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by Stamps.com
Even as the economy turns a corner, many small business owners are still feeling the effects of the 2009 recession. There are a whole host of options available that take advantage of technology to save money on everyday operating costs. Please consider these cost savings tips courtesy of Stamps.com, the leading provider online postage and shipping solutions to approximately 400,000 customers.
VoIP
Many consumers are aware of VoIP services and are starting to use them for residential local and long distance calling. However, small business owners aren’t taking advantage of these cost savings that work with your existing network – no upgrades needed. VoIP carriers like Comcast, Skype and Vonage all provide calling services and other products like magic Jack are available with additional features that can be added fairly inexpensively.
Make use of social media
While larger companies are making their social presence known, many small businesses have yet to take advantage of the marketing opportunities available via social networking sites like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. Businesses can create their own pages/profiles on these sites and broadcast promotions, keep in touch with customers and attract new business…for free.
Online Postage
Postage meter companies charge small businesses for a monthly lease, maintenance fees, and other hidden charges so it’s hard to keep track of exactly what you’re being charged for each month. Online postage services use an advanced postage printing system that doesn’t rely on expensive postage meters. All you need are your existing computer, printer and Internet connection. It’s easy, reliable and at least 50 percent cheaper than traditional postage meters.
Make your office mobile
As smartphones proliferate, business owners are finding that employees, customers and clients are all accessible at their fingertips – no matter where they are. For many businesses, this has eliminated the need for a traditional office or at the very least allows for cost savings by limiting time spent in the office. By equipping employees with a laptop and smartphone, they have created a mobile workforce that is more efficient and more importantly, cheaper!
Use Online Productivity Tools
There are a host of online tools available to the tech-savvy worker that don’t just save money but make a business run more smoothly and efficiently. For small business owners, it is perhaps even more important to be able to access documents from a variety of computers or devices as they are often working at home or out in the field. Online and cloud-based services like Remember the Milk, DocStoc.com, FreeConference.com and Google Notebook can provide everything from to-do lists to calendars and forms…either for free or at a very low cost.
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By Peter Melerud, KEMP Technologies
In business, time is money. This is especially true for small businesses where each click on the website could mean a new lead or sale. So, what happens when your website goes down when a potential customer is ordering a product? Does she like your product and price enough to keep trying? Or does he get so frustrated that he takes his business elsewhere, even if it might cost a little more?
While this isn’t a scenario that any company wants to encounter, the frequency of a down website is all too common. Both Twitter and Intuit had outages in the last few months, which shows that no company is immune. There are several types of technology available to help businesses better manage website traffic, but many of them are quite costly. For example, a common practice is to throw more servers at an application or upgrade to a faster (and more expensive) Internet connection. A better solution may include improving network monitoring and balancing traffic through load balancers or ADCs (application delivery controllers), which sit between the router and server farm.
Just like a busy highway backs up with cars, websites often encounter the same effect when dealing with large amounts of erratic traffic. Load balancing technology takes the traffic and reroutes it to less congested servers to keep the website up and running during the busiest times. The load balancer inspects traffic and makes routing decisions based on various server and application performance metrics, and then may cache or compress traffic while determining to which server to deliver it. Load balancers are integral to business continuity, site resiliency, and easing management of the server load with a lower cost and easier deployment than upgrading bandwidth capacity.
As more companies are expanding their e-commerce application infrastructure to grow their businesses, it becomes more critical that website and applications are available 24/7 and scalable in order to keep revenue opportunities open.
About the Author:
Peter Melerudis the cofounder and vice president of product development for KEMP Technologies.
Other related:
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Vi bygger internet: Tomer Shalit, Textflow.com from Pelle Sten on Vimeo.
by Tom Shalit, CEO adn founder, Nordic River
Since 2008, startup companies have struggled to get the funding they need from traditional funding sources such as banks and venture capitalists. With the need for financing persistent through every growth stage, many entrepreneurs have to be more creative and find alternative funding sources. I decided to look into an alternative funding source that many do not associated with innovative technology – a local bakery.
Around October/November 2008, I began talking to Polarbröd, a large, 20-year-old, family-owned bakery in Sweden. Although our businesses were in two completely different industries, Polarbröd thought it was a great time to invest, as people buy more bread in downturns, and they understood the potential of investing in a promising tech-based company like Nordic River. What seemed like an odd partnership in 2008, has turned out to be a successful deal for both parties. Since we secured the funding, we have signed partnerships with Box.net and Google, have had numerous product rollouts, and have experienced tremendous user pickup and company growth. Based on securing funding in unlikely spots, here are a few of my tips on securing alternative funding:
• Recognize your strengths
My first idea for funding was to go into Stockholm and go to every bank as I was convinced I could find funding easily. However, when I went to the Stockholm banks they turned me away. It made me think about what advantages I had over my competition. I had to put myself in the banks’ shoes - Why am I worth the funding? That question will make you recognize your strengths. Take your strengths and harness them. This is your advantage over your competitors and how you will persuade someone to fund your project.
• Go local
Local businesses love supporting neighbors, so use this to your benefit. When I went to the Stockholm banks, they did not see me as one of their own. However, when I went back to my hometown and changed the name of my company, Nordic River, to reflect a pride and sense of community, I was greeted with more respect. The people you approach in your community know and trust each other. Before you go and meet with your local businesses make sure you do your homework - what is their background, have they invested before, do they have the money to fund you, what do they want to invest in, and what will they get out of the partnership?
• Value of a handshake
In the initial meeting, go see them in person. Having someone look you in the eye and shake your hand is a trust building action. Also, do not ask for funding in the first meeting. You need to build the business relationship - ask questions and listen to what they are saying. Last but not least, be patient. The company needs to trust you and your product - your success will be their success and vice versa. They are investing their hard earned money. It took me over a year to finalize the funding with the bakery.
Since 2008, startup companies have struggled to get the funding they need from traditional funding sources such as banks and venture capitalists. With the need for financing persistent through every growth stage, many entrepreneurs have to be more creative and find alternative funding sources. I decided to look into an alternative funding source that many do not associated with innovative technology – a local bakery.
Around October/November 2008, I began talking to Polarbröd, a large, 20-year-old, family-owned bakery in Sweden. Although our businesses were in two completely different industries, Polarbröd thought it was a great time to invest, as people buy more bread in downturns, and they understood the potential of investing in a promising tech-based company like Nordic River. What seemed like an odd partnership in 2008, has turned out to be a successful deal for both parties. Since we secured the funding, we have signed partnerships with Box.net and Google, have had numerous product rollouts, and have experienced tremendous user pickup and company growth. Based on securing funding in unlikely spots, here are a few of my tips on securing alternative funding:
• Recognize your strengths
My first idea for funding was to go into Stockholm and go to every bank as I was convinced I could find funding easily. However, when I went to the Stockholm banks they turned me away. It made me think about what advantages I had over my competition. I had to put myself in the banks’ shoes - Why am I worth the funding? That question will make you recognize your strengths. Take your strengths and harness them. This is your advantage over your competitors and how you will persuade someone to fund your project.
• Go local
Local businesses love supporting neighbors, so use this to your benefit. When I went to the Stockholm banks, they did not see me as one of their own. However, when I went back to my hometown and changed the name of my company, Nordic River, to reflect a pride and sense of community, I was greeted with more respect. The people you approach in your community know and trust each other. Before you go and meet with your local businesses make sure you do your homework - what is their background, have they invested before, do they have the money to fund you, what do they want to invest in, and what will they get out of the partnership?
• Value of a handshake
In the initial meeting, go see them in person. Having someone look you in the eye and shake your hand is a trust building action. Also, do not ask for funding in the first meeting. You need to build the business relationship - ask questions and listen to what they are saying. Last but not least, be patient. The company needs to trust you and your product - your success will be their success and vice versa. They are investing their hard earned money. It took me over a year to finalize the funding with the bakery.
Since 2008, startup companies have struggled to get the funding they need from traditional funding sources such as banks and venture capitalists. With the need for financing persistent through every growth stage, many entrepreneurs have to be more creative and find alternative funding sources. I decided to look into an alternative funding source that many do not associated with innovative technology – a local bakery.
Around October/November 2008, I began talking to Polarbröd, a large, 20-year-old, family-owned bakery in Sweden. Although our businesses were in two completely different industries, Polarbröd thought it was a great time to invest, as people buy more bread in downturns, and they understood the potential of investing in a promising tech-based company like Nordic River. What seemed like an odd partnership in 2008, has turned out to be a successful deal for both parties. Since we secured the funding, we have signed partnerships with Box.net and Google, have had numerous product rollouts, and have experienced tremendous user pickup and company growth. Based on securing funding in unlikely spots, here are a few of my tips on securing alternative funding:
• Recognize your strengths
My first idea for funding was to go into Stockholm and go to every bank as I was convinced I could find funding easily. However, when I went to the Stockholm banks they turned me away. It made me think about what advantages I had over my competition. I had to put myself in the banks’ shoes - Why am I worth the funding? That question will make you recognize your strengths. Take your strengths and harness them. This is your advantage over your competitors and how you will persuade someone to fund your project.
• Go local
Local businesses love supporting neighbors, so use this to your benefit. When I went to the Stockholm banks, they did not see me as one of their own. However, when I went back to my hometown and changed the name of my company, Nordic River, to reflect a pride and sense of community, I was greeted with more respect. The people you approach in your community know and trust each other. Before you go and meet with your local businesses make sure you do your homework - what is their background, have they invested before, do they have the money to fund you, what do they want to invest in, and what will they get out of the partnership?
• Value of a handshake
In the initial meeting, go see them in person. Having someone look you in the eye and shake your hand is a trust building action. Also, do not ask for funding in the first meeting. You need to build the business relationship - ask questions and listen to what they are saying. Last but not least, be patient. The company needs to trust you and your product - your success will be their success and vice versa. They are investing their hard earned money. It took me over a year to finalize the funding with the bakery.
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