology can save time and money, both of which are constantly in short supply when starting a business. Many will shy away because of the imagined costs, but there are some things that a small business can’t afford to do without—some of them are even free!

1. A PC or Laptop with Enough Horsepower

I have lost track of the number of times that a business owner has asked me, “Why does Quickbooks take so long to open on my computer?” or “Why is Word so slow?” Very often they are running the latest and greatest software from Intuit or Microsoft on what used to be the family PC which was purchased four or five years ago for the kids to do their homework on. That’s like putting a 300 pound jockey on a 10 year old race-horse. The horse may have been great in its day, but it wasn’t meant for that kind of abuse.

Look at the system requirements of the software that you use the most. It will have a line that says something like Recommended RAM: 512 MB. A good rule of thumb is to double that amount and then look for a system that has at least that much memory. Depending on the type of work you do, you may have other requirements for your computer shopping, but that will get you started in your search. Laptop vs. Desktop? That’s easy….will you ever need to work on it anywhere other than your desk? If you answered yes, then you need a laptop. If not, then save the thousand dollar or so difference for some of the other items in this list.

2. High-Speed Internet Access

With email, online ordering, online banking becoming so indispensible, you really have to justify NOT having a fast connection for your business. In general, you’ll pay less than $50 per month for a very good connection, in some areas you’ll pay less than $30.

3. Office Software

Office productivity software has come a long way over the decades. Microsoft Office allows you to create everything from ads to invoices to financial statements. The price tag has evolved also. Ranging from $150 all the way up to $600, purchasing Office, in spite of all its great features, can put a serious dent in the budget.

A couple of fairly solid alternatives exist, and they’re free! Google Docs is an online set of office tools including word processor and spreadsheet application. It’s fast, you don’t have to install anything to use it and it is completely free. You don’t get nearly as many tools to work with as with Microsoft Word, but you can export to Word format and send them to clients, who will be none the wiser. OpenOffice.org is a free download which includes a word processor, spreadsheet application, presentation software (think PowerPoint), and even a database application. This software has been around the block a few times and has gotten better with each release. It’s definitely worth a look.

4. Accounting Software

It amazes me at how many business owners try to do without this essential tool. Intuit’s Quickbooks ($149 for Pro, $339 for Premier) is really the king of the hill in terms of ease of use and features. Sage Software’s Peachtree ($189 for Complete) is another contender, but many business people that I work with feel that it is more accountant-oriented and not as straightforward. Regardless of which way you go, get something! Your accountant will thank you.

5. A Web Site

Whether you’re a carpenter, a lawyer, or a restaurateur, you can’t escape the fact that the majority of potential customers will use the web to check you out before they give you a try. Your site needs to at least tell customers who you are, what you do and how to contact you. You can host a web site for as little as $4 per month. (Godaddy.com, 1and1.com) That just leaves the cost of having the site designed. It makes sense to have an actual designer do this for you if you already have someone helping with things like your logo and letterhead. Alternatively, you can buy a simple template site for as little as $39. (www.templatesbox.com)

Armed with these tools, you can now market to more people, produce professional quotes and brochures, track your receivables and payables, and speedily surf the web looking for your dream car in between. You don’t need to break the bank for a start-up technology budget. The advantages in efficiency and competitiveness certainly justify the modest expense.

I know it’s taken forever for me to get this out, but here is the second part of the WHS article I started back in February.  In that article we stopped after the server setup was finished.  We’ll jump right in and look at the WHS console, which is the tool you will use to configure and maintain the server.

First we’ll set up a user account.  Click on the Windows Home Server Console icon on the desktop, then click on the User Accounts tab at the top.

Click the Add button and you’ll see:

Click on OK and you’ll see:

Enter the name and username that you want and then select whether you want the user to have remote access for that user.  You can set up WHS to allow connections from the internet to your server, so if you were at work or traveling you can access files and even take control of your home computers.  I’ll cover that in more detail in a future post.

When you’re all done, click Next.

Enter a password.  If you chose to enable remote access in the last step, you have to come up with a good password.  Don’t try to use your dogs name unless it looks like $oT7jkl12.  Click Next.

This screen is asking you what access to give the user.  Full means they can add, delete, change whatever they want in that folder.  Read means they can view, play, etc but not change delete or add.  None means they won’t even see that folder.  Make your selections then click Finish.

While we’re in the Console, let’s take a look at the rest of the tabs.  Click on Shared Folders.

Here you can see a bunch of shared folders that WHS created for you.  You can add as many more folders as you need and then you can set permissions (as described above) for that share as well.

Click on Server Storage.

This will show you all of the hard drives that WHS is aware of.  One of the cool things about home server is that you can add internal drives, external USB drives, thumb drives, or whatever and it will add them to this screen and use them.  You can see the nice graph that tells you how much space you’re using. 

Now click on the Settings button over on the right side near the top.

This is where you will set many of the options for WHS.  You can set up what time to run the backups of your computers, configure media sharing and also set up the remote access piece.

Now let’s go to one of your computers and get it connected to the home server.  Find the disc labeled Windows Home Server Connector software and put it into your CD/DVD device.  You’ll see:

and then:

Click Next.

Of course we accept the terms which we have never read and have no intention of reading.  Click Next.

Enter the password you created when you did the initial setup.  (You know, way back in February…I really do suck sometimes).  Click Next.

It’s just easier to let the machine do the updates for you, but it’s up to you.  Click Next.

Also up to you, but backups are IMPORTANT.  I would leave it on Yes.  Click Next.

Click Next.

Now you’re done!  Wait, what just happened? 

• Your computer was joined to the server
• An automatic backup was scheduled for your computer
• You now have an icon that says Shared Folders on Server on your desktop

In part 3 of this article, we’ll go through the steps to enable and secure Remote Access to the server as well as set up media streaming and connecting your Xbox 360 to WHS.  Stay tuned….