Dashboard Software More Affordable for Small Business Owners

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The 2/13/06 issue of “BusinessWeek” describes how NetSuite and other products that run $1,000 to $2,000 per user have made dashboards more affordable than in the past for small business owners. Those thinking about implementing a dashboard for their business for the first time should: 1) start slowly, 2) pick the right information, 3) have your business people drive the project, 4) avoid data overkill, 5) keep a personal touch – remember to still walk around and talk to your workers even after the Dashboard is up an running!

Zoomerang is Internet Survey Market Leader

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Zoomerang is the market leader ahead of other Internet-based market research survey service providers EZquestionnaire, KeySurvey and Survey Monkey. Zoomerang offers a large e-mail database that can be tailored to its client’s survey needs, while its competitors do not. A CNNMoney.com report describes how Konstantin Guericke, the co-founder of LinkedIn, an online networking tool for professionals, used a Zoomerang survey to poll LinkedIn clients, and determine that 80 percent wanted him to add a search function, compared with 50 percent voting for the addition of photographs. All of the on-line surveys mentioned above are easy and less expensive than phone surveys, but do-it-yourselfers run the risk of creating a poorly designed survey, or misinterpreting the results.

Did I Pay That Vendor Twice — Again?

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Business owners who want to achieve improved accounts payable practices can follow these steps: 1) Have all invoices mailed to the individual responsible for accounts payable, 2) Share knowledge across their organization, 3) Take advantage of vendor discounts, 4) Supervise and review accounts payable activities, 5) Segregate responsibilities. An article in the January ’06 “New York Enterprise Report” provides all the details.

When VC Funds Not Likely, Consider Bootstrapping

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Ilana DeBare tells “San Francisco Chronicle” readers two ways that they can start a business with no cash through bootstrapping: 1) time-shifting your payables into the future, 2) bartering for services that your business can provide now in exchange for goods or services you need right away.

Fundraising Advisor Helps Zoe Foods Prez

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Zoe Foods founder and president Tori Stuart tells Entrepreneur magazine readers how she is staying focused on running her business by outsourcing the fund raising process as she seeks $3 million to fuel the growth of her $2 million natural foods company. “As a small company owner, I find raising capital is a big time-sink,” Stuart says. “And nobody’s going to do my job if I’m raising money.” Patrick Vaughan of Triarch Capital Partners concurs with Stuart: “It’s a significant distraction to raise money yourself. Once you publish your numbers to a prospective investor, they’ll start tracking how you do. That’s the wrong time to stub your toe.” An investment banking advisor can help a small business owner complete or polish a “deal book”, create a “data room”, help decide whether the money raised should be equity or debt, and help price the deal.